Unboxing Potensic’s new Atom SE sub-250 drone

Last week Potensic released its newest sub-250-gram drone called the Atom SE. Coming in at just $300, how good of build quality are the products, and what do you all get? Check out below our unboxing of the Atom SE drone.

The two-battery pack comes with almost everything you need

If you’re a beginner flyer or buying for one, choosing the pack that comes with a spare battery is the one for you. In the box, you’ll get two flight batteries (each with about 30 minutes of flight time), the drone, a controller, a charging cable, cables for any type of smartphone, and spare propellers. You even get a small screwdriver. The only item missing from this bundle is a USB type A wall plug, but let’s be honest, how many of those do we have laying around somewhere?

Both the drone and the controller use USB-C for charging, which is excellent for anyone with loads of these cables lying around or buying replacement cables at the store. No need to purchase special boxes or cables to charge your batteries.

The last item that is included when you purchase this bundle is a carry case. Of course, DJI is the king of creating carry cases that transform into a backpack, but Potensic went with a simpler route. The carry case that comes with the Atom SE is simple, but it holds everything and has pretty good build quality. That is pretty much all you can ask for in an included carry case.

Drone and controller build quality

Both the Atom SE and its controller have surprisingly good build quality. Of course, some compromises need to be made to make it cheap ($299.99) and less than 250 grams, but it’s in line with DJI’s Mini lineup of drones. This is not always the case with other more affordable budget drones, and it was something that surpassed my expectations.

There are some exposed wires on the drone leading to the camera and on the controller leading to the antennas. They are pretty well out of the way of getting caught on anything but something to see and be aware of.

Is the Atom SE a good deal?

I think I’ll have to push this answer to later when I get a full review finished. Sorry, but I’ve somehow ended up in Washington, DC, with its very unfriendly airspace restrictions for the past week. (Follow me on Twitter for those adventures.) But I hope I can get back to flying this and the DJI Mini 3 soon. However, I will say with the addition of DJI’s newest Mini drone, you’re still looking at $559 for the base package with a controller. So these budget-friendly drones still have a place for those that aren’t that serious about flying and need to start somewhere.