A lot of people want to know what the best drone is, but that is actually a very difficult question. My favorite drone is the Mavic 2 Zoom, but I wouldn’t recommend that drone to everyone. I don’t think the best drones of 2019 are here yet as Skydio and DJI have some drones in the works. There are still some excellent options out there, though.

Your purpose and budget are two hugely important factors when looking for a drone. If your goal is to have fun, then I would recommend one of the inexpensive drones on my list. If aerial photography is your focus, then the best beginner drone has been the DJI Spark, but it isn’t one I’d recommend to professional or semi-professional pilots. I’ll take a look at the entry-level competition as well as some of the higher-performing birds, like the Mavic 2 Pro.

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This morning, we got an email from DJI that they are, I mean, Ryze is launching the Tello Iron Man Edition. The entry-level drone, that can do impressive flips mid-air, comes with a new Iron Man inspired color scheme and an updated flight app that features Iron Man’s FRIDAY. The drone is available at the DJI store and sells for $129. The Tello is a great starter drone for anybody who is looking to get into drone flying. The new Iron Man design should be particularly apeling to kids. Keep in mind that the Tello is a very lightweight drone and therefore is susceptible to even the slightest amount of wind when flying outdoors.

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The Extreme Fliers Microdrone 4.0 looks to be an exciting new offering in the entry-level drone market. This palm-sized micro drone features a two-axis gimbal as well as electronic image stabilization to go along with its 1080p HD camera. This little drone looks to be a step ahead of one of our favorite drones the Ryze Tello ($99) and a step behind the impressive DJI Spark ($399). Let’s take a closer look. expand full story

There aren’t a lot of good GPS drones with HD cameras and intelligent flight modes for less than $200. The JJPRO X5 Epik an exception and currently is on sale for less than $130. It is one of the best beginner drones you can buy and is an excellent option for anyone looking to get into aerial photography.  expand full story

The new Ryze Tello EDU ($129) is an upgraded version of the original Tello ($99). It takes everything that made the Tello a great beginner drone and added more programming features. The Tello itself is a great beginner drone, and one of my personal favorites. It is incredibly stable, takes excellent pictures, has intelligent flight modes, and it can be programmed using different coding languages. As an educator, I have used a fleet of Tellos at my school to teach students how to code. The Tello EDU has all the same great features of the original but it takes that programming to the next level.  expand full story

Today the Tello remains the only drone on drone-giant DJI’s website that isn’t branded as a DJI-built drone. The feature-packed mini-drone arose from a partnership between Ryze, Intel, and DJI. Their goal was to create the ultimate beginner drone. When you hear names like “DJI” and “Intel” you immediately think, “this drone must pack the latest technology and be really expensive”. The Tello does indeed have a lot of incredible features. This little drone sports an HD camera, intelligent flight modes, image stabilization, and a handful of sensors for stable flight. What it doesn’t have is a high price tag. Just under $100, this small drone is worth every penny.

The Tello isn’t only for sale at DJI.com. There are some great package deals on Amazon.

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