Absolutely Cannot Go Wrong!

Chris

The HS175 is finally the type of drone I was hoping HolyStone would make. I have purchased quite a few drones for them by now and the quality and features keep going up consistently. The HS175 seems to be an update to one of their most popular drones, the HS120D. The HS120D was actually the first drone I purchased from them and it was one of the best valued drones you could buy. It flew great and had a bunch of in flight features on the app that really solidified its value to me. Now, the HS175 firmly takes the new title as the best all around drone you can get for less than $200. Its a compact drone with an improved camera and all the features such as geofencing, Return To Home, one touch take off and landing, headless mode, etc. I think a BIG improvement this has over their older drones is portability. The drone comes in a surprisingly high quality carrying case. Its not a hard-body case, but the outside is still protected with a durable plastic shell and a nice fabric interior. The drone itself is just under 6 inches folded so its very easy to carry around or fit into a large pocket. Another change is that this drone uses free moving rotors rather than the fixed rotors used on older models. As for flight, it performs just as expected. Excellent gyro stability and very responsive to controls. The camera quality has definitely improved from older models. Of course, it is important to note that there is no image stabilization so I definitely wouldn't look at shooting high quality videos of peoples with this, the main purpose of the camera seems to be for good still pictures. The camera angle is adjustable in flight so that was definitely a bonus! Battery life is also great, I got around 21-24 minute of flight on a single battery. So to sum it up, this is a GREAT value drone and I can definitely recommend it. I hope HolyStone keeps up with this new design and perhaps try producing videography drones to compete with the higher priced drones on the market.

Very fun and very portable drone!

Amazon Customer

The drone, controller, batteries, and charging system feel quite good in the hands and feel sturdy even though the drone itself is lightweight. The case it comes with it is wonderful, much like the case that comes with the HS720 series of drones. It’s great that it comes with 2 batteries AND 2 chargers!! I do wish it had brushless motors, but that’s reaching for a drone at this price point. Regardless, the motors are smooth sounding. It is quite portable and the calibration procedure at start up for the compass and gyros was straightforward and well documented in the instruction manual.

Other great features are the camera that can be aimed during flight very smoothly, micro SD card support, and the sturdy foldable design. With GPS, you get flight stability and the ability to "return to home" if you get too far out or lose sight of the drone. This functionality worked very well! For low altitudes, this drone even has optical flow!

Drones at this price-point have some quite a ways. This is a very elegant design.

This drone is quite lightweight which means it doesn't require registration in the US with FAA which is good. It does mean it is affected by wind. On my first time out with this drone it was REALLY windy...20 mph winds. Normally I wouldn't fly under these conditions with ANY drone but I was excited and decided to just take it slow and easy. I was pleasantly surprised that the drone held its position despite the high wind. It meant for pretty shaky video so I only included pictures as an example of the camera.

My only gripe with this drone is the Android app needs some work. I expect Holy Stone will be releasing updates to it because the iPhone app, which we tried on my son's iPhone 8, was more of what I expected! An app for a similar drone, the Tomzon D65, worked on android so that is worth trying until Holy Stone works out the Android app issues.

For somebody venturing into the drone hobby and starting out, this is a great drone to start with.

Great entry level drone!

Ed C

I purchased this Holy Stone HS175 and it arrived sooner than expected. After reading the instructions and charging the batteries i gave it a try. Its intuitive to fly as it follows the same conventions of other more expensive drones I've flown. After downloading the app I powered everything up, calibrated the drone per the instructions and it flew very easily. I took it to its max altitude and added a pic to this review. You can see the picture is very clear for a drone at this price point. It hovers well, returned autonomously to home with very good battery life. If you're getting into drones or looking for a holiday present for someone who wants to I recommend this one. It comes with 2 batteries (which is a nice bonus), extra props, blade guards and a case. Very nice compact system.

A Great New Drone from HolyStone

Larry M. Green

I really like this drone. It is great for beginner to intermediate flyers. It is small and lightweight but captures stunning pictures and videos. The camera is a pleasant upgrade from previous models.

Fantastic Drone

Brent

I bought this because I was looking for a smaller/ lighter drone that didn't need to be registered. The Holy Stone HS175 checked all the boxes with GPS, waypoint tracking, one touch take off and landing, two follow modes, and so on.

Once it arrived, I found it nicely packaged in a molded carrying case and was very pleased to find several useful extras. Not only does it come with two batteries, but two battery chargers which enable you to change them both at the same time, and rather quickly. They also included a charging cable for the controller. my last drone didn't include cables for charging so I found myself digging in drawers and boxes looking for something compatible. Also included in the carrying case are spare propellers, as well as optional propeller guards. Again, This is something my first drone didn't come with. It really gave me a piece of mind know that when (not if) I crash the drone, I'll be up and running in no time at all.

After launching this for the first time, I was impressed by how quiet and stable this is in the air. It's very responsive to the controller. It handles light to medium wind better then expected compared to my larger drone. I was determined to fly it as long as the battery would last to test flight time. After getting used to it, running it through it's passes, I found myself wondering if the battery would even run dry. Eventually, the low battery alarm sounded and the drone immediately turned direction and headed back to exactly where it was launched from.

As you can see in the attached video and photos, we live in a very woodsy area with lots of drone unfriendly obstacles. This drone is stable and responsive enough that I was very comfortable taking it over and through the trees and even over the river.

All said and done, this is an incredible little drone for the money.

This drone is our new travel buddy!

elisa marks

Great drone and especially portable. My 11 year old has been flying drones for more than a year. The controller is especially smooth on this drone and the sticks are very responsive. He suggests that this drone is a good step up from a beginner drone and loves that he will be able to easily take it on vacation. The video quality was excellent and the ability to control the camera angle with a slider in app was quite fun and user friendly. His little brother flew the drone today as well and ended up against a fence and the drone didn’t falter at all. Up and flying smoothly on next flight. Sturdy and compact and has GPS. Excellent.