trying to buy my first drone but theres so many choices and everyone seems to have different opinions. budget is around $400-500 and i mainly want to take some cool photos when im hiking and maybe some video of my kids playing outside

looked at the mini 3, air 2s, and some other brands but honestly dont know what half the specs even mean. do i need 4k? is the range thing important if im just flying it nearby? and whats the deal with all these registration rules, do i need a license or something

for your budget and use case the mini 3 would be perfect honestly. 4k is nice to have but not essential if youre just posting to social media. range isnt a big deal for casual flying, most of the time youll keep it pretty close anyway. as for registration you need to register anything over 250g with the faa but its like $5 and takes 5 minutes online

definitely go with dji for your first one, their customer support and app ecosystem is just better for beginners. i started with a cheaper off brand and regretted it within a month. the mini series is great because you dont need part 107 license for recreational flying and theyre light enough that you have fewer restrictions on where you can fly