Holy Stone HS175D GPS Drone with 4K Camera for Adults, Under 249g, Foldable RC Quadcopter with Auto Return, 46 Mins Long Flight, Follow Me, Brushless Motor, Circle Fly, Waypoint Fly, Altitude Hold

We needed to get a better look at some problems on an inaccessible roof, and inspection companies quoted high numbers just to look. Buying a quality, entry-level drone which could do the job was an easy decision. After reading reviews of a number of under-$200 drones, we chose the HS175D, and are very satisfied with our decision. Amazon delivered in less than a day, and the drone was flying, well controlled by a novice operator, within an hour. After a bit of practice, the drone took high-definition photos of the roof in question, and the phots were of exceptional quality and fully met our needs. In the following days, we flew the drone just for the fun of it, and found it more than met our expectations gained from reading the specifications. This drone does exactly what the manufacturer says it does, nothing more, and nothing less. It is very easy to learn to fly it. Best to steer clear of trees and other high structures of course. One important learning--if you think you are losing control, let go of the control sticks. The drone will simply stop moving and hover where it is, while the operator regains his composure. While we are totally satisfied, there are a few comments which we will pass along to other new operators. This assumes you have downloaded the software for the drone according to the instructions provided, and have initiated that software on your phone. 1) For best photographic results, a separately purchased SD card is recommended. After taking photos or videos, it is best to remove the SD card and insert it directly into a computer (using an adapter that comes with the SD cards). Download the files into the computer, but do not delete them from the SD card. Then reinsert the SD card into the drone, and use the drone software to delete the files. 2) And there is a bug. SD cards formatted by the drone itself have some problem that prevents a Mac computer from reading them (although a PC will read them). The fix is simple: Format the SD card with the computer, not with the drone. If using a Mac, choose the MS-DOS (FAT) option. 3) While taking video with the drone, if you attempt to take a still picture, the video will stop. You'll need to restart it. Not surprisingly, you cannot take video and still pics at the same time. Further, we found while using an iPhone along with the manual controller, as recommended, that the "Take Video" button on the controller will start video, but it will stop on its own about a second later. So, you should use the "Take Video" button on the phone screen instead, which works as you would expect: Press once to start video, press again to stop. 4). If the top-right Botton on the phone screen (marked with a circular star) is pressed , a small screen with Chinese characters appears on the phone screen. I have no idea what these characters mean. But pressing this icon on the screen does bring up the controls for the maximum height and distance you wish to allow, and includes a "novice" mode switch, which keeps the drone quite close to the operator. While this fairly inexpensive drone does not have the 2- or 3-axis gimbals or automatic obstacle avoidance of pricier drones, it certainly is a solid performer. Battery life has been about 20 minutes, and the automatic return home on a low battery is a very good included feature. We must also comment on Holy Stone's service personnel. We've had several questions for them, and found them to be available, exceptionally accommodating, and willing to take the time to answer a newby's questions (probably for the N-th time). Well done, Holy Stone! So, if you are seeking a solid-performing drone for a reasonable cost, the HS175D is worth considering.

The Holy Stone HS175D GPS Drone with 4K Camera is a popular choice for drone enthusiasts seeking a balance between advanced features, affordability, and ease of use. Designed for both beginners and experienced pilots, this model combines high-quality imaging capabilities with intelligent flight modes, making aerial photography and videography accessible to a wide range of users.

