Looking for the best drones under $100 with the longest flight time? Then you’ve come to the right place.
Our Top Picks:
- Best Overall Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time: Holy Stone HS110D (flight time: 10 minutes)
- Best Entry-Level Kids Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time: Loolin Drone (flight time: 20 minutes)
- Best Budget Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time: Holy Stone HS430 (flight time: 13 minutes)
- Best Camera Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time: DEERC D10 2K Drone (flight time: 12 minutes)
- Best Feature-Rich Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time: Holy Stone HS440 (flight time: 20 minutes)
- Best Easy-To-Fly Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time: NEHEME Drone (flight time: 11 minutes)
To see the detailed review of each drone, please continue reading till the end. We will also share some guidance about the flight time and what to look for when buying a drone. This information will help you make better purchase decisions for the best drones with the longest flight time but under the $100 price range.
How Much Flight Time Can You Expect From A Drone Under $100?
The drones under $100 are usually entry-level drones. So you can’t expect much out of them. Usually, they give an average flight time of around 10-15 minutes. If there are more batteries available with the drone, then the total flight time can be a bit more.
As a fun toy and to get a bit of experience on how to fly a drone, these entry-level drones are the perfect choice. But if you want a bit of a professional drone flying experience, with a great camera and other flight features, go with mid-range or high-end drones.
Mid-range drones can cost anywhere from $200 – $500. They offer a decent flight time of around 15-20 minutes.
But if you are looking for drones with the longest flight time, you need to go for the higher-end drones. These drones cost anywhere from $500 – $1000 and above. You get at least 25 – 25 minutes of flight time with them. For instance, the DJI Mini 3 Pro drone costs more than $1000 and has a flight time of up to 34 minutes.
Best Overall Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time – Holy Stone HS110D
Flight Time: 10 min
Range: 100 m
Weight: 149 grams
Camera: 1080P HD
Overview
If you’re looking for the best overall drone under $100 with the longest flight time, the Holy Stone HS110D is our topic. From features, to durability, from camera, and ease of use, the drone comes out as a decent pick in all departments. With each battery, you get up to 10 minutes of flight time which is expected from the drone in this budget segment. There are 2 batteries so in total you will get up to 20 minutes of flight time.
What I Like
- I like the classy look of the drone – it comes in black and has a relatively bigger size which feels nice when flying the drone.
- This is a nice drone that looks and feels just like a premium drone but comes at a very inexpensive price. So it would be a great pick if you just want to test your drone flying skills as a beginner drone pilot.
- The next best thing about this drone is its range. It offers up to 100m of maximum range which means you can fly it up to a nice distance and enjoy the drone flying experience.
- Another nice thing about this drone is that it doesn’t make a lot of noise. (Check out this guide to learn more about drone sound levels and noise.)
- The drone is easy to set up and control. It comes with all the basic features from altitude hold, voice control, gesture control, and more, making it one of the best entry-level drones.
- The best thing is this drone comes from Holy Stone brand, a popular drone brand in the budget segment. They are known for great customer support so don’t have to worry about any technical issues with your drone.
What I Don’t Like
- The drone is lightweight so you need to fly it carefully in windy conditions.
- It would have been great if the controller was a bit lightweight to handle.
Why Avoid:
- If your priority is taking high-quality and professional-level videos and shots, this drone may not be the right option.
- The drone doesn’t come with GPS, so it may not be the right fit if you’re looking for a GPS-enabled drone.
Why Buy:
- If you’re looking for a classy-looking drone that is easy and fun to fly, then this drone is the right option for you.
- If you want good customer support from the drone brand, then again this Holy Stone drone is the right choice.
>> Check the current price here (on Amazon)
If you want to learn more about this drone, check out my detailed review of the Holy Stone HS110D drone.
Best Entry-Level Kids Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time – Loolinn Drone
Flight Time: 20 min
Range: 80 m
Weight: 131.7 grams
Camera: 720P
Overview
Loolin drone is a nice toy-grade drone that is perfect for kids, especially a great option as a gift. It has a simplistic yet classy look and comes with 3 rechargeable batteries. The best part, each battery offers you about 20 minutes of flight time, which is pretty impressive for a drone in this low-budget segment. In total, you get up to 60 minutes of flight time.
