ok so ive been wanting to get into drones for probably two years now and every time i go to actually buy one i end up falling down a rabbit hole and closing the tab without buying anything. theres just so many options and half the people online seem to be sponsored or selling something so i cant tell whats genuine advice anymore.

im not trying to become a professional filmmaker or anything, i just want something i can fly around outside, maybe take some decent video of trips or hikes, and not immediately crash and destroy on my first flight. budget is somewhere around 300 maybe 400 if something is really worth it. does anyone have a suggestion that isnt just "get the most expensive DJI" because i see that everywhere and it doesnt really help me figure out what to actually buy

honestly the Mini 2 SE or the Mini 3 if you can stretch to it are the go-to answers here and i know you said not to just say DJI but theres a reason everyone says it, they genuinely just work out of the box in a way that cheaper stuff doesnt. i started on a random budget drone from amazon and wasted like 150 bucks learning that lesson. the stabilization alone on the mini series makes it worth it for a beginner because you have enough to worry about without fighting unstable footage on top of it.

that said if youre really worried about crashing first get something stupid cheap to learn on, like a tiny indoor whoop or even just a ten dollar toy, fly it around your house for a week and then buy the real thing. saves you from binning a 300 dollar drone on day one because you panicked and forgot which stick does what

i was in the exact same position like four months ago lol. ended up getting the mini 2 SE and tbh its been fine, no complaints. setup was pretty straightforward, the DJI fly app walks you through everything. only thing i wish someone told me is to register it with the FAA before you fly because i didnt realize you had to and almost flew it without doing that