Best RC helicopters under £150: beginner shortlist 2026

The under-£150 RC helicopter market is mostly garbage. Toy-class machines that will not hold a hover, drone-helicopter hybrids that fly like neither, and direct-from-China specials that arrive with one rotor blade and a Cyrillic instruction sheet. There are, however, six genuine helicopters in this price bracket worth buying as a first machine — and one near-miss that is worth knowing about. Here they are, ranked.

1. Blade Nano CP S2 — £100 (BNF), £140 (RTF)

The default recommendation for any new collective-pitch pilot. The Nano CP S2 is a sub-30g indoor collective-pitch helicopter from Horizon Hobby's Blade brand — small enough to fly safely in a living room, but with the same control mechanics as a 500-class scale machine. Every input you learn on the Nano CP S2 transfers directly to bigger aircraft.

Flight time: ~4 minutes per 150mAh 1S pack. Comes with extra blades, batteries and a charger. The RTF includes a Spektrum DSMX transmitter (basic but functional). The BNF binds to any Spektrum DSMX radio.

For anyone serious about learning RC helicopter flight properly, this is the right first purchase. Yes, you will move on from it within three months. Yes, that is the point.

2. E-flite Blade 230 S V2 — £140 (BNF only)

A larger fixed-pitch trainer — about 270g, 1S battery, indoor-or-light-outdoor capable. Slower and more stable than the Nano CP S2, but with less direct skill transfer to collective-pitch machines.

The 230 S V2 is the right choice for pilots who want a more leisurely learning curve and are happy to accept that the next helicopter will need new muscle memory. Indoor sports halls and gymnasiums are its happy place. Outdoor flight is possible in dead-still conditions only.

Spektrum BNF means you need a compatible transmitter.

3. Hubsan H102 Sky-Hawk — £80 (RTF)

The honest budget option. The H102 is a 2.4GHz 4-channel coaxial — properly stable, properly forgiving, properly cheap. The transmitter is included, the build quality is unremarkable but adequate, and the flight characteristics are exactly what a beginner needs: slow, predictable, and impossible to crash spectacularly.

Flight time is about 6 minutes per battery. Spare batteries cost £8 each. The whole package can be replaced for under £30 if anything serious goes wrong.

This is the right helicopter for someone who wants to try the hobby without committing — to find out if they enjoy it before spending real money. If they do, they upgrade to a Nano CP S2 or a Blade 230 S V2. If they do not, the Hubsan goes in the cupboard and they are out £80.

4. WLtoys V911S — £55 (RTF)

A 4-channel fixed-pitch micro that punches well above its price. The V911S has a 6-axis gyro, a beginner mode that limits aggressive inputs, and a transmitter that — while basic — is properly functional. It is also one of the few sub-£60 helicopters that genuinely flies rather than just hovering uncontrollably.

Indoor only, realistically. Outdoors in anything but dead-still air it gets blown around. Flight time is short (~4 minutes) and parts availability is decent given the volume of these things sold.

The V911S is the right helicopter for a child learning to fly, for a Christmas-present buyer who is not sure if the recipient will stick with it, or for anyone wanting a cheap second machine for indoor coffee-table flying.

5. Eachine E150 V2 — £130 (BNF), £170 (RTF — exceeds £150)

A 4-channel mini collective-pitch with a 6-axis gyro, sold as both a beginner-friendly trainer and an entry to 3D. It is more capable than the Hubsan or V911S but more demanding than the Nano CP S2.

BNF at £130 sneaks under the £150 threshold if you already own a FlySky-compatible transmitter; the RTF exceeds the budget. Worth considering if you want a slightly more substantial first machine than the truly micro-class options.

Flight time ~5 minutes per 1S 380mAh pack. Spare parts are available but stock at UK retailers is intermittent.

6. Blade 70 S — £130 (RTF only)

A 2.4GHz fixed-pitch micro from Blade with a built-in 6-axis stabilisation system and an included Spektrum DSMX transmitter. The 70 S is the most polished of the budget Blade range — properly tuned out of the box, properly cared for in build quality, and properly supported by Horizon's UK distribution.

Indoor flight is excellent. Outdoor is possible in calm conditions. Flight time around 5 minutes. The transmitter is the same basic unit as the Nano CP S2's, so an RTF owner already has a transmitter for the eventual move to a BNF Nano CP S2.

This is the right helicopter for an absolute beginner who wants an out-of-the-box experience and is not yet ready to commit to a collective-pitch machine.

Near-miss: WLtoys V950 — £145

The V950 is a 6-channel fixed-pitch with brushless motor, claiming flybarless-style stabilisation and a higher class than the V911S. On paper it is the bargain of the list.

In practice, the build quality is inconsistent, the tail authority is poor, and the transmitter is below the standard of even the V911S. We have flown three V950s — one was acceptable, two had tail issues that needed adjustment to be flyable. At £145 you can do better with the Blade 230 S V2 for a fiver more.

What to also buy

For any of the above:

• A small LiPo charging bag (~£5) — store and charge batteries in it
• A pair of safety glasses (~£3) — main rotor blades, even small ones, hurt at speed
• A spare set of main blades and a spare tail rotor (~£8 per set)
• A USB-powered LED clamp lamp if flying indoors (~£12) — bright lights make tracking the aircraft easier

The recommendation

For the absolute majority of new pilots: start with the Blade Nano CP S2. The skills transfer directly to larger aircraft, the support ecosystem is mature, and the £100 BNF price (assuming you have a Spektrum radio in mind for the eventual upgrade) is the most strategic spend in the under-£150 bracket.

If you do not own a transmitter and do not want to buy one as part of the first purchase: Blade 70 S RTF. The included Spektrum transmitter is the cheap end of usable but it is a real radio that will bind to the eventual collective-pitch upgrade.

If you want the cheapest possible try-before-you-buy: Hubsan H102 at £80.

The £400 you save by buying right first time can fund a much better second helicopter. The £100 you save by buying badly costs you most of a year of frustrated flying.