What I Like
- It’s a beginner-friendly drone suitable for kids of 10 years and more.
- This drone doesn’t come with too many bells and whistles. So you don’t have to worry about learning all those features. All you need to learn is flying the drone making it the perfect choice for kids and beginner drone enthusiasts.
- I like the design of the drone, the whole white color of the drone gives it a premium feel.
- It also comes with a stable hover feature which means the drone can hover and maintain a stable position. This allows better quality pictures and video-capturing abilities.
- At the given price point, the drone also comes with many batteries and propeller guards which is pretty impressive. These additional benefits make the drone a value-for-money deal.
What I Don’t Like
- This is a lightweight drone so you need to fly it carefully in windy conditions. In fact, it is good to avoid flying this drone in strong winds.
- The camera quality is not that great – it’s only 720P. The Holy Stone drone examples we share in this guide come with 1080P cameras. So you will have to go with such drones or an expensive drone if picture quality is your main priority.
Why Avoid:
- If you are looking for a good camera drone, then this may not be the right pick for you.
- If you are looking for a feature-rich drone, then this may not be the perfect choice.
Why Buy:
- If you are looking for a simple and easy-to-use drone, then this is the best choice for you.
- The drone has a nice look and feels premium – a great option to give on any occasion.
- If you are looking for drones suitable for kids and beginner drone enthusiasts, this is the right pick as there’s not much of a learning curve.
>> Check the current price here (on Amazon)
Best Budget Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time – Holy Stone HS430
Flight Time: 13 min
Range: 150 m
Weight: 79 grams
Camera: 1080P
Overview
The Holy Stone HS430 is another great drone that comes at a very affordable price range. It is also one of the drones with the longest flight time in this budget-friendly segment with each battery offering you almost 13 minutes of flight time.
The drone comes with two modular LiPo batteries. Apart from this, it comes with a lot of features like headless mode, circle fly, one key take-off, throw-to-go, altitude hold, flips, voice control, and much more.
What I Like
- The first thing I like about this drone is its compact design. It is a foldable drone that can be fit in small spaces which makes it highly portable.
- The next best thing about this drone is its camera quality. Yes, you may not get very stable images because there is no gimbal support, but still the picture quality is pretty decent, thanks to the 1080p camera.
- The drone is quite easy to fly as it comes with user-friendly controls, and offers a good flying experience.
- One of the best and most standout features of this drone is the Return To Home feature. It allows the drone to return to its initial take-off point so you don’t have to worry about losing your drone anymore. It will automatically return to its original spot thanks to this feature.
What I Don’t Like
- The drone is very light – weighs only 79 grams which makes it vulnerable to getting carried away by heavy winds.
Why Avoid:
- If you’re looking for a high-quality camera drone, this drone may not be the best choice yet. You will have to invest in premium DJI drones.
- If you’re looking for a heavy drone that can be flown in windy conditions, you will have to look for other drones.
Why Buy:
- If you are looking for a great value-for-money drone at an affordable price range, this drone is the perfect pick for you.
- If you are looking for a nice brand that offers great customer service, this drone is once again a great choice.
- Moreover, if you are looking for a feature-loaded, durable drone and get the experience of professional drone flying experience yet have a limited budget, this drone makes a perfect choice.
>> Check the current price here (on Amazon)
Pro Tip: Did you know that drones under 250 grams don’t need any certifications for flying? Most of all the drones we mentioned in this guide fall under the 250-gram drone category. So you can be assured about that. But still, if you are looking for more drone recommendations, I highly recommend checking out our guide on the best drones under 250 grams.
Best Camera Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time – DEERC D10 2K Drone
Flight Time: 12 min
Range: 80 m
Weight: 164 grams
Camera: 2K HD
The DEERC D10 2K drone is a great feature-rich drone with relatively higher camera quality than other drones in this list. It comes with a 2K HD camera along with FPV (first-person view) live video features.
The higher camera resolution ensures that every picture you take is of top-notch quality and detail. You may not get the same picture quality experience that you’d get from a high-end 4K camera drone. But still, the DEERC D10 offers. For the price, the camera is one of the best. With simple hand gestures, you can easily take nice quality pictures from the drone.
