Best drones for kids: Featured Image

4 Best drones for kids [2019] : Buying guide for kid pilots

Best drones for kids : Updated Sep 2017

Best drones for kids: A quick overview

  • Syma X9 Fly car
  • Estes proto X SLT
  • Millennium Falcon
  • UDI U27
Best drones for kids: Fly Car

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What to expect?

Design and build

Design

Unlike the regular, beginner drones under $50, in this list of best drones for kids, we've picked quadcopters that are designed pretty well and "cool" so that kids will love it! This is not just for aesthetic purposes, the design may even directly be related to the flight characteristics. For example, the Syma X9 Fly Car is designed to both look AND function like a flyable car.

Build

Don’t expect extreme high quality build with any of the drones for kids and its components in this price range. Please try not to use them TOO rashly or in harsh weather. If you are a parent, we recommend you advice your kids to use these quadcopters carefully. You’ll quickly be disillusioned if you do not. That being said, again, we’ve tried to distill down to the ones that are most sturdy and capable of taking a beating.

Flight characteristics and functionalities

With these drones in the best drones for kids list, expect to be able to fly indoors perfectly well. As for outdoor flying, some of the quads like the Syma X-9 fly can handle low-wind conditions while others, like the ESTES 4606 may get pushed around even with the slightest of winds. Typically, the bigger the quad, the better it is at handling winds. At the same time, smaller quads are easier to carry around and use indoors!

As far as functionalities go, most come with gyros, which should make flying easier for newbies. You can use these features to progressively make it harder for you to fly by enabling them at first and then disabling them (switching modes). Most of the "drones" can also do basic aerobatics with the press of a button!

Camera

Most drones for kids, especially the ones that are well below $30, do not come with a camera. The ones that do fall in the costlier end (typically $30 – $50). Though these can capture some decent video and pictures, don’t expect anything magnificent. Getting a quadcopter for this price is best done to improve your flying skills than anything else. Getting that awesome aerial photography can be put off to later, when you are ready to buy something fancier. We haven't included any quadcopters that come with a camera in our recommendations in this list. We have instead focused on other cool features and ease of use and flying instead.

Warranty :A heads up

Most drones for kids are not offered by giants like DJI or Parrot. Rather, they are shipped by companies like Syma and Haktoys . The customer service may not be on par with the giants, but most of them respond well in case of a damaged product. Regardless of the quad you buy, make sure you buy from the vendors directly (in case of websites like Amazon). Do not go for cheap knock offs.

We also recommend you get an extended accidental protection plan for anything RC related. Canopy provides a decent plan but there are also others. (Make sure you select the appropriate price setting)

Selection Criteria

The best drones for kids in this article are at a price range of $29.99 to $49.99. We’ve handpicked drones that look cool, easy to use and overall fun that kids will LOVE! Practicing piloting skills on these drones is definitely the right step before moving onto bigger and more complex crafts in the future.

The crafts mentioned in this article are thoroughly reviewed and tested for different traits including the overall fun element, design and build, ease and flexibility of control and flight characteristics!

At the end of each model’s review, we have listed what is awesome and what is not so awesome for each model to help you quickly glance over the pros and cons before making a decision to purchase these selected best drones for kids.


Syma X9 Fly Car

Best drones for kids: Fly Car

The Syma X9 fly car is a quadcopter and a car all in one. Kids will LOVE this model because of the flexibility it offers. It will be fun for kids to show off to their friends a model that is capable of acting both as a land and aerial vehicle! This is certainly one of the best drones for kids out there.

Design and build

For something that is made of plastic, the Syma X9 is extremely durable and should last long. The craft is well constructed and fitted together pretty well. The blades and the body can take a lot of beating, including crashing into objects and rough landings. The model also comes with 4 extra propellers and the replacement parts are extremely cheap.

The LED lights fitted onto the mode are bright and visible enough so telling the orientation of the craft would not be a problem at all!

The model also looks really aesthetically pleasing for its price. Who wouldn’t want a cool looking racing car with propellers fitted on it to make it capable of flying also?

The only little problem with the car drive is that the wheels are only capable of handling smooth and levelled surfaces due to its thin construction. Overall, a very awesome buy and perfectly comes under the best drones for kids list.

Flight and Control

The flight of this craft is extremely stable for its price and it can handle windy conditions pretty well, making it a great indoor AND outdoor flyer. And who are we kidding? Since it can not only fly but also drive, it is possible to just land and drive around if it suddenly gets windier than the craft can handle!

The flying overall is very smooth and easy for beginners and kids should be able to pick up on how to fly this craft pretty quickly. It is also capable of doing basic flips and loops and other manuevers, adding to the enjoyment factor although doing flips involves losing a lot of altitude so caution is advised. This is a great craft to practice your RC skills on, while having loads and loads of fun.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Extremely enjoyable due to the 2 in 1 car and quadcopter flying factor
  • Smooth, stable and easy flying for kids
  • Can do flips and other basic manuevers
  • Durable and long lasting build quality
  • Aesthetically pleasing looks
  • Resilient to low wind conditions, making it a good indoor and outdoor flyer

Cons

  • The car driving mode requires smooth and levelled surfaces
  • Only capable of flying up to 50 meters in range
  • Might be hard to quickly steer or change direction
  • Needs a lot of height if you perform flips - Loses a LOT of altitude on flips

Estes Proto X SLT Nano

Design and build

The Estest Proto X SLT is a Nano quadcopter and one of the smallest ‘drones’ available today. Only about the size of a small coin, this quadcopter can be carried around pretty easily.

