Apologies about the over exposed A-roll footage here, there was actually wildfire smoke thick in the area for months and when the sun hit the air it actually glowed. In retrospect I should have done something different, live and learn.
🔥🔥🔥 Note: Holy Stone immediately pulled this drone from the market citing QA problems and is said to re-release this when the quality issues are resolved. Alien Drones crew is happy to give the model another honest review once it comes out. SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss the new model once it is again released. I'll drop a link here once it's available... 🤙🤙
@wanderer10k sort of a win win,if issues can be solved with firmware updates in the next few weeks then you get a drone half price, if not return it and get a refund.
LOL. I went through two different Holy Stone 720s because of issues like this, The Holy Stone 720 is only drone I ever have crashed. After that I have been a loyal DJI buyer. I am now a 107 pilot and have to have drones I can count on every time. Seems Holy Stone just cant get things right everytime out of the Box. Good review though.
Thanks! Having a drone that is harder to fly does make me a better pilot though! lol. Indeed, Holy stone jumped a bit early on this one, but the last one, the HS360S was fantastic and very nice quality, very impressed with it. If they can reproduce that drone with a decent gimbal and camera, they wouldn't need a new release for some time... I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. Hopefully I can give the new one a second chance test, I'm a sucker for the underdog... 🤙
you calibrated the compass but I never did see you calibrate the gyroscope, does it not need done on this drone? I have the hs720e I like very much and both of those mentioned have to be calibrated or it does exactly what yours did in this video.
Indeed I calibrated the gyro (down and to the left) multiple times, but in my understanding this is for the gimbal gyroscope, not the GPS position. Unfortunately it seems some people get a model that works fine, some don't. That's a problem onto itself as if you can't trust the consistency they simply need to do better quality control.
Received a Holystone HS120D as a gift 2 or 3 years ago as an entry level drone... Holystone customer service has been wonderful, always reply to emails within 24 hours, longer on weekends.
Indeed, their customer support has historically been really good, and that's super important! The specific model that had issues in this video has been reworked based on customer feedback and I have a replacement "new and improved" model in my hands that will be reviewed as soon as the weather clears, so stay tuned! Finger crossed it is a great improvement! 🤙
Hello, today I flew the HS720R for the first time. Did all the calibrations and again before flying did a compass calibration. The first few minutes everything was going great. I was in L camera mode then switched to M to get a bit more speed. All of a sudden it had a mind of its own and started to do wider and wider circles. Was worried it was going to crash into a house, car or the school I was near ! it ended up crashing into some trees. Anyone that is thinking about this model should read some of the reviews. Some look perfect but so many with this same experience and in my opinion, one out of control experience is more than enough to pass this by. I have been flying drones for 10 years now so it is not lack of experience or preparation. something was and is not right for this to happen. RTH even the kiss button did not work. Even turned off the controller hoping to force RTH.... Your Decision, just my warning and experience.
They did pull this one back from the market and made updates, and are due to release it again in the next couple of weeks. I agreed to give it another chance, hopefully they recognized the issues and addressed them, we'll see.
This was just sent to me a day or so ago? I do see it listed back on Amazon but maybe this was old stock? Not sure how to update firmware or if that is possible? thanks for writing back. @@AlienDrones
I bought one of these through Amazon and got it about a week ago. My experience was almost WORD FOR WORD what this comment said. Also the follow function DOES NOT work. Camera never centered on the controller. Drone started to drift an odd direction and I landed it to avoid it crashing into a tree. Another time it started to drift and every control directional movement only caused it to list further the direction it was drifting, entirely ignoring the actual directions input, and clipped some tree branches, before spinning wildly out of control and crashing from about 20 feet up. I'm returning it. I spent too much for a drone that doesn't work right.
Does this model have a GPS calibration mode (accessed on my HS720e by pulling the sticks down and to the left)? If so, did you try it? The necessity for GPS calibration (on my HS720e) has always been confusing to me as the manual doesn't mention it at all, but some experts demonstrating the drone on TH-cam recommend it - what say you?
Yes, also did the pulling down and to the left multiple times but this is not GPS calibration it is gimbal gyro calibration (GPS is down/right) and in my understanding this has no effect on the GPS(or compass) positioning resolution or accuracy. At least it didn't improve anything for the toilet bowling in my case. Tried it about 3 more times in 2 more locations after this video. It is simply unsafe and I can't in good conscience fly it anymore as it will eventually crash into something or hurt somebody. It is quite disturbing to have a drone fly faster and faster circling out of control when there are people around, or even when there isn't... I'll buy the secret decoder ring if there is some secret action that solves these issues, but if it exists I would think it should already be included with the purchase of a new drone. 😒
Minea never done that in the air and I’ve crashed mine several times. It has gone from side to side at startup and I just recalibrate and sometimes more than one calibration and it’s back to 100. It’s still a good drone and HS kicks a$$ when it comes to faulty products.