What I Like
- With each battery, you get around 12 minutes of flight time and the drone comes with 2 modular batteries. So in total, you get at least 24 minutes of flight time which I like about this drone.
- The next best thing that I love about this drone is its durability. It is a nicely designed drone that is made to last longer.
- You can use this drone both indoors and outdoors, thanks to propeller guards. It protects the propellers from any damage and offers a smooth drone flying experience.
- If you are looking for a high-speed drone, then this is the perfect choice.
- And even when it’s night, you can easily fly this drone, thanks to the special lights. These lights are attached to each of the four ends of the drone.
- You get all the basic drone features like one-key-take-off and headless mode. These features are also present in mid and high-end professional drones. So it provides you a nice opportunity to learn how to use these features and master your drone flying skill set.
- This is an FPV drone; so the remote control is designed such that you can place your phone on it and get the first person view. In other words, it allows you to see what the drone is seeing which is a cool feature.
What I Don’t Like
- The drone is lightweight so it may struggle when you try to fly it in a windy condition
- The range of the drone is only 80 m. It would have been better if it was slightly more, but considering the price point the drone comes, it is understandable.
- Even though you get the best quality camera, it can still be a bit shaky while you do video recordings. Also, the app is not very user-friendly to tweak and use the camera features of the drone.
Why Avoid:
- The drone doesn’t come with a GPS feature which allows easy tracking of the drone. So for that feature, you may have to look for other drones usually in the mid-range or high-end segment.
- Even though the picture quality is decent, it can’t match the quality of high-end drones like those from DJI.
Why Buy:
- If you are looking for an affordable drone with a nice camera quality and the longest flight time, this drone is the right pick.
- If you are a beginner drone pilot and want to get a value-for-money drone, then buying this drone would be a wise move.
>> Check the current price here (on Amazon)
If you’re looking for a drone that doesn’t need a smartphone for flying, I highly recommend checking out my guide on the 7 best drones that don’t need a smartphone to operate.
Best Feature-Rich Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time: Holy Stone HS440
Flight Time: 20 min
Range: 100 m
Weight: 166 grams
Camera: 1080P
Overview
If you’re looking for a nice beginner-friendly drone that offers a lot of features and comes from a reputed brand, then this Holy Stone HS440 is the right choice for you.
It offers 20 minutes of flight time which is pretty impressive for a drone in this affordable segment. It comes with many features like circle fly mode, tap fly mode, headless mode, altitude hold, auto-landing as well as gyroscopic stabilization. That’s why we have put it in the best feature-rich drone category in the low budget-segment.
What I Like
- The most stand-out thing to me about this drone, other than its features, is the customer service of Holy Stone. Holy Stone is popular in the industry for making nice quality affordable drones. But they are also well-known for their great customer service. Even if you face any slightest issue, Holy Stone customer representatives are very helpful to solve your problem.
- The next best thing about this drone is that it comes with an automotive hover feature which allows it to hover on its own. This feature is good for beginners since you don’t have to worry about hovering it in one place.
- The drone comes with a 1080P HD camera which is a pretty neat feature at this price point. Moreover, you can adjust the camera angle up to 90 degrees. Overall, you get a decent camera experience.
- Another noteworthy thing about this drone is its ease of use and setup. The controls and buttons are pretty easy to navigate and there isn’t much lag to your commands from the controller which is cool since it gives a nice drone flying experience.
What I Don’t Like
- The drone is not very heavy, so it can be challenging to fly it in windy conditions.
- The drone doesn’t come with any GPS feature, which is acceptable considering the price point of the drone. For getting a GPS feature, you will have to get at least invest in a mid-range drone.
- It would have been great if we could charge the battery a bit faster.
Why Avoid:
- If you are looking for an advanced camera drone with very high-quality pictures, then this drone is not the right pick for you. You will have to go with high-end drones for that purpose.
- If you’re looking for a GPS-enabled drone, then this drone may not be a perfect fit for you.
- If you are looking for an entry-level drone without many bells and whistles, then you can go with toy-grade drones.
Why Buy:
- The HolyStone HS440 drone is highly durable and easy to use. Plus, it comes with a tough carrying case which is a bonus.
