Holy Stone HS175D Foldable Drone with 4K Camera for Adults, RC Quadcopter with GPS Auto Return, Follow Me, Brushless Motor, Circle Fly, Waypoint Fly, Altitude Hold, Headless Mode, 46 Mins Long Fligh
| Weight: | 250 g |
| Dimensions: | 28 x 19.4 x 9.5 cm; 250 Grams |
| Brand: | HOLY STONE |
| Batteries Included: | 2 Lithium Polymer batteries required. |
| Manufacture: | Holy Stone |
| Dimensions: | 28 x 19.4 x 9.5 cm; 250 Grams |
For a starter drone this is ideal, look out for the extra free battery offer when you load up the app which arrived wthin 48hrs no fuss, excelent service by Holy Stone.
For the price compared to other drones (low end of the market) this is really good. My son has grasped it quickly and taken some great aerial pics. It did go awol after a number of uses , but can’t leave a bad review as Holy Stone replaced it no quibble after a few suitable questions and new one arrived within a few days. Not brilliant in wind/breeze.
This is my first drone, really impressed with the ease of flying and the picture quality.
The one key take off and landing makes life so much easier, having the speed switch is great so I don’t make too many mistakes and having the safety features limiting the range is a good thing
few little problems getting my phone to link up but soon realised my phone was the problem being too old and quickly resolved with a more up to date phone.
Would certainly recommend this produc
Battery life is not bad and it comes with two batteries and easy to set io
So easy to fly. I bought this as a replacement for my las drone which I lost. This drone with its GPS system gives me more confirdence to fly and the return home button is a godsend. The picture was so much clearer than I imagined it would be.
Take off is super easy and after a tiny bit of trimming hovers beautifully
Would give 10 stars. Highly reccommened
Bought for my husband to take aerial photos as we develop our garden. He read the instructions (!) and started flying in no time. The battery has lasted well so far and he’s taken photos and videos. It took a bit of fiddling to get connected to phone for the camera to work, but seems great so far. Would recommend.
Needs open space to access satellites,
Flies nicely, still learning all it will do,
Great battery life
Amazing drone for first time use. Really easy to fly. Simple to use app and most of all excellent photo quality
Very happy with the drone, never used a drone before but was able to get used to after 2 uses – would recommend
Since leaving this review Holy Stone have been very hands on with there 90 warranty and have replaced my drone. Gratefully appreciated! Hope it doesn’t fall out the sky again though
I would like to say that the HolyStone drone gives you everything you want, and given any problems, quickly rectified with a brilliant online chat.
I had to use this chat, I was amazed by Danni, whom I was chatting to, the situation resolved within a few minutes and my spare parts on order immediately.
I would definitely recommend 100%
A few days later I had another issue and again got in touch via email with Lily. Again, the correspondence was prompt and friendly. After a couple of exchanges, Holystone agreed to replace the drone with no fuss. This level of customer service is something I rarely encounter these days.
Good little drone, cant find one better for this price point, easy to fly for a beginner like me
Dont think just buy one 🙂
Lovely gadget! My first drone and boy what a delight. Great functions. Never thought it would be such fun.
I had a bit of a malfunction issue with the drone where it flew off, I contacted Holystones and the customer service was great. They’ve sent a replacement drone and told me to keep the old kit as spares.
Thank you very much
This is my first time using a drone. I was a bit concerned at first that I was going to crash it. It was actually easy to set and fly. You need to follow the instructions carefully to make sure its calibrated properly or it won’t fly right. After I did everything it said in the instructions it was really steady to fly and easy for a beginner.
This is a great starter drone. I have never previously owned one and found this easy to set up and fly. I have’t been able to connect to GPS though which restricts some functionality.
This is an excellent drone, very responsive and very quick. Drone comes with 2 batteries and spare blades. Max flying time of 46 minutes, far better than most drones for the price. Neat case to carry the drone and accessories. Would highly recommend.
I am a beginner and the app shows you everything you need to get started battery life is what it says witch is really good and even better it as a sd card slot and the carry case is good so it doesn’t get damaged
Great little drone,my first so didn’t want anything too complicated,had it out 3 times and feel fully confident with it,easy to use.Good camera and gps feature is good.
