Potensic ATOM 3-Axis Gimbal 4K GPS Drone

Welcome drone enthusiasts and newcomers alike!  Thanks for clicking this review.  I hope you find this helpful and informative, as I have had many adventures and misadventures with four of these “under 249 gram” drones now!   This little craft do not require a license to fly.  Let me run you through my backstory with three previous drones, which you can click for more information.

• In 2024, I decided to purchase my first drone:  A Potensic ATOM SE, much like this one, but less powerful.
• In 2025, I was contacted by the Ruko company to test their new U11MINI 4K drone.  I was initially enthusiastic, but ran into navigation issues and crashed.
• Ruko sent me a replacement drone, which seemed to fly better at first before ending up at the bottom of Lake Huron on its first flight.

The Ruko’s superior camera was a marked improvement in my drone video quality, no matter how hard they were to fly.  I thought about upgrading my Potensic.  Why not?  You only live once.

One thing about the old ATOM SE’s camera was that it didn’t have a fancy 3-axis gimbal.  What’s that mean?  It means that it couldn’t keep a level picture, with the horizon always…horizontal.  When the drone was flying in wind, it needed to tilt to compensate and stay stationary.  Most of my old ATOM videos have a visibly crooked horizon.  But that’s just the obvious difference.  The 3-axis gimbal gives it an unprecedented smoothness.  All my old videos had jerky movements.  Not anymore.  This camera is like an aerial steady-cam.

It wasn’t all smooth flying.  I had some issues out of the box.  I think one was caused by an uncalibrated controller.  It was veering off to the right upon takeoff, much like the Ruko used to do.  A calibration of the joysticks seemed to fix this.  It also defaulted to a “beginner mode” that I failed to notice and caused some confusion at first.

My second issue happened after a windy flight in Tiverton, Ontario.  I decided to bring the drone down after a few seconds, as the wind was unusually strong.  After a drive home, I was not able to re-connect the drone to the controller.  The drone was acting up, and wouldn’t power down without removing its battery.  I spent days trying to get the two devices to pair.  After a desperate email to Potensic, the problem revealed itself.  They advised me to try a number of things including re-pairing the devices without a memory card inserted.

The drone came with a 64 gig micro CD card (a surprise in itself!) but I decided to use a Gigastone 128 gig card instead.  It was actually my second Gigastone.  The first one failed right out of the box and wouldn’t format.  It turns out, the second Gigastone also failed sometime in the car between Tiverton and Lorne Beach.  Upon removal, the drone and controller paired immediately without issue.  Who knew that the memory card, which is used to store images and videos, was critical to the proper operation?  I mean, you can fly without one.  But throw a bad one in there by mistake, and you will stay grounded.  So there’s a tip for you:  if you’re having issues with your drone, take out the memory card as a first step.  Two Gigastones failed one after another!  Another tip is not to buy a Gigastone 128 gig card.

Once we got all these little details ironed out, the Potensic flew steady and true, just as my original did.  I’ve started to discover new features.  The camera has a zoom!  Pinch and zoom; it’s that simple.  This is going to improve my video making abilities over Lake Huron.

I ordered the option with three batteries.  No matter which version you choose, you will get the equipment you need (minus the micro SD card which only came with the three battery option).  In addition to the controller and all the cables, this version comes with the three batteries (32 minutes life each), and a charging block to simultaneously charge all three batteries and your controller at once!  It all comes in a handy carrying case, with handle.

There are lots of features for me to play with that I haven’t touched yet:  6km transmission distance, visual tracking, pull-away shots, boomerang shots…lots to try out, though I always prefer manual controls.

Check out the videos below and be sure to check back as more are added.  The new Potensic drone is going to drastically improve my video making abilities in 2026.

5/5 stars

 

Calibrating: “SMC” by Def Leppard

Sunrise Test Flight: “Mighty Morris Ten” by Episode Six

High Wind Test Flight: “Next Summer” by Arkells

Final Test Flight & All Bugs Worked Out: “Michigan Left” by Arkells