PotensicATOM SE GPS Drone with Camera 4K, 62 mins Flight Time, < 249 g, 4KM Transmission, EIS - ShakeVanish Tech, Max Speed 16m/s, RC Quadcopter, Auto Return/Follow Me, Camera Drone for Adult

I am new to drone flying so I wanted a drone that would be as easy to fly as possible. My search brought me to the Potensic and its amazing versality and power, at an affordable price. The customer write-ups were very positive and, of course, it was sold through Amazon with the quality control and price guarantees they offer. So, I bought it. Delivery was swift - it arrived the following day.Manual and video instructions are on line, and they were a little difficult to access at first, but Potensic Customer Support was great and sorted this out very quickly - a special 'shout out' to Ruby. It did not take me long to "get airborne" and discover how surprisingly easy it is to fly - even indoors. The aircraft is very stable and does not drift, so steering it through doorways was a simple process, although I do confess to getting confused over the in-flight steering, which caused the drone to collide with the wall and damage a couple of the propellers. That was clearly due to my inexperience and over-confidence (it is that good) and not due to problems with the drone itself. So my advice is, reign in your enthusiasm and make sure you read the manual and operating instructions thoroughly. As a first test flight just get used to the control sticks and remember that, depending on the aspect and position of the drone (ie if it is facing you), turning the stick left may actually be wrong, as I found out!I have flown it outside and am hugely impressed by the quality of the real time images displayed and the straightforward process to record and view the flight subsequently.Even though weighing under 250 gms, as a drone with a camera it is necessary to register with the CAA as a drone operator, which I did as soon as I received my aircraft. It is inexpensive. As each day passes, I am becoming more adept at flying my Potensic ATOM SE drone and I am hoping to take it with me to fly when I go abroad on holiday. If you plan to do the same, check the regulations applicable in your destination. Within Europe, they are EASA Regs (also available on the internet).In summary, this is a super little drone, flies incredibly well, is easy to manoeuvre, has 31 minutes flight time per battery, has a very good onboard gimble mounted camera with high resolution recordable images (still and video), a return home feature and is sold at an affordable price. Last, but not least, it comes with a first rate customer support service. So, if you are looking for a compact and reliable drone, this could be the one for you. It was for me.

I bought this in March ’23 after realising that the rules for sub 250g drones are quite relaxed, and I would have greater options for flying than with my old heavy Hubsan drone from 2018.I was very pleased with the much greater functionality and ease of use for these new drones. Unlike the old Hubsan this has a 4K camera with a tilt function, allowing for much greater flexibility and quality recording. There are plenty of videos online with demonstrate the excellent video quality of the Atom.Flight time is excellent, depending on wind conditions and type of flying I can easily get about 25 minutes flying time from a single battery.Flying range is good, capable of several km, which also means that at shorter range there’s much better connectivity than my old Hubsan, I don’t have to panic if goes out of sight.This drone doesn’t have collision avoidance, that keeps the weight and cost down, and some drones that do have that feature default to it off as it’s a power drain. In most cases when I fly, collision avoidance is not needed.After sales service is excellent, with easily available spare parts. I recently lost the drone carelessly when it hit a tree, collision avoidance might have helped there, I couldn’t find the drone and loss of the drone means a £400 investment was lost (extra battery and multiway charger). Ruby at Potensic support was incredibly helpful and quick to help, arranging for a replacement drone only, not free but at a very reasonable price.Firmware updates are reasonably frequent with improved or new functionality, but this is a very reliable and trusty drone, the firmware is great and nothing like a ‘beta’ releases that we have with some drones where features are promised several months down the line.My only real issue is the lack of multi-axis gimbal, that’s not a massive deal, especially given the price, and some post processing of video can help, but really my preference would be multi-axis gimbal. Maybe in a future Potensic model?