Complete beginner here - never soldered, never built a drone. I've narrowed down to the iFlight Nazgul Eco BNF vs the Joshua Bardwell HD Avatar DIY Kit. Both seem to fit my ~$300 budget for the quad itself.

I know the conventional wisdom is "build to learn repairs" but I'm honestly intimidated by the soldering aspect. Will I really be at a massive disadvantage starting with the Nazgul, or can I learn repair skills along the way?

Also considering the time factor - I have maybe 2-3 hours per week for this hobby. Does that change the recommendation?

Started with a Nazgul Eco myself 2 years ago, still flying it. You should buy a BnF quad to begin with, that way you know what a well built and tuned quad feels like. When you inevitably crash, reverse engineering repairs is much easier than troubleshooting a build you're not sure about.

Honestly, with 2-3 hours/week, go BNF. The Bardwell kit makes it foolproof and you learn how to build a drone, but make sure you have spare parts on hand for when you crash. That initial build will eat most of your hobby time for weeks.

Counter-argument: if you're going to get into FPV, eventually, you're going to have to learn how to repair your drone. And the best way to learn to repair your drone is to build it yourself. Better to struggle through one controlled build than panic-repair in the field after a crash.