Additional comments on June 1
I've been flying only a couple of months and have gotten obsessed with it. This is my favorite quad, and I've flown a bunch so far and it is much more fun and flies better than the ones I've tried (Syma x11, syma x5, syma x5sw, JJRC H5P, JXD 509G, Estes proto-x fpv and probably a few more)
It is fun, zippy, very maneuverable and survives numerous crashes. Pretty good battery time, longer than the others (except H5P which was not fun to fly so what' s the point of longer flight time?) It has better range than any of them and is just fun, fun, fun and at such a low price.
I bought it after seeing all the amazing Amazon reviews, and have since discovered fakespot.com
I now see that many of the reviews for Holy Stone products are not to be completely trusted... but despite that, I know that I am genuine, and I love it.
I did have one that after some use had a problem with intermittant power, either the battery leads got flaky or a crack in the circuit board. But Asurion canopy returned it, no questions asked.
Yes, they are cheaply made. Yes it is not the most durable thing ever. But if you get the insurance you will have many hours of excellent fun flight. All the Chinese quads at this price range are cheaply made. But this is probably the best $40 you can spend.
I have crashed it numerous times and it bounces and flies again.
Just make sure you get extra batteries and propellers.
I also recommend for a battery charger for those extra batteries this guy
https://www.amazon.com/Hitec-RCD-Micro-1-Cell-Charger/dp/B00FYL2INM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1464800208&sr=8-3&keywords=hitec+charger
earlier comments
Here are some observations from a newbie/rookie/first time drone flyer. Hopefully it will help others buying their first drone(s).
To cut to the chase-
Holy Stone 170 was my favorite. The Blade was also very good. Syma X5-1 had a big problem. Syma X5SW huge problems. SymaX11C ok.
My observations are from a complete first time user, and any comments or suggestions or good websites or forums from experienced flyers out there are welcome!
With springtime coming I decided it would be fun to learn to fly drones, or more specifically quadcopters with my eight year old son. And so far, it is!!!! I've never flown a RC device and my experience with any RC device has been limited to junk $20 cars that last five minutes before breaking or my son would lose interest.
So- if you are a first time buyer on the fence, go ahead and buy something! It is HUGE fun, for both my eight year old and myself. Just be prepared to crash and smash and probably buy more than one, to either try different quads and to replace damaged/lost quads..
First off, a caveat emptor. I always knew there are fake reviews on the net, but never thought much about it until I started researching quads and was shocked by how prevalent they are. First off, some are so obviously written by the company (hello Holy Stone!) they are laughable. I also used fakespot.com to analyze a product review (I can't prove they are accurate, but it's a good starting point). I typically found Amazon quad reviews to be over 50% fake (or at least questionable). Sometimes as high as 80-90% fake! So it started to become clear that I needed to take many reviews with a shaker full of salt... A product with 10%-30% fake reviews sadly seems reasonably accurate, and I had to discount many that were over 50% questionable. And I unfortunately learned this after purchasing the various quads, so I guess I fell into the manufacturer's traps... I definitely recommend using fakespot to analyze a product's reviews, it's dead easy, just cut the link and paste into their website.
I started indoors, in a small room. Not the best place to start as too many obstacles and numerous crashes, but fun and good for those first flights where I had no idea what even the function of the joysticks were... (btw- the manuals are generally a joke, you should go online for info).
I quickly learned how short the flight times are (around 5-7 minutes typically) so I promptly bought extra batteries and chargers for multiple batteries. An extra $20-30 for you to be aware of, but definitely worth it! Nothing is more frustrating than having a really fun 5 minutes and waiting 90 minutes for more fun... (hmmm... no further comment on that subject....)
Started with the Holy Stone and Blade. The Blade was quieter but the Holy Stone seemed a bit more stable and easier to control. The Blade also has a very flimsy thin plastic cover that sorta fits into a tab on the body, but is really shoddy and falls off easily.
Also tried the X5 indoors, but quickly found it too big and bulky, so stuck with the smaller quads for indoors. And it was fun and instructive!
Ventured outside and many more crashes, but lots of fun. I somehow lost the Blade in a big field when I lost sight of it for a second as it was landing. It's tiny! First painful lesson, the nanos (Holy Stone, X11, Blade) are soo small. Easy to lose. But fun!
