Potensic ATOM SE 4K GPS Drone

Bon

The drone is easy to set up and start even for absolute beginners like I am. The instructions are detailed. There is an application to download on the phone. The phone is connected to the small control module and the application connects to the drone. I was worried that the drone would fly away or get damaged during the first flight. No, it was not like that at all. When you start the drone from the controller, it just spins the propellers on the ground. Then you push the “Up” lever and the drone goes straight up to eye level and waits. This drone has unbelievable stability. It does not go anywhere from the point you left it until you push some of the levers. If you lift it above your head and let it go away 20-30 meters and you do not touch any controls., the drone will just sit in the place like frozen and wait for your commands. It cannot be simpler and easier than that. The quality of the video is great. I suggest that users buy the package with two batteries and the bag. The bag offers great protection to the drone and the batteries last about 20 minutes, so having more of them is a good idea.
The customer support is excellent. I had a problem with my drone and I was asked to send a video and the description. The drone was unable to communicate with the controller. The customer support recognised the issue and sent me a new drone free of charge a few days later.

This drone has a beginner mode, which limits the distance and height of the flight to 30 meters from the starting point. Also the controls are very slow in this mode so a beginner can practice without drone going too fast and too far. I haven’t yet tried advanced modes. The controls are precise and with a bit of practice I can position the drone within 20cm.

 I have had the Potensic Atom SE drone now for over a month and have flown it every weekend, so now I feel I can post an honest review. This is reall a great drone. May not have all the bells and whistles of that other company, but it doesn’t have the price tag either. This is my first drone with GPS and what a difference that makes. I also love the fact that if I’m ever in a panic situation I can just release the controller joysticks and the drone will immediately stop whatever it’s doing and hover in place. That’s saved me a few times already. It is very easy to fly, even for a novice flyer. The controller and app are easy to handle and understand. Very comfortable controller and I like how it holds your phone, very easy to read, and has a range of 4km (about 2 1/2 miles) but I’ll never really know how far it can go since I have to keep the drone itself in sight the whole time while flying. The furthest I’ve flown it was about 3200ft (about .6 miles) and the only reason I could see it that far off is because it was at twilight on a cloudy day and I could see my anticollision strobe blinking. The drone is very easy to handle, very responsive, and FAST! In Sport mode I reached 35mph, per the app. The video quality is impressive during the day, not so much at night. Photos are OK for use online and smaller photographs, but as a photographer I would like to see a better camera where I can make small enlargements, but, again, you can’t complain too much at this price point. It handles windy days pretty well and have had no problems with it there. The Follow Me, Waypoint, and Circle Flight works as should and the RTH feature is great. I’ve initiated it myself a few times and had it return on it’s own because of low battery, all times landing within feet of the takeoff point. I get about 25 minutes of flight per battery charge which is decent. The manual is easy to understand (although you have to download it, no physical manual with purchase) and the Customer Service has been GREAT. Had some concerns about the way my drone was packaged and they got back to me almost immediately and help solve my problem. Overall, I highly recommend this drone and you get alot for the price. I LOVE FLYING THIS THING! The ONLY regret I have in purchasing this is that I purchased it off of Amazon – nothing against Amazon, I love them too – but I wish I had gone directly to the Potensic website and seen the new and improved Atom drone and I would have definitley purchased that instead. At the time it was not available on Amazon (is now though) and is not that all more expensive than the SE.

Update 11/22/2023 I mentioned in my review a few weeks back that I had a good experience with the Potensic Customer Service department and I had another great experience dealing with them again. Unfortunately, I had an accident with a tree and broke off my front right landing gear (the arm was fine) and couldn’t find all the pieces. I emailed the customer service site and told them what happened and sent pictures and they got back to me within a day. They said it was repairable and gave me a price, plus gave me the option of purchasing a replacement Atom SE for a discounted price (BIG discount). After thinking about it I just went about fixing it myself with an old credit card, toothpick, and epoxy – think Frankenstein, but it flies no problem. I was tempted to take them up on their offer for the new SE, but would rather fix this one and save for an upgraded drone. When they asked what I’d like to do and told them I fixed it myself they were almost apologetic that I crashed my drone and offered to send me a new set of paddles. If that’s not great customer service, I’m not sure what is. An overall great experience.

This is my first drone. I had $250 worth of Amazon gift cards that I had collected from Christmas and my 55th birthday and didn’t need any golf stuff so i decided to look at drones. After 2 weeks of looking and reading reviews and watching a few videos, I decided to go with the Atom SE. It’s a great drone. Very stable. Watch the many Youtube reviews of this drone and they are nothing but positive. I’ve had the drone for 3 weekends now and have flown it on 3 separate days. I had read the manual and watched a few tutorial videos before I flew it the first time. I flew it behind and over my house a few hundred feet above and beyond the house. It went perfect. Very easy to control and learn. The remote is awesome. I have a Pixel 7 Pro and it fits nice and snug even with a case on it. The batteries last quite a while, about 25 minutes on average. Today was the warmest day (45F) that I’ve flown it and the first time that the battery was warm enough to let me go into sport mode. Lots of fun flying around at 35 mph. The videos and pictures that I’ve captured thus far look a little bit better than the ones attached to Amazon reviews.

I did have a close call today. My oldest son and his fiance were visiting and I was showing my son the drone controls while it was hovering about 50 feet off of the ground. My controller started flashing warnings about losing signal and then the drone started doing a death spiral shortly after that. It started moving towards the ground in a spiral fashion and I got control of it with an emergency stop when it was about two feet off the ground. It was then that I remembered the iPhone warnings that I had heard about in the reviews. They say to put iPhones in airplane mode when flying the drone due to interference. My son had his iPhone in his pocket while I was showing him the controls. I had him place it in airplane mode after that and started the drone back up and flew it for about 15 minutes without issue.

Originally I purchased the 2 battery combo package but have since purchased the 3 battery charger with 1 additional battery. It’s a great charger, easy to use and, fits nicely in the case. Speaking of the case, it’s really nice and fits everything perfectly.

Overall, I think this is a great drone for the money. I have no regrets in purchasing it. My drone weighs in at 248 grams with the battery in it according to my weight watchers scale. If you’re in the US don’t forget to do your TRUST training. I did mine through the Pilot Institute website and it was very easy to complete.