ok so ive been flying regular dh drones for like 2 years now and finally want to get into fpv properly. i keep going back and forth between just buying something prebuilt like a dji avata or one of those whoop style things from betafpv, vs actually building my own 5 inch freestyle quad. everyone i talk to says something different and im kind of going in circles.

the thing is i dont really have a huge budget, maybe like 400-500 to start and that includes goggles. i know thats probably tight but i just want to get flying and learn the basics before i sink more money into it. does betafpv stuff hold up or is it basically disposable? ive heard good things about the meteor65 for learning but also heard the build quality is kinda meh. would really appreciate any actual experience people have had with starter setups rather than just whats on youtube because those guys always have like 10 quads already

honest answer: for 400-500 total including goggles thats gonna be tight no matter which way you go. if you go prebuilt, betafpv stuff is fine for learning, its not gonna last forever but it'll teach you the basics without you crying over a crash. the meteor65 pro is decent, runs betaflight out of the box so at least youre learning the same software everyone else uses.

the thing people dont tell you is even if you buy prebuilt you WILL end up learning how to repair stuff because you WILL crash constantly. so in a way youre learning building skills anyway lol. i started on a eachine tinyhawk years ago and it was kind of garbage but i flew the hell out of it indoors for like 3 months before i even touched a full size quad. that muscle memory saved me so much money when i finally switched to a 5 inch.

for goggles on that budget honestly just grab some box goggles for now, the eachine ev800d or something. yeah they look stupid but you can always upgrade later and the money saved goes toward actually flying.

i just went through this exact thing like 4 months ago. ended up getting the betafpv meteor65 and some fatshark recon v3 goggles secondhand and honestly its been a solid combo for learning. the quad has survived way more crashes than i expected. had to resolder a motor wire once but thats about it.

building from scratch for a first timer on that budget is rough, you end up cutting corners on parts and then spending more fixing things than you would have on a prebuilt. do prebuilt first, get comfortable with the sticks and betaflight, then build when you actually know what you want