In this context the remote is irrelevant to the drone's ability to stay in a stationary position. It is a GPS control problem within the drone itself. In other words, you could turn off the remote and the drone would still do the same thing.
I think the problem is the signal between drone and transmitter. If lost or too weak the drone does this uncontrolled toilet bowling 😂 as default operation. Moreover the manual clearly advises to triangle the antennas instead of parallel positioning @@AlienDrones
@@TomFinkemeier Sorry, you certainly can think that but you would be incorrect. 😂😂😂😂 Not the way it works. Toilet bowling is always caused by the compass, not by the WiFi connection to the remote.
I am brand new to the drone scene so know very little about them, in fact I just received my HS360S yesterday (first drone) and have not unboxed it yet. My question is, why would any company release a drone that will be illegal to fly in a few days? Am I missing something? Is Holy Stone just wanting to also sell the "module" I hear about just to make another dime? I'm confused.
Hello! To be clear, the HS360S is below 250g so it does not need remote ID to be flown in the US, if flown for recreational purposes. Indeed, the HS720R does not have remote ID to my knowledge and according to the rule, it's actually required to have RID to be sold in the US. I can only assume that Holy Stone will follow the requirements and the RID will be enabled in firmware or something will supplied to make it compliant by 9/16/2023. Honestly, I think there will be MASS non-compliance with this rule, and most people won't know and won't care if it has remote ID or not. Just my 2 cents... 😎
@@AlienDrones Yes, I know about the "below 250g" rule and that is why I bought the HS360S. I was referring to the newer HS720R. And I agree about the Mass non-compliance 😉. Thanks for replying👽! 🦾
This is strange because I had no issues like this but my friend Donnie at Big Drone Flyer 77 had the same issue with Toilet Bowling. This may be why they pushed the release date back until mid Aug. I had none of these issues though which makes me wonder if they got a bad batch of compasses. Weird
It did seem to want to fly straight, then simply became drunk after a couple of minutes. I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back and won't release it publicly yet due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. Hopefully they work out the QA issues and it will be solid going forward.
@@AlienDrones yeah that's what my Holy Stone rep told me as well yesterday which I mentioned in my comment. She said they are not releasing it until mid August while they finish further QC testing. My worry is that it could be a bad batch of compasses since mine has none of these issues so it seems hit and miss. If that's the case then no amount of programming can fix it. I also don't think it can do firmware updates anyway. I hope they don't have thousands of units of this drone already sitting in Amazon warehouses. I suppose it could be bad programming in the flight controller since the 720E and sometimes the 720G were notorious for phantom or ghost controls. The fact mine had none of these issues in 2 flights makes me suspect this is a hardware issue, likely the compass. This drone is also legally required to be RID compliant which it isn't as far as I can tell. I gotta wonder if they end up pulling this drone completely off the market but the financial loss of doing that would be devastating. I hope they get it sorted out because Holy Stone is my biggest sponsor.
@@jerrycybulsky6756 that is the notorious phantom controls that plagued that model. I had that happen too though mine didn't toilet bowl. It just tilted to the side and flew off until it flew into the neighbor's garage door.
Compass calibration at least 10 times in multiple locations and 3 different 720R drones... Also calibrated the gyro (down and to the left) multiple times as well, but in my understanding this is for the gimbal gyroscope, not the GPS position.
I looked for the most recent postings. I just received a HS600 And HS720R from Amazon. I have not opened the 720R. I see a sticker on the box that says Production date 10/24/2023! So, I half want to call Amazon. My order was August 29th. I received it the next day. There were good coupon discounts , prolly for Labor Day shoppers. Should I attempt to fly it? Should I contact Holy Stone to inquire if this date is post recall fix? Should I contact Amazon for an exchange, making sure it is a later production? What to do? I can also give Amazon a headsup and try flying and then return after a crash! IDK……….. Suggestions please
Some people have had good luck with this model, so I hear. One good thing is that I hear Holy Stone has decent support/response, so if you're really in love with this model you can try it and see how it goes and get a replacement if it doesn't work. From our personal experience, it appears to be area dependent, meaning if it works it works, if it doesn't, it wont. Maybe something to do with the GPS design, not sure.
The instability (i.e. rotating) shortly after takeoff is a dealbreaker for me. I have the HS360S and it never does that. I also like how the HS360S requires no wifi connection. It's hardwired to your phone from the controller. The HS720R has a camera that is more stable (dual axis) whereas the HS360S only has one axis of stabilization. The HS360S it is more jittery. The video with the HS360S is as clear, just not as stable in video mode when the drone is moving.