As a 70 year old complete drone novice I have previously wasted money on cheap drones from China. My wife bought me the HS175D drone for my 70th birthday. It is fantastic. Even a novice like me can fly it. Battery life very good and video quality really good. Could not be more pleased. Highly recommended!
As my first drone I’ve found it easy to use and I am really enjoying the quality of the camera. Fantastic product and worth the money.
This is my second Holystone Drone as I wanted a folding small drone I selected the HS175 D. What a great drone easy to set up fly’s well with great features. The picture quality and video are extremely good. If you are new to flying just get used to flying before you worry about the pictures.If you use the app correctly it pretty much fly’s itself. Get one and you will not be disappointed also the flight time is one of the best out there.
Good quality beginners drone for the price.
Easy to use with the controller and app.
Customer service is great too.
A fantastic drone so easy to control. I am a new drone flyer and found it so easy it has a really good battery life very good a holding its position fast and responsive. Definitely worth the money
Very good drone package for price with good instructions and very good battery life. Better for intermediate drone pilots as capable of fairly high speeds and range. Could have more information in manual on additional features available via app such as circling and follow me.
This is a great drone for a beginner. Haven’t been given a very small cheap drone for a present I wanted to upgrade a little and to have some more fun and control. My original drone was only lightweight and was easily buffeted by the wind. This drone seems to withstand light winds well and you are able to get some good results from the camera. It’s easy to control and use. The battery, whilst it doesn’t last for hours, does last long enough to fly for 20 to 25 minutes which seems to be enough for all I want to do.
In my opinion it is good value for money and met my expectations considering its cost.
A good drone, could do with more information in the booklet re various modes – follow me etc. I had to find it on you tube. Battery life as described . Images good but vulnerable to shake due to lack of stabilisation but that’s fair at the price.
As well as a good drone to fly I found the customer service at HolyStone was excellent. The team helped in a professional manner and sorted my query with no complications and that’s what I call Customer Service. Thank you Holystone
The battery life is not bad, the picture quality is okay helps to navigate if you are unsure what direction the drone is facing from your position. Very good for beginners, once you get the hang of the start up.
This drone was easy to set-up & is very responsive. It handles light wind very well & the GPS is a big help when flying. The picture & video quality are very good for this price-point & all the features work as expected. It is good fun & fast. Highly recommended.
Such a great drone for beginners and even when you get comfortable with it, it’s still fun to fly! I used it to record cool shots on vacation and it’s great for that too !
I like how it came packed. Materials used. Everything. Very satisfied with it.
I’ve only just taken delivery of this drone and so far just started flying it. Results so far are promising, it came well packing in a smart strong case, everything in the box was in good condition and it was easy to sort out the bits and get it ready for flight. Not taken any photos yet as only been practicing with it, but initial thoughts are that it’s going to be fun!
Amazing sub 250 gram drone. I have had drones from other manufacturers in the past but i have found the small HS175D to be one of the best. Do not let the small size or weight of the drone put you off, this thing has plenty of power and battery life. I have flown it in 20 mph winds at 150 ft. The GPS kept the drone in an exact position whilst i took photos of the surrounding scenery with crystal clear results. The HS V5 app connects with 2.4ghz or 5ghz with the latter being the best option for live video feed. The way point feature is very impressive with the use of Google Maps, as is the “Return to home” function. In my opinion, this well made drone from a top manufacture is ideal for anyone wishing to start flying professionally without braking the bank. Holy Stone 10/10
poor gps communication,,,first flight pressed the rth button and it went in opposite direction ,says its gone home ,,but who’s home i wonder ? Not mine thats for sure…..after contacting their customer services I was offered a replacement….but I had found the drone about a mile away still in working condition, can’t fault their customer service first class..fingers crossed for the next flight!! I have now rec’d a replacement drone and been told to keep the original for spares! Can’t fault their excellent customer service
Awesome drone for beginners, does take some learning on how to calibrate on first set up but lots of fantastic fun.
Pretty simple to get started and begin filming from the air. Basic stability so not great in anything other than very calm conditions
Ammend from original review the Drone stopped working on contacting holy stone they were of great assistance in helping to sort out the problems they have since refunded the cost of the drone in full and within 3 days of first being alerted to the problem…well done Holy Stone your new review is reflective of your after sales and customer services..
