Anyone used cheap drones, are they worth it?

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JuliusSeizure

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Looking at investing in a cheap one to just learn more about it and play around.

I've seen a few online for 1.5k and under but all seem to have a battery life of 10-15 minutes at most and a flight distance of 100m.

Are there any budget ones that are better than that?
 
You kinda get what you pay for so don't expect anything amazing. However technology has come a long way too so it also probably won't just fly into the closest wall.

I forked out a lot of money for a DJI and although the drone is amazing, i rarely find a place to fly it where I'm not either in an airspace, a national key point or sanparks or or... so currently it just sits in my cupboard until i go to Europe once a year and fly it there on holiday.

I don't think you're gonna find something with more range and battery life for 1.5k.
 
The cheap drones are fun to play around with for a short while but the experience is completely different than something like a DJI.
 
I bought a DJI tello, but it was a waste of money. It's now a paper weigh in the office.
 
I use a Tello to fly indoors, fun sitting at my desk flying it through the house when I am bored and cannot take the bigger drone out.

Not the same as a bigger DJI but can still have fun with it, and to learn the basis with.

Ask yourself why you want it - is it to learn how to fly a drone, or is it to have a flying photographic platform?

Also have another very small drone which takes skill to fly since it has no positioning sensors.
 
neoprema said:
I forked out a lot of money for a DJI and although the drone is amazing, i rarely find a place to fly it where I'm not either in an airspace, a national key point or sanparks or or... so currently it just sits in my cupboard until i go to Europe once a year and fly it there on holiday.
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SA drone regulations are ridiculously onerous, especially when it comes to airspace around airports. Fortunately I can legally fly from home so it's usually only the weather that keeps me grounded.
 
bwana said:
SA drone regulations are ridiculously onerous, especially when it comes to airspace around airports. Fortunately I can legally fly from home so it's usually only the weather that keeps me grounded.
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Do you have a license ?
 
I have a few cheap drones that I have played around with over the years.

I think its a good idea to see what kind of things you would want out of your experience ie what features do you need.

The best one I go was a Parrot drone, it was cheap - I think like R 899 but for the price it was very easy to use and could hover nicely.
The issue with this drone and all of the other cheap ones is that at some point one of the motors will stay on permanently. Basically the servo that controls the motor burns out and then it will always pull in one direction.
I googled how to fix and its not simple, harder than it should be. No one is really going to buy a broken cheap drone from you and wont be worth paying someone to fix so its basically done.

What would be cool is if there was a moderately priced drone with parts and people with the skills to cheaply maintain them. Would be worth investing R2k in a drone then that you could actually do something with.
 
bwana said:
The cheap drones are fun to play around with for a short while but the experience is completely different than something like a DJI.
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I was about to order this one from PC Link Computers but then just thought I should come back here because it seems a bit too good to be true.

pclinkshop.com

Tavot K2 Dual Camera Quadcopter, Long-Endurance Altitude Hold HD 4K Aerial Photography Folding Drone Remote Control Aircraft（with Storage Bag

Description: 1. Ability development: vision, intelligence development, hands-on brain, hand-eye coordination, interactive toys, parent-child communication, interest cultivation.2. Functions: headless mode, real-time back, voice operation, fly left and right, one-key return, intelligent altitude...
pclinkshop.com pclinkshop.com
 
JuliusSeizure said:
I was about to order this one from PC Link Computers but then just thought I should come back here because it seems a bit too good to be true.

pclinkshop.com

Tavot K2 Dual Camera Quadcopter, Long-Endurance Altitude Hold HD 4K Aerial Photography Folding Drone Remote Control Aircraft（with Storage Bag

Description: 1. Ability development: vision, intelligence development, hands-on brain, hand-eye coordination, interactive toys, parent-child communication, interest cultivation.2. Functions: headless mode, real-time back, voice operation, fly left and right, one-key return, intelligent altitude...
pclinkshop.com pclinkshop.com
Click to expand...

Did I read correctly, R354?
If that's legit it would be a great tou to buy the nephews. I couldn't care less if it lasts 6 months, they'd probably be bored by then either way.
 
Smokey mcpot said:
Did I read correctly, R354?
If that's legit it would be a great tou to buy the nephews. I couldn't care less if it lasts 6 months, they'd probably be bored by then either way.
Click to expand...

It seems too good to be true. I checked again and it is for a drone and not a case or anything.

Has anyone bought from that site before?
 
JuliusSeizure said:
Looking at investing in a cheap one to just learn more about it and play around.

I've seen a few online for 1.5k and under but all seem to have a battery life of 10-15 minutes at most and a flight distance of 100m.

Are there any budget ones that are better than that?
Click to expand...

Bought ones for about R400 (Toy Kingdom) for my kids, also only have a 10 minute flight time and about 2 hours charge time.
 
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