Potensic D80 Review – Quality 2K Camera Drone With Smart Flight Modes

Hi and welcome to my review of the Potensic D80 HD camera drone.

We are really spoiled for choice when it comes to beginner-friendly consumer drones, there are a lot of companies producing fantastic drones with excellent features at affordable prices.

Potensic is one of these companies and they are beginning to establish themselves as one of the best when it comes to high-quality low-cost consumer drones.

They have released some high-quality drones over the past couple of years, a few I have already reviewed such as the T25 and D88. They all have very good customer rating on Amazon, with most of them getting 4 star rating or above including the Potensic D80 which is the subject of today’s review.

So, if you are looking for a good HD camera drone with advanced features, keep reading this review of the Potensic D80 because it may be just what you are searching for.

Potensic D80 Review

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that my favourite type of drone is a foldable drone. They are usually lightweight and very compact which makes them easy to carry around and great for travelling with. Unfortunately, the Potensic D80 is not a foldable drone, so if you want to travel with it, you will need a drone carry case. Fortunately, you do get the option to purchase the drone with its own aluminium carry case, which looks pretty cool, however, it will cost you extra, but if you travel a lot, it’s probably worth purchasing.

The drone isn’t that big, it measures around 41*41*8 cm and weighs just under 450g, which isn’t that heavy but if you live in countries like Canada, USA or the UK, you will need to register the drone because only drones under 250g can be flown with the need for registration. If you live in any other country, please do check what the requirements are before you fly any kind of drones.

The drone comes with easy to install propellers and they are longer than usual, which helps to give a top speed of around 40 km/h, which is pretty fast for a non-racing drone. The other reason it goes this fast is because it comes with modern brushless motors, which are more powerful and efficient than brushed motors. You only see brushed motors on very cheap drones nowadays, brushless motors also last for longer and do not require as much maintenance.

The drone is powered by a 7.4v 1800 mAh lipo battery, these are one of the latest range of modular batteries that maintains battery charge for longer which results in longer flight times. For the Potensic D80, this means a flight time of between 16-20 minutes depending on a few factors like weather and how fast you go. This is a decent flight time and is on the top-end of most drones that cost less than $200.

However, I do highly advise people to purchase a couple of extra batteries to extend their flight times because 20 minutes will not be enough time to enjoy flying a drone, plus it takes a couple of hours to charge the battery.

There is a memory card slot on the bottom of the drone, which is always useful as it means you will not have to record your images and video footage on your smartphone.

One of the best features of the Potensic D80 is it’s remote controller, I say this because there are a lot of drone controllers that are not aesthetically pleasing, but this controller is, and it has a pretty decent transmission range of around 700 meters. For FPV purposes, the transmission is around 300 meters.

It has curved edges and is comfortable to hold, there is a smartphone holder that pulls out from the back and all of the buttons are easily identified on what they do. There is also an LCD screen on the bottom where it will display telemetry readings about the drone, which is another useful feature.

It’s powered by 4 AA batteries which are not included with the package, which is unfortunate, so please do remember this if you do decide to buy this drone.

For FPV purposes and to access some of the drones other features, you will need to down the official app for this drone which is called the Potensic-M2 and is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. The app is intuitive and easy to use, however, it’s a little buggy and the Android version hasn’t been updated recently, although the iOs version has a better rating has been updated more regularly.

Potensic D80 Camera

Now, one of the main reasons I enjoy flying drones is because most of them come with decent HD cameras. They allow you to see the world from a new perspective and you if you are a frequent traveller, you can record your journey and keep those magical moments for a lifetime.

The Potensic D80 comes with a fixed 2K camera that has a 120° field of view, the camera is fixed within the body of the drone and is not stabilised by any kind of gimbal.

Still, the quality of the live video feed and recorded footage is good and there is little to no distortion. Although the camera can record in 2K, the live video stream is only in 720p, which is still classed as HD, but the quality is not as good as the recorded version.

The images are pretty decent as well, they will not win you any photography awards, but then again, this is not a drone for professional photography.

It’s a good camera and for the price, it’s totally worth it.

Other Features

The drone comes with a few other features that will enhance your flying experience.

Dual GPS – The drone comes with dual GPS modules so you can connect to even more satellites for better flight positioning and better flight stability. It also allows for the drone to fly autonomously which is perfect for beginners.

WayPoint – Draw a flight path on the drone app and it will fly along that route automatically and come back to its original destination.

Orbit Mode – Also called a point of interest, in this mode, you can choose a location on the app and the drone will orbit that position.

Follow Me – Pretty self-explanatory, in this mode the drone will follow you automatically, this is a good feature to use if you go for long walks or hikes.

Automatic Return Home – This feature can be activated manually by pressing the return home button on the controller or app. It will activate automatically if you lose connection with the drone or if the battery gets low on charge. A useful feature that will minimise the risks of losing your drone.

Flight Performance

The drone fly’s well, it hovers accurately and the video streaming quality is good. It holds up alright in windy conditons, however, if you are new to flying drones, I would advise you not fly in any kind of bad weather.

Final Thoughts

The Potensic D80 is a good drone and suitable for both beginners and even those who are experienced drone pilots. It’s not a very expensive drone and its camera and smart flight features will give you a lot of enjoyment.