I love the cute case, it comes with extra and the camera quality is better than expected
Great Customer Service and Flying experience
5
DJ Smith
Customer Service is available, willing to help and very knowledgeable. This was exactly what I needed as a new pilot. My HS 165 flys very smoothly and has a very impressive range. I was shocked by the accuracy of the return to home feature. I would however like a longer fly time with one battery. Otherwise I am very pleased with my first drone.
A lot of machine for the money
5
Amazon Customer
I received this as a gift from a family member. So you will not see "verified purchaser" or anything like that. I've had it a few months and have flown it about 8-10 flights. The good: 1. Once set up--the unit flies very easily. The GPS stabilization works very well, even in a moderate wind. 2. The built in camera works very easily. Even without a data card, the unit relays the pictures and movies down to your cellphone. It is the world's best "selfie-stick." That's me in the blue shirt in the picture! 3. Once you get it up to altitude, it hovers solidly and is almost silent. 4. Whole package is in a nice little carrying case that protects it well.
The challenges: 1. Setting up the phone app is a little convoluted. Each flight, your phone needs to be connected to the drone's wifi. It seems that this should be automatic after the first flight. Maybe it is, but I haven't figured that out yet. 2. Battery life is not as good as I expected. So far my max flight time is about 6-7 minutes. Product description says 15 minutes "without operating other functions." I'm not sure what the quoted phrase means, but maybe I'll try it without out GPS and without camera and see how long it will go. 3. Low Battery Warning. The phone app does indicate when the drone has low battery by showing graphics on the phone screen. That's good, but when I'm looking up at the drone, I'd really prefer an audio beeping or something that gets my attention. 4. All measurements in the app are in metrics. The app indicates altitude, speed, distance etc. It also has a neat logging feature, so even after your flight, you can tell how high or far you flew. But, unfortunately, there is no conversion feature to US measurements, it is all in metric system. Not the worst thing in the world, but a conversion toggle would be nice.
Very easy to use!
5
Nick
This is my second drone that I own and this one his hands down all around a better one. Being able to take pictures more clearly is one of many benefits. This drone is extremely easy to use even when gusts of wind pick up. Highly recommend this drone for a first time drone user or an experienced user.
Fantastic drone for both the novice and advanced pilots
5
Erik W.
Overall this drone is a fantastic entry level drone. The controls are simple and easy to learn but have advanced features for more skilled pilots as well as gps, flight path, and return home functionality. The case and presentation of the contents are neatly organized and give the appeal of a high end drone. The drone package comes with charging cables for the batteries and controller, 2 batteries, instruction manual and flight log. The quality of the drone is very refined with attention to detail in mind, and the design is both sleek and durable. The drone is a little on the light side. Light wind gusts seemed to interfere with the stability at times, but nothing the drone could not overcome. Bottom line- It's a fantastic drone for both the novice and advanced pilots who are looking for something both functional and fun.
Pleasantly surprised... great, easy to fly, and fun drone!
5
Pennsylvania Diokno
I was expecting a good drone, but I was pleasantly surprised that I got a great drone! Flying drones is a hobby for me and my children, and I am always looking for something new and different. When I saw the HS165, I thought it would be a nice drone to get because it was small (no need to register since it is under 149grams) and easy to travel with. I also felt it would be nice and easy for the kids to fly because it has GPS (which adds to the position hold and stability) and would return to home if it lost connection. Well, I wasn’t disappointed. Holy Stone does not disappoint with their presentation of the drone. It came in a very nice box with all of the things needed to get it up and flying, basic maintenance (extra propellers and 2 batteries), and a great manual, and even a notepad (that has a leather-bound appearance). I also love that they included a top-notch, very sturdy travel case for the drone and controller. I was very surprised at how easy it was to get up and flying. It held it’s position well, and was very smooth and stable in flight. For an inexpensive drone, it takes nice photos and videos and is easily able to capture footage directly to your phone or to a microSD card. The controls for the drone are very intuitive, making it simple to maneuver up, down, yaw left/right (turning), or roll left/right. There are also very simple to understand buttons that help with the control of the drone (take-off/land, RTH *return-to-home*, trim *make adjustments if it is not hovering in place*, headless-mode *to always orient it to go whichever direction you push the sticks*, and camera photo/video button). This is a super easy drone to get flying with. My only areas to say they consider in future updates for the drone are a multi-charger for the batteries (you need to charge them one at a time, but would be easy to have some sort of pigtail to have both plugged in so they charged simultaneously, or at least consecutively without having to remember to swap them on the charger). The camera takes nice pictures, but with it swiveled (not fixed), which would make it easier to compose shots for photos. These are two suggestions, and they are minor, as they do not detract from a great flying drone! Having owned two other Holy Stone drones (the HS720, and the HS110D), in addition to several other brands (DJI, Fimi, Eachine, and ZLRC), I would say that this HS165 is a home-run! Holy Stone balances a great value with a fun, easy to fly drone. What I believe sets Holy Stone apart from others is their top-notch customer service. I have not needed it with this drone (I’ve had it for about a month and a half), but do know that whenever I have had questions, they are super responsive (literally within an hour), and they understand the true meaning of customer service. They bend over backwards to assist, and I truly believe that they epitomize exceptional customer service! So if you are looking for a nice, easy to use, portable drone, look no further than the HS165. You and your children will enjoy it! Here are some photos and a video of mine (and I took some photos of it flying with my iPhone).