I bought the HS175D Holy Stone drone a couple months ago. It is a great drone for the price. This is my first drone so I am a beginner. There are no instructions that come with the drone, only instructions on how to go through the startup/sync procedure. I have had problems syncing it at times with the satellites. Sometimes I have had to go through the startup procedure four or five times to fly it. Here are the basic steps a person has to do each and every time the drone is flown. 1) turn on drone power and controller power. 2) Move joystick up and down to sync controller to the drone. 3) press "preparations" button on the home screen of the Holy Stone application. 4) Long press on compass calibration button on joystick (middle button). 5) Rotate drone horizontally. 6) Rotate drone vertically. If the lights on the drone turn solid green then most likely your drone has connected with the satellites. I have had a problem with the lights turning solid green, but still not having a good enough satellite connection. 7) Move both joysticks to the lower left at the same time. 8) Move both joysticks downward at the same time. Once all this has been done, the drone will fly according to your controls on the joystick. I wish that I could control the speed of the drone a little better. When taking video while flying the video is a little jerky. I wish I could slow it down a little more so the video is not jerky. It takes great 4k still shots. It would also be nice if there were written flying instructions that a person can refer to while flying the drone. Customer service recommended a "How to fly" video to watch to help learn to fly it. The how to video goes through some of the flying methods very fast. It is difficult to fly the drone and watch the video at the same time or watch the video and remember what you are supposed to do when actually flying the drone. So in summary the two things I have had issues with are syncing the drone to the satellites and actually learning to fly it. Customers service has been helpful, but if there were written instructions on how to fly it I would have had WAY less contact with them. A lot of time would have been saved in my time to contact them and their response time. Don't get me wrong. I am very happy with this drone. The capability of this drone at this price is excellent. I would recommend this drone for others to buy. It is a great drone. I just needs some adjustment so that it will connect to the satellites a little easier.

I'd bought one of the $40 Holy Stone mini drones years back and absolutely loved that thing. It was intended for my boys but I ended up getting one for myself also. I can't remember what happened to it (probably was too rought with it), but I remembered Holy Stone brand very clearly in my head. Amazon recommended a different drone to me and it reminded me of the one from years back. I started searching through different drone reviews and came across this one. Right away I noticed a lot of similarities between the previous drone and this one (in a good way) so I decided to upgrade a bit. It was worth it. I am a beginner and had no real issues setting it up. The instructions are very thorough (in both the pamphlet and the app). A lot of controls are on both the remote and the phone which is a nice touch. The picture quality is decent, nothing incredible. The lack of image stabilization is the only drawback, but I knew that going into it. Some tips for those who just bought it: - When it says rotate the drone during the calibrations, make sure you'd doing full 360 degree rotations. I did half twists and couldn't get it to calibrate. That took the longest part of the setup process, but once I figured it out you can be flying in less than 2 minutes from hitting the "ON" button (It says you'll have to wait for the GPS to register but it did in in seconds. - Before purchasing I was trying to figure out if I would need an SD card to save the photos/videos. Couldn't find anything in the description or the reviews. The drone automatically saves any photos/videos to your phone immediately via the app. If you opt to get an SD card then it saves to both your phone and the SD card, but an SD is NOT required to get pictures/videos downloaded. -Your phone is in airplane mode while you're flying it. So you will not get calls/texts etc. It wasn't an issue for me, but I could see how that might be an issue for others if you're using both batteries. -Make sure you setup the GPS step. I tested it multiple times and it Returned to Home within 1 foot of where it took off multiple times. Truly impressive considering how windy it was and the distance from where it came from. Overall, this drone is an easy 5 stars. For the price you won't find any better. Obviously there are better drones, but you'll be paying more for that. I'm happy with this and, considering it's just something fun to play with, the pricepoint was right where I wanted it.

In my opinion, this is and excellent drone for beginners (as I am a beginner myself). This is actually the first drone I ever bought and I thought a lot about which one to get to get started. After reading a lot of reviews and descriptions, I decided to get this HS175D drone and I am really amazed. The easy of flying, the picture quality and the stability of the drone are really impressive. When I first opened the box I was impressed how well organized everything was. The drone and the remote fit nicely into the high quality case and seem well secured. The package also includes 2 batteries, spare blades with screw driver, as well as 3 charging cables (2 for the batteries, so you can charge them at the same time, and one for the remote.) Some reviewers noted that the USB plugs are a little thick as they contain the charging electronics and LED, so you may not fit both of them next to each other on a single power brick, and that it true, but I did not really find that a big problem as I have so many USB outlets and I think its better to separate them on different outlets, just for safety reasons. Once everything was charged, I was ready to try my first flight and set up outside. Following the instructions it was super easy to start the first flight. Calibrating the drone is a bit tricky without the phone attached, as you need to constantly look at the flashing lights, but it worked. For the next flight I used the attached phone app and that made the calibration steps super easy. The WIFI connection was very stable, my only problem at the beginning was that my phone tried to switch back to my home WIFI, but after a few tries it stayed connected. Ready to fly, I unlocked the rotors and pushed the launch button and it immediately lifted up and hovered very stable a few feet away from me. I was amazed how stable the hover was. Even though there were winds up to 6mph that day it stayed within 2 feet of the start position. Amazing. It took some getting used to the controls, as they are sensitive, but I figured it out quickly and was able to fly all over the lot with ease. Again, I never flew a drone before and on my first try I flew around for 10 minutes without any incident. I have also tried out the "follow me" and "waypoint" features and the worked great. Now about the Picture and Video quality, I think they are great for fun and recreation. I took several photos and one video (see attached) and I think the quality is great. I am not sure what resolution it really is (some people have commented about 4k vs lower resolutions) but I feel it looks great, even on our big TV. When you do video, the electronic image stabilization creates some interesting artifacts, like moving ground (especially if you fly fast), but once you hover in a stable position the video quality is high and stable. Overall I can say this is a great drone for beginners and as this is my very first drone, I am really impressed and look forward to more fun flights with my HS175D drone.