Thanks! I always try and be truthful yet tactful with reviews. This model in particular I've been through three (two new ones since this one, the most recent one only 1 week ago) and they all had the same issues. That's too bad too because the gimbal and video is pretty good.
Interesting comments. Sounds like Holy Stone needs some work. They need to work on stability. But definitely nice video quality/stabilization. Great review like always Keith. Your reviews can always be trusted.
Thanks for watching! Indeed, I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. The gimbal and camera were decent so if they can focus on the GPS stability I think it will be a solid flier. Hopefully they will want a "redo" and I can give a new and improved model a test...
This drone looked good at first. But, what good is 10,000 foot control range, when the video transmission range is only 1640 feet? I like your videos. Well done and informative, thanks!
What was the final outcome with this "toilet bow" effect on the HS720R? Did it get resolved? Did Holy Stone ever explain what the deal was on this issue? Did they resolve it for you?
Never got resolved. To their credit they did send 3 replacements over 4 months but all had the same issue. There was no firmware update that helped. It's a shame as well as the gimbal and camera weren't bad. From what I can tell it is a hardware issue with the IMU, no firmware can compensate for defective hardware. Seems to be about a 70% defect rate, so if you feel lucky... If you check out reviews on Amazon and sort by "most recent" (this page, then scroll down) shorturl.at/KZkbK and eliminate the non-verified purchase 5 star reviews it seems to still be a significant issue in late 2024.
Oh no. most of the reviews i read were glowing,. I just ordered one from Amazon 11/27/23. Is it re-released or the junk you reviewed? might just send it straight back.
Received 3 of these and the last one I received was about 2 weeks ago (Mid November, 2023). It was the newest manufacturing date (October 2023 I think) as it had STD remote ID built in (first two did not). This one also started circling about 2 minutes into the flights (identical to the other two). I tried it 3 different times in 2 different locations. You could get a good one of the 720Rs, I've heard it happens (so some reviewers say), but I have not seen it myself. I'm always honest in the reviews but try not to be downright rude, that's just not how I roll. I was only tempted to start a product on fire once (not this one), but it didn't come to that. Lol. 😎
Google honest review!, however if it looks like a duck and quacks then it's really the HS720G. I have the G model and have crashed it many times. I fly it because it presents a challenge to me. My thoughts are if the drone is flying out of controll then simply turn off the GPS switch on the side of the controller and it will stop circling, fly manually at that point. Turn it back on if you want. When calibrating the compass try the arms length method and rotate your body instead, it works for me! Stay away from wifi that your phone recognizes, clic forget in the wifi settings for that network. I use android... I don't know if Iphone is a possible issue or not. Since I have used these rules I no longer have flight issues. It Flys great for me every time now. Thanks
Thanks for sharing! Indeed I tried non-GPS mode and with any wind it was a real struggle to keep it under control as the wind pushed it around so much...
Can you please look into the walkera t210 mini, not the f210,but the t210! That would be great.,we truly would appreciate it.,you are a great Pilot, and a really good drone review so please will you look into it? Thanks! By the way ,a great review like always you are a true master
Thanks for the kind words! I'll take a look at the T210 mini. At first glance, wondering why so many pictures show the back or top/side of the drone, not straight on and close up to the camera itself. What are they trying to hide? 🤔
The drone is not safe! Good review. I owned a HS drone years ago and it worked fine. It's unavailable at this moment, so I'm guessing they took it down. Must of seen your review. 😁 It just may be a bad unit, however first impressions matter!
Thanks for sharing! Indeed, I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. The gimbal and camera were decent so if they can focus on the GPS stability I think it will be a solid flier. Hopefully they will want a "redo" and I'll be happy to give a new and improved model a test... You are correct though, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
I've watched 4 reviews so far, and every single one had problems with toilet bowling and a fly away. My HS 720g won't transmit video unless I put my phone in airplane mode and only turn on the wifi. Let's see if your drone goes nuts, lol.
Hey i love your videos, im a begginer and looking for a budget drone under 300 can you please give me a recomendation. I hope you see this comment. Thanks in advanced.
@@AlienDrones my “must haves” are range, picture/video quality, my uses would be exploration and just general fun and my budget is around $600, thank you for such a speedy reply ☺️
Drift hell. Just tried unit #3, 3 MPH wind, 3rd location, spun like a bitch wider and wider circles. Glad yours worked good, count your blessings. This thing is a ridiculous, unsafe hazard. For reference tested 2 other drones at the same time, one HS one other. Both of those worked fine so not the location, not the wind, not the pilot...
