Drones have gone from futuristic ideas to everyday toys thanks to advancements in battery and cameras. The Snaptain E10 that we have in this review is part of Snaptain’s E series of drones which are their budget and beginner friendly non-GPS drones. With a retail price of $159.99 the Snaptain E10 offers a motorized 1080 FHD Camera and up to 18 minutes of flight time. As a budget drone the E10 is a non-GPS drone and is limited to 150m transmission range. The drone features a compact folding quadcopter design that makes it easy to fly and highly portable. Snaptain even includes a fabric carrying bag that fits the drone, all the accessories and even spare parts and battery.
The Snaptain E10 camera drone is a beginner and budget friendly drone that’s easy to control and fun to fly.
| Retail Price | $159.99 |
| Rating | 8.8 / 10 |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 189 (drone + battery), 176 (remote) |
| Likes | + Budget friendly + Easy to fly and intuitive user interface + Portable and compact folding quad copter design |
| Dislikes | – Lacks image stabilization – Battery status is only shown on the app |
| Where to Buy (US) | Snaptain $15 Off Coupon Code: TSCE20 |
UNBOXING
The Snaptain E10 comes in a compact cardboard box with branding and specs are printed directly on the box. Inside the box you’ll find:
- E10 drone + two batteries
- Remote + how-to guide
- USB-C charging cable
- 4x extra propellers sets w/ screws
- Snap-on propeller guards
- Screwdriver
- Strap for carrying bag
- Instruction manual
The included fabric carrying bag is a nice premium feature that lets you easily travel and keep track of all the drone’s accessories. It’s a fairly nondescript bag with the Snaptain tags being the only indicator that there might be a drone inside it. We’d also recommend purchasing a separate memory card which can be inserted into the drone to make video capture easier.
FIT & FINISH
The Snaptain E10 has a compact quadcopter form factor which uses four two blade propellers which rotate in opposing directions. This is a popular design as they are inherently stable which makes them easy to fly by professionals or beginners. To avoid flight regulations, the E10 has a very small footprint that fits in your hand and lightweight construction. The drone is mostly plastic with a rectangular gray body and folding propeller arms. Branding is limited to Snaptain printed on top along and blue tips on the propeller blades for a pop of color. One of our favorite features of the Snaptain drone is the included fabric carrying bag which has Snaptain branding on it. The bag feels well made with multiple compartments and a removable strap that holds everything together.
One of the main reasons the Snaptain E10 is $40 cheaper than the Snaptain E20 is the 1080P camera. While it doesn’t have the 2.7K resolution of the E20 drone, it retains the motorized mount and zooming capabilities. The camera can rotate 90 degrees from fully horizontal to downward while flying by using the dial on the remote. Compared to budget drones like the Ascend ASC-2680 which require manually adjusting the camera, the motorized design is far more convenient and lets you optimize the camera angle mid-flight. Note, the zoom feature only affects the displayed video on the app and not the actual recorded video on the memory card in the drone which is always full resolution.
USER INTERFACE
The drone can be controlled using the Snaptain app on your phone or the included remote. It’s a simple plastic folding controller with two joysticks and buttons on the front and back. The arms fold outward and are surprisingly ergonomic despite the thin shape. It’s a straightforward remote with dedicated buttons for auto land / launch, speed setting, photos, recordings, stunt mode and an orbit mode. There are two dials on the rear which can adjust the camera zoom and camera angle. Even beginners should find flying the E10 easy as the two joystick setup is intuitive and easy to use.
As far as battery status, the controller has a separate multi-LED display to show the remote’s rechargeable battery state while the drone status is only viewable on the app. We would have liked to see at least a basic LED indicator on the drone or battery itself, like the HOVERAir X1, to make it easier to check the state. Starting up the drone is as simple as holding the power button on the drone to activate it, and then powering on the remote or app. There is a simple initial calibration with the controller to pair and start flying. The auto-launch and auto-land feature bring the drone up a few feet off the ground or gently land it onto the ground. If you need to bring the drone down quickly, there is also a quick emergency shutdown option that can be activated by hitting the two rear buttons on the remote or via the app to kill power to the drone.
