At launch, the Hubsan H502S Desire was one of the very best toy-class drones that Hubsan produced. It rocks basic GPS and flight features like a follow-me mode. The little drone still has brushed motors, which is a clear distinction in the Hubsan line between their low and high-end models, the higher end models have brushless motors. Don't hold this against the H502S, it may not be as fast or battery efficient as the brushed models, but it still flies very stable, holds a hover quite well and the FPV through the 720p camera gives you that fun flight experience.

You can get into the Hubsan H502S Desire for around $100 today, that's approaching half of its initial price at launch.

The UDI U818 series has a few drones to speak of, one of the best is the U818A HD+. The HD+ model comes with a 720P camera and some basic GPS functionality. This is a toy-class drone, the type you have likely seen in the electronics department of your local supermarket. There is little to say about this machine, it flies fairly well, for a toy-class machine, it is affordable and is great to learn on. There is no FPV, the camera just records and takes photos for viewing afterward.

Check out the UDI U818A HD+ for around $80.

As you may have noticed, Parrot makes a lot of drones. Most of their machines are toy-class or commercial drones, with a few in between. Parrot likes to play with different designs, including fixed-wing planes and, like the AR Drone 2.0, standard quadcopters. The Parrot AR Drone 2.0 is like most of their machines, made of foam and plastic. This is great for making light-weight crafts that are easy to operate, and safe for young pilots.

The Parrot AR Drone 2.0 offers a 720p camera for FPV flight, and holds up very well considering its age. Check out the Parrot AR Drone 2.0 from around $180. Be forewarned, this is a discontinued drone, it sold for under $100 for a time.

Walkera makes some fun racing drones. One of the best is the tiny Walkera Rodeo 110. Make no mistake, this machine is not the fastest or most agile or powerful around, it's just a solid offering for a small starter racing drone. You'll want a larger machine, and likely to build your own custom machine from the ground up, if you want to go pro, but a few of these booting around the backyard is great fun.

All the basics are covered in this little racing drone, so check out the Walkera Rodeo 110 for $170 today.

The Hubsan H501S was one of the first GPS enabled drones from Hubsan to offer a 1080p camera and brushless motors. This sounds like a common thing, silly to celebrate by today's standards, but this was a game changer for Hubsan and the toy drone market. Looking at 2017 and earlier, most toy-class drones, which included most all of Hubsan's drones, used inefficient brushed motors and all flew in what you might call ATTI mode. While the early drones had no navigation or a tools for object avoidance or flight assist, GPS in the H501S gave it the ability to hover and even set a GPS controlled route through the mobile app on your smart device.

With RTH functionality and more, the Hubsan H501S remains one of the best drones that live in between toy-class and what we might call the premium experience of full GPS flight control. Check out the Hubsan H501S for around $168 and watch for deals as low as $150.

We've always said that the Syma X5C is our favorite toy drone for first time pilots, well, the Syma X8 Pro is a cut above. Syma thought through the features and design of the X8 Pro to build a functional machine that looks good and offers functionality not found on their lower-end machines. The 720p camera is mounted on an one-axis gimbal, connect to your mobile device for the live video stream and GPS takes things to new heights.

The Syma X8 Pro is note as good as machines like the DJI Spark, but for $200, it's a decent consideration.

Built using many DJI parts, and sold on the DJI site in partnership with DJI, it is a common misunderstanding that this is a DJI drone. The Ryze Tello is a fun little machine that serves many purposes. On the surface, it's a functional and capable high-end, toy-class drone. You can fly by mobile device, remote control or, in the case of the Educational versions of this machine, you can code your own functionality.

The Ryze Tello is an attractive first drone for many pilots and parents of potential pilots. There are even a few different partnerships, like the Iron Man edition Tello.

Check out the Ryze Tello alone for about $99, upgrade to the Ryze Tello with remote for around $129 and explore the other options from there.