Holy Stone HS440 Foldable FPV Drone Review: A Beginner’s Dream or Just a Toy?

Don't expect this to be a high end drone but it does what it says. You can really get your basic maneuvers down using this drone. If you loose it (highly probable when learning) at least you have not lost a super expensive piece of kit. It is likely that, if you like flying and improve your skills with this drone, this will not be the only drone you buy. It is powerful enough to get the job done in light winds. Anything more than 5 mph and you will be fighting the wind to remain stable. However, that is a good skill to have even with the highest end drone out there. This one does not have brushless motors which are more powerful per watt used and overall quieter. But, these motors are good enough for this price point. Also, be aware that you will probably not be flying this drone using FPV (from the video on your phone) much. But, then you probably will not be doing that with most hobby level drones. What I liked: - 2 batteries means long flight times for practice - case included keeps all the parts safe and low profile for transport - gimbal for camera lets you take pics straight down - controls quite responsive; good beginner drone - range is limited (around 300 ft and I was getting concerned) - durable construction; crashed it several times with no loss of props or anything but scratches - easy to get replacement parts if I need them; HS has a good rep in the industry - video and pics stored on phone (albeit lower res) and micro-SD card; like that flexibility What I did not like: - not as stable a platform as I would like for video unless I do really smooth and slow flying - charge time of batts is longer than I would like; takes about 2 hours for each when they are flat - no return to home on this one; you have to fly it back home every time - landing in wind really tricky - you can see the props in the frame when the gimbal for the camera is at the top of its travel range

This was my first "real" drone with camera and auto features. Learning to fly was very easy, with clear instructions and smart functions. It was fun learning to avoid obstacles and maintaining position as it soared way up into the sky. This is when I learned stability in wind is so-so, due largely to the light weight. This is the trade off for pretty good battery life and being so easy to carry around with me. Once I gained some prowess with operation and found a wide open space to fly around in, the fun ratcheted up several notches in "high speed" mode as the unit seems very fast and quick to maneuver. It's pretty exhilarating to run it at full throttle back toward my position and then crank a 180 right in front of me! From up high in the sky, where we can see the overview that makes drone photography so special, the clarity and sharpness of pictures is decent/poor depending on the wind speed. I think if it was able to stay still better when up in the breeze, photos would be better but as it is they are not Getty worthy, to say the least. Another trade off. This thing was only $70, after all! I bought in early December then kept it in the box until after Christmas. About 3 months after starting to fly it, one of the motors has weakened and it will not take off any more. Holy Stone is sending me a replacement arm! I expect that to restore it to like-new condition, we will see. Thanks very much to Holy Stone for prompt service and generous policy, given that I believe the warranty is expired. All in all, a fun drone for learning to fly that does not break the bank! Now that I know a thing or two about drone operation, I'll get one with more stability/GPS features and a higher resolution camera.

bought this drone to learn the basics of drone flight. loved it right out of the box. easy to control, easy to learn and easy to fly. camera works great. it’s not professional quality and not mounted on a gimbal but you can’t expect that at this price point. the remote control does a great job of changing the angle of the camera and it all functions great. the camera app was easy to download and figure out. it allows photos and video to be taken. using my smart phone as the viewer helps a lot. wish i had a set of googles but that’s nothing to do with the drone. the remote does a good job of controlling the drone and has a place to mount your cellphone. more range would be great but again at this price what are you expecting. it does a good job and i’ve flown it out of visual site before. it came back fine. it does struggle in wind. best to just keep it away when it’s strong enough to fly a kite. had a great few weeks with it playing and learning. then i had an incident. i took it up to our property to see if i could get an aerial view of the land. it did great going out and flew against the wind. as the remote battery failed the drone veered off course and crashed into a tall pine tree. i couldn’t climb up and couldn’t even tell which tree it was in. i had written this off as i couldn’t climb the tree and couldn’t recover the drone. fast forward 2 months. it’s a really windy day. i go to the base of the trees and actually see the drone sitting upside down on the ground. i couldn’t believe it. i removed the battery. cleaned the corrosion off the contacts and took it inside. i changed remote batteries, charged up the spare battery and took the drone outside. it still works!!! 2 months in a tree and this thing still functions great. i am currently charging the battery that was outside and all appears to be good to go. i can’t believe this drone still functions after all i’ve put it through. i will definitely stick with this company in the future.

I liked everything about this drone. Best, cheapest, easy to use quad copter out there. Lots of fun and doesn't crash into my living room walls or ceiling like the last drone I had did. I only have problems in strong winds. But that's the same for most drones anyway. Enjoy

Great little drone - should have bought the HS440S but not sure what to buy for my first drone. Had problem with it drifting on lift off - couldn't get it to just hover. Also wanted to know what would happen if it happen to fly out of range. So I contacted Holystone and received an answer 2 day later (was over a weekend). Answer was quick and to the point. The drift problem took a while to solve. According to the instructions, hold down the Trimmer button until a beep and then move the right joystick in opposite direction to the drift. Took a while to figure out that you can't leave the joystick to the side but need to move it back and forth from the center position. Each time you do this a beep occurs indicating that a position has been locked in so to speak. Anyway - to adjust drift follow the instructions but move the joystick from the center and back several times to stabilise the drone. Once that was done, I had a play - great for height and remained stable. Already considering buying another with GPS Purchased a second battery Takes great pictures. Love it

Got in on Prime day for 100$CAD. I was interested in drones and wanted to start small to see if I like it or not before investing on a proper more expensive drone. For 100$ it does really well. Sure it will not hover in place and won't keep stable connection if you go too far away, but to learn the basics it does its job really well and it is suprinsingly fun to fly really fast around the field.

Yesterday I did my first and probably last test flight. The connection from the smartphone to the camera was very easy using the app, but after a distance of 10 meters the image was very distorted and time-shifted. With the connection to the camera, the control was also shifted by about 2 seconds, which can be very annoying in some situations. Due to its light weight, it is more susceptible to wind than expected, but that doesn't make it flightless. you shouldn't take this into account when flying. The video quality is okay for the price segment, the only regrettable thing is the distance of 10m when the contact breaks... a real shame. The drone has great potential! The packaging is very high quality, the drone itself is very robust. I was even able to exceed the flight time of 20 minutes (25 minutes). The remote control commands are executed immediately without delay (if not coupled with WiFi), even at a distance of approx. 80m. I didn't dare go further because I tested it at dusk and had poor visibility. Conclusion: Technically minus the camera and wifi connection and the associated problems, it is a solid drone for children aged 12 and over to get their first feel for a drone! A stylish, well-organized packaging, very stable fuselage, an extremely long flight time, good flight distance between transmitter and receiver. Remote control functions are implemented very well!