@@AlienDrones I’m changing my comment on this. I just sent mine back. And wrote a not so nice review on it. For one, I’m not about to purchase a drone that I fly for 20 minutes and then takes 5-7 hours to charge. 2. They claim max distance is 1.8 miles. No, mine goes 720 ft, disconnects and comes home. 3. Last flight, went 720ft. Disconnect, DID NOT come home. Just hovered there 110 ft in the air. Even after I walked all the way to it and it reconnected. Sat hovering at 110 ft up until it ran out of battery and fell out of the sky. Ups just left with it
Indeed, I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. I'll be happy to give it a second chance test if they think they worked out all the kinks...
I'm skeptical about that, but enlighten me, happy to try it. I reached out to Holy Stone to confirm what to do and how and they replied agreeing that there's a problem and pulled the drone from the market until "the QA issues are corrected." Regardless, if a calibration procedure can be performed wrong that easily then that's a problem by itself...
@AlienDrones I have the cinemaster 2 and when I would do the geometric calibration wrong it would toilet bowl out of control. I lift the drone up, hold it "belly down" do 3 spins counter clockwise then turn it camera up and spin it counter clockwise 3 times. As soon as I saw you calibrating it a light bulb went off in my head 😆 it's important to go counterclockwise both times for some reason.
@@stevemarkovic9326 FYI, just to confirm I did go back and did the rotations in the opposite direction multiple times with the same result. They sent a replacement yesterday, and I tried multiple directions as well, just to prove the point, and the new replacement flew even worse. I was truly afraid it was going to hit a pedestrian or fly into the street, it was terrible and disturbing. Circled faster and faster and was barely responsive to controls, felt like at about 10% control. I struggled to get it on the ground in a safe place without violently crashing. I did try gyro calibration multiple times as well, no love from this model. It is simply unsafe to fly. Don't know what else to say except that Holy Stone needs to do better.
Yeah, it happens. That day there was really bad wild fire smoke in the air in the direction I was shooting. The sky actually glowed when the sun hit it, but I in retrospect could have done something different... Blame global warming. 🤷♂
Very sad and dangerous, I refused a replacement for follow up review. Time to get into the year 2023 HolyStone! I like the company, but the GPS compass system is old tech. Time for an upgrade!!! So your not alone on the drone having a mind of its own. Cheers, Donnie
@@AlienDrones Haha i apologize, but I basically wrote a book for this reply!.... As you refer to the HS360S, i will concede that for the target demographic it's not a bad drone. However.... I just personally think that something like 4k @ 20 FPS is ridiculous, and only exists so they can claim "4k video" in marketing. In my mind, there is no reason a camera should even try to have 4k when it doesnt even have gimbals. if the footage isnt smooth, who cares about the resolution? Its like putting a formula 1 engine in a 1995 honda accord and claiming its a race car. It just doesnt make sense. And lets be real, MOST people are still only watching videos on 1080 or 1440p monitors so the 4k aspect is completely wasted. Id rather see nice, refined, 100fps 1440p video than crappy, choppy, "4k" video at 20 FPS. But hey, thats just me! Also, releasing a drone before it's polished (the severe toilet bowling issues, or the common issue of the drone just going completely AWOL upon launch and ignoring remote control inputs by the pilot, etc) is just a bit tough to handle for me. I prefer the Fimi method. Sure, everybody is angry at them because the X8 Pro was supposed to be released in what, March or something like that? but rather than release a buggy, incomplete product and hope they can fix it remotely with updates, they simply prolonged the release date so they can smooth out the issues and release a well-polished, quality piece of hardware. Dont get me wrong, I personally like HS and am eager to see where they go in the coming years. They just (in my mind) have a bit of an identity issue and are trying too hard to cram professional photography components into a toy that has no business having those components. I like that they are trying to bring higher quality components to a more budget-oriented market, and I can only imagine how difficult that is, so i'm not trying to tear them apart for that. The 720G/R are bridging the gap between toy and tool, and i think thats great! With that being said, they have no business trying to claim 3km transmission on a drone that will only travel about 500 meters in a wide open field (hs720g) or wasting money on a 4k camera when that money should have instead gone towards a cheaper 1080 camera, but with the addition of a 2 axis gimbal (hs360s). Theres no denying that full msrp of $330 for the hs720g is absurd either, considering the DJI Mini 2 SE and Fimi x8 Mini V2 are both that same price and are much higher quality drones in every aspect, video, photo, transmission, flight time, speed, safety, intelligent flight modes, app features, etc. As soon as Holy Stone begins doing radio-drone transmission rather than relying on a phones WiFi connection, I will give them another chance. But in the meantime, I'll stick with my X8 SE 2022. Either way, good video my man. Always been a fan of your content.
