Best Drones Under £200

Drones are so much cheaper as we come to the end of 2019 than they ever have been and with multiple companies starting up each week looking to take on the established manufacturers the more the big boys have to up the ante. Luckily for the consumer this usually results in more competitive pricing and getting more tech for your pound – in this article we identify what 200 of your finest British pounds can get you when it comes to UAV’s.

No matter what your budget, it always pays to look around and do your research. We have done the hard work for you here and compiled our top 7 drones for under £200 with some coming in at almost half of the maximum budget.

Drone	Image	Camera	Max Flight Time
1. Hubsan X4		Yes - HD 1080p	20 mins	Check Price
2. Potensic F181		Yes - HD 720p	10 mins x 4	Check Price
3. Parrot Mambo FPV		Yes - HD 720p	10 mins	Check Price
4. Parrot AR 2.0		Yes - HD 720p	12 mins	Check Price
5. MJX Bugs 2		Yes - HD 1080p	18-20 mins	Check Price
6. UDIRC VR Glasses		Yes - Hd 720p	10 mins	Check Price
7. JJRC H8D		Yes - HD 720p	10 mins	Check Price

If you are looking for something a little cheaper then why not check out our top ten drones under £100 but if you are really looking for something with a decent shelf life and that will keep you (and the kids) entertained for more than a few months then the drones reviewed here could hardly be a better starting place – not only that, but we have rounded up the best offers from the most reputable retailers so you can be rest assured that you are getting the very best deal.

1. Hubsan H501S X4 FPV Drone 

Best for full 1080p HD – 10/10

The Hubsan H501S X4 FPV drone is a UAV that we have been a fan of for a while but previously it was outside this price bracket. Whether you choose to up your budget and add a few extra accessories is up to you, but either way you are getting a hell of a lot of technology for not a lot of money – when compared with other models with similar specs at least.

Hubsan are one of the big players in the budget and mid-end drone market and have made waves over the last 12 to 18 months with some of their exceptional products.

There are two key advantages of the Hubsan over the Parrot and Potensic drones (our second, third and fourth choice):

1. It has a controller with a 4.3″ screen meaning there is no need to use your smartphone
2. It can enjoy flight times of around 20 minutes from a single battery

These two reasons alone will make the Hubsan H501S X4 a much more serious proposition than the Parrot and the Potensic to some people and it is true that in many ways the Hubsan excels. One thing we found to be slightly less flattering was the stability when taking video, but then I guess you can’t have everything – and we really are being quite nit-picky with that statement.

When it comes to piloting the X4 it is perfect for beginners and more advanced pilots. There is a 1 key return to home feature, follow me and altitude hold as standard, the addition of GPS to this quadcopter is what really seals the deal – it works brilliantly too. The 1080p full HD onboard camera is excellent and provides you with the ability to take some excellent footage. When the drone is stable with altitude hold you can get some simply stunning shots and they record on an SD card which is handy for extra storage.

The controller is the perfect mix of nostalgia and modern technology as it has a very familiar feel to it as soon as you pick it up, yet the 4.3 inch LCD screen gives it that superior feel. Should you fly out of range you need not worry as the Hubsan will come back to you like a doting dog (just with a little less slobber hopefully).

Overall, we loved the Hubsan H501S X4, if nothing else it provided an excellent FPV experience at a fraction of the cost of some other drones and the return to home and built in GPS were very reliable and a lifesaver at times.

Check Latest Price of the Hubsan X4 FPV

2. Potensic F181 FPV Drone With Monitor and Carry Case Bundle

Best all in one package under £200 premium option – 9.5/10

The Potensic F181 FPV quadcopter is no stranger to us and it has long been one of our favourite drones. This bundle allows room to purchase even more spares to give you an excellent set up, all in one beautifully presented package.

Featuring a range of high end features such as altitude hold, one key take off and landing and stepless speed changing, this drone is perfect for beginners and more experienced pilots alike. The version we are featuring here comes with a 5.8GHz LCD FPV monitor to allow you to enjoy an excellent first person view whilst flying your drone.

Camera wise, you are getting a 720p HD camera that holds its own among some of the bigger brands and whilst it might not have a built in gimbal it does have 3 axis and 3 accelerometers to ensure smooth flight. The manufacturers recommend that this drone is used by anyone 12 years plus so with some close supervision it is also a drone that the kids can enjoy.

