Which drone to buy? I have no idea
This is not exactly which drone to buy kind of post, but I’m just gonna walk you through the steps which I have done, before I really bought one. Take it just as some kind of simple manual of how to choose a drone yourself, and what to look for, when choosing.
Okay, so the first thing I had to specify, what is the purpose of my flight mostly going to be.
I want a drone, which is small enough to carry on trips (on backpack), on which I could strap on some GoPro, for cinematic scenery, and ofc freestyle flying and all that kinds of stuff.
Research
So, now we get to the googling and all the research. First, you can choose from two options, that will change the course of choosing by quite a lot.
- Already built drone - very beginner friendly, relatively simple and easy.
- Custom build drone - you will have to find each part separately, and then build it… In the end, you understand it more, and you can save some money here.
To me the choice was simple, I wanted to get there as fast as possible → so 1.
Okay, now, you know that you are looking for types of drones named RTF (ready to flight - already made sets of drones, connected controllers, batteries, etc.) or BNF (bind and flight - you will have to buy controller separately, not as big of a problem as find each part lol). When building one, you will know your stuff.
Controller
I wanted to save some money, and not buying a set, so I went with the cheaper option, that was to buy BNF drone, and controller separately. Now here comes a funny part, you can buy yourself a controller, plug it into a computer, and fly in a simulator. That would be first thing, I would do if I started from scratch again. Buy myself a controller, some simulator and fly/practice. Even pro pilots still fly in sims.
So, using sim, you would be able to figure out, if you even enjoy flying, prior to buying 300€+ drone...
Now I had a controller, Radiomaster Pocket as an entry level. I chose the 2.4GHz version, because it’s overall better in latency and it open softwareness/community. Just kiddin', it was the cheapest one :)
Goggless
I thought, that choosing goggless will be the easiest part, turns out not… First I bought a BETAFPV VR03. Price was around 85€. When flying later, I’ve had problems even behind bigger trees. I tried to buy better antenna, but still, you can have there just one (the other hole, on the other side is blind). So, my recommendation is, to buy some with two antennas, to have the lenght as well as height signal covered. One antenna was not enough.
I went with a used piece from bazaar, for 50€ GEPRC VRG1 (eventually any 2 antenna will be better than the BETAFPVs). Much better.
Drone
I wanted something fast, with reliable community. After watching endless amount of youtube videos, I stumbled upon brand iFlight and their known beginner models called Nazgul. I chose older analog version, iFlight Nazgul XL5 V1.1 ECO Analog BNF ELRS 2.4GHz + GPS. The GPS is not a must have, but I would rather have a drone to land than drop :) (gl with setting up the RTH {return to home}). Also, yes, there are a cheaper, and less powerful options, but I wanted something that will keep me entertained, that’s why I went with the 6S option.
One update here. I would have not bought the GPS. Unless you know what you're doing, you won't be able to set it up that easily. Maybe in future, for long distance yes, that makes sense, but <300m from radio, I don't think so.
Batteries + accessories
Recommendation on the website was around 1300-1500mAh. I went with a 1300mAh 6S, for awesome price of 23€ a piece. On that batteries, when I kick the sticks, around 3+mins. When flying easily, around 4-7mins. More than enough for my attention span in this level of focus lol. I bought 2pcs at the beginning, soon another 2…
Also, I would recommend some kind of repair kit, with the basic tools to fix the drone. Around 25€ on Aliexpress or similar. Next thing would be propellers. I bought a dark purple, for dark slick look. More on that in some other post.
Another update here, for 6s drone of this size, I would go for the 1500mAh batteries, because the drone has soooo much power to carry them.
Final
That would be all to my choosing of a drone. Strong small package, with which I’m able to learn, crash and learn. Hope it will save you some time. Check this article out, to find out, how to connect it all together.
Expenses (roughly at the time of making {nov 2025}):
- pc sim Liftoff - 19.99€ (awesome community + very good analog looks)
- controller Radiomaster Pocket ELRS 2.4 GHz- 69.99€
- charger DII Mark 2 - 99.99€
- drone iFlight Nazgul XL5 V1.1 ECO Analog BNF ELRS 2.4GHz + GPS - 280€
- batteries (CNHL Black Series LiPo 6S 1300mAh) - 24€/piece
- some other stuff (propellers, cables, battery storage cases, tools…) - approx 20-40€
- legal stuff to fly in slovakia (UAS operator + insurance) - 30€(one-time) + 60€/year ***
Total around 500€+ BUT, keep in mind, that the first is always the most expensive one. For example, maybe u gonna buy second, in a year, you won't have to buy batteries, charger, controller (you can have one controller for multiple drones)... so then just the drone. And when building a custom one the price starts at just around 150€ for 5inch one.
* to each neccesary thing (drone model, controller, batteries), to operat drone, there is maaany more options, i just went for the value/price one, at the time
** one battery on my drone, when harder on throttle is about 4mins - keep that in mind, how long do you want your flights to be → if longer, then maybe 7’ with bigger pack is goin’ to be better