Your skill level

Unless you are really skilled, you should not buy an expensive drone. Not unless you are so rich that you are willing to crash a $2500 drone without batting an eyelid. Slick advertising seems to have created the impression that quadcopters are a breeze to fly and just about anyone can handle any kind of drone without lots and lots of prior training. While some of the best drones are relatively easy to fly these days, it is not always true. Think back to the time when you were learning to ride a bike or drive a car. This can be just as complicated and hard to learn. Learning to handle an expensive six or eight channel quadcopter will require hours and hours of training with simpler models and perhaps even with a simulator. There simply is not shortcut to this. You simply cannot learn to fly a complicated drone right after reading the quick start guide. Before you buy a drone, it would be good to know if it's suitable for beginners - if you are indeed just getting started.

Why you want a drone

Are you trying to learn how to fly? Or are you and experienced pilot who is trying to get into aerial imaging? If you are a beginner, you will want to buy something real cheap and easy to fly, preferably less than $100. But on the other hand, if you belong to the latter group, you would want to buy a top of the line quadcopter with an excellent fpv system.

How serious you are about the hobby?

Do you see yourself flying drones a few years down the line? Or are you just trying to see whether you will develop a lasting interest in the hobby after flying a drone for a few hours? Not asking this question can lead you to make the mistake of buying something expensive that will never be used again after a few days. This hobby is certainly not for everyone. The best drones on the market aren't exactly cheap.

You will be required to spend hours and hours learning quite a lot of stuff. You will need to get yourself a basic, working understanding of meteorology, aeronautics, and mechanics. Just like those folks who train to become regular pilots. You will also need to invest countless hours figuring out how to work the controls, put things together and take them apart and more. Unless all of this fills you with joyous anticipation, you would perhaps be better off buying one of those cheaper drones that are only good for indoor flying.

And here’s another, seldom discussed factor …

How much money are you willing to invest in the hobby?

This really does not matter much if you are an experienced pilot and are really serious about the hobby and are certain you are in this for the long run. But if you are someone who is just starting out, then it would be good for you to ask yourself this question. If you are inexperienced and are not really sure whether you will be flying multi-copters a year or two down the line, you would not want to spend too much just testing the waters, so to speak.

Even if you have a lot of money to throw around, the thought of crashing a $2500+ drone will most certainly not cause you to leap with unadulterated joy. Like everything else in life, you would want to prepare a budget and stick to it.