You get 4 batteries with this package and with each battery lasting around 8-10 minutes from a single 50 minute charge you can be up in the air for well over 30 minutes with this selection and if you fly sensibly you can achieve flight times of around 40 minutes from your 4 batteries.

In addition to the easy to use controller, LCD monitor, quadcopter and batteries you will also get a very handy carry case, an extra motor, 4GB memory card, USB card reader, the battery charger and a monitor charger – you will also get 4 spare blades in case of damage – although the propellers are well protected so you shouldn’t be too concerned about that.

At the price and as an all in one package it is hard to beat this offer from Potensic and we give it a well deserved 10 out of 10 – if you are looking for FPV and want something pretty beefy and impressive then this is the drone for you. If you are more in the market for an excellent camera then the Hubsan might be for you so in that case opt for our top pick in this category.

Check Latest Price of the Potensic F181 FPV Bundle

3. Parrot Mambo FPV Mini Drone

Best Racing Drone Under £200 – 9/10

The Parrot Mambo FPV mini drone is our first highest ranked Parrot offering and sold as a full FPV package, this bundle is a great starting point for anyone looking for a sub-£200 racing drone or for an FPV enthusiast who wants to add a new craft to their fleet.

Although the Mambo will suit anyone new to drones and for almost any purpose, it is very much marketed towards drone racers and there is even a dedicated Mambo Racing Club where you can join racing events with other Mambo owners.

Sporting a 720p camera with excellent live streaming capabilities to your smartphone screen, the Mambo comes bundled with a controller and an FPV headset (dubbed the Parrot Cockpit Glasses 2).

Battery life is an impressive 10 minutes which considering the speed this thing can travel and the power consumption of the camera and transmission is pretty good going.

It has a 3 axis gyroscope and 3 axis accelerometer and connects via bluetooth with a range of 100m for the FlyPad (standard controller) and 30m with your smartphone. The camera has a 120 degree field of vision and can transmit HD images at 60FPS – making it perfect for racing or high speed video.

If you are using the Parrot Mambo for video recording then you might want something a little more stable, but for pure fun and enjoyment it is hard to beat.

Check Latest Price of the Parrot Mambo FPV

4. Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Elite Edition (Jungle Skin)

Top all round value, a joy to fly and great for social media lovers – 9/10

Before DJI came and stormed the drone world with their expensive (but really quite nice) technology, we saw Parrot dominating the UAV market and to some extent they still have some of the best looking and performing technology in the industry.

The Parrot AR Drone 2.0 is a drone that would usually fall just outside of our price point for this article. However, stocked direct from Parrot on this reputable third party site, the drone is in this price bracket when you purchase it in the jungle skin – which just so happens to be our favourite.

To give the AR Drone 2.0 a score of 9/10 we had to be seriously impressed – and we were.

Going back to DJI, you might think they invented the perfect social media drone with the Spark, but that is not so as the AR Drone 2.0 has been around a little longer and is a true social butterfly. This quadcopter has a fantastic 720p HD camera on board with a dedicated free app that allows you to take photos and create films and gives you the ability to share them straight to your favourite social media channels – including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

This drone is not just about the social media sharing though, although we do think it is pretty cool that there is no need for cables, SD cards and the like when it comes to storing your footage as your phone/tablet will store it on the fly (you see what we did there).

When it comes to flying the Parrot you are treated to a very intuitive piloting experience using your smart phone and the AR.Freeflight 2.0 app to control your craft. There is no controller which may take seasoned pilots a little getting used to but for those who are new to drone flying it is a breeze. The on board pressure sensor allows for an extremely stable flight no matter what the conditions or altitude. You can use the headless mode, tilting your smartphone to move or use the virtual control sticks on your screen.

The Parrot automatically holds its position unless you direct it to move and it is exceptional at this. This makes this drone easy to control for beginners but also provides enough of a test for experts. The drone has all sorts of flips and moves built in that can be performed at the touch of a button and the video/camera streams back to your mobile device at a range of up to 50m or so.

The app is compatible with iOS and Android and you can even use Amazon Kindle Fire, HD and HDX models with it too.

A battery life of around 11-12 minutes as standard is provided with the 1000mAh Lithium Polymer battery and you can purchase extras for around £20-£35 that will extend your flight time considerably.

