Holy Stone HS175 Drone with Camera for Adults 2K UHD, GPS Auto Return, 5GHz FPV RC Quadcopter Follow Me, Waypoints, Circle Fly, Optical Flow, Headless Mode, 2 Batteries for 40 Min and Carrying Case

The media could not be loaded. I bought this for myself as I want to learn to use a drone for video projects I am learning to create. I watched some Youtube videos and read through the ratings on amazon. I am completely impressed. It was very easy to get it launched once I received it. It came in really nice packaging and all of the parts seem to be quality for the price. It came with two batteries which is really nice since there is only about 18+ minutes of flight time per charge. I like that it also came with propellor guards to keep from breaking blades while learning to fly. The app was pretty simple to navigate as the instructions pretty easy to follow. I got it up in the air in no time. The camera has an up and down movement. Unlike the full gimble on a dji mini. But the video on it is pretty clean and clear. I was shocked at how clean it looked. I really love the size. Its small and can fit in your pocket easily. Because its so small, the wind can get to it and make your video and pics a little shakey, but on a windless day, its awesome! I am going to do some more flights and post some video and pictures soon.on a scale from 1 to 10, I would definitely give this beginner drone a 9.5. The only issue I have is when its windy. Not the drones fault.Update to come:I have had so much fun with this drone. The drine is easy to fly. The gps works really eell. Return to home works great. Once off beginner mode, you can take it really high and far and it will come home when the battery gets weak. The video is not 4K, but pretty sharp. You can adjust the camera vertically but not a full gimble. On a clear non windy day, the video is not thay shakey. Cool drone!!!

I have actually bought 3 drones from holy stone the HV5 series and the HV1 series. The first HV5 was take by the wind and was eaten by the desert. It flew to well and my mistake was when practicing tie a string to it until you get use to it and do not fly in high winds. At the end of the day..my mistake, my loss. So I order another one and it came on-time and all was good until I put the battery in and started it only three propellers spin and the left rear propeller did not work, so I will be returning it to holy stone and / or DeeRc for repair or replacement. I have not tested HV1 yet and almost scared to do so, but that is another story for another day.Easy to learn? Depends on the individualFor beginners? Not recommended, but grey area? practice in a large wide open spaceRemote control? Both of them had a hard time responding to control after getting a few feet awaywould not return home and if landed would not shut down or turn off propellers when sending signal from remote, but that could have been due to the different signals in the area, I have had problems with other remotes and even Bluetooth and wi-fi signals out here, so keep it close.Flies well in winds 5-10 Mph, but I live in the desert, surrounded by mountains and it can be a challenge for birds to fly around here winds can get in upwards of 40 mph,It is a great little drone but do not recommend flying in high wind areas. Customer Service was excellent after one of the propellers stopped working and got me another one out right away after I sent it back.Would I buy from them again? Yes.Yes I would.

The media could not be loaded. The Holy Stone HS175 weighs in at 202 gm, which means it does not require FAA registration, and folds to a size that would fit in your pocked. It comes with a particularly nice case that has fitted compartments for the drone, remote and extra battery. It has a mesh zippered pocket to hold all the usual extras: charging cables, spare propellers, User Manual and even propeller guards for flying indoors. The whole package easily fits in a backpack, should you want to take it on a hike. Very nice.The HS175 is a GPS drone with all the usual GPS-enabled capabilities such as Return-to-Home and special flight modes. In addition it has an Optical Flow sensor to both improve the default GPS position holding and also provide position control in situations where GPS is not available, such as indoors. For beginners, Headless mode is available.First impressions:I was expecting a basic beginner GPS drone but was very pleasantly surprised to find it offers much more than the usual basic drone. My first test was a hard one, indoor flight.After charging the batteries and remote I attached the propeller guards and took it to my shop for a maiden flight. The optical flow positioning worked perfectly and the drone automatically went into a very slow mode, maybe as a result of not having a GPS connection. It hovered nicely and was easy to control. I used the trimmer function and the drone held position well enough for me to put down the remote and take a short video with my phone. The battery life seems to be quite good, even though I had the propeller guards attached and was mostly hovering. Overall, it was a lot of fun and I was impressed.The remote is quite basic but works fairly well. It was fairly comfortable to hold, though a touch top heavy with my large phone, and I had no difficulty controlling the drone even without using the phone app. I was disappointed that several functions, like headless mode and speed control don’t have buttons but rather require pushing down a joy stick. Unfortunately, there were no indicator lights on the remote to show the speed currently selected or even its state of charge. On the plus side I did like that there was a button to enter the compass calibration mode and I had no difficulty attaching my iPhone 6s Plus with its case to the holder.Outdoor test:I took it to my local field for a proper test. Calibration went smoothly and I got it up and flying in no time. Speed was good and I took some pictures at a height of over 70m that looked pretty decent on my phone and were stored on the microSD card at an excellent 4096x3072 resolution. The camera gimbal allows for changing the shooting angle from straight ahead to straight down and it worked well in flight. The video is stored at 2048x1080 on both the phone and the card. Of course, the video shows any shaking of the drone but this is to be expected since there is no image stabilization. Follow me mode did follow my phone but it had some difficulties keeping me in the frame. Circle mode worked well and circled at a speed that allowed for a smooth video.I flew for about 18 minutes, including a lot of hovering, when the low battery return to home activated and brought the drone back to within 4 feet of its initial takeoff point. Excellent accuracy for a low cost drone. The RTH altitude is not adjustable which you should keep in mind when flying in areas of tall trees, since the drone does not have obstacle avoidance.The second battery lasted over 18 minutes with more mixed flying, excellent flight time for a low cost drone I think. I tried the speed change control but I couldn’t tell the difference in the speeds, or perhaps the control didn’t work. I used manual Return to Home several times and the drone always landed close to the takeoff point.Conclusions:The HS175 is very compact, easy to fly, takes nice pictures and seems a step up from most of the drones in this price range. The remote controllable camera, the high resolution still pictures and particularly the longer flight time are strong points in its favor. The Optical Flow sensor enables stable flight indoors, a really nice plus for a drone in this price range. It comes with two batteries and a very nice case. I like the HS175 and would recommend it to anyone looking for a beginner drone in this price range.