I haven’t had much time with the drone but easy to setup and use, really well built product in all good value for the money.
My daughter bought me this drone as a wedding anniversary present. I was looking forward to using it and taking aerial photos. However, I had problems setting it up and the recommended app wouldn’t download. Tommy, at DEERC customer services could not have been more helpful. In fact, his assistance exceeded my expectations. A very good company to deal with. Thank you Tommy!
Fantastic drone for the price, it connects easily to your phone and the control is very intuitive.
Pictures are clear and again great for the price.
This is my first time drone in my life.
And i managed to fly it in my little room just after charging the batteries.
Reason for 4 star is charging bit take long and video quality could be better at least with 2 way gimbal.
Setting it up is really easy .
I think it’s perfect for first drone. And as i said i never touched the drone before this and managed to fly ut inside
Great starter drone, easy to fly and seems quite robust. Picture quality not bad eithe
Great value for money and comes in it on case case with everything you need including spare propellors etc This drone is easy to set up and super great to fly – fast and a lot on fun
I’m a new drone pilot and this was by far the best for the money
This is part 1 of the review. The second part will follow when I have flown it a few times. One of the reasons I chose a Holy Stone drone was because of the comments about customer service. I can now support this as their help in getting teething problems sorted and getting the best price and discounts has been first rate. Initially, my phone wouldn’t run the HS GPS V5 app. We eventually traced this to the phone’s virus protection app. Stopping this did the trick. So far I have checked that the phone connects to the drone and takes pictures and videos. It took a while to work out why I couldn’t power up the motors – I was doing this indoors with no GPS reception. Changing to visual mode solved this. The user manual is ok up to a point but needs some expansion for a beginner like me. Nevertheless, I am sure the customer service will help me get over any future problems.
When I received the drone there was a slight issue which I contacted customer support about. They were more than happy to help and promptly replied every time. The issue is now solved and I am very happy with the drone, it flys well, excellent camera for a drone of this price and customer support was superb. I would highly recommend this product to anyone looking to getting into the drone hobby.
The Holy Stone hs175d arrived in a very nice case and the build quality was better than expected. The drone flys well and was pretty stable when hovering. The photos are pretty good, I was a little disappointed with the video not being 4k as expected. The flight software app HS GPS V5 though needs work. I found it sometimes would not connect to the drone. I could not get the map to work. The GPS display is difficult to see and doesn’t tell you how many satellites are locked. If the application was improved though I think this would be a great drone to learn to fly with.
It’s better than most.. at that price and customer services were fab in sorting out my issue
The Holystone HS175D is for me at the higher end of the smaller size ‘foldable’ drones and at 249g it doesn’t require registration with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The drone comes in a stylish handling case which holds the unit securely when not in use. A bonus for this drone is that it comes with two batteries, which increases the flight time to about 40 minutes in length. The drone is simple to fly and has bonus features for the inexperienced drone operator such as one button take-off and landing, follow me mode, circle me mode and the all-important Return to Home. However, these features will only work fully with a strong GPS signal. A QR code gives you access to a dedicated Holystone app which when opened can be used to operate the drone in flight. This drone has the benefit of having in-built batteries in both the drone and handset, so there is no need to buy extra rechargeable batteries, which you have to do with some of the other drones on sale. As a starter pilot I would always operate this drone in the early days in the ‘beginner-mode’ and at 50% speed which keeps the drone close by and doesn’t allow it to go too high or too fast. The camera is of a good quality and will send high resolution video and photos back to the phone. Although the drone does not have the image stabilization facility found in the more expensive and heavier drones it still provides great quality pictures and video. A strong GPS signal helps with piloting the drone, especially if you want to use the in-built features such as the one button take off and landing, circle me and return to home, but even in ‘optical mode’ it can still be flown with some ease. All in all, this is a great ‘starter’ or ‘step up’ drone which will give a lot of pleasure to the new or inexperienced drone pilot.
We got this for our 10 year old as he loves his drones.
It’s a fantastic little bit of kit. We have had it at about 100ft high (30.7 metres) and it has really good line of sight range. While the camera isn’t all that excellent, it is certainly passable as a functioning unit. You can have some fun with it.
The app is excellent and we haven’t had any issues at all with the drone being uncontrollable at any point.
