Perfect buy

5

Leroy

Easy to fly once you get it down packed takes great pictures and videos just wish they put out sound but overall a good drone

EASY TO USE DRONE

5

Omotayo S.

I am an environmental engineer and HS 700 FPV is my first drone. I bought it so as to be able to take arial view pictures and videos during environmental fieldworks. The HS 700 FPV is easy to use and it responds reasonably well to control. I will recommend it to anyone.

Great product for the price!!

5

Jason R.

This is my second drone. I use the HS700 for my home inspection business to view 2nd and 3rd story roofs and power hookups. Once you READ the instructions and get familiar with the calibration and controls the drone becomes really easy to fly!! It has a lot of nice features that actually work like return to home, follow me and my favorite is to rotate full circle while keeping the camera pointed at one direction. This is fantastic for getting nice 360’ angles on roofs.

I was shocked when I did an inspection one day and the wind was constantly blowing about 15-20 mph over a 3rd story roof. The drone hovered at an odd angle but held its position surprisingly well!! Got some great shots and video even in high winds.

The construction feels like sturdy material and even after clipping the rotors on houses and other objects they still seem to hold their shape and function well( comes with an extra set just in case).

I called customer service when my 64gb card wouldn’t work in the camera. They were nice and helped me straight away. Only up to 32gb in the camera.

The video and pictures from the drone are crisp and clean and the remote control layout is user friendly.

The down side....... only about 10-15 mins of fly time with an unGODLY charge time of 4+ hours. The charging setup sucks. 3 wires to charge a battery is laughable and it comes with a battery charging explosion proof case. (Hmm......)

Also, the app has a VR setting so you can put your phone in a VR mask and “fly” the drone that way. But the app fails miserably and doesn’t focus or align the screen properly and the delay from the controls to the screen is too long to even do that much.

All in all. I’m very happy with the cost-to-quality ratio with the drone. It does everything I want it to and more. Would definitely buy this drone again at this price point.

Surprising Value. Great Features!

5

Andrew Hunt

After flying "dumb" quadcopters for a couple years, it was time for me to find something that was decent enough to have many of the bells and whistles of the big named quads, without the price. I know I'm gonna break this, I almost did today, so I didn't want something that could also break my wallet.

First quad I ever owned, I flew into a tree on day 1, thankfully it was only $45. I bought a Talon HD for $25 to see if I could find and tow the old one out of the tree, but it was never to be found. Since then I've been flying the Talon HD, which is just a barebones quadcopter with 4 rotors and a controller and thats about it. And it was light, below the registration weight, yet the size of a standard quad like this HS700. So I got decent at fighting the wind and basic control and working with depth perception.

I had this, and a couple other quadcopters on my watch list, and oddly I found a better deal on the HS700 on Newegg ($204), so I'll be writing a review there too. So here was how my experience was with this quadcopter so far.

Day 1: Assembly and RTFM. You will need to read the manuals that come with this. But they look more intimidating than they really are since they're written in about 5 different languages. Also there are some good Youtube videos on this quadcopter (TL:DW by Captain Drone, and long version by RC Escape) and you'll get the entire jist of this drone just by them alone. If you never flew a quadcopter before, or haven't been around someone who has a more advanced one like this, I do recommend watching the videos.
Assembly of this drone was a piece of cake. Didn't even need the instructions. Legs snap in, camera gimbal slides in, camera snaps into the gimbal, and the props twist on. Just be sure to orientate the props in the manner that matches the icons on the blades, to the icons on the wings (like A clockwise, B counterclockwise, etc). Pictures in the book are easier than what I'm making it sound. The battery, is painfully long to charge. There are mods online so you can charge the battery with a hobby grade charger, but I think they slow charge for safety reasons, hence the inclusion of the flame resistant charging pouch. Don't want your quadcopter to turn into a Galaxy Note 7 I guess.
I pulled out my old LG V10 and got the "Ophelia GPS" app installed with ease and it connected to the quad right away. At this point a half hour passed and I had to go to work.
Day 2: FAA. Before even taking this quadcopter outside, register with the FAA. Its online, takes 5 minutes, and takes 5 bucks. If you won't want to use your credit or debit card online, you can use the slower paper approval form. Also research in where you live, and where you can and can't fly. A great tool I use is called "Airmap". Essentially don't fly near airports and don't do anything dumb with your quadcopter around people.
Day 3: First Flight. You need to "calibrate" the drone. Once you turn it on and it connects to the controller, set it on the ground and count to 7. Once the lights flash yellow, rotate it in place until the lights change, then pick it up and hold it vertically and spin it until the lights change again. Set it on the ground and you're ready to fly. As long as you feel comfortable that you're legal and read up on the manuals/videos, hitting the 1 key takeoff is the best way to get it into the air. It'll hover about 8-10 feet off the ground, and from there you can touch the sticks to make it go where you want it to go. I flew it around, up high, down low (its a good idea to learn how turbulence affects your drone when you're close to the ground), and then I took it into the woods where there are tight spots and branches and whatnot. Well I flew it over my creek, and caught an overhead branch and the quadcopter plunged into the creek. I hit the emergency shutoff on the controller and retrieved it, shook the water out, and it was still on, and ready to fly. I figured at this point it was a goner. So I took it in after a test flight again to dry it off, and just now did an indoors test flight... its like I didn't submerge it into a rapidly moving stream. Talk about top notch build quality.

So in short, if you're looking for a great quadcopter that I call "midrange" ($100-500), thats durable, feature-rich, and with a company that actually sells accessories for it (backpack, extra batteries, etc), than you can't go wrong with this quadcopter. The camera is kinda underwhelming, as it can't take very good still shots, but if you got a GoPro Hero 4 or older, it'll fit guaranteed. Newer ones are larger and may not fit. However you can't use any of the Ophelia GPS app features if you decide to use a GoPro. Also this doesn't use a stabilization gimbal so the camera moves with the drone. However if you're crafty you probably could screw one into the hull of the quad, might be something I'll consider doing.

The true test, is will Ophelia be able to handle flying in the winter? I may update here when the time comes.

Follow-ups:

This drone is prone to interference when flying in an area with many WiFi networks (such as a city) so be careful. I got it to 400 feet and the signal bars went wonky a few times. Never a problem in rural areas.

HS700D (upgraded camera model) is not GoPro compatible.

Easy enough - started using right away!!!!!

5

Kevin, The Kevin

YouTube first, you have to calibrate by turning it all crazy ways. I stuck a go pro mount on it and attached an insta 360 one x. Tough little guy, took a beating while I was learning, but kept on going.

Be safe, respect all rules and regulations.Drones can hurt people if you act irresponsibly.

5

Shawn J. Croll

This is a great quality drone for the price. I've be practicing as a hobbyist for a couple years now. I look back and have had many issues with other manufactures.. Holy Stone all the way. I give out drones to my friends for all kinds of occasions. They never disappoint.