The best drone for beginners: Blade Nano QX
Blade Nano QX
If we had to recommend one of these starter quads for most people, we’d pick the Blade Nano QX. That shouldn’t be too surprising: We’ve highlighted it before, and we’re far from the only ones to make such a recommendation.
There are plenty of reasons for that. As its name says, the Nano QX is nano, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and thus easy to fly indoors or out. It weighs about a half an ounce. At the same time, it’s tough, with a well-made frame and built-in prop guards for its little propellers. When you inevitably crash it into the pavement or your cat, it won’t fall apart. There's less risk here. If you do rip it up, though, spare parts are cheap.
The best thing about the Nano QX is that it flies much like a higher-grade quadcopter. It’s faster and easier to swoop around than most sub-$100 models, and its Xbox-style controller allows you to make surprisingly precise climbs, turns, and flips. There’s a level of accessible-yet-technical control here that’s just hard to find in this price range. When you’re first starting out, it has a stability mode that consistently keeps the quad upright, and also makes it hover if it senses you’ve let go of the remote. All the while it’s remarkably painless set up and get in the air.
This is still a cheap drone, so it doesn’t support any camera- or GPS-related features, and its battery lasts a paltry 8 minutes per charge. (In general, we recommend buying a few cheap backup batteries for simpler drones like this, just so you aren’t charging constantly.) And while it’s robust enough to use outside, its minuscule frame means that strong bursts of wind can still send it off-course. It also means you need to keep an eye on it as best you can.
But for what it is, it’s a fantastic trainer drone, and a fun little quad in its own right. If you keep with it, you’ll be able to fly the heavier-duty stuff soon enough. You’ll have a good time along the way.
Pros:
Fast and fun to fly
Durable
Inexpensive
Cons:
Short battery life
Struggles with strong winds