Main thing of note is not to fly it if it starts to get foggy, we found the moisture gets into it and messes up the directional control (never thought of this before we were out flying and it got foggy). Once the drone had dried out it was perfectly fine and unaffected.
I would say that it’s a great starter drone. Our 10 year old can fly it well but he has plenty of practice, I would say some drone flying practice on a cheaper drone would be an advantage though first if just starting out.
It has had a couple of crashes and it holds up really well but the rotors can damage easily. Not an issue as spares are included and very easy to change.
Personally I wouldn’t let the negative reviews put you off too much. But that is just my opinion.
Gave it 4 stars mainly due to the camera quality. Certainly not 4k in any way shape or form.
Overall good quality and fu
I have always been interested in ariel photography and wanted to try my hand using a drone. I looked at many reviews and decided on the Holy Stone HS175D which is packed with features you would expect on a more expensive one. The drone arrived promptly in its well constructed case with simple to use instructions, even for a novice such as me. I was so pleased and as there was an offer at the time, I decided to treat myself and buy a second HS175D. Why not it was almost Christmas!
Unfortunately, I did have an issue with the camera on the first drone which stopped panning up and down and contacted Holy Stone support immediately. They have been amazing and responded promptly and have been in touch several times since and are sending a replacement. Regardless of the problem, I am still pro Holy Stone and in particular there after sales support which has been noted in previous reviews by other customers.
Since my original review I would like to say that Holystone sorted this issue out in double quick time which is just as well since Amazon were of no help in resolving the matter. The drone performed well on the couple of occasions since.
Fail safe functions never worked the drone never returned. Also app to locate drone never worked. Flew drone in perfect conditions no interference to signal in area. Connected to wi-fi and GPS. Kept drone within 100 metres at all times and successfully tested three return to home manoeuvres without any issues. Still flying within 100 metres and about 25 height attempted another return to home. Drone came back hovered and failed to land then shot off into the distance never to be seen again. The three failsafes failed – return to home never worked – Loss of wi- fi connection drone should return after 10 seconds of lost signal never happened. Battery running low drone should return but didn’t. App to locate lost drone is useless. So bought this drone purely on the strength of the features built in to prevent you from losing the drone but they all failed to work. 209 down the drain.
Great features for the money and tremendous build quality. 2nd battery is a big bonus as is the case which is really well made too. Also, you’re not shelling out 500 on a drone which you’re a) going to crash or b) stick on a shelf because drones aren’t for you.
Would recommend.
Product was faulty, however the company were quick to send out a complete replacement without a fuss.
It is a very easy drone to set up and use the controls are very accurate
I bought this Drone and took it out and I can’t tell you how it handled, as it just took off and clearly didn’t want to be owned by me and went seeking pastures new! Luckily for me, their customer service was outstanding and the drone replaced within a few days! The second was absolutely fine and decided we are worthy! The drone is great! Fab pictures and videos and is relatively quiet compared to some. It handles well with slight wind. Still getting used to it but I would recommend this to anyone looking for a decent drone without the high price.
I bought this drone as my first ever to learn how to operate one. I have to say that it is very easy to fly and all the special functions work perfectly. The picture quality is great, especially if you use a memory card. I have enjoyed the experience so much that I am now getting a DJI Mini 2.
Loike it is so gud I lwove it ,hawve. Not tried ye
I think It sits in the category of an entry-level for adult/professional or a high-level toy.
It has many of the facilities of an expensive drone at a great price.
It can track, return home or circle or just fly around
a range of 500 meters at 100 meters high is great for taking photo and video
The batteries last about 20 minutes and the interface to the phone for the camera is pretty easy.
My only complaint is that there is some issues when taking video as the drone will say there is no memory but will be recording but then will stop or show is recording but then there is no file.
It is pretty robust and has taken a couple of pilot error landings.
All in all, I love it. it’s great for what you pay but personally, I wouldn’t give it as a child’s toy.
As for the customer service – second to none! I had a bit of an issue getting the app to work correctly as it wasn’t recording properly (user error in the end) but the customer service team were 1st class. They responded to my request for help quickly and were hell bent in making sure I was completely satisfied and that everything was working correctly before signing off as problem solved. They were unfailingly polite and enthusiastic and all correspondence was professional at all times. They can come and train some of my staff any time they want!!
