Some time back I posted about a cheap little drone that I was gifted, and despite it getting ran over by a car, it still flies, mostly. With its 720p camera, the photos were as good as a digital camera from around 2002, and without GPS, there was no “return to home” function in case of loss of signal or low battery.

For these reasons, I bought a new drone. I needed GPS with return-to-home capability, a better camera, and one that hadn’t been ran over yet.

To China or Bust

After reading a lot of reviews and having an idea what I wanted, I decided on the Bugs 2 SE from Banggood.com. The Bugs 2 SE is a GPS drone so that it stays where you put it when you’re flying even if the wind is blowing. It also has the return-to-home features, and a fixed position 1080p camera. And Banggood.com: They’re a Chinese company that sells direct to the states, and I like them a lot. They’ve treated me really well and I get exactly what I pay for.

The only problem is that I’m late enough with this review that the Bugs 2 SE now been discontinued in favor of a newer model! For me, this is a bad thing. For you it is amazing. 4K camera, same GPS capabilities, folding, and a movable camera, for all the same price. Check for a link at the end.

The Good, the Bad, The Great!

First the good: This drone is fantastic! It’s fast, flies easily and takes nice photos. The GPS return-to-home works as advertised and if you lose signal, battery, or just get disoriented (or lazy…) it’ll land within a few feet of where it took off.

The Bad: The camera is fixed at an angle that doesn’t work well for me. I have to fly the drone backwards to get it to tilt up enough to get photos of the horizon such as those you see below. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s annoying.

But that didn’t keep me from getting some photos I really loved:

If You’re Interested in Buying a Drone, Read This

You might also be interested in this very short video:

The greatest thing about this is that the drone tells me two things: First, the maker of this drone is putting out good stuff! I’ll buy another one of their drones next. Second: Buying from Banggood.com was a trustworthy experience on somewhat more expensive item. So, I know a brand and a supplier that I can trust.

You can fly one of these. They aren’t difficult to learn and the GPS positioning makes it so that the wind doesn’t blow it off course. It goes where you tell it to and stays there! These drones also have brushless motors which means more power, more flight time. I was even able to lift a couple of small batteries and some electronics into the air just for fun!

If you’re a ham interested in placing wire antennas with a drone, These will work!

This drone cost me about $150 with two batteries, and a replacement will cost the same, but have much better features: 4K camera that can be tilted to an angle you want, and compact/portable because of being a folding model. You can find the updated model here.