The best drones for kids provide endless hours of fun. And don’t worry, the parents will enjoy them as well. The beauty of some of the drones we’ve chosen is how inexpensive they are. If it doesn’t interest your child after a while, it’s not a huge financial loss.
But if it appeals to them, then the possibilities for upgrades are almost endless. The sky is the limit, so to speak. We’ve looked at a range of drones from very cheap to moderately expensive. If you want to look at only camera drones, then check out our review of the best camera drones for photography.
Our top pick of drones for kids favors the cheap first foray into the field. The Potensic A20 is cheap, easy to use, and fun to fly.
What Is the Best Drone For Kids?
We’ve put together this summary of our recommendations. Some are very cheap and give a brief introduction to flying. Others are more sophisticated for more fun.
- One-button takeoff and landing
- Altitude hold for easy control
- Low battery and range alarms
- Durable and safe design
- User-friendly features for beginners
- 24-minute flight time with three batteries
- Compact and easy-to-carry design
- Safety guards and emergency stop
- Easy-to-fly mini drone
- Colorful LED lights for night flying
- 6-axis gyro for stable flight
- Headless mode and altitude hold
- Exciting tricks like 3D flips, Auto Rotation, and Circle Fly
- Auto hover and one-button takeoff and landing
- Impressive 21-minute flight with three rechargeable batteries
- Headless mode and low-battery alarm
- 720p HD camera with real-time FPV transmission
- Multiple modes for endless fun and excitement
- Beginner-friendly controls with 21-minute flight time
- Safe and durable design, perfect for kids
- Captures stunning 1080p video
- Beginner-friendly altitude control
- Gesture-activated photo and video
- Instant sharing via Wi-Fi
- Easy flying with intuitive phone controls
- High-quality photos and HD720 videos
- Impressive flight time and stable transmission
- Programmable with the Scratch app
- Up to 20 minutes of flying time
- LEDs for easy visibility
- 1080p camera
- Onboard SD card storage
Choosing the Best Drones for Kids
Let’s look at our choices in more detail. We’ll consider ease of flying, battery life, and other features.
1. Potensic A20 Mini Drone
| Brand |
Brand
Potensic
|
| Max Flight Time |
Max Flight Time
15 minutes
|
| Control |
Control
Joystick
|
| Camera |
Camera
No
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Three batteries and shielded rotors
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for their first taste of flying
|
The Potensic A20 is a great starting drone for kids. It’s bright green and small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. It comes with three batteries, each offering about five to six minutes of flight time. Shielded rotors and a simple control pad make this simple and safe to fly.
It has a one-button launch, recover mode, and headless mode. It’s not as frightening as it sounds. It means you don’t need to know which way the drone is pointing. It will respond to the control levers as you use them relative to where you are. All the best drones for kids have this very helpful feature.
Flying a drone often results in it ending up in a tree (I speak from experience). The Potensic A20’s bright green color and hefty construction will help you locate it. A low-power alarm lets you know it’s time to land, and a barometer-controlled altitude hold makes it easy to stabilize the drone.
2. Holyton HT02 Mini Drone: Kids’ RC Quadcopter
| Brand |
Brand
Holyton
|
| Max Flight Time |
Max Flight Time
24 minutes
|
| Control |
Control
Joystick
|
| Camera |
Camera
No
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Three batteries and two chargers for extended flight time
|
| Best For |
Best For
Beginners looking for a slightly different design
|
One neat feature of the Holyton HT02 is that it comes with two USB chargers. This means that while you’re flying, you can charge the other two batteries at the same time. Each one should give you about eight minutes of flight time. So although you won’t get completely uninterrupted flying, it will reduce downtime.
The Holyton HT02 is tiny at 1.85” (47mm). It’s so small it can even fit inside the controller. This protects it well and makes it easy to transport. It has headless mode, one-touch takeoff and landing, and an emergency stop.
The rotor protection is different from the rotor protection found on other drones. Instead of a guard on each rotor, there are two hoops, almost like a rollover cage. But this may not offer as much protection from anything that can fit between the hoops.
Choosing between the Holyton HT02 and the Potensic A20 might simply come down to which you think looks better. The specs and price are both very similar.