@@H484R No worries. Wasn't really commenting of the viability of Holy Stones technical capability or market comparison other than to say in the chronological releases they've done, the HS360S was a noticeable improvement in quality over other models. For someone just wanting to fly and take a few pics, $175 (with discount) is all they can afford and IMO will treat beginners well if they just want to fly and take a few pics of the kids and the dog... PS. You didn't get the longest comment ever on the channel. I checked. 😎
@@AlienDrones haha yeah sorry, that kind of turned into a rant about HS as a whole, rather than simply the drone, which is the focus of the video. But thats a bummer, i'll have to up my game a bit on the next video to get longest comment😂
Not their best showing for sure. I give them credit for taking the drastic step of pulling it from the market until it's fixed, too bad they didn't check it out better before releasing it, but hey, that's where we come in, lol!
I'm surprised they even had it available as they pulled it from the market after having issues, you must have got old stock. Was just contacted by Holy Stone and they have the upgraded model available, will be reviewing it soon so we'll see how it goes. Depending on the price range, the Potensic ATOM 3-axis is a better value than even the cheapest DJI at the moment.
They upgraded the 720G to the 720R with better camera, better communication and more stable gimbal from what I can tell. Those were pretty decent but the GPS or control algorithm just had issues. I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out.
![เป็นไปได้ไหม - WanMai [Performance Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Eh5hItD4Mr0/mqdefault.jpg)
Apologies about the over exposed A-roll footage here, there was actually wildfire smoke thick in the area for months and when the sun hit the air it actually glowed. In retrospect I should have done something different, live and learn.
🔥🔥🔥 Note: Holy Stone immediately pulled this drone from the market citing QA problems and is said to re-release this when the quality issues are resolved. Alien Drones crew is happy to give the model another honest review once it comes out. SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss the new model once it is again released. I'll drop a link here once it's available... 🤙🤙
Ah is that's why it's 50% off on AmazonUK? I knew it sounded too good to be true.
@@wanderer10k That would be a win if any fixes they come up with can be pushed via firmware, but if not you might have an interesting paperweight
@wanderer10k sort of a win win,if issues can be solved with firmware updates in the next few weeks then you get a drone half price, if not return it and get a refund.
Had 2 720 es that flew off Holy Stone sent me a new one no questions asked.Pretty dam nice of them.
@@jerrycybulsky6756 Yes it is! It's terrible when you already lost a drone and the company doesn't treat you well besides...
LOL. I went through two different Holy Stone 720s because of issues like this, The Holy Stone 720 is only drone I ever have crashed. After that I have been a loyal DJI buyer. I am now a 107 pilot and have to have drones I can count on every time. Seems Holy Stone just cant get things right everytime out of the Box. Good review though.
Thanks! Having a drone that is harder to fly does make me a better pilot though! lol. Indeed, Holy stone jumped a bit early on this one, but the last one, the HS360S was fantastic and very nice quality, very impressed with it. If they can reproduce that drone with a decent gimbal and camera, they wouldn't need a new release for some time... I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. Hopefully I can give the new one a second chance test, I'm a sucker for the underdog... 🤙
you calibrated the compass but I never did see you calibrate the gyroscope, does it not need done on this drone? I have the hs720e I like very much and both of those mentioned have to be calibrated or it does exactly what yours did in this video.
Indeed I calibrated the gyro (down and to the left) multiple times, but in my understanding this is for the gimbal gyroscope, not the GPS position. Unfortunately it seems some people get a model that works fine, some don't. That's a problem onto itself as if you can't trust the consistency they simply need to do better quality control.
Received a Holystone HS120D as a gift 2 or 3 years ago as an entry level drone... Holystone customer service has been wonderful, always reply to emails within 24 hours, longer on weekends.
Indeed, their customer support has historically been really good, and that's super important! The specific model that had issues in this video has been reworked based on customer feedback and I have a replacement "new and improved" model in my hands that will be reviewed as soon as the weather clears, so stay tuned! Finger crossed it is a great improvement! 🤙
I got one of these just a couple weeks ago and this issue is 100% endemic to this model. Mine has exactly the same issues
Hello, today I flew the HS720R for the first time. Did all the calibrations and again before flying did a compass calibration. The first few minutes everything was going great. I was in L camera mode then switched to M to get a bit more speed. All of a sudden it had a mind of its own and started to do wider and wider circles. Was worried it was going to crash into a house, car or the school I was near ! it ended up crashing into some trees. Anyone that is thinking about this model should read some of the reviews. Some look perfect but so many with this same experience and in my opinion, one out of control experience is more than enough to pass this by. I have been flying drones for 10 years now so it is not lack of experience or preparation. something was and is not right for this to happen. RTH even the kiss button did not work. Even turned off the controller hoping to force RTH.... Your Decision, just my warning and experience.
