Snaptain SP500 GPS 5G is a pretty good gadget if you are looking for a low-priced drone but with the features of advanced ones.
In the category of cheap drones, Snaptain is becoming popular rapidly.
Instead of going for expensive drones after becoming popular, this company is still dedicated to manufacturing low-end drones and integrating expensive drones’ signature features in these reasonably priced models.
Snaptain SP500 is an example of this; a perfect balance of cost and features.
It comes with an integrated 1080p camera, GPS, 15 minutes flight time, gesture controls, and several intelligent flight modes.
Overall, it has almost everything a beginner or casual user of the drone might require.
Snaptain SP500 Features and Functionality:
Built
At first glance, SP500 looks very bulky with the dimensions of 12.9 x 12.9 x 2.2 inches with four arms that folds partially.
Though it isn’t cumbersome and weighs around 2 pounds, other drones in this price range are much lighter to fly.
The whole body is made up of plastic. Four arms of the drone sit on each corner of the body with wings on top of them.
Just below the body’s facing head, an LED is placed, which gives it a pretty nice look.
Overall, the drone has the classic look of most of the quadcopters. The propellers and protectors are replaceable.
SP500 is generally controlled by remote. But for the ease of use, a smartphone attachment also comes with the package.
Camera
Most of the cheap drones either add a very low-quality camera in their drone or not add it at all. The 1080p HD camera of Snaptain SP500 and its performance is imposing.
It has a glass lens with an adjustable field of view up to 110° to 40º, giving you more edge to add creativity to your footages.
The FOV can only be adjusted manually. Overall the camera performance is the best feature of this drone.
Using 5G transmission or connectivity, the video can be streamed live. Live streaming is limited to 720p format at 24fps, but video and image quality is excellent.
For the best quality videos in live streaming, do not fly the drone far from the controller. Video quality will decrease with decreasing signal strength.
Flying performance
The Snaptain SP500 can go up to 120 meters or 394 feet maximum as per the product’s official description.
In reality, it is several meters less than this. After around 100 meters, the signal strength gets very weak, making it difficult to control the camera as it keeps going further away.
If SP500 is flown without GPS to save the battery, it becomes almost impossible to control it.
Overall flying performance is satisfactory as long as you are flying it with GPS.
Live stream and flying SP500 also complement each other, but we recommend not flying a drone more than 60-90 meters away from the controller for clear live videos.
To make flying fun and easy, Snaptain SP500 offers numerous flight modes discussed in the next section.
Flying modes:
Gesture Control: As the name shows, this mode allows the flyer to control the device with the hands’ gestures, i.e., on the gesture of opening palm, SP500 starts flying or starts shooting the video.
Make a victory gesture with your hand to take a still snap and so on. This mode is becoming popular in low-priced cameras now, but it is very responsive and accurate.
Orbit Mode: Select any point and height under orbit mode, and the drone will fly around it in a circle as per your directions.
This mode is best to take 360 degrees of panoramic shots of the objects.
Tap Fly Mode: With this mode, SP500 follows a path automatically. Flyer has to set a path for the drone before the flight on the Smartphone using the mobile app of the gadget.
Just tap on the controller to fly it, and after that, everything happens on its own. (GPS is mandatory to use this mode. Please do not turn it off)
Follow Me: Make your drone to fly right behind you without you controlling it.
Return Home: Activate this mode once via the app or the remote controller and forget about losing your drone.
It will automatically come back home whenever the signals are weak, lost, or the battery level gets low.
Battery
Honestly, the 15 minutes of flying time after waiting for 2.5 hours to charge it fully isn’t very pleasant.
Though two batteries are sent with the package, still it isn’t making up for this flaw. Each battery is a 7.4v 1000 mAh lithium polymer one.
Snaptain SP500 Specs:
- Product dimension on expansion: 12.9 x 12.9 x 2.2 inches (Length x Width x Height)
- Product dimensions after folding: 6.9 x 5.5 x 2.2 inches (L x W x H)
- Weight: 2.05 pounds
- Control Distance: 220 meters / 720 feet
- Maximum Flight Relative Height: 120 meters / 394 feet
- Expand Size: 12.9 x 12.9 x 2.2 (Length x Width x Height)
- Drone Battery: 7.4V 1000mAh (rechargeable)
- Modular Battery：2 Li-Po Battery
- Charge Time: About 2.5 Hours
- Flight Time: About 15 Minutes
- Video Resolution: 1080P
- Lens angle: Adjustable 110° Wide-angle
Pros:
- 1080p HD camera with excellent results
- Live streaming in resolution of 720p
- Wi-Fi and 5G transmission
- Two batteries with the package giving out the double-time
- Effective GPS modes
- Multiple flying modes
- Gesture controls to get hands-free
Cons:
- After a while, the battery level fluctuates dramatically after a while
- Follow Me often stops functioning during the flight
Conclusion
All the specifications of the Snaptain SP500 GPS 5G drone are fine. The camera is good, the price is reasonable, and the overall flying performance is alright.
If you are a beginner, go for it, <-Affiliate link 🙂 but if you want it for professional use or want maximum specifications in your drone, SP500 isn’t for you.