Quite simply, if you are not sure which drone to choose for a beginner then you would be a fool to buy anything else. This is probably the best thing I have bought this year and once I have had more practice flying it I will be buying one of their top tier drones and starting a collection of them.
In the end decided on HS175d, it’s smaller than expected and had to watch a few you tube films just to get hang of calibrating and setting it up ready for fly..
to be honest I thought would take a while to learn to fly,how wrong I was.
The adjustable camera works really well and surprisingly good quality videos and pictures.
Battery lasted a good 20mins.
Am really pleased with drone so far.
My only criticism it doesn’t tell you type of memory card to use.
I had some issues with my first drone, that may or may not have been my issues, but when I contacted Holy Stone; the customer service team dealt with it so quickly and sent me out a replacement within hours. I’ve had advice and follow up from them subsequently.
I’m a really happy customer.
Great little flyer and all the features you would expect to find on a much more expensive drone. I found it very easy to set up and very stable in the air. Responsive and fun to fly. Despite not being heavy like some other drones it is good in light winds too.
Really good drone, flew the the drone quite far that I couldn’t see it in the sky but still had good video feed and with one press of a button it come right back
And I love that it is all rechargeable including the transmitter, never having to worry about finding battery’s
Would recommend
Pairing the controller to the drone is pretty simple and the process of calibrating the gyro and compass only takes about a minute.
Once in the air the drone is nice and responsive and you really feel in control of where it’s going. It’s a GPS drone, so drifting is kept to a minimum but there is a trim function which allows you to fine tune it.
The app is easy to navigate and I had no problem getting it set up on my Google Pixel 3XL phone. There are lots of features and the menus are well laid out.
As you can see, the camera takes some nice stills. The video could benefit from image stabilization but at this price point it’s really hard to find fault with it. As a first drone for a child this would really hit the mark. Highly recommended.
Good value for money, easy to fly drone, good looking case to keep everything safe.
Picture quality is good a little shaky. Found the drone to be stable and very responsive.
You will not be disappointed with this drone, especially as a beginner.
The company service is fantastic, I had a little problem with my drone and they went above and beyond to sort it out, and it because of the brilliant service that I have received I am recommending them.
Wow,,,what a great value for money drone.
Comes in it own nice carry case which I’ve found very useful, no extra batteries needed for the controller, usb plug in which is a great feature.
Build quality is good
Easy to set up.
Great to fly, controls are easy to use, nice range and battery life is good.
Lots of great features on the app.
All in all a great product representating great value for money.
The HS175D is a drone which is quite good but like everything it has its downsides. Firstly the drone comes with 2 batteries and 2 chargers which is quite good and its speed is quite fast and the battery holds for a good amount of time. But the drone for me has quite a 3 minute delay and it’s really difficult for me to calibrate. Also it’s quite difficult for me to unlock the motors. The drones’ durability is quite high as I accidentally crashed into a metal fence and it sustained and nothing was broken except just a few scratches. I would recommend this drone to average and experienced flyers.
The drone comes with a case, which is handy to carry them and store away.
You get two batteries, spare propellers, charging cables and instruction manual. I would advise that you unpack the drone, put the battery on charge and sit back and read the manual.
The drone is light but solid. It feels like it could take a knock or two. The weight is a mixed blessing. It is light and portable but due to the weight, it can be tricky to handle in the wind. My first flights were in the wind. It blows a bit but it is still very capable.
Calibration is done before every flight and that is a good thing. The drone will return to home if the battery runs out, if it looses signal or if there is a problem. This gives you great confidence.
There are various features that you will not find in some of the DJI drones. Follow me and way points are two such features. They work really well. You also get circle mode. Great for taking a video of yourself.
The photo and video is good quality for the price. The camera doesn’t have stabilisation or fumble which is a shame so you need to line your shots up.
The drone starts, by default, in slow mode. Pressing the right stick inwards changes to full speed. High speed speed is good for windy situations.
One of the best features is beginner mode. This keeps the drone within a “bubble” near you. Great for if you have not flown drones before.
Charging takes about 150 minutes for the drone batteries and 60 minutes for the controller battery. In my first couple of flights the battery lasted 20 minutes. This was due to me having it on high speed and being up in the wind.
