Begin your flying adventure with a mini drone if you're looking for easy controls in a pocket-sized form.

Mini drones have become increasingly popular in the drone world. Mini drones for travel, toys, and even first-person-view mini racing drones are on wish lists everywhere.

When the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration introduced the over 250-gram drone registration rule back in 2015, there were few machines with cameras that could avoid this. Seven years on, DJI dominates the market for lightweight drones with good cameras, transmission ranges, and all other features while managing to stay under the 250-gram limit.

Yet, some excellent FPV racers, toys, and skill-developing drones are available in the mini-drone category, too.

Here are the best mini drones available today.

The DJI mini 3 Pro is undoubtedly one of the best mini drones on the market today. It’s an excellent choice for entry-level pilots as it automatically does much of the work for you. It’s straightforward to learn, and if you already have some experience, you can use it like a plug-and-play drone and get straight into the fun.

It gives you 4K at 60FPS videos and 48MP photos, tri-directional (forward, backward, and downward) obstacle sensors, and a wide variety of excellent features to help you capture outstanding images. All of this should come at the expense of extra weight. However, it remains under 249 grams (8.8 ounces), which saves you a lot of registration hassle.

With the f/1.7 aperture and dual native ISO technology, the camera gives excellent low-light performance with surprisingly-good focus. The gimbal can also rotate an impressive 90 degrees allowing for portrait or landscape captures without affecting the quality.

Flight time can last up to an impressive 34 minutes, although you should temper your expectations there as durations of around 25 minutes are more likely. If you need longer flight times, you can upgrade to the Flight Battery at an extra cost for flights up to 47 minutes. However, you should note that this battery will take the drone’s weight to over 249 grams and therefore require registration in most countries.

There are three options for the DJI Mini Pro 3. One comes without a remote control, which is a bonus if you already have one. The second option is the drone with an RC-N1 remote control, which requires a setup on your smartphone. The third option is the easiest yet most expensive; it comes with the brand-new DJI Remote Control, which has a pre-installed DJI Fly app and a crystal-clear 5.5-inch screen for an easier and more enjoyable flying experience.

The DJI Mini 2 is not as premium priced as the Mini Pro 3, but it does compromise on some features. However, it is still an excellent choice for both drone newbies and experienced pilots.

The 12MP camera delivers quality images, and your videos will be stunning with 4K captures at 30FPS. Sweeping images high above lakes, beaches, and forests up to a maximum of just over 13,000 feet is easily achievable in Panorama Mode. Such shots are even possible when winds are reasonably strong (up to 24mph) thanks to the drone’s level-5 wind resistance.

For the beginner, there are some excellent pre-programmed Quick Shot modes, including Dronie, Boomerang, Rocket, Circle, and Helix. These modes allow stunning video captures without having to master better piloting skills first.

Additionally, if you feel your flying talent is not yet good enough, the 4x digital zoom allows you to capture shots of your subject from a distance safely. However, if you are recording a 4K video, this will affect the image quality.

The battery life is advertised as 31 minutes, meaning around 25 minutes is more likely in light wind.

This budget-priced drone is a good choice for beginners that wish to practice their moves before taking the leap up to the more sophisticated bigger brothers. It’s also an excellent gift idea for kids, and due to the 2.4Ghz controller, it won’t interfere with other remote-controlled drones, meaning you can set up some epic drone races. The three different speed modes also make for some progressive racing as skills develop.

The drone is straightforward to use. One button takes care of taking off and landing while the auto-hover function keeps the drone hovering at its current height. Headless Mode is another nice feature because you won’t need to worry about what direction the drone is pointing.

The safety features are good. The propellors have guards that will keep everything safe from them when flying indoors, and there is an emergency stop button. A beep alerts you when the battery level is low or the drone is almost out of its 50-foot range. This alarm means the drone is safe from perishing in a crash or getting lost. It doesn’t have a return-to-home mode that pricier drones have, so you must manually guide it once that beep goes off.

Potensic advertises the flight time as 10-13 minutes. However, you can’t expect too much more in this price range, and the charging time is decent, at around 30-40 minutes.

