PotensicATOM SE GPS Drone with 4K EIS Camera, Under 249g, 62 Mins Flight, 4KM FPV Transmission, Brushless Motor, Max Speed 16m/s, Auto Return, Lightweight and Foldable Drone for Adults, Beginner

An update to this review concerning Potensic Support. As with any product new to the market I have experienced a few bugs with the Atom SE. The Potensic support team has worked with me on each of these issues and there have been a few firmware updates that greatly improve it's operation. Many of these have been at the suggestion of Atom SE owners. They listen to and welcome our input to improve their product. Most recently the onboard compass has apparently failed and my Atom crashed pretty hard. Support sent instructiions I followed but to no avail. Potensic has apologized for any inconvience and is replacing the drone under warranty. As I said at the end of my initial review the Potensic Support team is quite simply the BEST support staff I have dealt with in over thirty years. They stand behind their products and work with customers to keep us satisfied and flying. Thank you Potensic, you folks are great!!I received my new Atom SE on Wednesday the weather was very overcast so I was only about to charge and start everything. Location, firmware update and time to fly. I am not easily impressed, but the short version of what I think of this drone, WOW! This drone flies amazingly well for one in this price range. Control inputs are instant, crisp, and very sensitive and took a bit of getting used to. Just basic maneuvers on the first day and it performs all of them extremely well.The weather finally broke today (Sunday 1/15/22) and it was off to the park to put it through it's paces. Temperature was around 35 degrees F and brisk winds (Ground level 8-16 MPH) at around 80 ft. altitude wind gusted up to 32 MPH. It handles the wind better than I expected, it holds position and is stable except in the strong gusts. Even then it does move maybe 10 ft. when the gust stops it recovers right back to steady hover. Despite the cold and wind the battery life is almost dead on the rated flight time. I got 28 minutes of flying on the first battery with 10% left, the wind had increased a fair bit so the second battery flight time was 24 minutes with 10% left and considering how it fought the wind so well I am very, very pleased with flight time. Was great fun, but with a couple of extra batteries it will be a blast (sorry wallet).Time to test the autonomous features. First the follow mode and it certainly does so. No matter the direction or number of direction changes it follows and keeps me in the frame. Circle mode is flawless and smooth (as my grampa used to say it's as smooth as the south end of a north bound baby). Waypoint mode again flawless, flies to each point smoothly and turns the corners crisply.The best part of this little gem is the camera, it is amazing. It will record video at 4K 30FPS, 2.7K 30FPS, 1080P and 270P. The EIS gives you a very smooth video. The photos, well you can almost count the leaves on the trees and the colors are vibrant and sharp. A three axis gimbal and some more camera settings I think would give DJI Mini 2 a run for it's money.In conclusion I am extremely happy with my Atom SE and highly recommend it especially for those who can't afford the likes of DJI or Autel. This is a very reasonably priced beginner to intermediate drone. I would love to see a three axis gimbal for even smoother and quality videos. Not to mention this is not my first Potensic drone and their support team is heads and shoulders above the norm, they are polite, prompt and most helpful. I give this drone five gold stars!

