GPS Drone with 4K UHD Camera for Adults Beginner; HS360S 249g Foldable FPV RC Quadcopter with 10000 Feet Control Range, Brushless Motor, Follow Me, Smart Return Home, 5G Transmission

This my first ever drone. I'm writing this review after turning it on twice. I say turning it on because although I used it twice I don't really consider them uses. The first time I was a bit hesitant because it got dark by the time I was able to use it. But my anxiety to turn it on won over my fears. After a bit of fumbling around I was able to get it calibrated and the blades rotating. I like that once you press "Take Off" button it sits at a height that is not too high and not low and it just sits there without any inputs from the controller. I don't really think that you're flying this drone. Is more like positioning it. I mean once it's in the air you touch the controls, let them go and the drone stays there. You want to go higher? Just push the stick up until you reach your desired height and let go. Want to rotate? Push the stick in any direction and then let go once your facing the desired direction. The same with back/forth and side-to-side. Very, very simple. The drone just stays where you put it. Not flying, just positioning it. The FPV experienced zero glitches and the image was wonderful. I just want to mention that I forgot to remove the protective film on the camera lens when I recorded the two videos in this review. I'm nowhere close to considering myself a photographer but I feel the quality of the image is OK. The second time I turned it on (used it) was inside the house. Yes, my wife was not home at the time so I was in the clear. I could not get a GPS signal so I switched it to "Altitude Mode" so I believe it was using "Optical Flow" sensors to maintain position. It worked great and I was able to move it around the room with ease. This was early afternoon. Once the sunlight started really coming in it was causing heavy reflection on the floor so Optical Flow was having problems keeping the drone positioned while hovering. I was able control it while operating the controls but when I let go the controls the drone would lose control and not stay hovering in one place. It crashed a few times but nothing broke. Nothing on the drone nor anything in the room. This is why my limbs are working so that I may write this review. The only thing that happened is that a few props received very light damage. The only things I don't like are: 1- The drone is not include in the comparison list on holystone.com. It lists the HS360 but not the HS360S. 2- The props are not available on either holystone.com nor amazon.com 3- holystone.com WhatsApp chat agent told me that the props for HS360S are not compatible with any other drone. Depending on the price this may be a very bad thing. 4- Only one battery in the kit 5- The batteries are too expensive.

This is an amazing drone for the money. For a present I was given the cheaper Holystone HS 440. Although that drone flew excellently, this drone 360 with GPS is really the one to get. It is extremely easy to fly, even for a non-video game beginner like me. It has a much better camera and has the really critical feature of being able to return to you with one button. I very quickly lost the first drone when it went to high and then I couldn't bring it back because it didn't have GPS. The 360S does have this feature and it works like a charm. Also the HS 360s has far better range. The technology on it is really quite amazing, especially for the price which with the discount and coupon was less than $150 (while the 440S was $100). One other big plus was they have an extremely helpful customer service number. When I first tried to fly it indoors, I couldn't get it to work because I didn't know that you have to turn off the GPS. I called the customer service # and it was the fastest pickup I have ever experienced with a customer service #. In less than a minute they gave me the info I needed. The pictures and video taken are quite good and clear, but if you want very high quality then you need to go to professional drones which are very expensive. One thing to be careful of is taking out the arms, which they do warn you about, but I didn't read the instruction manual carefully enough. As a result, I broke a piece, but it was easy to fix with a little hot glue. The bottom line is that this is a fantastic product for the money.