If this is your first drone, it is a great place to start. If you are a previous flyer, it is a great fun drone.
I thoroughly recommend this drone. It is easy to fly, portable and enjoyable. Just be careful if the wind picks up.
First of all, it comes in at under 250g which means you only need an operators id (as it has a camera) to fly which will cost you 9 per year – although it’s worth getting your flyers id too as it doesn’t cost any more.
As I own the 700E and 720E I thought that I’d be straight up flying. However, the 175D uses a different app (HS GPS V5), and the start-up routine is significantly different than the top end models (more so the controller buttons and process is not similar). Despite this, the controls are simple to understand and follow, and easily committed to memory. Make sure you follow closely the process to calibrate compass and gyro before each flight.
Max distance stated is 500m which, for a drone of its size and cost, is great. In the UK, drones need to be visible to the naked eye (or with glasses/contact lenses), so it’s more than enough distance. I’ve been out to 250m with no loss of video connection to the app.
The drone is packed with features. GPS enables the drone to return home if you lose signal, the battery gets low, or you decide you can’t be bothered to fly it back manually! It’ll land within a couple of feet of take-off position. Follow me mode works as advertised – the drone needs to be 5m above ground level for it to engage, and the app is helpful in that it gives warnings before asking you to confirm, reducing the risk of user error when initiating follow me or 360 mode.
It comes with 2 speed modes which I would describe as ‘fast’ and ‘very fast’. The low speed is not the same as ‘Tripod Mode’ which is a feature on other models. It descends at a decent pace too, so no waiting around for ages until it lands.
Image quality is excellent. Vide quality is good as well, although without any stabilisation, it is less likely to be used for creating content for others.
In comparison to Holy Stone’s higher end models, the 175D is firmly in the ‘toy’ camp, yet has all the same features.
I’d recommend the drone for those on a budget who want a decent product that will give them some great pictures from a birds-eye view.
This is a great drone, which we have had a lot of fun flying. It comes in a practical and compact carry case which makes it easy to transport it safely. It comes with two batteries, which means you can fly for the best part of an hour, and they charge fairly quickly as well. The drone is very easy to control, so this makes it suitable for beginners, as long as they have a wide-open space, as it can move very rapidly!
There are a few key features that really impressed us a lot. Once the drone is setup, which only takes about a minute (for a full calibration and pairing) once you get the hang of it, it can connect to GPS (indicated by green lights), which means that the return to home feature can be used, which has saved us many times! The drone flies to 65 feet, and returns to almost exactly where it took off from, landing by itself. We’d recommend making sure GPS mode is connected until you are really used to flying. Another great feature is the one button take-off/ land, which makes the hardest part of drone flying much easier.
The camera can be rotated to face ahead or down and anywhere in between, and we have used a micro SD card to take some useful aerial photos, as well as stunning photos and videos of the sunset and landscape. The fact that you can connect it to almost any smartphone makes it simple to see what the drone is seeing, and it works really well with a cheap VR headset that you can put your phone in.
The drone also lights up brightly, so you can even use it very easily at night. The drone is nice to control, and gives you 2 speed options. The quickest setting is particularly fast compared to other comparable drones, which has made this drone great fun to use, even for experienced flyers. The drone also lets you go incredibly high in the air and far away. However, if you take your hands of the controls, the drone almost immediately hovers still in a fixed position, and lets you get your bearings.
Overall, we are all very pleased with how this drone performs, and would recommend it to anyone!
Brought this drone and it flew amazing! Love the return home feature, lands within a few metres of where it took off! , nice pictures and videos well worth the money great drone!
I’m a big fan of Holy Stone drones and was delighted to buy this addition to my collection.
The drone comes in a smart carry case containing everything you need to go flying.
While you charge the batteries, sit back and read the manual. If, like me, you have flown the larger Holy Stone drones (HS700E / HS720D) you will find the operating instructions and controls a little different.
However, for error free and fun flying the fundamentals are the same – calibrate the compass, acquire GPS signal and calibrate the gyro before take-off.
The HS175D can be flown with or without a mobile phone just by using the controller. For a fully immersive experience the HS GPS V5 app can be downloaded. Anyone who has used the Ophelia GO app will recognise the features and functions. I installed the app on my Samsung Galaxy A3 and it worked as expected. It’s a pity that Holy Stone didn’t provide a single app for all drones in their range as I now need 2 apps on my phone.