They did pull this one back from the market and made updates, and are due to release it again in the next couple of weeks. I agreed to give it another chance, hopefully they recognized the issues and addressed them, we'll see.
This was just sent to me a day or so ago? I do see it listed back on Amazon but maybe this was old stock? Not sure how to update firmware or if that is possible? thanks for writing back. @@AlienDrones
I bought one of these through Amazon and got it about a week ago. My experience was almost WORD FOR WORD what this comment said. Also the follow function DOES NOT work. Camera never centered on the controller. Drone started to drift an odd direction and I landed it to avoid it crashing into a tree.
Another time it started to drift and every control directional movement only caused it to list further the direction it was drifting, entirely ignoring the actual directions input, and clipped some tree branches, before spinning wildly out of control and crashing from about 20 feet up.
I'm returning it.
I spent too much for a drone that doesn't work right.
Does this model have a GPS calibration mode (accessed on my HS720e by pulling the sticks down and to the left)? If so, did you try it? The necessity for GPS calibration (on my HS720e) has always been confusing to me as the manual doesn't mention it at all, but some experts demonstrating the drone on TH-cam recommend it - what say you?
Did you even watch the video? Lol He did it twice. It's a crappy drone
Yes, also did the pulling down and to the left multiple times but this is not GPS calibration it is gimbal gyro calibration (GPS is down/right) and in my understanding this has no effect on the GPS(or compass) positioning resolution or accuracy. At least it didn't improve anything for the toilet bowling in my case. Tried it about 3 more times in 2 more locations after this video. It is simply unsafe and I can't in good conscience fly it anymore as it will eventually crash into something or hurt somebody. It is quite disturbing to have a drone fly faster and faster circling out of control when there are people around, or even when there isn't... I'll buy the secret decoder ring if there is some secret action that solves these issues, but if it exists I would think it should already be included with the purchase of a new drone. 😒
He did the compass cal. twice. Gyro calibration is down and to the LEFT@@Superdupershaun
Minea never done that in the air and I’ve crashed mine several times. It has gone from side to side at startup and I just recalibrate and sometimes more than one calibration and it’s back to 100. It’s still a good drone and HS kicks a$$ when it comes to faulty products.
What about positioning the antennas as triangle as recommended by HS
In this context the remote is irrelevant to the drone's ability to stay in a stationary position. It is a GPS control problem within the drone itself. In other words, you could turn off the remote and the drone would still do the same thing.
I think the problem is the signal between drone and transmitter. If lost or too weak the drone does this uncontrolled toilet bowling 😂 as default operation. Moreover the manual clearly advises to triangle the antennas instead of parallel positioning @@AlienDrones
@@TomFinkemeier Sorry, you certainly can think that but you would be incorrect. 😂😂😂😂 Not the way it works. Toilet bowling is always caused by the compass, not by the WiFi connection to the remote.
I am brand new to the drone scene so know very little about them, in fact I just received my HS360S yesterday (first drone) and have not unboxed it yet. My question is, why would any company release a drone that will be illegal to fly in a few days? Am I missing something? Is Holy Stone just wanting to also sell the "module" I hear about just to make another dime? I'm confused.
Hello! To be clear, the HS360S is below 250g so it does not need remote ID to be flown in the US, if flown for recreational purposes. Indeed, the HS720R does not have remote ID to my knowledge and according to the rule, it's actually required to have RID to be sold in the US. I can only assume that Holy Stone will follow the requirements and the RID will be enabled in firmware or something will supplied to make it compliant by 9/16/2023. Honestly, I think there will be MASS non-compliance with this rule, and most people won't know and won't care if it has remote ID or not. Just my 2 cents... 😎
@@AlienDrones Yes, I know about the "below 250g" rule and that is why I bought the HS360S. I was referring to the newer HS720R. And I agree about the Mass non-compliance 😉. Thanks for replying👽! 🦾
Haven’t had any of these issues with my 720e
This is strange because I had no issues like this but my friend Donnie at Big Drone Flyer 77 had the same issue with Toilet Bowling. This may be why they pushed the release date back until mid Aug. I had none of these issues though which makes me wonder if they got a bad batch of compasses. Weird
It did seem to want to fly straight, then simply became drunk after a couple of minutes. I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back and won't release it publicly yet due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. Hopefully they work out the QA issues and it will be solid going forward.
