What are the signal differences between IMUs in difference price ranges?

Hardware
1

I'm about to start a new project requiring the use of IMUs and I was wondering what the most accurate IMU was for under or close to 100 dollars. Also, I was wondering what separates cheap consumer/industrial grade IMUs from tactical/navigational grade IMUs. Is it mostly just signal processing (i.e. software) or is the increased accuracy more a result of better components? Additionally, what are the differences in noise compared between classes of IMUs and do all IMUs contain relatively the same amount of useful signal? My questions are as follows:

  1. What is the best IMU I can get for under or close to 100 dollars
  2. Is it software or hardware that is deciding factor between the accuracy of IMUs
  3. How might noise present differently between different classes of IMUs
  4. If we had an all powerful signal filter, would we be able to extract the same amount of true signal out of IMUs from vastly different price ranges
2

Extremely low sensor noise, high resolution and high stability, especially the gyro. You pay for that: $50,000 US and up.

Since the consumer grade sensor market is competitive, there is not much difference between the latest models. Compare the data sheets and look at the sensor noise and gyro drift figures.

For IMUs, the orientation accuracy will depend very strongly on how carefully you calibrate the individual components of the sensor.

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