Disclaimer:  This review is from the perspective of a drone rookie.  I recently plunged into the hobby, and found it easy and inviting.  Here’s what I have learned in my three weeks as a drone pilot.

Buy the ATOM SE Drone on Amazon!

Potensic ATOM SE GPS Drone With 4K Single-Axis Camera

When I was a young kid, I would come to the beach and watch this older kid fly his remote control airplane over the lake.  He never landed it without crashing, with either major or minor damage.  I thought it would be cool to fly an RC plane like that, but it looked difficult and expensive.  Then, at some point decades later, my dad bought an indoor drone for me.  Just a toy.  Impossible to control, and it went flying off my wife’s head.  Nope, flying things isn’t the hobby for me.  Onto the next thing.

Then, one day after browsing Amazon, I decided to buy a real drone and see what difference it would make.  You only live once.  I chose the ATOM SE by Potensic, which came with two batteries, a remote, all the cables you need to charge and connect it, and a spare set of propellers (with the appropriate screwdriver).  It all came in a nice, padded travel case that holds everything.  It really is an all-in-one package.  You can buy accessories too, including spare batteries and a charger that can do three of them at once (plus the remote).  I also recommend picking up a landing pad, which helps keep your drone propellers out of the grass and/or sand.  The only thing you will need to provide separately is a micro SD card so you can record all that lovely 1080p video you’re going to capture.

My only complaint:  No paper manual.  All you get is a pdf file.  I gave it a read, but I learn by doing, so one Saturday morning when nobody was around, I took my drone over to the park.  Within minutes I was in the air.  (Of note:  This drone is light enough that it does not require a license, so you are good to go.)

It is intuitive and easy to fly.  You just plug your phone into the remote, to act as a screen.  Everything fits perfectly.  The camera is crisp and clear.  For those with a higher budget, the next model up has a 3-axis camera, but this one just moves up and down.  I found this plenty good enough.  The controller has two (removeable) joysticks (with a clever storage solution).  Everything is ergonomic.  The left stick controls altitude, and rotates the drone.  The right stick controls all movement forwards and backwards, and side to side.  It moves equally well in all four directions.

This drone is steady as a rock.  Even in a light breeze, it barely moves from where you want it.  I took it up to its maximum ceiling of 190 feet, and then right down again to land, and it had only moved about a foot.  There are automatic flying modes, such as one where it circles a waypoint (with camera always pointed at the center, a cool feature) and one where it follows you.  You can set a home point for it to automatically return to.  However, I am more comfortable being in control.  That shows you how easy this thing is to use, that I prefer manual controls to automatic.

It’s a fast little drone, and zips right over your head going over 13 mph.  It stops on a dime, and is extremely responsive.  It is also capable of beautiful, slow movements.  The resultant videos are always quality.

When I first bought this drone, a few people were asking me what the heck I would do with it?  Check out the videos below and tell me I’m not having fun!

This is an easy 5/5 stars and a solid gateway into a fun hobby.  You can get an ATOM SE Drone on Amazon.

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