I've been looking for the best deals on drones all week because I've been feeding a live blog on the best drone deals for black friday 2024, but at the same time I'm a responsible writer who cares about drones and people having a good experience with them.
The result? Well, I've not been able to fire off as much content as perhaps the algorithms that power the world these days would expect of a Live page because, if we're being absolutely honest, the deals thus far have been limited in scope. There are a few stand-outs, for sure, but a few factors seem to have made it hard to find good deals.
One is that supplies (in America especially) have been constricted, so there is less incentive to discount. The other is the DJI Neo – a drone so new, different and good that it actually manages to be cheaper than a lot of drones – and offer more – without needing to be discounted! That's impressive, but it does mean it's harder to talk about discounts!
There is a cheaper choice that's better for photographers and has been significantly discounted – the DJI Mini 4K. (Check my Mini 4K v Neo comparison) This is more 'old school' (in that the folding ultralight drone concept has been around for about 5 years now, so not exactly historic!!) but if the creativity is more important to you the much longer battery life and more stable video (plus RAW photos) are winners. At 20% off this is also a proper 'deal', I'd say given it is a current generation product, and a good one at that:
Will it get even harder to get cheap drones in America?
Probably, yes. Good ones, certainly. Even if you ignore the talk of more tariffs in the new year, there are already plans to increase the taxes on drones from China and all the good drones are made in whole or in part in China. Even Skydio, the big American drone company where the boss Adam Bray gets its parts from China, which is probably why – straight after speaking against China – the company found its supplies drying up.
The lesson? Buy good drones while you still can, and probably the best for most higher-end prosumers/photographers/creators at the moment is the DJI Air 3 or (if you can get it into America) the updated Air 3S. Because of the recent update, it's the Air 3 which is usually cheaper:
On-the-day Black Friday UPDATE: Ok, this one is just for the USA at the moment, that's so good that, even if you don't click through, I want you to see it:
Right. Now to reiterate my first point, I'm also a big fan of the HoverAir X1, but it has to be said that the DJI Neo (see above) is a bit cheaper even without a discount. So, while I'll still be checking the deals, perhaps it's best to just look at the guides to the best camera drone, best beginner's drone, best FPV drone or best kids drone and choose what you'd prefer.
