Best Budget RC Helicopters 2022

Remote control vehicles are a classic source of entertainment for any age group. There are a broad range of toys to allow you to have fun on land, on water, underwater, and in the air. Remote control helicopters provide an excellent aesthetic for flying practice. while the budget models won’t be accurately styled after real-world helicopters they are still distinctly recognisable as helicopters.

There are a broad range of remote control helicopters. They vary from large, accurate scale models that can cost a lot of money to cheap toys, intended for indoor usage. If you’re just getting started with remote control helicopters, or are looking for a toy for the whole family to play with, a budget option may be a great idea. Budget remote control helicopters offer a low-risk entry point and are also less likely to damage anything that they fly into. They are also a great learning point, being cheap to replace and easy to fly thanks to beginner-friendly features such as one-button take-off and landing, and automatic altitude holding.

To help you find a great deal on a flier, we’ve drawn up a list of the best budget RC helicopters in 2022.

The Syma S107G is a super low price point RC helicopter. It weighs in at 227g but is surprisingly sturdy thanks to its aluminium frame. While the plastic body may get damaged in any rough landings, the metal frame should prove sturdy enough to survive most incidents. Its 150MAh LiPo battery provides 6 minutes of flight time and can be recharged in 50 minutes.

The control scheme is simple, making it ideal for beginners and kids. The safety cut off, cuts power to the blades if they are blocked from rotating, which helps to prevent injuries; though you still shouldn’t try to touch the blades while they’re spinning. The controller uses IR to communicate, meaning it’s only really suited for indoor usage, though two can be used at once, thanks to a pair of transmission channels. The controller also requires 6 AA batteries, which seems excessive.

The DEERC DE51 stands out from most budget remote control helicopters in that the battery is removable. Not only is it removable, but a second one is included in the price, doubling the potential flight time from 10 to 20 minutes, with just a small break to swap out the battery. The batteries aren’t the only things that comes with a spare that you can swap out. The plastic shell comes in two different colours, red and blue. The one-button take-off and landing feature is great for beginners, taking the finicky power management and allowing you to just focus on flying.

The metal airframe helps to provide a sturdy structure in a crash, however, other plastic materials can be quite weak and easily broken, though a set of spare blades are included. The use of a 2.4GHz communications channel means interference can be easily avoided automatically. The lack of a crash detection system is a bit of a safety issue, as the rotors won’t power off automatically in a crash.

The Cheerwing U12S offers some pretty great features for a budget remote control helicopter. It comes with a one button take-off and landing feature making it easier to enjoy the actual flying. It also features an FPV camera. While the camera is pretty low resolution, just 480p, this is pretty much a unique feature at this price point.

The altitude hold feature means its safe to hand off the controller to someone else mid-flight without it spiralling out of control. The low signal, and low battery alarms let you know when it’s time to return or land. Unfortunately, the flight time is pretty low and the recharge time is quite long.

The Syma ETF1001 is a cross between a remote control helicopter and a quadcopter drone. It takes design characteristics from both and comes out looking pretty cool because of that. The extra rotors make it easier to perform certain maneuver’s, a feature exploited by the stunts that can be performed. Unfortunately, the instructions for actually performing the stunts are difficult to understand as they have been translated badly.

The landing pad makes it easier to take off and land on surfaces that aren’t perfectly smooth. The altitude hold feature means that you can safely hand off the controller to someone else mid-flight without worrying about it just crashing. With four rotors this model is relatively large, making it less suitable to flying in smaller spaces. It also has a low battery life and long recharge time.

That was our roundup of the best budget RC helicopters in 2022. Have you recently bought a budget RC helicopter? What sold you on it and what has your experience been with it so far? Let us know down below.