FPV Drone Buyer's Guide

Buying your first FPV drone can be really confusing. We’ve made this article just for you! It will help you understand all the options that are available on the market, and allow you to make a good decision suited to your needs. 

Figure out your goal

The most important part of picking your first drone is to figure out what you want to achieve with it. Are you a creative or filmmaker looking to take your productions to the next level? You may already have flown camera drones, but got intrigued by the breathtaking footage that FPV drones can produce. Maybe you’re just looking to relax and experience the freedom of flight! Having a clear purpose in mind will help you decide which drone is best for you.

When camera drones were released, they revolutionized the aerial filming industry. Breathtaking aerial footage was no longer limited to high-budget movies or private pilots. Nowadays, pretty much anyone can get a camera drone and immediately start capturing footage with incredible quality. And while this is great on it’s own, the mass adoption and automatization of the process has also made it harder to stand out.

But then you were browsing the web and came across some footage that you couldn’t figure out how in the world they had captured. And after some research, you realized that those magical shots were made possible with an “FPV drone”, and now you’re going down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out how you can start getting that amazing footage! And thus, you ended up here, learning how to pick the drone that suits your needs.

Well,  you’re in luck! Here at Rotor Riot, we’ve been dealing with FPV drones from their very inception. We’ve helped thousands of pilots through the learning curve, and many of them are now successful FPV filmographers or award-winning competitive pilots! Our mission is to grow the FPV Drone Community, and our goal is to help you become the best FPV pilot you can be! We will walk you through each step of the process, from selecting the correct drone for your needs, to learning to fly without breaking your brand new gear.

Choosing the right drone for your purpose

We’ve grouped the individual needs of different pilots into two categories, based on what we see most often from people who reach out to us for guidance:

“You want to get amazing cinematic footage, to take your video productions to the next level” 

This is a common goal of many people who want to become FPV drone pilots. And now it’s more achievable than ever! FPV drones used to be limited to people with electronics knowledge, soldering skills and a lot of patience. But now, anyone can get their own FPV drone and start making amazing footage!

The best setup we can recommend for you is the Fat Shark HD 3" Starter Kit, which includes all the things you need to start flying in a single package. It's available with a ducted Skylite or Skylite without ducts. The Skylite has been designed to get smooth and swoopy footage with a compact HD camera such as a GoPro or Insta360, but it also makes safety a priority - hence the shields around the fast-spinning propellers of the ducted Skylite. This makes it especially suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, and can even be used in proximity to people. The ducted Skylite can pick up speed quickly to record chase-style footage of moving subjects such as cyclists, skaters, and more! 

While there is a large variety of cinematic drones on the market, our drones in particular are built by experts, right here in the USA, to make sure that the quality is top notch. Our drones are also individually tested by professional FPV drone pilots before they are shipped out, to ensure that they fly perfectly out of the box. We only use components that have been well tested and put through their paces, to ensure that our drones can take a beating and still perform well. And of course, we carry a complete set of replacement parts!

“You want to experience the immersive freedom of flight, and achieve the zen-like, out-of-body state of mind that FPV drones can give you”

Some FPV pilots are just in it for the thrill of flight. Many even have a background in extreme sports, but for one or another reason are no longer able to expose themselves to physical stress like they used to. 

For them, FPV Freestyle Drones are a match made in heaven. The ability to take a drone, put on FPV goggles, and experience that adrenaline rush again without risking life and limb, which allows them to decompress from the stress of daily life, losing themselves in the immersive out-of-body experience that can only be had with FPV flight. 

If this sounds like you, you’ve come to the right place! Our Fat Shark HD 5" Starter Kit is the perfect setup for you, with 3 different builds to choose from. Our 5" drones are able to perform highly dynamic flips and tricks, and can fly really fast, really close to the terrain. As with all our other drones, our these are built in-house in the USA by our expert drone builders, and each drone is tested and tuned to make sure they have that “locked-in” feeling that makes flying enjoyable. The components we use on our drones are also selected by our professional FPV pilots, after putting them through their paces in order to make sure they are both durable and perform well. And a full range of replacement parts and upgrades are available on our store!

A note on repairability and support

Regardless of which path you take to start your own incredible FPV journey, make sure that the gear you get is covered with quality support. Often times, we convince ourselves to buy lower-cost items just to save a few dollars, only to end up regretting it when the items fail quickly and the seller doesn’t stand by his products. 

Here at Rotor Riot, our priority is that you have an excellent FPV experience! Our customer service team is standing by to assist you every step of the way - whether you need some extra help choosing your first drone, or you’re having some trouble with your drone. 

We even have a drone repair service - so that if you crash and break your drone, you can simply send it to us and we will return it to perfect flying condition! We also have replacement parts available for all of our drones - so if you choose to repair it yourself, you can do so easily!