@@AlienDrones yeah that's what my Holy Stone rep told me as well yesterday which I mentioned in my comment. She said they are not releasing it until mid August while they finish further QC testing. My worry is that it could be a bad batch of compasses since mine has none of these issues so it seems hit and miss. If that's the case then no amount of programming can fix it. I also don't think it can do firmware updates anyway. I hope they don't have thousands of units of this drone already sitting in Amazon warehouses. I suppose it could be bad programming in the flight controller since the 720E and sometimes the 720G were notorious for phantom or ghost controls. The fact mine had none of these issues in 2 flights makes me suspect this is a hardware issue, likely the compass. This drone is also legally required to be RID compliant which it isn't as far as I can tell. I gotta wonder if they end up pulling this drone completely off the market but the financial loss of doing that would be devastating. I hope they get it sorted out because Holy Stone is my biggest sponsor.
Had 2 720e both had really bad toilet bowl effects Finally they just flew away never to be seen again
@@jerrycybulsky6756 that is the notorious phantom controls that plagued that model. I had that happen too though mine didn't toilet bowl. It just tilted to the side and flew off until it flew into the neighbor's garage door.
What is the best drone with follow me in the $300 range? Thanks
Potensic Atom: amzn.to/46ErLo9 Video th-cam.com/video/3Q409z0Evv4/w-d-xo.html
Didn’t see you do the compass calibration before the geomagnetic calibration…
Compass calibration at least 10 times in multiple locations and 3 different 720R drones... Also calibrated the gyro (down and to the left) multiple times as well, but in my understanding this is for the gimbal gyroscope, not the GPS position.
Have they came out with a better updated version of this one yet. Like none of the problems you were having in this video ??
They have not reached out to me if they had any major updates, so nothing more I can add at the moment.
I looked for the most recent postings. I just received a HS600 And HS720R from Amazon. I have not opened the 720R. I see a sticker on the box that says Production date 10/24/2023! So, I half want to call Amazon. My order was August 29th. I received it the next day. There were good coupon discounts , prolly for Labor Day shoppers. Should I attempt to fly it? Should I contact Holy Stone to inquire if this date is post recall fix? Should I contact Amazon for an exchange, making sure it is a later production? What to do? I can also give Amazon a headsup and try flying and then return after a crash! IDK……….. Suggestions please
Some people have had good luck with this model, so I hear. One good thing is that I hear Holy Stone has decent support/response, so if you're really in love with this model you can try it and see how it goes and get a replacement if it doesn't work. From our personal experience, it appears to be area dependent, meaning if it works it works, if it doesn't, it wont. Maybe something to do with the GPS design, not sure.
The instability (i.e. rotating) shortly after takeoff is a dealbreaker for me. I have the HS360S and it never does that. I also like how the HS360S requires no wifi connection. It's hardwired to your phone from the controller. The HS720R has a camera that is more stable (dual axis) whereas the HS360S only has one axis of stabilization. The HS360S it is more jittery. The video with the HS360S is as clear, just not as stable in video mode when the drone is moving.
Well, i feel like that was the most honest reviews iv seen on this drone...
at one time it was a maybe and now its a maybe not
Thanks! I always try and be truthful yet tactful with reviews. This model in particular I've been through three (two new ones since this one, the most recent one only 1 week ago) and they all had the same issues. That's too bad too because the gimbal and video is pretty good.
I've got the same drone at home and the first one as soon as take off flipped upside down and messed up the blades.
Maybe it identifies as a turtle? 🐢 😅
Thanks for the Vid! I wonder if they tried to rehash the 720G which has been solid for me.
Thanks for watching!
Always great review cool information
Thank you! Cheers!
Interesting comments. Sounds like Holy Stone needs some work. They need to work on stability. But definitely nice video quality/stabilization. Great review like always Keith. Your reviews can always be trusted.
Thanks for watching! Indeed, I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. The gimbal and camera were decent so if they can focus on the GPS stability I think it will be a solid flier. Hopefully they will want a "redo" and I can give a new and improved model a test...
@@AlienDrones I'm sure they will. Looking forward to the new review.
Great review, thanks
Glad it was helpful! Was just contacted by HolyStone and they have the upgraded model available, will be reviewing it soon...
Qual é o nome de drone?
How does this compare to the HS720G? I just bought it, should I return and get the R ?
From your question I can assume you didn't watch the video yet? Might help with the info here... 👍
This drone looked good at first. But, what good is 10,000 foot control range, when the video transmission range is only 1640 feet? I like your videos. Well done and informative, thanks!
Thanks for sharing!
It's a great drone. I love mine, easy to use and great value for the money. The video and photo capabilities are also very good.
Thanks for sharing! The video and gimbal are decent for sure...
