When you’re first getting into drones, the thought of spending hundreds of dollars/pounds on even a beginner camera drone can be daunting. The most common concern for beginners is that they might crash or lose their drone. So, before buying one of the more expensive best beginner drones available, the Potensic A20 Mini Drone could be the perfect option for you to hone your flight skills first.
Key Specs
Camera: No camera
Video resolution: N/A
Frame rates: N/A
Weight: 6.7oz / 190g
Flight Modes: Standard, orbit, headless, flip
Compatible with: No smartphone required
The Potensic A20 Mini Drone is a palm-sized toy drone for children and beginners. There’s no camera, just a light to identify the drone’s orientation quickly. Despite the low cost of around $30, it flies incredibly well with controls identical to those of more expensive drones. Believe it or not, it flies much better than some cheap beginner camera drones that are five to ten times more expensive.
With no camera, you won’t be able to capture photos and videos with the A20, but that’s not a problem; it’s all about fun and getting used to flight controls in a safe indoor environment. The kit includes the A20 Mini Drone, a small controller that runs on three AAA batteries, three drone batteries, a spare set of propellers, a USB charger and an instruction manual.
Potensic A20 Mini Drone review
Potensic A20 Mini drone: Design
- Palm-sized mini drone
- Propeller guards
- Lightweight
Potensic is a well-known and respected beginner drone manufacturer, with the company’s most recent models, the Potensic Atom SE and the more advanced Potensic Atom, being fantastic beginner options that are excellent value for money. The A20 may not stand up to the same build quality as these more advanced models, but it’s surprisingly well-made for the price.
The A20 is just 3.10 x 1.25 x 3.50-inches / 7.87 x 3.18 x 8.89 cm with a weight of 6.7oz / 190g and resembles an FPV micro whoop drone with propeller guards that protect the propellers, people and objects when the drone crashes. The small size and light weight allow it to be weaved around, through and over furniture, and although care needs to be taken when flying indoors, damage to objects or the drone is unlikely — peace of mind for parents!
Despite its small, child-friendly size, the controller is comfortable for adults. There are two control sticks for flight, take-off and landing buttons, and four buttons for accessing flight controls. One quirk of the drone is that the controller and drone have to be paired each time the drone is switched on, and this is done by pulling the left control stick down until the drone lights stop flashing.
Potensic A20 Mini drone: Functionality
- Batteries charged via USB
- No smartphone required
- Easy to fly
The A20 is incredibly easy to set up, and since there’s no camera you don’t need to use a smartphone and a compatible app — all modes and basic features are accessed using the controller. To get started, you have to install three AAA batteries in the controller, charge the three drone batteries individually using the USB charger and then install one battery in the drone.
Once the drone and controller have been paired, you can either take off using the take-off/landing button or start the motors by pulling the left control stick down and to the right and the right stick down and to the left. This starts the motors and you can then take off manually if you prefer. Landing and stopping the motors can be achieved in the same ways.
Simplicity is the key here, and with flight times lasting around ten minutes per battery that’s plenty of time for a drone being flown indoors. But with three drone batteries in the kit, you can begin charging the second battery before you start flying so you have a battery ready when the first runs out of power. Charging only takes around ten minutes when the USB charger is plugged into a computer.
Potensic A20 Mini drone: Performance
- Only suitable for indoor flight
- Basic features
- Hovering functionality
The A20 isn’t a fast or powerful drone — perfect for indoor use, but it does mean that outdoor flight isn’t recommended. Even a light breeze could carry it away and the chances of losing such a small drone are high. This is far from a problem because flying indoors is a huge amount of fun and the small size and lightweight of the A20 fit this environment perfectly.
The controls themselves are the same as camera drones making the A20 a fantastic flight-learning tool for adults or a gift for children. There’s no GPS, but the A20 does have a barometer to set altitude which will hover the drone when the controls are released. This, alongside the standard controls, makes flight extremely similar to camera drones.
The A20 does tend to drift when hovering so you can’t fully rely on it, but this functionality and the overall performance is impressive for such an inexpensive drone. Flight is, overall, stable and within a single battery charge, your flight skills will improve to the point where you can confidently fly around obstacles.
In terms of features, everything is pretty basic, but on the controller, there are buttons to make the A20 rotate for orbiting, one for headless mode (where the left and right roll controls are reversed when the drone is facing the pilot), and another to change flight speed. You can also flip the drone by pressing down the left control stick until the drone beeps and then flying forward.
Potensic A20 Mini drone: Price
- Available from Amazon
- Costs just $30
- Kit includes everything you need
The Potensic A20 Mini Drone can be purchased from Amazon and is available in six colors/designs if in stock, but it’s most readily available in Lime green. The A20 kit costs $31 / £30 and includes everything you need to get started except for three AAA batteries for the controller, so if you don’t have any to hand, it’s worth ordering these at the same time.
The A20 kit includes the A20 Mini Drone, a small controller, three drone batteries, a spare set of propellers, a USB charger and an easy-to-follow instruction manual. The instruction manual is worth reading because it outlines how to pair the drone and controller, which must be performed before each flight, and how to access the basic flight features.
Should you buy the Potensic A20 Mini drone?
Since two of the main concerns of beginner pilots are learning flight controls and the risk of crashing, the Potensic A20 Mini drone is the perfect drone to alleviate these fears in an enclosed environment. And even if you find yourself growing out of what the A20 has to offer and feel the inevitable pull towards a more advanced camera drone for outdoor flight, the A20 is inexpensive.
Whether you’re an experienced drone pilot or an absolute beginner, the A20 is excellent fun. It’s a shame that there’s not a basic camera to allow you to get used to operating a camera while flying, but if you’re looking to learn how drone controls work, the A20 is a fantastic drone for achieving this.
If this product isn’t for you
Some pilots are happy to jump straight in at the deep end with a sub-249g drone for outdoor flight, and there are some great options available. Sticking with Potensic, the Atom SE is one of the best inexpensive beginner drones available that can capture 4K video and photos in both Raw and JPEG formats depending on your preference.
If you’d prefer to stay indoors but would like to try your hand with FPV drones, the BetaFPV Cetus Lite Kit comes with everything you need including the drone, controller and FPV goggles. It’s arguably the easiest FPV drone in the world to fly thanks to its hovering functionality, and it allows you to dip your toe into the FPV world for a low price.
Alternatively, if you have a larger budget and you’d prefer the best sub-249g beginner drone available, the DJI Mini 3 is what you’re looking for. The Mini 3 flies incredibly well and provides excellent image quality when capturing 4K video and photos in Raw and JPEG. What’s more, the camera can be rotated 90 degrees to capture portrait format/upright photos and videos.