ok so ive been wanting to get into drones for a while now and i finally have some money saved up but i dont even know where to start. theres like a million options on amazon and everyone seems to have a different opinion. my budget is probably around 200-300 dollars maybe a bit more if it's really worth it. i dont have any experience flying anything, not even rc cars really. i just want something that wont crash immediately and that i can actually learn on without destroying it on day one. someone at work told me to just get a DJI Mini 2 but that feels like a lot of money for a first drone. is that dumb? or is it better to just spend the money upfront

honestly the mini 2 isnt a bad call at all, i know it feels like a lot but the cheap amazon stuff is genuinely frustrating to learn on. i started with some random 60 dollar thing and the stabilization was so bad i almost gave up completely. the mini 2 has decent obstacle avoidance, the gps hold is solid so it wont just drift off on you and the controller feel is way better than the toy stuff. if you can stretch to it i'd say do it. though actually the Mini 3 came down in price recently so worth checking if the gap is small

i got the holy stone hs720 as my first one because i didnt want to spend too much and it was fine i guess? got me used to the sticks and the basic idea of how to fly. but i upgraded to something better after like 3 months anyway so in hindsight maybe just saving up for the real thing wouldve made more sense. depends if you want to mess around first or if you already know this is gonna be a serious hobby for you