FLYING IMPRESSIONS
Thanks to the quadcopter design of the Snaptain E10, it’s easy to fly the drone and get used to the controls. Combining the pitch/yaw with the altitude and rotation allows you to execute tight turns or fast maneuvers with a short learning curve. Starting in the low speed mode which slows the reactions of the drone down, we found it easy to get a feel for the drone and fly around obstacles. The all plastic construction also does a good job with inevitable crashes without causing any permanent damage. Aside from one broken blade, which is easy to replace with provided parts, the drone has held up well and with a little cleaning looks new.
One of the main downsides of the E10 drone is that it’s a non-GPS model which means there is no return-to-home feature. That means if you get out of the 150m range the drone can drift away with no way for you to track its location. Having gotten our previous Snaptain E20 stuck in a neighbors tree recently, we’d highly recommend being careful where you use the E10 drone. The combination of the transmission range limits and lightweight of the drone means it can easily get blown away in wind and go out of range. That’s why you should be careful to use the drone in areas that are protected from the wind and keep the drone within your line of sight. This is not a cinematic drone either, as the lack of image stabilization results in bouncy videos. Instead, the E10 is more of a fun beginner drone for those that want to experience drones without investing too much money.
Snaptain has also incorporated a few autonomous flying modes that are typically reserved for higher-end drones. One of those options is the orbit mode which spins the drone around a fixed point. In our experience, the orbit mode was interesting but not that useful unless you activate it from a standing hover. Otherwise, the drone would drift off while orbiting which wasn’t a useful feature. The stunt mode is more reliable and lets you do forward / side / back flips with a simple press of the button and pushing the joystick in the desired direction. As far as flight time, we found the drone’s useful battery span to be closer to the ~14 minute mark as the drone becomes sluggish at lower capacities and tends to quickly lose altitude. Also, as we previously stated, avoid flying in any type of wind as the drone doesn’t have enough power or weight to fly against even moderate wind speeds.
APP
Snaptain offers a free app to control and view the status of the E10 drone which is called Snaptain FPV in the Google Play store. It’s a fairly simple app with a main screen that lets you select between the E10 and E20 drones. From the home page you can select: contact us (this just lists contact information), tutorial video (this plays a how-to video), guide (an electronic version of the manual) and more (controller guide, right hand mode, reverse screen and app version) as well as function display. The most useful option is the function display option which shows a somewhat confusing photo of a skier and icons along the top and bottom of the screen. Once you’ve connected to the Snaptain E10’s wifi network the camera image should stream to the background of the page.
The drone battery status and remaining space on the memory card are visible on the bottom left which helps you keep an eye on the status. There are a number of icons along the top of the page which duplicate every function on the drone except the ability to zoom the camera. Snaptain has also incorporated quite a few additional icons for additional features which aren’t particularly obvious until you try to use them. One of the more notable features is the ability to draw a trajectory and execute it. To use this feature you first have to turn off the remote and enable the on-screen controls. This duplicates the joystick features directly on the screen and lets you pilot the drone using just the phone. Now you can press the “trajectory” mode icon (under the foursquare icon on the top right button). This lets you trace a path and have the drone maintain its current altitude while executing it.
The trajectory feature gives the Snaptain E10 a semi-autonomous flight capability which is usually reserved for more expensive drones. While it’s not as useful as object tracking capabilities, it does mean you can capture interesting panning shots. There is also an option for headless mode which makes it a lot easier to fly by re-orientating the drone such that directional inputs such that forward is always away from you regardless of the rotation of the drone. While all these features are helpful, the app itself can be a bit confusing and requires a learning curve as many of the icons aren’t intuitive.
THE VERDICT
Overall, we found the Snaptain E10 drone to be a fun and budget friendly drone. With its folding quadcopter design, it’s easy to travel with the drone and intuitive to fly. The rechargeable remote has dedicated buttons for all the main tasks and lets you start flying within 30 seconds or less with a fast startup sequence. We appreciated the motorized 1080 camera which lets you adjust the angle mid-flight and capture decent quality videos. While the drone lacks image stabilization and a physical drone battery status indicator (i.e. it’s only available on the app), it’s still affordable and fun to fly. Snaptain even includes two sets of batteries and a carrying case which makes it easy to store and travel with the drone. If you’re in the market for a budget drone with 1080 camera resolution then the Snaptain E10 is a good option.
Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Snaptain. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.