so my brother got a drone last christmas and ive been wanting one ever since but i honestly have no clue where to even begin. theres so many options and every time i google it i just get a bunch of sponsored articles telling me to buy something that costs like 800 dollars which is obviously not happening

i dont really have a specific use case i guess, mostly just want to fly around outside maybe take some photos or video but nothing serious. i live in a pretty suburban area with a park nearby. my budget is probably under 300 if possible, maybe a bit more if something is really worth it. do i need to register it or take a test or anything? someone told me theres FAA stuff involved but i dont really know what that means for a casual person

any help appreciated, sorry if this is a dumb question

not a dumb question at all, everyone starts somewhere. honestly for under 300 the DJI Mini 2 SE is probably the most recommended thing right now, its been the go-to beginner answer for a while. its light enough that it falls under the 250g threshold which means less FAA headache ? you still technically need to do the recreational flyer certification thing but its free and takes like 20 minutes online, nothing crazy. the video quality is decent enough that youll be impressed with your first flights for sure

if you want to spend a little less theres the Holy Stone stuff which is fine for learning but honestly the DJI stuff is so much better built that i usually just tell people to save up the little extra. just avoid anything that looks like a toy on amazon with no brand name, they fly terribly and youll get frustrated fast

yeah what he said about the weight thing is important, a lot of beginners dont realize that under 250 grams is kind of a magic number for regulations. the mini 2 SE is good but also look at the mini 3 if you can stretch the budget a bit, the obstacle avoidance on it is actually useful when youre still learning and crashing into stuff

also just expect to crash. like, it will happen and thats fine