Tried the bigger (mini?) quads outdoors, the Syma X5-1 and X5SW. Tried the X5SW first and I remembered reading in reviews that the X5SW had huge problems with wind (some reviewers believe to be a software bug). And yes - huge problems with wind! On the low speed beginner mode (most controllers have two or three speeds for beginners thru expert) the X5SW was worthless- the smallest breeze or gust would carry it off and it could not be brought back even when fully steering it in the opposite direction the wind was taking it (by this time I had enough skill to steer these fun things!). In high speed, it could fight the wind, but it was very difficult to control. Maybe a more experienced flyer would find it to be a good quad, but it was too erratic for me. And it would lose signal from the transmitter after a very short distance,maybe 25-30 feet, at which point it would start falling. I could prevent it crashing by throttling up after it fell a distance. But the range was far shorter than any of the other quads. The wind problem and range problem made this to me, a useless quad. So annoying did I find it that I actually stepped on it in anger to put it out of my misery... (ok, it was a long day, I never do things like this...). Also annoying was its landing gear legs which would usually snap off on the smallest of rough landings, very annoying.
The Syma X5-1 did far better than the X5SW. It resisted the wind much better, and was easier to fly. I did enjoy flying this quad and it was very fun to fly at night. It's bigger than the nanos obviously and easier to see its orientation. That is until after a relatively few number of flights, it got a little too high and I lost control. Either it took off on its own, or the wind took it, but it is now in a Charlie Brown kite-eating tree...
Obviously this was my fault - but it did seem the range of this quad was too short. It was not up that high, maybe 20 feet, and maybe 20 feet from me... better range than the X5SW, but the Holy Stone and Blade had far better range. To my newbie mind, this is far too short a range.
Outdoors the Holy Stone was really fun! It fought the wind with no problem, zipped around, was agile and very easy to fly, and very speedy. Fun!!
The cons- it is obviously small so hard to see the orientation at any distance. Also, one of the rotors was finicky- I typically had to push start it or even blow on it while throttling up to get it to spin. A pain when I was flying it, but when my son was flying it, it was fun to launch it while holding it.
The other issue I had with the Holy Stone was trying to use the headless mode. When engaged, the controller would beep continuously and loudly, making this feature unusable. When I contacted Holy Stone about a way to turn the beeping off and telling them I would consider returning it if I couldn't, their response was to tell me to just forget about the beeping and enjoy the flying experience. I must say however that they are very concerned about how users are doing with their products and were in touch with me promptly and genuinely seemed to want to help.
The Syma X11 I tried after using the Holy Stone for a while and while it seemed a similar size, the controller just felt too much like a toy and my initial reaction to it was that the Holy Stone was zippier and more fun and a better product. But I will allow that I may not have given the X11 a fair consideration.
In summary- Holy Stone 170 was the most fun, seemed to have the best range, fought wind well, was zippy and powerful and easiest to fly. The only issues were the beeping in headless mode, and a sticky prop (which maybe someone out there can enlighten me about- lubricant? new motor?). It's also small, which makes it fun and zippy and good for indoors, but hard to see the orientation when not near you.
The Blade Nano QX was also very good, but alas, I lost it too soon so can't fully compare it. It did seem harder to fly for a beginner than the Holy Stone. And the cover coming off and it's flimsy nature were also not good.
The Syma X5-1 was fun and larger and better for seeing orientation at a distance, but terrible range, and it (probably) took off when out of range.
The Syma X5SW was worthless- no range, and real struggles with wind.
The Syma X11 may be a good first quad, but I think I would go with the Holy Stone.
And once again, did I say ten times how fun these guys are? My son and I both had a blast every time we flew them. It's been huge fun for us both and I'm hoping to continue flying together and getting to be better pilots together.
Additional comments after several weeks:
It is now a few weeks later. After trying various quads, including the Syma X5C-1, X11C and Syma X5SW I have to say the Holy Stone HS170 is my fave and outperforms all the others. Its range is far, far greater than the others. I can fly the HS really high and far away with no trouble, I'm guessing at least 150 feet. The Syma quads would all lose control at much smaller distances.
The HS is also very zippy and controllable and fights the wind well, something the Symas did not do. It so far has been very robust, surviving numerous crashes from myself and my son (we're newbies! we crash!) and bounces back, sometimes literally! Have had to replace a few broken or lost props after crashes, takes a few seconds, no big deal. Only thing for newbies like myself- two types of prop shapes, make sure you pick the correct one to replace it or it won't fly!
Very, very happy with the HS170. Hours of fun for my son and I. We bought extra batteries so we can fly for 40 minutes or so at a time. Great for improving skills.
Buy this drone! It's money very well spent!!
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From the brand
Dare to Fly, Soar to Live.
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The sky is full of dreams. Let our drones be your dream catcher.
Everyone should have easy and inexpensive access to the flying dream. That’s why we dedicate ourselves to creating high-tech, affordable, and fun-to-fly drones.