First review: This is a story of beginnings. I am a real drone novice. I had a BeBop which my son and I crashed into a wall after 30 minutes, never to fly again. I wanted this drone to monitor my roof and gutters, and just to have fun. I'm hopeful for the 4K camera clarity which is yet to be completely assessed. The reason I'm writing this very preliminary review is to say two things. First, the home function is NOT the same as the descent button. It will shoot your drone up to whatever the determined height is. In this case on my first ever flight it took the drone 25 feet into the leaves and branches of a 150 year old oak. Stuck as stuck can be. Second, I resigned myself to a ruined damaged chopped up drone after just one flight and because of the torrential rain storm we had overnight had no hope of recovery, but I went out the next morning to find the drone had freed itself of the tree and had fallen the 25 ft into my garden beds, somehow ejecting the battery which was found 15 feet away. Both were soaked, but otherwise only 2 blades had minor scars. Using the old white rice trick overnight and in the warm sun for half the next day, amazingly the battery had remained charged, and the drone was completely flyable. I'm certain that I was just very lucky, but I think that this attests in some way to the build quality of this product. Todays flights were low level and fighting the wind, but successful. I'll share more when I have more experience. Right off though a disappointment. There is really no excuse for not including a second battery, even if the price would be a bit higher. Can't seem to buy an extra one either as it’s out of stock. Why? The HC360 has two with it. Secondly, I can't get my Mac to read the SD card that was formatted in the drone. I've tried reformatting it in my Mac but don't yet know if the drone will read it. More later. On the positive side, it did really well in the ground level winds today but needed some countering of the winds. The direct link from the controller to the phone is really nice. The Fly app will take a bit of getting used to. Follow-up: yes with a Mac you MUST format the SD card as FAT32 EVEN IF ITS A 128 GB CARD. Thanks to HS help desk. Now it works with my Mac and all 4K video files are saved to the card. From the card you can save them to the phone but remember the drone needs to be on and the controller connected. It takes a while to download. The 4K images are pretty good. I haven’t tried viewing them on my 72 in TV yet bet they look good on a 5K display. The 720p not so much. Flew it today in light to moderate wind gusts around the house and the little light drone stood up pretty well at making its own location correction. Heavy gusts caused a drift. Still wishing it had a second battery. The HS help desk though one should be available soon. I hope so. It takes sooo long to recharge. Followup 2: I've had this for a while now. Purchased a second battery. The drone remains a good flier but I need to be careful around gusty winds above about 15 mph especially when flying in close quarters around trees. The other day I noticed that it was having difficulty keeping GPS lock and discovered that when it looses lock it has a mind of its own and flew into the side of my house. Fortunately, only some mild cosmetic damage. Surprisingly the props weren't significantly damaged but I decided to order extra sets because I'm certain that this will not be the last time and I might not be so lucky nest time. Still a great drone. Great customer service.

It took the purchase of 3 cheaper drones for me to realize my flaw and start researching the Holy Stone company. After about 1 wk or research I settled on the Holy Stone HS360S. The simplicity of operations, lightning quick response from controller and overall flight time proved I made the right decision and should of purchased this months ago. From opening the box until drone was in the air took less then 5 minutes. The only skill that's required for operating this drone is being able to read. Amazing ability to hover in place without touching the controller. You simply download the app, connect the controller to the phone via a cable and it automatically connects to the HS app that is downloaded to your device- that simple. Download the app, connect the cable and your ready to fly. Within 45 seconds of operation I realized this drone has already surpassed the distance of all my previous drones and I might go as far as saying all the previous drones combined. Another surprise was discovering after 10 minutes of flight time that I still had over 80% battery life left. Here's the best part and what influenced me to write this review. I emailed the Holy Stone Company with general questions and comments, mainly just wanting to praise them and voice my compliments- not at all even expecting a response from them or maybe thinking I'd get a reply to my email a few days later, maybe a week later- I received a response less then 5 minutes later and it wasn't a auto generated response neither. This was a real person giving a real response to my email. I feel the need to mention- as kind of a disclaimer I guess- I am not a paid spokesman, I'm getting 0 compensation for this review and with that being said, I will be a lifetime supporter for this company as long as quality products like this are made.. Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions and I will do my best to answer.

This drone is under 250 grams and doesn't require registration. It is also very compact and comes with a nice carry case that holds the two included batteries and the controller. I am very pleased with this product and can highly recommend it. So far, it has been easy to learn to use it after the initial learning curve for the initial connection with the controller and drone. I had issues getting it to connect but eventually downloaded the manual online and the directions were slightly better than what came with the unit. It basically goes like this: turn on drone, turn on controller, wait up to 40 seconds, then plug in phone with app launched. At least that is the sequence that finally worked for me. Prior to that i had the phone plugged in and the app up prior to trying to turning on the controller and trying to connect to the drone and it wouldn't connect. Anyways, I quickly got used to flying the drone and have tested out the smart return and camera features with success; just note that smart return has the drone shoot straight up in the air (above tree line) before heading back. This means don't press that button until your verticals are completely clear. I really like the 10th anniversary gradient color edition that I ordered and have been having a good time with the drone. Please note that, if you are in the states, you need don't need to register this drone but you do need to take the TRUST test and get your certificate. Keep this on you (digitally on your phone) so that you can present it if the someone asks for proof. I even carry a precision pocket scale with me as this is a quick way to show that the drone is under 250 grams. Overall, I really am enjoying this drone as it is beginner friendly and compact.

