Holy Stone HS510 GPS Drone for Adults with 4K UHD Wifi Camera, FPV Quadcopter Foldable for Beginners with Brushless Motor, Return Home, Follow Me,2 Batteries and Storage Bag, Grey

The media could not be loaded. I am a novice at flying drones, but also an engineer who appreciates devices that are well built and offer a lot of functionality for little cost. I also enjoy photography and videography. This budget drone fills that very well. I had the HolyStone HS160Pro and while it was more like a toy, I quickly realized that I needed something a little higher end, but under $200. After realizing you can easily lose a drone without GPS, that was my first criteria while searching for the next drone. Sure, I wanted the DJI mini 2, but with a package price of $600, I did not want to take a chance and lose or crash it without having some experience with an adult drone. When compared to other sub $200 drones, this really stands out. By the way it is nearly identical to the MJX Bugs 7, but I liked Holy Stone support I received when I had the HS160Pro, so I decided to go with the HS510. I did some video shots that illustrate what you can do with it, and even though it does not have a gimbal for the camera you can do a few shots and edit them together. The video has no processing and is from the original raw footage off the SD card. I shot video in 2.7k (2540 x 1440), because I wanted the 30fps. Good things: Durable, small, good controller - i like having a display so I can more easily see when it loses signal and shows battery remaining. Even the DJI controller does not have a display. The Return to home (RTH) works really well, and it's my safety net when I no longer can see it, or the Wi-Fi FPV loses signal. The software app Orphelia GO is quite good, and with the follow me, orbit, and way point features is quite cool. It also has a headless mode so if you get lost in orientation, this is great for beginners. The video and snapshots were very good, and can adapt pretty well to the different exposures. You can alter this with the App. The GPS RTH is amazingly accurate. It usually lands within 2 feet of where it took off. Range is dependent on how many WIFI signals are around you. Most of my testing there were houses within 1000 ft or less. Nevertheless, I could get out about 210M (700 feet) and up to 60M(200 feet) before losing FPV. I could go a bit farther with no FPV but did not push it. I put a small bright strobe on the rear so at least I can see it a bit better at farther distances. Bad things: No gimbal or Electronic stabilization. The battery life is good for 15 min max, but you get the low battery warning at about 11-13 minutes. So I am cautious and bring near home when it occurs, and just fly out until I get the 2nd warning and let it land. The battery charger although it holds 2 batteries, only charges one and then the other. So it takes about 4 hours to charge both to get about 25-30 minutes of flying time. It's really a good idea to get 2 more batteries and a second charger if you want to go out for the day. The LED front lights are useless in daytime, so I can't really see if they are on or blinking without trying to shade it. Despite the negatives, when compared to others at much higher price drones and even though it has a manually adjustable camera, it's a great value.** Update ** The distance that I can fly without losing a connection to the controller has greatly diminished from about 200M max to about 50-80M (< 150 ft) for some reason. Holy Stone has not given me an answer or what to do about it. It has nothing to do with the App settings, as it loses the signal on the app, except FPV video is still working, and I can sometimes control it even though the signal level show no bars. The updated Olphelia app x.x .73 still has issues and I can't seem to get the google map to load when I fly in Airplane mode Wifi On. I am concerned after reading a few reviews that it could possibly fly off, and if battery level is low, not sure if the controller or the drone has the intelligence to RTh when battery is low.

The media could not be loaded. I have had this drone for about 2 weeks now and it's been a complete joy to own. The drone comes with everything you need to get started and it's packaged very nicely. Pop the 2 batteries on the charger, let them charge for a few hours, then you are ready to take to the skies. The camera quality is actually better than I expected but note that the photos/video that are saved to the class 10 SD card (not included and make sure it's class 10) are much better than what saves to your phone. I have flown this drone on windy fall days and it holds its own provided you have a good GPS lock. On a day with no breeze, it's a much better flight and really handles well. My wife is not a tech fan and hates most "fringe" purchases like this but she was actually impressed and thinks the drone is neat. She asked me to take it on a bike outing and wanted some sky shots of the city and surroundings. We can't wait to take this camping with us.Most of the other reviews here do a great job outlining the drones pros and cons but one thing that you won't hear is how durable this drone is. During an exceptionally windy day, the drone caught the wind and smacked right into a tree. I figured the little bugger was a goner but nope. I ran over to the tree, picked it up and it was as good as new. Sure, there were a few scuffs on the blades, but it comes with a backup set. I was actually shocked that none of them were severely damaged and I was actually able to keep flying that same day. Oh and on top of that, I contacted Holy Stone about another set of replacement blades and they offered me a free set, just because. If that's not customer service, what is.At the end of the day I highly recommend this drone as a first or second drone. It's actually my 4th full size (non-micro) drone and currently my favorite. I say that it's a starter because once you get comfortable with flying you usually want something with pro-level photography and usually end up spending 3-4 times as much as this. That aside, this is still a fun drone to toss in a bag and take to the skies and you'd be hard pressed to find anything better for the money.