Holy Stone HS900 Drone with Camera for Adults, 3-Axis Gimbal, 8K Photo, 4K/30FPS Video, 20000Ft Transmission, AI Follow Me, Visual Tracking, Smart Return, QuickShots, Beginner-FriendlyGlobal Recycled StandardGlobal Recycled StandardGlobal Recycled StandardClimatePartner certified

This is a preliminary review in order to share what I feel is important information for anyone considering the Holy Stone HS900. The controller and the craft operate very well. The controller functions are easily manipulated and the craft is very stable. The menu is also easy to use and the features are fun to use as well. Now for the real information, the battery can only be charged when installed in the craft and this means one at a time, Holy Stone does offer a docking station charger that holds three batteries, however the docking station only charges one battery at a time. I purchased the docking station charger at the time I purchased the drone as well as two additional batteries. The beginning of my review was short as a result of the following, after the initial charge was done on the batteries the night before my done was taken for its maiden voyage, when I was ready for the first flight the batteries were no longer at full charge. Rather than charging the batteries back to full capacity I proceeded to fly the craft as long as the three batteries would allow which was approx. 35 minutes. I was a great experience even though short what features I was able to use worked well. The next part of the story is the most concerning, after placing the discharged batteries in the docking station for charge I performed some tasks around the house and returned to find the first battery fully charged so I removed the charged battery and left the other two in the docking station to charge. I left to run some errands and came back two hours later to check the status of the charging batteries. I have always been apprehensive when it comes to charging lithium batteries so I never charge them in my home and rather set them up in my work shop that is detached from the house and garage. When I opened the door to the shop I was overcome with smoke that billowed out of the door, no actual fire but electrical fire smoke that was thick and nasty. I found the middle docking port with a melted down battery and the battery to the outside of that one was not able to be removed due the melt down of the docking station around the battery. The power adapter and the wall socket as well as the cable were not hot and not damaged. Thankfully there was no fire or my losses would have been rather sizable considering the size of my work shop and what I have inside of it. I contacted Holy Stone and explained the circumstances and sent them pictures. They offered to replace the damaged charger and two batteries but I will be waiting for up to three weeks for the replacement items to arrive. I will follow up this review once I have another opportunity to fly the craft again and try ALL of the features and functions, in the meantime I offer this information for anyone considering this model for themselves.

The media could not be loaded. I will start by saying that I really wanted to purchase the DJI Mavic Mini, but for the huge jump in price I just wasn't willing to do it. Then I found out that the Mavic Mini flight app requires a phone or mobile device running a 64 bit OS and I was REALLY out since my phone runs on a 32 bit OS (even though the hardware inside is 64 bit) and I was NOT about to purchase a very expensive phone in addition to the very expensive drone! Sorry for that tangent...That said, I love this HS120D camera drone! It has great features, a nice carrying case, some spare parts, two batteries, a tiltable camera while in flight, GPS with RTH (return to home), and the app will actually run on almost all phones! It takes reasonable pictures and videos for someone who is using it mostly casually and for recreation (and saves them to both your mobile device AND a micro SD card, not included).Yes, this drone uses brushed motors, but don't let that deter you. This thing can really get up and go and has three separate speed modes to choose from depending on how you wish to fly (which you can change at any time while in the air). If you want to take some nice videos or blur-free pictures, use the slowest speed. If you want to have some fun, use the fastest speed.The controller has a nice feel to it and features a built-in rechargeable battery and fold-out clip to hold your phone (plan on taking your phone out of its case each time). The buttons are nicely placed and responsive, as well as the flight sticks. Everything you need is right at your fingertips, just take the time required to familiarize yourself with at least the basic controls for taking off and landing before your first flight.This kit does NOT come with prop guards, but they can be purchased separately if you would like. My previous drones did not have GPS and so the prop guards proved to be very helpful, but the GPS on this one has worked so nicely that so far I am not missing them at all. The RTH feature has saved me multiple times when I accidentally lost sight of it in the air. With the press of one button the drone is on it's way back to the location in which it took off. It will also return to home automatically if the battery power gets too low or the drone flies too far out of range, two great features! Just be sure to do the simple steps in this short video each time before you fly in order to maximize the accuracy of the RTH feature. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=J53aKcznvBgI have used the automated flight mode called "waypoints" many times and it works great. You can plot up to 16 points on the pop-up map and then "send" the course to the drone and it will fly to all of the points you set, in the order you set them, and then hover in place upon reaching the last point. I am always certain to have the drone hovering at the altitude I want for the flight BEFORE sending the final command. You can take pictures and/or videos while it is flying the course which is really nice. You can even change the speed mode, tilt the camera, and adjust the left-right direction during the flight. If you have any problems getting the map data to display on the app, follow the simple directions in this video to get you going: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFQ7E8itQlwIt does have "follow me" mode and I used it once to verify that it works, but I haven't used it more than that.One feature it does NOT have (that I wish it did) is "point of interest". I think that would be a very useful feature and I bet the app developers could add it if they choose to in the future, but I am not gonna hold my breath. If you're listening, Holy Stone, please add it! Thanks!The battery life is impressive...around 15-20 mins each battery depending on a few factors such as wind speed, prop speed selection, how much you use the camera tilt, etc.Overall I really enjoy this drone a lot and feel that you get a really good bargain for the price. In my opinion it is great for beginners through experts, but don't plan to use it for commercial photography. While it does a plenty good job for the casual photographer, the lack of a three axis mechanical gimbal makes it very difficult to get a nice steady video, but you'll need to spend more money for a drone with that feature, usually a lot more.

This is our first drone purchase. We were looking for a middle of the road one to start with and came across the HS900 by Holy Stone. It was pretty straight forward to set up the app and the drone itself and get to fly. It has a beginner mode which is nice to limit speed and distance so you can get the hang of controlling it. We had a slight issue that required us to call the company and it was a great experience. Right away, I was able to speak to an actual person who could help and resolve my issue! It does require a data card to take pictures and videos. We have not yet gotten to do that yet as we are concentrating on learning to fly it first. One additional nice feature is that the controller is hard-wired to your phone so there is no chance of dropping signal. Overall, it works well and we are happy with the purchase. Looking forward to taking some awesome photos and videos soon

Great drone just bought it for my son. I own a 720 which is great I see an improvement with this one.

This drone is so much fun to fly... I love everything about it. It is so responsive, runs about 25 minutes on a charge. I kicked it up to 1000' the other day and was amazed at the quality of the 4K video. It does take a minute or 2 to sync up with the controller... But, I found a process which works consistently. First, power on the drone. Second power on the controller and wait until the green led appears. Finally, plug in my iPhone. I close all open apps... then, open the HS app and it locks in to GPS. I always wait until the app recognizes the drone... Off I go... So much fun.