3. Syma X20 Mini Drone: Gold, LED, 2.4Ghz, Headless Mode
| Brand |
Brand
Syma
|
| Max Flight Time |
Max Flight Time
5 minutes
|
| Control |
Control
Joystick
|
| Camera |
Camera
No
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
6-axis gyroscope for stability
|
| Best For |
Best For
Indoor flying
|
The palm-sized Syma X20 is a mini drone that’s small enough to easily fly indoors. It also has a 6-axis gyroscope allowing for greater stability. The Syma has a very convenient return-to-base function. And it has the usual altitude hold, headless mode, and one-button takeoff and landing. These are handy features during our early days of flying when control isn’t second nature.
This third drone on this list has a different shape than the first two. The Syma X20 has quadrant-shaped detachable rotor guards. These work as bumpers rather than guards. If you fly up into an object like a tree, there is no protection for the blades and they will get caught. But if you bump into a wall, it will simply bounce right off.
The limited flight time of about five minutes and a fixed battery might count against the Syma. You’ll have to wait about 50 minutes before flying again.
4. Holy Stone HS210 Mini RC Drone for Kids
| Brand |
Brand
Holy Stone
|
| Max Flight Time |
Max Flight Time
21 minutes
|
| Control |
Control
Joystick
|
| Camera |
Camera
No
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Completely shrouded blades, low battery warning
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone wanting a longer flying time
|
The Holy Stone HS210 is ideal if you’re worried about accidents. Safety features include completely shrouded blades that help protect the rotors from damage. On drones, each pair of blades rotates in a different direction to maintain control and stability. The Holy Stone’s rotor blades are color-coded, which makes it easy to put the right blade on the right rotor.
You can toss the Holy Stone HS210 into the air and it will fly. Flight time is seven minutes per battery, and you get three of them. As expected, it has altitude hold, headless mode, one-button takeoff and landing, and emergency stop. The transmitter will beep continuously if the battery is low, ensuring you know when to fly your drone home.
When you do hit an object, the motors cut off to prevent burning out. The Holy Stone HS210 is a good all-rounder from a well-respected manufacturer. It should be on your list if you’re looking for a budget drone for your kids.
5. Potensic A20W Kids Drone
| Brand |
Brand
Potensic
|
| Max Flight Time |
Max Flight Time
21 minutes
|
| Control |
Control
Joystick and phone
|
| Camera |
Camera
720p
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Gravity sensing control, flight path control
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for their first camera drone
|
Like the Holy Stone, the Potensic A20W looks like its cheaper sibling reviewed earlier with its fully shrouded propeller guards. But this has a console-style controller with a mount for your phone. Equipped with a 720p camera, the drone will capture pictures and video in HD and live stream it to your phone.
It has the usual controls, but the Potensic A20W introduces gravity sensing. This means it will respond to the movement of your phone without the use of the controller. Flight Path mode allows you to draw the route you want it to take on the screen.
Three batteries allow up to 21 minutes of flight time. And it comes with one USB charging cable.
The A20W is the same price as the Holy Stone HS340, and it’s a tough choice to make. You might find the extra protection of the propeller guards important. Or you might like the gravity control. Either way, the Potensic A20W is a strong contender.
6. Holy Stone HS260 Drone: 1080P HD Cam, 30 Mins Flight
| Brand |
Brand
Holy Stone
|
| Max Flight Time |
Max Flight Time
30 minutes
|
| Control |
Control
Joystick and phone
|
| Camera |
Camera
1080p
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Adjustable camera, folding rotors, and voice control
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for better quality images
|
As we move through the range of best drones, new features appear. And the Holy Stone HS260 gets two new additions to the spec sheet—a 1080p HD camera and foldable arms. The camera can be adjusted remotely from front-facing to 90º down. This opens up loads of new possibilities for photos and video.
The foldable arms make it easier to pack in your bag or backpack. And all the usual capabilities are there, with the addition of “optical flow positioning.” This means the drone uses optical information as well as gyroscopes to sense its position. This leads to improved stability in altitude hold mode.
You control this drone with a dual-joystick remote control, which you can also mount your phone to. Your phone allows you to use voice control and gesture control. You can also draw your desired route on the screen.
It comes with two batteries and each provides about 15 minutes of flight time. The batteries charge via the supplied USB cable.
The folding function and moveable 1080p HD camera make the Holy Stone HS260 very tempting as the best drone for kids.
7. Ryze Tech Tello: Mini Drone Quadcopter UAV for Kids
| Brand |
Brand
Ryze
|
| Max Flight Time |
Max Flight Time
13 minutes
|
| Control |
Control
Phone
|
| Camera |
Camera
720p
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Electronic image stabilization and vision positioning system
|
| Best For |
Best For
Anyone looking for stabilized outdoor footage
|
So far, the drones we’ve looked at have been mainly aimed at having fun. With the Ryze Tech Tello, we add the possibility of some educational benefit to that fun element.