Don’t be fooled by its small size and toy like looks. This quadcopter is pretty sturdy and can take a beating and is also pretty durable.

It has LED lights under the propellers and in the body to make it easier for the pilot to identify the orientation and position of the craft, making it a great night time flying machine.

The design of the quad is pretty cute and awesome making it worthy of being included in this best drones for kids list.

Flight and Control

The Estest Proto X SLT has a very stable gyroscope and flies reliably and fast for its size. The craft is also pretty responsive to stick movements, making it arguably one of the most responsive in its class and price range.

This quadcopter is also great for indoor flying because of its small size especially because it is less likely to collide into and damage other objects in your household. The other major advantage is that it can pass through almost anywhere, making it the most manueverable.

The main difficulty you may experience is with flying this craft the very small controller which is difficult to hold and handle, if you have large hands. This should not be a problem for most kids, however.

The other downside is that you may find that you cannot fly this quadcopter outside reliably at all, even in the slightest of winds because it will get swept away by gusts pretty easily. Overall, it definitely makes the list for the best drones for kids

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Bright LEDs to give you an idea of the orientation and to warn of batteries ending.
  • Durable, strong and sturdy, despite the size
  • Vert stable indoors and dependable for the beginner
  • Nano quadcopter - you can technically fit it inside your pocket!

Cons

  • Battery is not removable or replaceable. You have to wait until you recharge again to keep flying
  • Small range of flight
  • Indoor use only. Cannot fly outside reliably even in the slightest of winds
  • Transmitter batteries are not included
  • Trimming may be difficult

Air Hogs Millennium falcon drone

Best drones for kids: Millenium Falcon

Design and build

The design of this particular quadcopter is something really unique and awesome. The star wars falcon look makes it really stand out from the crowd and kids will absolutely love.

The overall build is pretty sturdy, durable and strong but it should be noted that it is rather large, relative to the other quadcopters like the Proto X Nano and the TEC Bean so it may not be possible to fly it indoors very well.

A nice thing about this quadcopter is that because of it's design, it adds onto the potential for role-playing and story telling that kids often do during their play time. Without doubt, the drone makes the list for the best drones for kids.

Flight and control

The millennium falcon drone is stable due to its 6 axis stabilization gyro and easy to manuever. It can even handle light winds due to its relatively larger size in this price range. The quadcopter can be controlled with excellent precision and comes with slow and fast speed modes for the beginner and intermediate flyers respectively.

The quad can also do basic flips and rolls, adding to the enjoyment element. Note that the quad may be a little big for indoor flying, especially if you live in a furniture and decoration packed household.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Fast charging for its price range
  • Can hold its stability during light winds
  • Very responsive and stable
  • Decent controller
  • Decent battery life
  • Readily available spare parts
  • Bright LED lights enable you understand its orientation at all times and fly the drone at night

Cons

  • Humming sound louder than most other quadcopters
  • Not everyone may like the millennium falcon look!
  • Rather large, not ideal for indoors

UDI RC U27

Best drones for kids: UDI RC

Design and build

This little beast HAS to be the toughest and the most durable among all the four drones we have listed here. The build quality is great, it even comes with protectors that protect the propellers and still manages to be super lightweight.

The drone also looks downright awesome. No arguments. With its unique placement of the motors, propellers and propeller guards at the bottom and the headlight made to look like red eyes, the quadcopter looks like an awesome (but not scary) spider that the kids will most certainly love!

Overall, an A++ over the design and build! Definitely makes the list for the best drones for kids!

Flight and control

The quadcopter is extremely stable and reliable due to its 6 axis stabilization system making it extremely easy to control. It comes with two modes – low speed and high speed for beginner and intermediate flyers respectively.

The controls can however be too sensitive, even at low speed but it will only be a matter of time before you get used to it. The craft can perform 3D flips and rolls, adding to the fun factor.

Overall, it is a very flyable and very controllable quadcopter that kids will love playing with!

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Stable and easy to control with lights that can be switched on and off via the remote
  • Very durable and tough, comes with protectors that protect the propellers
  • Can fly both indoors and outdoors under mild wind conditions
  • Readily available spare parts
  • LED lights enable you to keep the orientation and position of the drone in check

Cons

  • Can get blown out during mid-high wind conditions, but this is to be expected from most drones in this price range
  • Controls can get too sensitive for some

Conclusion

All of the quadcopters listed above are fun, reliable and durable that kids will really love. On top of that, if you are an adult beginner, these crafts are also perfect to get you started and practice your flying skills, before moving onto costlier and fancier ones!

That's all folks! We hope you loved this buying guide for the best drones for kids. If you did like it, please do help us by sharing it over social media!