The only negative we found with the AR Drone 2.0 was the lack of controller as it is nice to have the display completely clear when streaming video and trying to take stills. That being said, this drone would not be in our test price range if it had a controller and as such this becomes our favourite pick at this price point.

Check Latest Price of Parrot AR Drone 2.0

5. MJX Bugs 2 WiFi

Best Beginner Drone For Less Than £200 – 8/10

A relatively new player to the market is the MJX Bugs 2 WiFi drone which has a number of features associated with much more expensive drones. First off, it has an excellent 1080p HD camera on board and also features GPS with a range of up to 1km (0.5km with video for FPV).

Thanks to the 1800mAH high capacity battery, the MJX Bugs 2 is capable of flight times of around 16-20 minutes which puts it almost on a par with the Hubsan. There is no inbuilt screen on the Bugs 2 controller, but you can attach your smartphone to the controller to act as a screen using the Bugs Go app.

The return to home function is pretty intuitive on the Bugs 2 with it automatically returning to you if the battery runs too low or it heads out of range – this makes it perfect for beginners. The drone is very easy to control thanks the decently sized controller and a 6 axis gyroscope ensuring you get super steady flight.

The Bugs 2 looks the part too, with 4 LED lights and a sporty looking design that is sure to make you the envy of your friends. Being quite nippy and with excellent battery life, the Bugs 2 would be a good alternative racing drone to the Mambo although it is a little more expensive.

Check Latest Price of the MJX Bugs 2

6. UDIRC VR Glasses Drone

Best VR Goggles Drone Under £200 – 8/10

UDI are becoming synonymous with making quality budget drones and with this package they have made the foray in to the world of VR Goggles. Essentially this is a top quality drone that has all the FPV capabilities right out of the box and the on board 120 degree wide angle HD camera makes this a most enjoyable experience.

The drone itself is very well designed and made of top quality materials. The advantage of buying this drone over a cheaper one with a cheaper headset is that this headset comes with a built in top quality LCD display that is designed for this exact purpose. You do not have to put your smartphone in and hope for the best – it just works right out of the box.

The controller that comes bundled with this package is also pretty well made, it is very simple and easy to use but it has excellent responsiveness. The headset also responds really well to the drone and gives real time video with no noticeable lag.

Flying time is around 8-10 minutes typically and you get a second battery with this package so you can double your flying times. Spare parts are easy to get hold of if you need them too.

Standard features that you might expect include 3D flips and rolls, altitude hold, one touch take off/landing and a headless flying mode. If you fly out of range then you can expect to here the alarm beeping so you will know to fly a little closer to where you are.

All in all, this is an excellent FPV drone package at this price point.

Check Latest Price of the UDI VR Glasses Package

7. JJRC H8D FPV Drone

Best FPV Drone Under £200 and suitable for kids – 7/10

This is not the first time we have featured a JJRC drone at dronedeliver.co.uk and it probably won’t be the last. The H8D is an excellent FPV package that comes complete with everything you need to get going, not only that but the manufacturer suggests it is suitable for ages 6 and up (although we stick to the usual 14+).

Coming in at the lower end of our budget this is one of the best value for money packages we have ever reviewed and if you want video, FPV, good battery life and ease of use then you probably don’t need to look much further.

In fact, this drone is so cheap that it could have featured in our cheaper drones guide – but it holds its own amongst this competition.

The 6 axis quadcopter has a battery life of around 10 minutes and back up batteries are pretty cheap to come by. Featuring a HD camera and FPV display on the controller itself, the 2.4Ghz controller might look a little cumbersome but has that brilliant retro feeling that will have you thinking you are back in the 80’s – but this would have been the coolest thing in the world back then!

The camera is HD but is limited to 2MP and although you can get some decent shots with it, the camera is going to be better suited to aiding your flying than for winning any photography awards.

When it comes to fun the JJRC H8D drone has it in abundance. It has some of the nicest looking LED lighting we have seen, is capable of plenty of flips and rolls and 3D stunts as well as having a one key return which is great for beginners.

We didn’t test it with a water cannon, hook and basket or bubble blower but have it on good authority that these features are a lot of fun too.

If you are looking for a decent FPV drone that is suitable for young people and won’t break the bank then you can’t go far wrong with this drone at the price.

Check Latest Price of the JJRC H8D