Since 2014, Holy Stone has become the best choice of entry-level drones for beginners and drone lovers. More than 5 million customers have enjoyed flying and captured great life moments with their Holy Stone drones.
Product Description
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Headless ModeHeadless Mode brings much more confidence for the beginners and young children, under which no matter what direction the aircraft is facing, forward stick is forward, and back stick is backward. |
6-Axis Gyro Technology6-Axis Gyro Technology enables the drone to flip and role by a simple push of the button. Hold down the right direction stick to perform a cool roll in any direction. |
3 Different Speed Modes3 Different Speed Modes for beginners to more advanced pilots. Super fast in the highest speed for a micro quad. |
The Colorful LED lightsThe Colorful LED lights make it easy to identify the front and back so as to make the quad a great night flyer. |
Package Includes:
- 1 x Quadcopter
- 1 x 2.4G Remote controller (AA batteries not included)
- 1 x 3.7V 350mAh Li-ion battery
- 4 x Additional blades
- 1 x USB charger
- 1 x Screwdriver
- 1 x User Manual
- 1 x Propellers crowbar
Videos
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Videos for this product
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Customer Review: OMG! Holy Stone Mini Speed Demon!
steveh
Videos for this product
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HS 170 predator it is a lot of fun :)
Customer Video
Reviews with images
AMAZING MINI MONSTER
I placed order for this mini palm sized quad-copter on a Wednesday evening. The quad-copter showed up at my house within 18hrs after ordering. Outstanding order processing and shipping time.This mini palm sized quad-copter is amazing. It is clear that Holy Stone is committed to outstanding customer service and quality control. Just the box says that loud and clear. There is a QC sticker on the box along with numerous ways to contact Holy Stone if there was a issue. Upon opening the box I found everything as it should be.Starting with the manual you can see by it's color pictures and thick paper that Holy Stone is all about quality. Most manuals are printed on very thin paper and most do not include pictures. This is how all manuals should look. There is two important details that I think have been left out of the manual. More about that later.In the package you will find the mini quad-copter with propellers already installed. A remote controller which you will need 6 "AA" batteries. I used rechargeable batteries which I have more then 10 flights on without a recharge. There is a small bag which includes a spare set of propellers with propeller removal tool. The rechargeable lipo flight battery and USB charger. Also included is a phillips head screw driver for removing the screws on the quad-copter if necessary.Charging and flight time. I found that I received the advertised average flight time of 6-8 minutes. This is dependent on the way in which you fly and what speed mode you fly in. Charging the lipo flight battery was faster then the advertised 60-90mins. I used a USB wall charger with a rated output of 1 amp. I was able to re-charge the flight battery in about 45mins using the included USB charge lead and my wall charger. I have found other reviews on this quad-copter with issues of battery damage due to being punctured by something on the circuit board. I have inspected the circuit board and it appears that this issue has been corrected.After charging the battery but before flying the mini quad-copter make sure the propellers are fully pressed on. This is something that should be mentioned in the manual. Failure to make sure the propellers are fully pressed on before flight or after a crash may result in the propellers flying off. The propellers are very small and can prove to be hard to find if lost. Holy Stone has included a extra set of propellers so if you loose one you can replace it and continue flying.Holy Stone has included many features that make this mini quad-copter fun to fly for all ages. Headless mode allows for even novice pilots to control this quad-copter like a pro. One key return is great to bring the quad-copter back to you quickly. The ability to hand cast this quad-copter means that you can toss it in the air without the need for a clear ground space for take-off. This quad-copter also has the ability to flips and rolls. The LED orientation lighting can be turned on or off with the press of a button on the remote.With the 3 select-able speed settings this mini quad-copter this can be a agile flyer in mode one. In speed mode three this mini forgets it is a mini quad and turns into a monster. It becomes very responsive with a lot of pitch and roll but still maintains the ability to keep control even with pitch close to 90 degrees. The self-centering control sticks make leveling it back out a piece of cake.Other reviews on this mini quad-copter stated that the motors stopped working after few flights. While the controller sticks are self-centering, this is still a manual quad-copter which requires constant input of throttle to maintain flight. In the event of a crash the pilot must pull the throttle all the way down. To prevent the motors from burning up or worse causing damage to the circuit board within the quad-copter due to the propellers not being able to spin. After a crash the propellers should be inspected for debris wrapped around the base and to make sure they are still pressed fully onto the motors. This as well should be mentioned in the manual.I highly recommend this mini palm sized quad-copter to pilots of all ages and experience levels. The durability, functionality, and performance of this product make it stand out against the competition. As always Holy Stone is available for product and customer support. They stand behind every product they make and this one is no exception.I hope you found this review helpful.
