Are cheap drones off Ali/temu even worth considering for someone who's never had one?

If you have nothing to compare it to then yes those cheap drones look good!

You must register before flying most drones or model aircraft outdoors in the UK.
There are two requirements and you may need to meet both:

• if you’ll fly, you must pass a theory test to get a flyer ID
• if you’re responsible for a drone or model aircraft, you must register for an operator ID

register-drones.caa.co.uk/ind…ual

The camera's will be poor but they should fly fine and will be a good starting point to learn to fly. Ignore the mindless DJI fanboys who have no idea what a drone is or how to fly one, there's plenty of capable options, the Syma X5 range is a good cheap starting point.