My first flight videos are posted on youtube@ JonesintheWildAfter having this drones for over a month I am still surprised at how capable this little Atom se really is! I had concerns that the camera would be real 4k but the frame rate would be slow and glitchy. Proven wrong on my first flight the picture is smooth and very clear "at 720p" through the live feed on my phone, But when I watched the video on my computer... WOW! the image was very sharp and crisp. the EIS does an amazing job at taking out shudder. When in video flight mode it does the best but it is very good in normal flight mode and sport but Potensic must have tuned the video mode to keep the drone as flat and stable as possible because you can tell by watching the movement of the drone in the different modes that video isn't just a slower speed setting its a setting for taking the best shots possible! The 120 degree angle lens is perfect for getting those wide sunset/sunrise shots.The next thing that amazes me about this light weight 246G beginner drone is that it has power to spare. It is windy where I live almost every morning and after noon till sunset. I was worried this little plastic toy was going to be swept away with the wind. I believe the wind rating given on this model is in reference to the video mode. I can get clear picture and video in video mode with 28 to 30 knots of wind. heading into the wind is best but backing into the wind is very stable aswell. NOTE! Heading into 28 knot wind in video flight mode the drone still managed the cruise at a steady 13.2 m/s so it doubled its speed but stayed smooth and level. Well done to whom ever designed the speed control system and sync. I know there are race drones and this is not a race drone but the acceleration "Surge Fly" is pretty snappy! In all modes when you punch it in 2 seconds or less and it's up to speed wind or not. In normal flight mode you can cruise at 22mph continuously for about 20 minutes, Sport mode will cruise at 36 mph for 10-13 minutes and then creep down to 31-33mph by then you will have used almost 50% power. The control system will put you back into normal flight mode from sport if, power gets too low, you get farther from home point then the flight computer thinks is safe to get back, or if you descend below 26ft relative to your controllers altitude. In video mode flying 13.6mph continuously with windy conditions, while recording video max tested flight time was 26min 40sec!***Very pleased with flight times!The drone regularly has done flights out to over 1 mile over sea and recorded sunrises and sunsets in their entirety, and return with power to spare.I have read other reviews that say the controls are to touchy. Honestly if you learn the drone controls in beginner mode and take the time to get some practice in before going straight to sport, haha! You will find that the Atom has a dual personality. The first half of the control sticks range is pretty sensitive but it aids it precise control and slow smooth movements while filming. That same sensitivity helps you get out of a bad spot with lighting quick maneuvers and reverse thrust braking. Flying the drone for slow cinematic shots is just as easy as flying it fast fpv style, whipping past trees and obstacles, rocketing away from epic points of interest to reveal grand vistas, it really is a very capable and versatile little gem!The next issue that I have read was people saying the drone does not go to full transmission range. I have found through watching reviews and testing the drone myself that with a clear line of sight and my phone set to airplane mode, with no other electronics broadcasting in 2.4Gz" mic, gopro, other remote control vehicles", my Atom se flew to just about12300 ft distance from the controller over the ocean on a very windy day. That is 2.3 miles or 3.7 km I still had picture and control of the drone but flying against the 20mph+ wind for that long took my battery down to 50 percent power in sport mode. So I decided to err on the side of safety and bring it back to base. In normal mode with the wind helping push the drone back to me I landed with 20 percent power. Not bad at all. I do believe that 4km is the Atom SE's max set range and if it wasn't windy that day it would have made it without problems.The only time that I have had any break up of transmission is when the drone is blocked from line of sight which is what Potensic states will happen. Further more it's a pilots responsibility to keep the drone lined up even if you can't fully see it you should understand where it is and keep anything from blocking your transmission. With that said with big trees or near by power lines you will see transmission ranges in the 1/2 to 1 mile. Cell towers near by will also decrease your range. After about 15 seconds if the drone doesn't receive a signal it will return to home.The GPS return home feature works well. brings you back to your landing spot within 2ft, as long as you calibrate the drone before flight, away from metal!!! Recalibrate anytime you are about to fly to be safe, if you put it in a car, ride your bike, set it on a metal table or park bench.The whole package makes it really easy to learn to fly. The setup and app are easy to do. I love to fly it everyday the weather allows.The only negatives about the drone aren’t really negatives.First off the lack of a 3axis gimbal. Not a deal breaker the drone is pretty stable and the picture is above all other drones in its class even the dji mini 2 is only 2.7k and hundreds of dollars more. I wouldn’t want to trade down.Low light. This is not a great night video drone you can see well in lighted areas through the screen but the image is grainy in comparison to day time.There have been a few times during early morning while flying low over water heading into the wind, where my lens would fog up from the inside. I learned to remedy the problem by letting the drone sit facing the wind while I set up the remote to let the glass acclimate to the temperature. In the air to fix it, I face the camera into the sun and let the lens warm up and burn off the moisture.The only actual con that I have is the height limit setting but that is probably set to appease the FAA laws.When I first got the drone the controller wouldn’t charge. They sent another whole drone package next day. Awesome service for probably the best bang for your buck drone out there!