Potensic D85 Review: Budget Camera Drone Under $300

Meet Potensic D85 which is a smart GPS-based camera drone that aims to deliver exceptional aerial photography and videography, while keeping it simple and easy for beginners and recreational remote pilots.

Potensic is a drone manufacturer company based in China and have been in the business since. They are also a close competitor among Holy Stone, especially some of their popular quadcopters such as HS700D and HS720.

If you are a beginner and have never flown a drone before, then you will be surprised to learn how incredibly easy it is to fly a Potensic D85 drone. This GPS-based camera drone is packed with tons of features and flight functions designed for performance.

In my in-depth Potensic D85 review, I will be talking about a multitude of points that you need to know about such as flight performance, features, design and build quality, battery and range.

The purpose of Potensic D85 review is to help out buyers make the ultimate buying decision. That being said, let’s find out if this is the right budget-friendly camera drone for you!

Introduction to Potensic D85

To kick start our in-depth review of the Potensic D85 drone, we will introduce you to this quadcopter. The Potensic D85 is dubbed as a budget-friendly smart camera drone because of its relatively affordable price tag and its camera capabilities.

It is a fixed-wing quadcopter, which means the motor arms are not foldable. Unlike other smart camera drones and typically premium-graded drones such as Mavic Mini for instance.

Although, Potensic D85 aims to fill in the gap as an entry-level camera drone for beginners who need a high-quality drone to begin with in order to get the most flight experience out of it.

We will talk about these points in our in-depth Potensic D85 review in more details:

• Design and build quality.
• Features
• Camera
• Performance
• Flight Time
• Flight Range

At the end of the article, you will be able to make the final decision whether the Potensic D85 drone is the right camera drone for you. Without further ado, let’s get to the design and build section next.

Potensic D85: Design and Build

On the first impression, Potensic D85 is crafted with durable and high-quality ABS plastic that delivers a solid appearance. It comes in jet black coating that makes it look like a professional-grade camera drone, which is always a good sign.

Underneath the drone is a mount holder for the action camera. You can replace it with any action camera of your choice if you prefer to upgrade the video resolution to 4K.

The landing legs are propped in each corner that provides solid landing. Additionally, these legs help create distance between ground and action camera, which is great because that minimizes the amount of exposure to tiny particles, especially dirt and dust.

Each motor is outfitted with brushless motors powered by a durable 7.4V 2,800mAh battery that delivers a steady stream of jolt. One of the main design advantages that brushless motors have to offer is low maintenance and high performance.

The battery is located in the back and provides just enough juice to keep the drone airborne for up to 20 minutes. However, the package comes with an extra battery which increases the total flight time upwards to 40 minutes.

Potensic D85: Camera Quality

By default, the action camera that is mounted on Potensic D85 features 2K HD video capabilities. At the price tag that a Potensic D85 drone is going for, it is pretty good because of video resolution quality.

But you will also have the advantage of replacing the action camera on the drone with an even better one of your own choice. For instance, if you want to have 4K UHD video capabilities without any shakiness, HERO8 Black is a solid choice.

I like this because it gives you the flexibility to customize drones the way you want to your own liking. If you are not happy with the quality of the camera, you can easily do so with a better action camera.

Which gives Potensic D85 a competitive advantage over fixed-camera drones. Although, you can’t adjust the action camera via the remote controller which is a minor disadvantage.

Potensic D85: Flight Time and Range

As I briefly mentioned in the previous section, the Potensic D85 drone is powered via 7.4V 2,800mAh battery. It is incredibly powerful enough to maintain a flight time of 20 minutes, in addition to that enhances the total flight performance.

Because of the high voltage and power current, it is able to help the brushless motors generate strong propulsion force. Which helps the drone maintain precise flight controls while you get the most flying time out of flight session.

When it comes to flight range, it has an impressive maximum remote control distance upwards to 4,900 feet or roughly 0.92 miles. This enables you to fly further and unlock new, bigger experiences never seen before.

Combined with 20 minutes of flight time (40 minutes in total) and great remote control distance offers both beginners and recreational remote pilots some of the best aerial capabilities to start with.

Potensic D85: Flight Performance

When it comes to shopping for the best camera drone, flight performance is always the first thing that comes to mind. The Potensic D85 camera drone is packed with stellar flight performance thanks to impressive flight time and range.

But one thing that I think is worthy enough to point out is that this camera drone comes with a GPS module. Which means it can communicate with satellites to provide precise and accurate hovering position.

This eliminates the majority of flight controls and focuses on what matters the most to beginners and recreational remote pilots. Beginners who have never flown a drone before will be able to fly Potensic D85 with ease and simplicity.

Flight speed of this camera drone by default will be the slowest settings, which allows beginners to learn the basics. Once you master the basics, you will be able to adjust the speed to a maximum 31 miles per hour.

Quite speedy for an entry-level camera drone packed with flight performance. It’s fast, simple, and easy enough for beginners to master the basics — at the same time recreational remote pilots get to enjoy flying a fast bird.

Potensic D85: Features

Believe it or not, the Potensic D85 drone is packed with a lot of features and that’s what makes it so fun for beginners and recreational remote pilots. You can thank the built-in GPS module which enables smart and advanced flight functions to become part of amazing features.

With a Potensic D85 drone you can perform 360-degree Orbit Mode or set it on Follow Mode to track wherever you go. If you want to spice your flight session a bit, then you can customize the path to your own liking.

It is also integrated with Smart Return to Home functionality that allows you to recall drones back to home safely. Which is done upon launching and recording the home point that the drone remembers via GPS module.

You also will have the advantage of viewing through the camera in a bird-eye perspective in real-time. Simply mount your personal smartphone on the remote controller, and link via app to enable FPV mode.

The streaming quality is based on the strength of the signal. That being said, 5G Wi-Fi offers fast and fluid streaming quality compared to 2.4GHz. In addition to that, it has far less interference compared to 2.4GHz which is a competitive advantage.

Why Buy Potensic D85

By then now after reading our in-depth Potensic D85 drone, you might be wondering if it is still worth buying this camera drone. I assembled a number of reasons why you will want to buy a Potensic D85 drone.

Potensic D85 is a smart camera drone outfitted with GPS module that offers impressive aerial capabilities. Packed with tons of features such as Follow Me Mode, Orbit Mode, and Customization Flight Path, it delivers on the mission of being a simple, yet smart high-performing camera drone.

With a 20 minutes of flight time and good remote control distance, it has a lot to offer for beginners and recreational remote pilots.. But one of the selling points why you might want to have a Potensic D85 drone is flexibility.

Since it comes with an action camera which delivers 2K HD video resolution, you will have the option to make a switch to a better and high-quality action camera such as GoPro HERO series. Which is great if you want to have 4K UHD video capabilities and fluid animation.

Potensic D85 Review: Final Verdict

To wrap up our in-depth Potensic D85 review, I think this is definitely one of the best-looking and most advanced camera drones packed with tons of features, flight functionalities and more.

Carefully crafted with thick and durable ABS plastic that delivers a sturdy framework for resiliency, an absolutely must-have design for beginners. The motors are brushless that helps increase its overall flight performance and maximum flying speed.

That being said, I highly recommend the Potensic D85 drone for beginners and recreational remote pilots. I hope you found my in-depth Potensic D85 review helpful and insightful. If you have any questions, feel free to ask via commenting. Happy flying.