Article from the Mundo Drone archive, published 5 April 2020 and updated 28 June 2020. Text merged on 28 October 2026 from all its 2020 versions; specifications, availability and regulations may have changed since.
The Eachine E520S could be called with the successor of the sales leader Eachine E58, a drone that surprised with everything it offered at entry level. Now the version we analyzed, the E520S, comes equipped with GPS and 4K camera among other things.... Let's find out!
Analysis and characteristics of EACHINE E520S
Eachine is becoming a familiar name in the world of entry-level drones. They have already released some fantastic entry-level drones and the Eachine E520S is no different.
The first thing you notice about the Eachine E520S is that it's a folding drone and it looks a lot like DJI Mavic Pro. I'm sure this isn't by accident, already Mavic's range of drones. DJI is one of the most popular and there have been a lot of imitation models that have followed and tried to emulate some of their great successes. Most of them have tried without success, but some have and one of them is the Eachine E520S.
By this we do not mean that the Eachine E520S is as good as the DJI Mavic Air or Mavic Pro, it is not, and it does not pretend to be. However, despite how good the DJI Mavic drone range is, they are simply more than most people need when they just want a drone to have fun and have enough features to be able to take high-quality videos and images.
The Eachine E520S is made of high quality plastic that is durable and in sight and touch gives the feeling of being a quality product. It's not one of those drones that looks like they'll be dismantled as soon as you get your first crash. It also comes with propeller protectors to minimize any damage from any crash (and if you're a beginner, you'll most likely crash your drone a few times).
The drone is 40*28*7.5cm with its fully expanded arm and propeller protectors attached. When folded, it becomes half the size and this makes it ideal for traveling, in fact, if you travel frequently and you are looking for a good travel drone, folding drones such as the Eachine E520S are perfect for it.
The drone comes with a 1200 mAh lip battery. With a battery charge, you can fly the drone for about 15 minutes, longer than most drones in its class.
One last thing to mention before moving on to the main features of this drone is its remote control. It is modern and comfortable to hold, there are some drone controllers in the same class as the Eachine E520S that are large and clumsy and aesthetically not very attractive. This is not the case with this controller, it has a transmission range of about 300 m and if you use the FPV function you can transmit video sequences from a maximum range of 250 m.
Camera
There is a certain trap in the interpretation of the cacarteristics of this drone as far as the camera is concerned, as it seems that it can record video to 4K, which in itself would make it a standout in its class. It is misleading because the drone can only take photos in 4k while the video is recorded in 1080p.
For a drone in this class, you really can't expect 4K video, but that doesn't excuse them from misleading advertising. It's still a decent camera and you can take good video images and aerial images, but the drone doesn't have any kind of mechanical or electronic gimbal stabilization of the camera (as it's a very simple drone), so you'll see some distortion as a gelatin effect and tremors.
The camera has a 120° FOV, this will give you a wide angle to record and capture videos and aerial images and you can adjust the 90° camera to get the viewing angles you want.
Having said that, it is easy to deduce that this drone is not designed to make great pictures or aerial videos nor is that its purpose (despite what they can say on their product page). It's just a good overall camera that you can enjoy while having fun flying with it.
Smart Flight Modes
Like many modern drones, the Eachine E520S comes with several intelligent flight modes. These modes make it easier for anyone to fly this drone and take videos and images is much simpler, as you don't have to worry about controlling the drone.
It's got three smart flight modes, they're;
Reference point: Draw a path in the application and the drone will follow that route automatically.
Surround / Orbit: In this mode, the drone will orbit the person holding the transmitter, this mode is ideal for taking selfies.
Smart Track: In this way, the drone will look at you and follow you wherever you go. This is another excellent way to take videos and pictures with hands-free.
Automatic home return (RTH): If you see that the battery charge starts to run out or you lose sight of the drone, just press the RTH button on the controller and the drone will return to where it has taken off. A great feature that will minimize the chances of you losing or crashing your drone.
Performance in flight
The flight performance for the Eachine E520S is quite good, it is stable and even in wind conditions is not so difficult to control, although there is a bit of interference if you are using FPV functions. As it comes with GPS, you can move the drone without any problem and GPS also allows you to take better images and videos.The performance would be much better if the engines were brushless, which in our opinion is something that they could have mounted without problems without pushing the drone into a higher range.
There are three speed modes, it's a fast drone even in the lowest speed mode, so just switch to the fastest modes once you become a more experienced pilot.
As mentioned above, the drone comes with a 1200 mAh lip battery that gives you a flying time of about 15-16 minutes, which is better than most other drones in its class.
However, it is still not long enough to fully enjoy the experience of flying drones and, therefore, we always advise buying additional batteries. Fortunately, Eachine offers a package that comes with three additional batteries so you do not have to buy them separately and you can fly for much longer. (See our purchase section at the end of this page.)
Conclusion
The Eachine E520S is a good drone that comes with some great features, an HD camera and is very easy to fly. This drone is very complete for its class and ideal for beginners and experienced pilots.
If you're looking for an entry-level HD camera drone, the Eachine E520S He won't let you down. However, as we mentioned earlier in the article, the product page exaggerates the quality of the camera, so you don't have to have very high expectations at that point, as for this you need drones from significantly higher ranges, as is logical.
Specifications
- Frequency: 2.4G
- Channel: 4 channels
- G-yro: 6 axes
- Engine: 8 * 23 mm without brushed core
- Quadcopter Battery: 7.4V 1200mAh Lipo (Including)
- Transmitter battery: 4 x 1.5 AAA batteries (not included)
- Flight time: 14-16 minutes
- Charging time: 120-150 minutes
- Distance R/C: 200-300m
- Flight weight: 280 g (with battery)
- Black
- Optional camera: 720P / 2.4G WiFi 1080P / 5G WiFi 1080P / 2.4G WiFi 4K HD / 5G WiFi 4K HD
- FOV: 120° wide-angle
- Pixel: 720P - Image / Video: 1280 * 720
- 1080P - Image: 1920 * 1088, Video: 1280 * 720 (Saved on mobile phone)
- 1080P - Image: 1920 * 1088, Video: 1920 * 1080 (Saved on SD card)
- 4K - Image / Video: 3840 * 2160 (compatible with iOS 6 or higher and high-end Android system)
- 4K - Image / video: 2560 * 1440 (saved on SD card)
- Distance WiFi: 2.4G WiFi: 50-70m
- WiFi 5G: 150-250 m
- Quad size: 40 * 28 * 7.5cm (arms are not bent, with accessory protector)
- 15 * 11 * 7.5 cm (arms folded)
Pros and cons of this Drone
- Very complete for its class.
- Flight autonomy of about 15', above average for drones in its class.
- Engines should have been brushless for better performance.
- It doesn't record real 4K. This is not surprising in a drone of its class, which if it is that the advertising of the brand leads to misunderstandings.
Conclusions
This drone is a worthy successor to the E58 Eachine, and equips more than enough features to be considered a benchmark within the hard-hitting segment of low-priced drones. If you do not ask more of it than its class can offer, this drone will not disappoint you at all.