***Update*** While I enjoyed it for the first week or so I noticed it was starting to have movement while hovering, like a toilet bowl effect. I effectively landed it and recalibrated the compass thinking that may have been the issue. I have flown several other flights and it continues to hover inconsistently and have the same toilet bowl effect. I even changed out the props to new ones and it continues to do it, I have flown it several times since and it continues to be an issue. The most frustrating thing is I have yet to crash the drone until it started flying incorrectly. This renders flying this drone as next too useless. I will save my money and buy from another company such as dji. If the drone continued to fly as it did initially I would still be happy with it, but now it is almost not worth even flying it as I crashed it last time into a tree due to the random jerky toilet bowl flight pattern. Wish It still performed like when initially bought little more than a week ago! —-initial review—— I have been interested in drones for a while, looking to get into taking real estate pictures and making some money from drones. That being said, I did not want to buy an expensive drone for my first and end up crashing it. I wanted to buy a decent drone that could make me familiar with flying using video function and not be terrified of wrecking it. This drone so far has filled all of my expectations and exceeded some. I have crashed the drone four or five times already and aside from, changing some of the propellers out that were provided with for the purchase it has stayed strong with no issues. It is a fun hobby for me so far and enjoy flying it every time. The camera quality is acceptable, the controller is well thought out and comfortable, and the carrying case is a pleasant addition that I love is included. The only negatives or issues that I have had were initial connectivity issues to the camera, which could’ve been user error. This was solved by turning my Wi-Fi off on my phone. The other issue, which is more of a gripe than an issue is it only comes with one battery. The battery takes hours to charge so realistically during a day, I can only fly this two or maybe three times for 15 to 20 minute sessions. My last gripe is the camera, it can be a little disorienting since it moves with the drone and if you are maneuvering quickly or it is a little windy it can be a little difficult to view, but it is fair for the price point of the drone and I knew this when purchasing it. In conclusion, this drone is a great starter drone and checks all my boxes for starting out flying I find myself getting excited to take it out every time.

Drone arrived on time and is surprisingly really good. There was a problem with the battery that customer service immediately addressed by shipping a new battery that works just fine and lasts as long as advertised. I also bought an additional battery. This was my first drone and it hooked me right into the hobby. Easy and fun to fly as long as you start up each time in the correct sequence, meaning you should first power on the drone, then power on the controller and let them self sync (takes like 45 seconds or so), and only then should you plug in your phone. I bought a bunch of extra propellers that I haven't had the need to use as I haven't ever crashed it. The gimbal is a bit hard to adjust until you get used to it, you must learn to just nudge the controller quickly to get the correct angle. The camera takes very good videos and stills. I've since bought more expensive drones but I still use this one for daring missions that I don't put the more expensive ones into. I have about a hundred hours or so of great fun with it and would definitely recommend it for anyone looking to dip their toes into the hobby without breaking the bank.

Preface: I have been flying R/C for nearly 20 years off-and-on; fixed-wing, heli, quad Purchased this to see if I wanted to get in to drone footage while we're out offroading. Didn't want to commit to a big-name higher-quality unit since it was investigational. The good: It's simple to use and flies well. Still photo's are decent. The bad: They advertise a 2000' range. On flat land without any interference and a direct line of sight, the most I was able to get before the camera froze and the drone automatically returned was 853'. The controller was fine once it was all connected successfully, but I would often have to go through the initialization process a couple of times to get everything to register and be ready for flight. The camera is 4k... but only at 20fps. This is practically useless for video. Without a gimbal, the camera is ALWAYS shaky. If you want a drone for aerial video, do NOT get this one (get one with an actual gimbal). Realistic flight time on the battery is 15 minutes in Camera mode. In Sport mode, expect less than 10 minutes. Then expect a 3 hour recharge time before you can fly again. The case has a spot for a second battery, but they don't include one. Additional batteries cost almost half the entire price. Conclusion: If you want to just gently fly around your yard and take simple pictures or let children fly, this drone will be fine. If you want to use it for anything serious, this is not the one. I ended up returning mine for a better purpose-built unit.