Best Drones under $500: Fly More, Pay Less (Winter 2025)

The DJI Mavic Mini Drone is arguably the most popular mini drone under $500. This palm-sized drone offers a unique blend of portability, convenience, and quality. It is lightweight and offers up to 30 minutes of flight time on a single charge. It packs a 2.7K camera which is quite decent for the price, and offers autonomous flying modes that beginners will find very useful. 

When the DJI Mavic Mini was introduced back in 2019, it was a pretty unique drone because of its weight. It weighed less than 250g, which means you could fly it as a camera drone without a need to get clearance from the FAA. It also packs extra features like three-axis mechanical stabilization and a swappable microSD card slot. 

The Ruko F11 Gim drone is medium-sized and foldable. On a first look, it has a compact appearance. But don’t be fooled. This unit is heavier than it looks and that means it is quite durable. It features a 4K UHD camera and can capture images at a wide angle of 100°. It offers a flight time of about 25 minutes, and you get 3 intelligent flight modes. 

Ruko, the F11 Gim drone maker, offers a variety of drones across different value ranges. Most of the company’s devices like this one are designed specifically for novices. This device has features comparable to the U11 and F11 Pro. The F11 Gim comes with a number of high-end features you are unlikely to find in many of the best cheap drones. 

Although drones like the DJI Mini 2 are the most popular in the mid-range drone category, there are cheaper alternatives like the Holy Stone HS720. This unit comes equipped with a good quality HD Camera and 3 intelligent flight modes. The HS720 is well-built with a futuristic design that you’ll find very impressive. It is also designed to be easy for everyone to fly regardless of their skill level. 

The Holy Stone HS720 is one of Holy Stone’s earliest attempts at an advanced drone. It was released years back but still remains a very popular option in the below $500 range. There is a more advanced version of this drone now which features an upgraded 4K camera and advanced image stabilization feature. Of course, this one is cheaper and still gets the job done for simple use cases. 

The Holy Stone HS720E is one of the more recent drones in the market, featuring a number of advanced features. Despite being a low-cost option, this device comes with features like a GPS system, automatic return, intelligent flight modes, and an optical flow sensor. The HS720E comes mounted with a 4K camera; the electronic stabilization feature ensures that the footage is stable while filming. 

The Holy Stone HS720E is an upgraded version of the HS700 drone. While both devices have a closely similar appearance, there are a few differences between them. The major dissimilarity between the HS720E and the older model is with their battery and their camera. The older HS700 features a 2K camera, while the HS720E comes with a 4K camera. For the battery, this unit is more of a slight downgrade than an upgrade. The battery only lasts 22 minutes which is less than the 26minutes you get with the HS700.

This Ruko F11 Pro is an affordable but feature-packed drone. A mighty brushless motor powers it. The flight time of this drone is among the most impressive on this list, thanks to its dual-battery design. The Ruko F11 is easy to control with additional features such as GPS, Follow Me mode, and other flying aids. The Ruko F11 Pro is perfect for beginners and hobbyists. 

The Ruko F11 Pro sits in the mid-range between the more advanced F11 Gim and the Ruko F11 on the other end of the spectrum. While it offers additional features over the F11, features like video resolution, the control distance, and the FPV range are more limited in the Ruko F11 Pro. Everything else is the same as far as flight stability and other features go. 

With the DEERC D15, you get 22 minutes of flight time. The maximum distance from which you can control the drone is about 1000 meters. This gives you plenty of airspaces to fly your drone. This portable drone comes equipped with a 4K UHD camera for photography. It also features an advanced EIS system that works to ensure that the footage is stable and smooth. 

At first glance, you will most likely notice a lot of similarities between the DEERC D15 and Holy Stone HS700D, another popular low-priced drone for a different company. But while both look the same in terms of appearance, there are a few design differences. With the DEERC D15, you get a slightly longer flight time and more remote control distance.

The Potensic D88 is a portable foldable drone mounted with a 2K camera. It features a 1 axis gimbal designed to keep the bird stable in the air. The Potensic D88 performs impressively as an aerial photography drone. It also offers impressive flight performance. The intelligent flight modes make the drone easier to fly, even for a beginner. You get between 15 to 20 minutes of flight time with this drone. 

The Potensic D85 is another 2K camera from Potensic that is quite similar to the D88. The major difference between them is that this one offers additional features such as optical flow positioning and altitude hold. You also won’t get as much battery power or control range with that one as you would with this one. But the Potensic D88 comes at a slightly higher price point due to the extra features.

The Sanrock B5W is a powerful multifunctional drone with loads of advanced features for a unit in its price range. Not only will you be getting a durable and well-built drone with this machine, but the Sanrock B5W is also quite easy to fly thanks to loads of advanced flying aids such as a Follow Me mode, one-button start, air pressure, and altitude control function. It also comes mounted with a good quality 4K camera with advanced image capture features. 

Its weight is one major thing that stands out with this drone compared to others in its price range, like the DEERC D15 and the Potensic D68 drone. The Sanrock B5W is heavier than these other units. While this reduces its portability, the weight offers some benefits in terms of wind resistance. You can easily fly the B5W outside regardless of the flying conditions outside. 

Looking at the features, it’s hard to believe that the Potensic T25 is one of the more low-cost drone options on the list. The video quality is one of its more impressive features. It records 2K video with its adjustable wide-angle camera on the drone’s underside. The camera in question can be adjusted 75° midflight. It’s therefore very effective for recording memories. At the same time, the first-person view image you get on the connected smartphone while using the drone is also quite vivid and clear.

The Potensic T25 is comparable to another drone offering from the same manufacturer on the list, the Potensic D88. Both offer high-definition video, although the D88 offers better 4K resolution compared to the T25’s 2K output. The D88 is also bulkier, flies for longer, and has a bigger battery. These are all perks of spending more money on the device. However, for a more affordable device that offers excellent video resolution, the T25 seems like a better pick.

Potensic is a well-known name in the low-cost but good quality drone segment, and the Potensic D58 meets that criteria. Not only is it affordable, but it is also a well-built drone with a number of smart flight modes for easy control. The D58 is not heavy, which makes it quite easy to fly. It flies smoothly and comes mounted with a 1080p HD camera with a wide-angle field of view of 120°. The Potensic D58 has a dual camera design which each battery giving you 15 minutes of flight time. 

As far as build goes, the D58 has a similar appearance to many other top quadcopter brands like the Potensic D85 from the same company and other brands like the HS700 Ophelia and the DJI Phantom 4. But it is a bit on the smaller side compared to this unit. Another thing that sets it apart is the user-friendly controls which makes it suitable for beginners. At the same time, it offers some pretty advanced features that more advanced pilots will find quite impressive.