The FUNSKY S20 drone is cheap, foldable, intelligent and has two camera choices. This drone comes with features that you mostly find in quads that are more expensive. If you are looking for a first-timer quadcopter that will be fun to fly, get the S20.
What makes this drone even more adorable is that it comes with the choice of a 4K camera or a 1080P one. Both are good. Even the 1080P captures better videos than a 720P one. Of course, there are several more features and automatic flight functions, which we will look at later in this article.
Do you look at the flight time first, followed by things such as battery size and camera when buying a drone? To help you make an easier decision faster, we bring you the features first.
FUNSKY S20 Features & Technical Details
This is where everything starts, because both advanced and beginner drones are as good as their features. Here, we shall look at the design, build quality and the flight functions of the S20 drone.
Design and build quality
First, this is a small drone. It measures 25 by 25 by 6 cm/ 9.8 by 9.8 by 2.4 inches. It is also foldable, which means carrying it in your pack or in your coat pockets should not be a problem at all. Besides, it will fold intact, which means you do not have to remove the blades or anything.
At a small flying weight of 220g, you do not need to register it with the FAA in North America. If you are in another country, you can check with the authorities whether you need to register the drone.
The hull is made of ABS plastic. It is light in weight, thin and resilient. This means that the delicate interior parts of the drone are well protected in case there is a crash or something. However, do take good care of your drone all the same.
The color scheme of the drone is generally dark gray. On the blades, there are blue stripes, which break the monotony. The same stripes are also found on the body of the drone along the sides and near the head of the drone is a blue Finsky logo.
On the front arms, there are fantastic LEDS. They light up beautifully at night and they make flying in low-light conditions even more fun.
Camera Quality
This drone comes with a 4K/1080P camera. You can take videos with a 4096 by 3072 resolution or 1920 by 1080P resolution and the same applies to photos.
To clarify this for a moment, we mean that you can choose the 4K or 1080P version. The 4K version costs slightly more than the 1080P version.
For FPV, the real-time video transmission is in 1080P, which makes it clearer and even more fun than using 720P. If you are looking for a beginner, lowly priced drone that can capture amazing photos and videos, it does not get any better than this one.
You can adjust the camera angle by 45° on the remote controller. That way, your vertical field of view is under your control all the time. Plus, you don’t have to bring the drone home to adjust the camera. The field of view is 120°, wide enough to capture nice videos and photos in landscape orientation.
Something else that we might mention about the FUNSKY S20 drone is that the camera has 50x magnification. Therefore, if you are too far from an interesting object, zoom it in by upping the magnification power. Even many of the big boys don’t have this feature.
Remote Controller
The RC is small, dapper and looks like something that you would find for a gaming console. It is small and light in weight. It also carries keys and buttons for all the functions that you need to fly this drone, take photos and capture videos without using the app.
The remote control distance is 100 meters. This is not long, but it also means that your drone will never be out of your sight. It uses 4 AAA batteries, which you have to buy separately because they are not shipped with the drone.
The sticks are responsive; the smartphone holder is retractable so you can keep it out of sight when you do not need it. Basically, this remote control has everything that it should come with plus it is so good looking.
Battery and Flight Time
First, this drone is available with one, two or three batteries in different online marketplaces, of course at different prices. These are 7.4V 1200mAh batteries.
One battery is going to give you a flight time of 18 minutes. Because the charging time is a bit long at 5 hours, getting one or two spare batteries is better so that you can use one battery as the others charge.
Since these are modular batteries, they are easy to insert and remove from the drone. Even if your kid is using the drone, you can be sure they will be safe. However, only give it to a child who is of the manufacturer-recommended age.
Flight Features and Functions
This is where owning this drone gets even more exciting. This small drone comes with many flight features, functions and collectively, they enhance the flight performance.
Optical Flow Positioning
This function is responsible for accurate positioning and precise hovering. It also ensures that you know where your drone is all the time. This function also enables you to take distortion free photos and videos when you hover the drone.
One key take off and landing
This is a must-have feature for all beginner drones. When you press the key, the drone takes off and hovers at a given height to await your next move.
One key return
Why risk losing your drone to the wind or to signal loss when you can just punch a key and bring it back home? The one key return is a safety function. Bring the drone back home if the battery gets low or when it loses signal.
Gesture control
Show the drone the victory sign to take selfie photos from a decent distance. Also show it a wave or your palm and it will start capturing videos.
Trajectory flight
Open the app (sorry, haven’t been able to establish the name of the app) and access the map feature. You can then draw a flight route that you would like your drone to follow when you launch it. It will do just that.
Variable speed
Fly the drone at your most appropriate speed depending on what you are tracking. Children should start at low speeds and progress as they master the art of flying drones.
Follow Me Mode
Get your FUNSKY S20 to follow you while keeping a good distance all the time. You can engage Follow Me Mode on the remote controller or on the app.
Rolls
You can have fun with the drone by rolling it from left to right or vice versa mid-flight. This will consume more battery power but hey, it is a fun toy.
Headless mode
When this is your first drone, you may not know where the nose is facing when the drone is far from you. Just engage headless mode and the drone will align itself according to your position.
Short Summary of Feedback from Existing Owners
Without thinking twice, I would recommend this drone for a beginner. First, it comes ready to fly out of the box and secondly, it has long flight time. It also has a short flight distance so it is always in your sight. Sai Raj.
I find the shipping process a bit too long, but when you get the drone, you will agree that it was completely worth the wait. PK Karash.
If you want an affordable drone with the promise of good aerial photography, get this one. It has optical flow function, which keeps it stable enough to take nice photos. Larry M.
I love that I can adjust the vertical angle of the camera when the drone is mid-flight. The 4K camera is truly effective but you can also choose to use the 1080P, which is cheaper. Martin S.
I ordered mine with two batteries. I am yet to record a flight time of the promised 18 minutes per battery but I have done 16 minutes. I consider that fair enough. Henry B.
FUNSKY S20 Pros
- Nice sleek drone, designed to cut through the air easily
- Foldable design makes it easy to carry
- Comes with a nice carry bag
- Comes in two camera choices – 1080P or 4K
- The price is fair
- Has two LED lights in the front to assist in night flights
- Flies well indoors or outdoors (there should be no wind)
FUNSKY S20 Cons
- Lacks geofence feature – Such should be included in a beginner drone
- Quite a long charging time for the battery
- The user manual could be better
Who Can Buy The FUNSKY S20 Drone?
While every recommendation seems to suggest it is a drone for beginners, well, many of its features show that any pilot can find it fun to fly. First, there is the HD camera that takes awesome photos and videos, especially when you stop and hover the drone. Optical flow makes the drone hover precisely for taking images. Experienced pilots will most likely choose three batteries and the 4K camera version, which is well justified by the affordable price.
Conclusion and Recommendation
This might be the lowly priced drone that you can use to learn how to fly and then upgrade to a bigger version in future. However, when you buy it, consider the safety precautions. For example, you should never fly it in the wind. Secondly, choose an open space, where there are no trees, fences or obstacles within 100 meters, since that is its range. We need not say that you can buy more batteries for more flight time. With those precautions in mind, have fun flying your FUNSKY S20 drone.