- If you are looking to buy a drone from a well-known brand that offers nice customer support, then this is the right choice for you.
- If you are looking for a drone with intelligent features yet available at an affordable price range, then this drone is the right pick for you.
>> Check the current price here (on Amazon)
If you’re looking to learn more about Holy Stone drones, I highly recommend checking out my guide about the best Holy Stone drones.
Best Easy-To-Fly Drone Under $100 With Longest Flight Time: NEHEME NH525 Drone
Fight Time: 11 minutes
Range: 100 m
Weight: 105 grams
Camera: 1080P HD
Overview
The NEHEME NH525 is a nice foldable drone that is great for beginners. It is foldable, and equipped with all the basic features that would be expected from an entry-level drone. If you are new to drone-flying and want to get the feel of how to fly drones, then this drone is the perfect pick to start your drone-flying journey.
What I Like
- The first thing I like the most about this drone is its compact design. It’s a foldable drone so it can easily fit in small spaces which is convenient while carrying or traveling.
- The best thing about this drone is that it is quite easy to fly and use. Even kids below 10-14 years can learn how to fly this drone and master their drone flying skills.
- It has a nice build quality which ensures that it can last longer. It can tolerate the wear and tear of daily usage with ease.
- One noteworthy thing about the drone is that it comes with extra blade guards and blades. So you don’t have to worry about damaging any blade as you will always have extra pairs to replace.
What I Don’t Like
- The drone doesn’t come with a GPS feature. This means it would be harder for you to locate the drone if it flies away with strong wind or crashes somewhere else.
- Even though it comes with a 1080P camera, you may not get the best quality footage. It will just help you take decent quality shots which is expected for the price range of the product.
Why Avoid:
- If you are looking for a great camera drone, then avoid this drone.
- Also, if you are looking for a drone with a GPS feature, then it may not be the right choice.
Why Buy:
- If you are looking for an easy-to-fly, beginner-friendly drone with the longest flight time, then this drone is the perfect choice.
- The drone comes with many features like altitude hold, one-key take-off, and headless mode, along with a decent camera. All of these come in a very affordable price range. So if you are on a tight budget, yet want a good, feature-rich drone, then this drone is the right pick for you.
>> Check the current price here (on Amazon)
What To Look For When Buying A Drone?
When you are looking for a drone under $100 with the longest flight time, the first thing you should be looking at is the flight time. In the under $100 category, most drones on average offer 8-10 minutes of flight time (per battery). But some drones may also offer 12-20 minutes of flight time depending on the battery and technology used.
For instance, the Holy Stone HS440 offers around 20 minutes of flight time which is pretty impressive based on the flight time.
The next thing to look for is the build quality. You may not get super durable drones as you would at a higher price point, but still, you can find pretty decent quality drones.
Purchasing a drone with good build quality ensures that it will last longer. Drones that are flimsy can easily fly away with the wind or may break easily. So avoid purchasing such drones.
The next thing to look at is the camera quality. At this price point, you will usually get an entry-level camera and video recording features. The quality of the camera would be around 720P, or 1080P in most cases. But sometimes, you can also get drones with a 2K camera. For 4K Cameras and video capturing capabilities, you will have to go with drones in the mid-range or the high-end range.
Finally, it is important to look at the features. Most drones in this under $100 category will offer you basic features like altitude hold, headless mode, one-key take-off, etc. But remember, the more features you get, the more time you have to invest in learning all those features and operating the drone.
For instance, most Holy Stone drones mentioned in this guide are feature rich. But if you’re looking for a simple toy-grade drone that is fun and easy to fly, it would be a wise move to consider a simplistic drone like the Loolin drone.
Conclusion
In short, the best drones under $100 with the longest flight time include drones from brands like Holy Stone, DEERC, Loolin, and NEHEME. If you are looking for a reputed brand that offers great customer service, go with the Holy Stone drone.
Even though you can’t get professional camera quality from drones at this price point, the DEERC D10 drone offers a 2K camera feature which is great.
If you are specifically looking for simple toy-grade drones that don’t come with too many features, go with other drone brands listed in this guide. For making a perfect choice, base your drone purchase decision, consider factors like battery, durability, design, camera, and features.
