Holy Stone HS700D Review

Welcome to my Holy Stone HS700D review, this drone is an upgrade to the HS700 (which has been discontinued by Holy Stone) and is a great drone for beginners.

Holy Stone are one of the leaders when it comes to drones for beginners, they have a wide range from small mini-drones to ones with a bit more advanced technology in them. Personally really like Holy Stone, they make great consumer drones and some of them I have reviewed on this site. In this article I will be reviewing the Holy Stone HS700D, probably one of the most advanced drones Holy Stone have released.

Holy Stone are becoming a household name when it comes to budget friendly drones, they cannot compete with DJI when it comes to advanced camera drones, but when it comes to drones that are great for beginners at affordable prices, Holy Stone have you covered.

In this Holy Stone HS700D review, you will see just how powerful this drone is and why its proving to be so popular among drone enthusiasts.

Holy Stone HS700D Review

The first thing you will notice about this drone is that it looks great!!

It really is a well-designed drone that actually reminds me of the Solo 3DR drone, one my favourite drones that has unfortunately been discontinued. Its made from plastic but this is high-quality plastic that is built to last and is very durable.

Although I always fly drones in good weather conditions, you can fly the Holy Stone HS700D in more harsh conditions but not too harsh, you don’t want to seriously damage or even worse, lose it.

Another cool design feature is its brushless motors which gives the HS700D many advantages, one of those is that it gives the drone more power, which will allow it to fly faster. Brushless motors are also quieter and last longer than brushed motors and you don’t have to clean them after every flight.

These brushless motors are also the reason the HS700D has a longer flying time than the other drones in its class.

The HS700D can be controlled two ways, either through remote controller, which looks very modern and all the controls are easy to use. Or you can control it via the app which is compatible with both Android and iOS.

The app allows you to control the drone height and radius so that it stays within a certain distance, this lessens the chance of losing the drone or breaking any flying restrictions within the area you are in.

The remote control comes with a smartphone attachment that will allow you to use both the controller and app together, which is the best way to control the drone and access all its features.

Holy Stone HS700D Camera

There are two things I really love about drones, the first is that they fly and I have always loved things that could fly from Superman to RC helicopters, flight has always fascinated me. The other things I love about drones is that they come with cameras, which allows us to experience the world from a completely different view.

Not all cameras on drones are of high-quality, but the camera on the Holy Stone HS700D is of a good standard, especially for its price.

It is the best feature of this drone and it will give you lots of fun playing around with. The camera is capable of recording videos in HD quality, the highest resolution it can record video footage is in 4K, although it does look to be scaled up from a lower resolution, still, the quality is good. Something you will have to be aware of is that recording in 4K resolution can only be achieved if you use a memory card.

Unfortunately, a memory card is not provided with the drone package, so you will need to purchase one separately, I highly advise you buy a fast memory card of class 10, as they are better to record on.

If you record on your smartphone, the quality is not as good as you will be recording over WiFi and there may be frame skipping because of interference.

The camera is also capable of taking images in 2MP, which isn’t great but still decent enough to show to family and friends.

You can also edit and share your pictures and videos on social media via the app.

Intelligent Flight Modes

Many of the top-rated drones now come with intelligent fight modes, which basically allows people to fly these drones with little assistance.

The HS700D comes with its own intelligent flight modes, with its GPS feature, you can set the drone to follow you around hands free. This is cool for taking selfies, videos and generally impressing people around you.

There is another intelligent flight mode called custom flight path, this allows you to draw a flight pattern on the app screen and the drone will follow that path and come back to its original destination.

Intelligent flight modes can only be accessed via the app.

Other Features

The HS700D comes with a high-end battery that fits in the tail end of the drone, its 2800 mAh charge allows for a longer flight time than most other drones in its class.

Although the stated flight time is 20 minutes, expect a few minutes less, still 15- 18 minutes flight time is more than any other comparable drones in its price range.

As usual, I always advise people to purchase some extra batteries because although the actual flight time is longer most other drones, its still not enough to fully enjoy the drone. Trust me, 15-18 minutes will never be enough, luckily batteries can be purchased from most online retailers like Amazon and eBay.

The Holy Stone HS700D is also pretty fast, with its brushless motors and aerodynamic design it can reach a maximum speed of 25 km/h.

Other cool features include a one-click take-off and return button and an alarm that will alert you when your battery is running low. This will allow you to return the drone home before completely losing power and lessens the risk of losing your drone.

It comes with some cool LED lights which are situated underneath the rotors, this makes it suitable for nighttime flying and also makes it look cool.

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a beginner-friendly drone that comes with some amazing features at a reasonable price, the Holy Stone HS700D will not disappoint. It is probably Holy Stones most advanced drone to date, although the rate at which they are releasing new drones, that may not be the case soon.

If you are looking for more options on the best beginner-friendly drones, check out my article here.