Potensic D50 Review – A Beginner-Friendly GPS Drone With An HD Camera

Hi and welcome to my review of the Potensic D50 GPS drone.

Potensic are a well-established brand in the world of low-cost high-quality drones, I have reviewed many of them on this blog, they all have excellent customer ratings on Amazon and my favourite is probably the Potensic T25.

Most of their drones are suitable for everyone and this includes complete beginners, the Potensic D50 is one of their cheaper drones that comes with GPS and several other advanced features.

If you are looking for a beginner-friendly drone with some cool features, the Potensic D50 is a good choice, carry on reading this review to find out more about this little drone.

Potensic D50 Review

Ok, when I first laid eyes on the Potensic D50 it looked like a drone that should have had a foldable design but doesn’t. It’s a nice-looking drone that is built from ABS plastic and has a very solid feel, it’s not a very large drone and measures 14*12*8 inches and weighs less than 200g (battery included).

It’s a very light drone and as it weighs less than 250g, it means you will not need to register the drone if you live in the USA, Canada or the UK. If you live anywhere else, there is no weight restriction if you are just going to be flying for recreational purposes.

However, as drone laws seem to be fluid, please to check what the rules are wherever you live and make sure you comply with them fully.

Its lightweight design also makes it a suitable drone to take on your travels and since its not a very big drone, packing it away in your luggage should not be too much of an issue.

There is a micro SD card slot on the side of the drone where you can record your videos and images on. Unfortunately, you do not get a card with the drone package, so you will need to purchase one separately, the maximum capacity it can take is 32gb.

Like most of the other Potensic drones, it comes with brushed motors, this is to be expected for cheap drones, it’s not a big issue, you just have to remember to clean them on a more regular basis.

Underneath each roto arm is small cone-shaped landing legs that have LED lights inside them. These lights serve a few purposes, first of all, they look cool if you fly the drone at night which something only experienced drone pilots should do.

The LED lights help you to troubleshoot any issues that may occur with the drone and also help you to fully calibrate the drone compass before you fly.

The drone is powered by a 3.7v 1500 mAh LiPo battery, this is a one-cell modern modular battery that fits in neatly into the back of the drone. Officially this battery should provide a flight time of around 15 minutes, however, this number is slightly higher than the actual flight time, expect something around the 12-minute mark.

This is still a decent flight time for a drone at its price point, although I have seen longer flight times for cheaper drones. 12 minutes is not nearly enough time to fully enjoy flying this drone and for this reason, I advise people to purchase at least one more extra battery so they can extend the flight time without having to wait for the battery to fully recharge.

One last thing I want to mention before I get to the main feature of this drone (the camera) is regarding its controller. This a nice-looking controller, it has a kind of curved design and is comfortable to hold.

There are a pair of fake antennas and a smartphone holder that pulls out from the top. This can hold a large smartphone but not a tablet, the transmission range in optimal flying conditions is around 150 meters and it is powered by 4 AA batteries which are not included with the drone package.

To make use of the drones FPV feature and different flight modes, you will need to download the Potensic GPS app. This app is available for both Android and iOS devices and has a decent rating on both app marketplaces.

It’s a simple to use app, its gives you access to more of the drone’s features and displays telemetry data about the drone. It does have its issues, especially its FPV feed which can get a little distorted and it could do with more regular updates, however, for the most part, it works well.

Potensic D50 Camera

One of the best features of this drone and of any drone is its camera, the Potensic D50 comes with a decent HD camera that will allow you to take cool videos and images of your nearby surroundings.

The camera has a wide-angle lens that will capture more details and can be manually adjusted up or down to get a better viewing angle. This would have been more convenient if it could have been via the remote controller but then again, it is a cheap drone, so it’s not a deal-breaker.

The videos and images are of decent quality, they will not win you any prizes and it is not meant to, but it is still fun to take videos and images of your nearby surroundings. As there is not any kind of stabilisation feature, you may notice some distortion like shakiness and jello effect, however, as you will not be using this drone in any kind of professional capacity, this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

The live FPV feed is transmitted in 720p resolution and the WiFi range is around 100 meters, you may be able to go further, but the video transmission will not be as clear and there will some interference.

Overall, this is a decent camera and worth the price you pay but I personally think there are better options at a similar price, I will mention one of them near the end of this review.

Other Features

Despite being a relatively inexpensive drone, the Potensic D50 comes with some advanced features that will make it more enjoyable to fly.

Intelligent flight modes – It has a few flight modes where you will be able to fly the drone hands-free, this will allow you to concentrate more on taking better quality photos and videos. These smart flight modes include the following

Waypoint – allows you to draw a path on the drone app and the drone will fly along the path automatically.

Point of interest – The drone will lock onto your location and orbit you from a certain and height and distance of your choosing.

Follow me – Pretty self-explanatory, in this flight mode, the drone will follow you from behind.

One thing I must add is that these smart flight modes do not always work as they should, especially if you try them in areas where the GPS signal is weak, even then sometimes they do not work properly. This is an issue that I have seen in many cheap drones that have these intelligent features, so just be aware of this before trying out these flight modes.

The drone also an automatic return home feature, this can be activated manually via the remote controller or the app. This safety feature will be activated automatically if you lose connection with the drone or if the battery charge gets to low. This is a cool feature to have and will minimise the risk of losing the drone in mid-flight.

Flight Performance

On the whole, this drone fly’s very well, it hovers accurately, and it is very easy to control. It has a couple of speed modes, so you can test out your flying skills by going faster, although I would only do this in a wide area with no obstacles. The only issue you face is with the smart flight modes, which do not always work as they should.

Final Thoughts

This is a pretty decent drone, it comes with some good features and is fun to fly. The is mainly for beginners but anyone can fly it and it does come with some advanced features like GPS and intelligent flight modes. Click on the button below to get more details about the Potensic D50 and see its current price.

If you want a better option, I highly recommend the DJI Tello drone which costs around the same but comes with better features, a stabilised camera and a far superior app with which will give you access to a lot more features. It’s one of my favourite drones and perfect for beginners, click here to find out more.