I am a complete novice when it comes to drones. A week and a half ago I bought the Holy Stone 175D. The only thing I knew about drones was the reviews I saw on Amazon and a few YouTube videos. The Holy Stone 175D had a lot of good reviews especially for novices like me so I bought it. When it came a view days later and I opened it I was not intimidated by the package . In side was the drone in a great hard shell case with the drone, the controller, a screwdriver with an extra set of blades, an extra battery along with charging cables for the drone batteries and one for the controller. Also was the complete instruction book. The drone is lightweight but very well constructed. When you put the arms out they lock into place very solid so they won’t collapse on impact. There was also a battery loaded in the drone so you have two batteries to work off from. The controller is very easy to use. Read the instruction book and you will find the drone very easy to use. I took the drone out to a local park with lots of open air and by following a few short directions to calibrate the compass and set the gps I was up and flying. The 175D has two speeds. One is for beginners like me which is at 50% and the other is for experienced operators at 100%. Again I had no idea how to fly a drone but by following the directions it made it very easy. The Holy Stone has built in controls that really help some one like me. It has auto take off and auto landing. It has a return to home to bring the drone back and land it. This is really good if the it should get away from you it will bring the drone back to where it took off. To say I am really happy with the Holy Stone 175D is an understatement. In a short time I have gone from not even knowing how to start a drone, to being able to fly it around and have a great time doing it. So far I’m still in the beginner mode but that is fast enough for me I can’t imagine how fast it will go in the second mode. I highly recommend the Holy Stone 175D for beginners like me or experienced operators. It’s light weight and will do everything you want it to do.

Bought this for a "prank" flyover prior to a NFL watch party. This isn't my first drone. This drone is a great value. It's very easy to set up and operate. Having two batteries that each last 20+ minutes is an awesome perk - I simply do not have the desire to "fly" for over 40 minutes. Why? Two reasons... The camera is very shaky (but provides great quality) and I have yet to be able to come anywhere near the range limits that the manufacturer states. I'll be the first to tell you that I only have about a dozen flights recorded with this drone, but... When I tested "distance", it failed at about 20 meters very early on. After several flights of "learning", I pushed the limits and camera transmission failed at 210 meters (there's no way to safely or comfortably push it to the 500 meter "max distance"). As for the altitude? It steadily disconnected between 25-30 meters, straight up. I believe they claim it can go 100 meters high. Perhaps I flew in too much wind and it cased an issue with the range/performance? I will certainly keep testing the drone to see if I can reach the advertised limits but so far, no luck. If you are looking to push the envelope with range, you may want to look elsewhere but if you want to keep it close and just have fun... I would definitely recommend this one.

For the price point, this is an amazing drone for a beginner or experience. Camera quality is great and functionality. Is wonderful. Has a high and low speed setting. Only negative thing about drone is when battery is low, it will automatically shoot up in the camera and go back to original take off not a bad feature, but. Sometimes when it shoots up in the air, it will go into trees.However, I flew out of range, one time drunk completely out of sight.Hit the home button and it returned overall amazing drone