The remote controller uses integrated rechargeable batteries charged via a USB 2.0 Type B micro cable (supplied). No need to buy more AA batteries.
The HS175D is a small, lightweight drone which can be affected by gusty wind but manages to stabilise itself and sounds like an angry wasp. I have used all the features mentioned in the product description with great success – the attached video is me using the “follow me” function – but one feature that impressed me is the “beginner’s mode” whereby the drone stays within about 50 metres of the pilot. Very useful when my son, who has never flown a drone before, took control. No chance of it flying off into the distance.
The batteries take about 2 hours to charge using dedicated USB chargers (2 supplied) giving a total flying time of about 45 minutes. Flying time is reduced slightly if you use the App and take lots of video and photos. The 4K camera produces good quality images which can be stored either on a micro -SD card inserted into the slot next to the battery housing or directly on to a smart phone when using the HS GPS V5 App.
The HS175D is small, agile, fast and fun – a great drone from Holy Stone packed full of features suitable for beginners or seasoned pilots. The drone weighs in at 215 grams so there’s no need for UK users to acquire a flyers “licence” or attach a CAA Operator ID label to the drone.
The drone comes with a case, which is an advantage as it is normally the first thing that I buy.
You get two batteries, spare propellers, charging cables and instruction manual. I would advise that you unpack the drone, put the battery on charge and sit back and read the manual.
The drone is light but solid. It feels like it could take a knock or two. The weight is a mixed blessing. It is light and portable but due to the weight, it can be tricky to handle in the wind. My first flights were in the wind. It blows a bit but it is still very capable.
Calibration is done before every flight and that is a good thing. The drone will return to home if the battery runs out, if it looses signal or if there is a problem. This gives you great confidence.
There are various features that you will not find in some of the DJI drones. Follow me and way points are two such features. They work really well. You also get circle mode. Great for taking a video of yourself.
The photo and video is good quality for the price. The camera doesn’t have stabilisation so you need to line your shots up.
The drone starts, by default, in slow mode. Pressing the right stick inwards changes to full speed. High speed speed is good for windy situations.
One of the best features is beginner mode. This keeps the drone within a “bubble” near you. Great for if you have not flown drones before.
Charging takes about 150 minutes for the drone batteries and 60 minutes for the controller battery. In my first couple of flights the battery lasted 19 minutes. This was due to me having it on high speed and being up in the wind.
If this is your first drone, it is a great place to start. If you are a previous flyer, it is a great fun drone.
I thoroughly recommend this drone. It is easy to fly, portable and enjoyable. Just be careful of the wind.
Great little drone – my best yet! Compact yet powerful with quiet, brushless motors, which need less from the battery, hence the 45+ minutes flight time if you use both the included batteries consecutively. Stable in today’s breeze, easy to set up, fly and manoeuvre. Very impressed by the photo and video quality from the 4K camera, with its 45 degree up/down movement. A bonus not having to buy the case separately. This is now my go-to drone!
Operate. I particularly liked follow me mode and tracking a path and following the drone. The camera is very high quality. It has 2 speeds. When it’s in high speed it’s incredibly fast!! Only one single down side is that it can be a bit dodgy to fly in the wind.. Return to home also, the drone went to its height then wobbled over and landed pretty much exactly in the same spot. Highly recommend for beginners or even experienced pilots alike.
What struck me about this drone was how compact and light it was. I have to say I was a little how unsure how it would handle windy conditions considering how light it was, but was pleasantly surprised with how much power it has. It ascends and moves around very fast and is agile in the air.
It doesn’t use the Ophelia GO app like many other Holy Stone drones, instead opting for its own HS GPS V5 app, which works in a very similar way. I found the app easy to use and intuitive. If you’ve used the Ophelia app before, you’ll know you’re way around it for sure.
The camera is 4k, but doesn’t have any sort of gimbal or EIS, so certainly not the best choice for any serious drone videographer, but good enough for stills and for the FPV element which works well.
Overall, I was very impressed with the drone. It’s a lot of fun to fly, and 2.5 hours to charge the batteries for around 45 mins of flying isn’t bad at all.
Another excellent product from Holy Stone!