Ryze is owned by the serious drone manufacturer DJI. And the Tello uses components from the DJI range. The camera is only 720p but it comes with electronic image stabilization. This combines with the “vision positioning system” to provide stable hovering. This means it produces stable videos.
There is no separate controller, but you can connect a Bluetooth controller for additional flexibility. Flight time is about 13 minutes. And although the battery is swappable, there is no separate charger. This is not as practical as some of the competition.
As for educational benefits, your kids can download the Tello Edu app, which allows them to use Scratch to program the drone. Given the increasing emphasis on STEM subjects in schools, this could be a real incentive for choosing the Ryze Tech Tello.
The Ryze Tech Tello is a step up in price. But it has various features that make it a serious contender as the best drone for kids.
8. Holy Stone HS110D
| Brand |
Brand
Holy Stone
|
| Max Flight Time |
Max Flight Time
20 minutes
|
| Control |
Control
Joystick and phone
|
| Camera |
Camera
1020p
|
| Key Features |
Key Features
Large drone with positioning LEDs, removable SD card memory
|
| Best For |
Best For
Flying outdoors when conditions permit
|
The Holy Stone HS110D is the biggest we’ve seen so far. It is a nearly 13” (322mm) square, with a one-piece X-shaped body.
The 1080p HD camera on this drone has a wide 120° viewing angle, providing possibilities for stunning vistas. It records in 1080p to an SD card (not included) on the drone or 720p to your phone.
The controller has status indicators for the selected speed and flight mode. One feature likely to appeal to kids is the four LEDs on the drone itself. On the points of the X shape, under each propeller, they indicate the drone’s status. Usefully, the front lights are white, so you can instantly spot which way the drone is facing. All four flash red if the battery is low, telling you to return to base.
Perhaps because of those LEDs, the two batteries only provide about 10 minutes of flight time each. Propeller protection is in the form of quadrant bumpers. In other ways, the specs match its sibling with app controls. But it doesn’t have voice control.
For the same money, choosing between these two might be difficult. The HS110D looks like it might be more resilient to newbie clumsiness.
Buyer’s Guide
What Are the Legal Requirements for Using a Drone?
There’s no easy way for us to give you accurate information here. It depends entirely on where you live. In the US, drone regulations are overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In the European Union, there are EU-wide regulations governed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The relevant authority in the UK is the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
It’s your responsibility to make sure your drone activity is in compliance with local regulations. Remember that local facilities such as airports or military bases will have specific regulations.
What About Safety?
Common sense is the watchword. Some of these drones are so tiny, they can be safely flown indoors. But you still might want to move your delicate porcelain figurines out of harm’s way.
Always provide the necessary supervision. And ensure that neighbors or other nearby folks aren’t annoyed or endangered by the drone.
Important Features to Look For When Buying Drones for Kids
Features to look out for are automatic hover, protection for rotor blades (and anything they might hit), and weight. You will also find that some drones have a controller like a console game. Others are controlled by a smartphone app. Do you want a camera on your drone? And if so, how important is the picture quality?
There’s a tenfold price difference between the cheapest and the most expensive drone in this review. The good news is that the cheaper end really is cheap. Especially when you consider the technology packed into these things.
All these drones fly by remote control, operated by the pilot. And all of them use rechargeable batteries. Flight time is usually pretty short, and this is something you want to check. Some of the drones reviewed here are tiny—less than 2” (50mm) across. So double-check the size before you order. If you expect something the size of a dinner plate and it’s smaller than a saucer, you might be disappointed.
Also, be aware that any of these drones will be difficult to fly outdoors in any kind of wind. They are so light that even a breeze can carry them away. And it’s possible that the breeze will blow the drone out of the range of the controllers.
What About a Camera Drone?
The cheapest drones for kids don’t have cameras. It seems that if you pay under $50, a camera is just too much to ask for. However, even the most basic camera drones for kids come with 720p HD cameras. It’s not that long ago when this would have impressed you on a mobile phone costing 10 or 20 times as much.
Conclusion: The Best Drone For Kids
The good news is that even the cheapest drones for kids will give them loads of fun. And the most expensive drones will provide them with some serious recording capabilities. If you want a simple yet capable drone for your kids, the Potensic A20 is a great place to start.
If your budget is a little bigger, consider the Holy Stone HS260. With its 1080p HD camera, folding body, and 2 x 15-minute flight time, it is an excellent choice in a tough field.
