Snaptain SP500 Drone

Snaptain SP500 Drone Review

Snaptain SP500 Drone Review 2020 – is the Snaptain SP500 quadcopter worth the money? Review of features, pricing, flight duration, battery, camera and more.

SNAPTAIN SP500 Foldable GPS FPV Drone with 1080P HD Camera...

$159.99 $199.99 2 used from $146.22
3 new from $159.99

in stock

Buy this item

Although I am the proud owner of several drones, none of them have GPS positioning that helps the gadget to hover stably to capture clearer images and return home whenever their battery is low. I was also looking for a drone equipped with a 1080 pixels HD 110 degree wide-angle camera that can capture crystal clear photographs and high-quality video. I was, therefore, pleasantly surprised when I searched Amazon for drones and came across Snaptain sp500 drone. It had everything I could wish for and much more. I love foldable drones, and this is amongst the features that attracted me to this particular model. The icing on the cake was its price of $139.99. This foldable drone boasts of rich features, which I will discuss in details later, such as:

• 5G WiFi transmission
• Auto hover
• Circle fly
• Gesture control
• Follow me
• GPS return home, and much more

Frankly, I was not pleased with the design of this model, which is not as sleek as I would have liked it to be. Even though the manufacturers claim that it is foldable, but the rotor arms do not fold up completely, which makes the drone appear bulky even after being folded. It is not a big drone, having dimensions of 12.9″x12.9″x2.2″. You will need to register this drone if you want to use it in the UK, USA, or Canada as its overall weight is over 250 grams.

Solid build

Unlike many other similar drones, the Snaptain sp500 drone boasts of a solid build and can withstand the occasional bumps without any serious damage to its structure. It comes fully assembled, so you just have to install the propeller guards (provided for extra protection) and the battery. The brushed motor this unit ships with is neither as powerful nor as brushless motors. The manufacturer has included six extra propellers allowing you to replace in case those fixed on the drone are damaged.

Lights and power

The equipment contains a couple of LED lights in its front, useful for night-time flying as well as for orientation. Each rotor contains a couple of red and green LED lights that look spectacular during the night. Their main purpose is to indicate that the compass of the drone is fully calibrated. The nose of the drone contains the HD camera. A 7.4 volt 1000 mAh lithium polymer battery powers the drone and provides enough power to fly the device for 15 minutes. The extra battery included with the drone means that you do not have to wait for three hours to recharge the discharged battery before you can fly the unit again. Effectively, this doubles the flying time of the drone.

Awesome controller

I loved the nice-looking controller supplied with the unit. Apart from being comfortable, it boasts of dual handles that I could pull out from the bottom of the controller, providing me a better grip of the controller. Do not be fooled by the minimalistic design of the controller. It boasts of a smartphone holder that you can pull out from the middle, which is large enough to accommodate a big smartphone. I also loved the easy-to-move control sticks of the remote. An internal and rechargeable 3.7v Li-Ion battery powers the controller. Once discharged, you can use the included USB cable to recharge the battery. An indicator light turns green to indicate the batteries are fully charged. This drone is compatible only with 5G compatible smartphones, so you are out of luck if you do not have a fairly new mobile. You can also use the Nova app to control the drone. It has some bugs, but the developers are updating it regularly to remove them.

Awesome camera

As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I was looking for a drone with an excellent camera, and this model did not disappoint me. Although the manufacturers specify the camera at 1080 pixels, the streaming quality is only 720 pixels at 24 frames per second when using the first person view mode, which is fine for me. The maximum distance for quality FPV is around 200 meters on a clear day. However, I would suggest that you do not fly it at a distance more than that as the video stream tends to become choppy. If you do wish high-quality videos, make use of the SD card slot in the belly of the device to record the videos and transfer them later to your phone or any other device. The camera has 110 degrees field of view and you can adjust the angle of the lens up to 40 degrees. However, you have to do this setting manually before you fly the drone. I was disappointed with this and hope that the manufacturers fix this issue in a future version of this unit, allowing users to control the pitch via the controller. Although the unit comes with unit hold and GPS that allows for better hovering as well as stable flight it does not come with stabilization software or gimbal system for videos and images. It also has some nifty features such as:

• Orbit mode: Also known as circle fly, this option permitted me to select a point of interest, and the drone will fly around it.
• Gesture control: I loved this flight mode that allowed me to take photographs through just the gesture of my hands. An open palm gesture causes the drone to start or end video recording while a victory gesture makes it take a photo.
• Headless mode: This is an awesome feature for beginners since the controls are straightforward and easy to learn, and the user need not know the orientation of the drone.
• Follow me mode: This mode allows you to lock the drone with your phone. Once set, the drone will follow you wherever you go.
• Tap-Fly: Set additional points on the map within the application, the drone will fly along the path you set on the app to capture videos and photos and videos.
• Return home mode: You can activate this mode through the remote control or the app. Once done, the drone will return from where it took off. The drone sets this mode automatically in case you lose connection with it or when its battery drains beyond a certain level.

PROs & CONs Listing

Pros:
• Affordable price
• Excellent camera
• An additional battery, effectively doubling the flight time
• Solid build
• Six free propellers

Cons:
• Brushed motor is not as powerful as brushless motors
• Buggy application
• No on-flight lens adjustment feature

Users were impressed with the quality of the take-off and landing. Even a first-time user can understand the simple instructions on the manual supplied with the device. According to users, this drone is ideal for both beginners as well as for hobbyists. On most occasions the device landed within eight inches of the take-off point when using the “return home” feature. At $139.99 this is unarguably the best available drone.

SNAPTAIN SP500 Foldable GPS FPV Drone with 1080P HD Camera...

$159.99 $199.99 2 used from $146.22
3 new from $159.99

in stock

Buy this item

Tyler West

Tyler West received a Bachelor Degree in computer science from The University of Texas Austin. Tyler has been working as a full-time computer programmer for the past 3 years. In his spare time, Tyler’s favorite hobby is flying drones. One of Tyler’s life goals is to become a full-time drone pilot.