This little quadcopter is pretty good value for anyone looking for a well-priced entry-level racing drone. It features an excellent RunCam Nano 2 camera that transmits a clear and crisp picture back to the FPV goggles for a fun flight experience.

Coupled with a powerful 16000KV motor, the Tinyhawk 2 is a significant improvement from its popular predecessor. The throttle response LED system adds another layer to the fun; the brightness increases as you give it more throttle, giving more energy to your drone races.

This drone is ready to fly out of the box, which makes it an excellent gift idea for children who may be impatient for the fun to begin on a birthday. It’s both easy to use and great fun indoors and out.

The Holy Stone HS210 is an excellent choice for beginners and children. It is a very affordable and easy-to-use nano quadcopter. As it is a budget-range mini drone, it is made from plastic and may not be up to being bashed around too much. However, it does feature good guards to keep tiny fingers and furniture safe from rotating propellors.

Kids especially will love its ease of use. Taking off, performing flips, landing, and flying in circles is just a single button press away. The three speed modes ensure fun is had straight out of the box, but beginners will also enjoy leveling up with increased proficiency.

The drone has no camera or FPV, and the range is only 164 feet, which you would expect in this price range. Think of it as a practice drone to prepare yourself for more premium machines.

With three batteries lasting a maximum of seven minutes each, you can expect anywhere up to 21 minutes of flight time. However, you should realistically expect around 15 minutes.

Beginners will ease into flying the DJI Mini SE, while experienced UAV flyers will enjoy the excellent features at a good price. The DJI Fly app has an easy-to-follow tutorial to get you started, and you can instantly create stunning video and photo enhancements with its creative templates.

This mini drone is similar in look to the DJI Mini 2, and many features are the same. However, the Mini SE has a higher wind resistance level but supports fewer QuickShot options and has a lower transmission range. The Mini SE also only supports a 2.7K video resolution compared to the Mini 2’s 4K, so serious photographers and cinematographers may want to splash out a little more for better captures. The rest of us will be more than happy with the excellent social media videos created using the Mini SE.

The three-axis gimbal provides extra camera stability, which, coupled with the level-5 wind resistance, means that you can use this drone in winds as high as 24mph.

It has a 30-minute fly time and, although still inferior to more premium-priced DJIs, the range is decent at almost 2.5 miles.

If you want something even more affordable than the Mini SE, DJI has teamed up with Ryze Tech to give us this nifty little quadcopter. It’s a great choice for beginners looking to develop their flying skills and learn a trick or two, and kids will also love it as it is fun straight from the box.

You can show off your skills with eight presets, such as 8D Flips Mode, which you can control by swiping on the screen, and Bounce Mode, which allows you to ‘bounce’ the drone in response to your hand movements.

It’s perfect for indoor use, thanks to its small size and propellor guards. However, if you wish to use it outside, keep in mind that the range is only around 330 feet. Also, you can’t really use this drone in windy conditions. In fact, anything over a gentle breeze affects its performance.

For more serious UAV flyers and photographers, you should probably look elsewhere. You will unlikely achieve sweeping panoramic images in ultra HD. Instead, you will have some decent captures with the 5MP camera and 720p video captures. You should take note of the lack of a microSD slot; you can choose to save or discard your images and videos in-app.

If your drone is for recreational use, then you should take the quick-and-easy Recreational UAS Safety Test online.

If you purchase a drone with anything else other than recreational use in mind, then you require a license obtainable from the FAA. Any drone over 249 grams will need to be registered in almost every country.

Inexpensive drones are probably the best way to go. Some people prefer buying cheap mini drones without cameras and other features to practice their flying skills first. Some people like to purchase affordable mini drones with basic cameras to practice both flying and image capturing. However, some wish to dive straight in and buy great drones with excellent cameras.

Everyone is different; however, be careful with your new hardware if the latter is your choice. DJI mini drones are generally the best and have easy-to-follow tutorials on their apps.

Barry has had a passion for all things tech-related ever since he was given a Commodore Plus/4 computer as a child. Having spent most of his adult life traveling, teaching, and writing—often combining all three—Barry considers himself a "digital nomad." His current passion is travel gadgets, and he has been writing buying guides for around a year.

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