What was the final outcome with this "toilet bow" effect on the HS720R? Did it get resolved? Did Holy Stone ever explain what the deal was on this issue? Did they resolve it for you?
Never got resolved. To their credit they did send 3 replacements over 4 months but all had the same issue. There was no firmware update that helped. It's a shame as well as the gimbal and camera weren't bad. From what I can tell it is a hardware issue with the IMU, no firmware can compensate for defective hardware. Seems to be about a 70% defect rate, so if you feel lucky... If you check out reviews on Amazon and sort by "most recent" (this page, then scroll down) shorturl.at/KZkbK and eliminate the non-verified purchase 5 star reviews it seems to still be a significant issue in late 2024.
I got a HS720R and the transmitter won't even bind to the drone...
Mine flys great even in high winds. Always in control
Nice!
Oh no. most of the reviews i read were glowing,. I just ordered one from Amazon 11/27/23. Is it re-released or the junk you reviewed? might just send it straight back.
Received 3 of these and the last one I received was about 2 weeks ago (Mid November, 2023). It was the newest manufacturing date (October 2023 I think) as it had STD remote ID built in (first two did not). This one also started circling about 2 minutes into the flights (identical to the other two). I tried it 3 different times in 2 different locations. You could get a good one of the 720Rs, I've heard it happens (so some reviewers say), but I have not seen it myself. I'm always honest in the reviews but try not to be downright rude, that's just not how I roll. I was only tempted to start a product on fire once (not this one), but it didn't come to that. Lol. 😎
I have a mini holy stone drone I like it
Google honest review!, however if it looks like a duck and quacks then it's really the HS720G. I have the G model and have crashed it many times. I fly it because it presents a challenge to me. My thoughts are if the drone is flying out of controll then simply turn off the GPS switch on the side of the controller and it will stop circling, fly manually at that point. Turn it back on if you want. When calibrating the compass try the arms length method and rotate your body instead, it works for me! Stay away from wifi that your phone recognizes, clic forget in the wifi settings for that network. I use android... I don't know if Iphone is a possible issue or not. Since I have used these rules I no longer have flight issues. It Flys great for me every time now. Thanks
Thanks for sharing! Indeed I tried non-GPS mode and with any wind it was a real struggle to keep it under control as the wind pushed it around so much...
Thanks for the advice.. I think of getting a new phone for the exclusive use of the drone..
Can you please look into the walkera t210 mini, not the f210,but the t210! That would be great.,we truly would appreciate it.,you are a great Pilot, and a really good drone review so please will you look into it? Thanks! By the way ,a great review like always you are a true master
Thanks for the kind words! I'll take a look at the T210 mini. At first glance, wondering why so many pictures show the back or top/side of the drone, not straight on and close up to the camera itself. What are they trying to hide? 🤔
my 720r drift and circles and it makes it hard to fly compared to my higher end drones
Yes, they have some work to do on this one. I was just told that an updated replacement is on the way so I'll post it when tested...
The drone is not safe! Good review. I owned a HS drone years ago and it worked fine. It's unavailable at this moment, so I'm guessing they took it down. Must of seen your review. 😁 It just may be a bad unit, however first impressions matter!
Thanks for sharing! Indeed, I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. The gimbal and camera were decent so if they can focus on the GPS stability I think it will be a solid flier. Hopefully they will want a "redo" and I'll be happy to give a new and improved model a test... You are correct though, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
@@AlienDrones Thanks for replying. Holy Stone does deserve a second chance. Honest review.
My 720 flew away so I bought mini pro 3
I've watched 4 reviews so far, and every single one had problems with toilet bowling and a fly away. My HS 720g won't transmit video unless I put my phone in airplane mode and only turn on the wifi. Let's see if your drone goes nuts, lol.
How many satellites did you have?
19
Not bad footage
Indeed the camera and gimbal seem to be decent, just need to get that GPS tweaked up...
Hey i love your videos, im a begginer and looking for a budget drone under 300 can you please give me a recomendation. I hope you see this comment. Thanks in advanced.
Hello, In that price range, try this one amzn.to/46e9v3V or this one amzn.to/3Iv7nMQ , really decent in this price range
I was considering buying this drone, thank you for your review, I won’t be purchasing this, what drone would you recommend is the best budget drone?
Thanks! What are your "must haves", what is your use case and what is your budget?
@@AlienDrones my “must haves” are range, picture/video quality, my uses would be exploration and just general fun and my budget is around $600, thank you for such a speedy reply ☺️
@@CJay-xq7dh IMO, best with those requirements is the DJI mini 3 combo pkg here: amzn.to/3OS1PyM with Prime I show on sale for $658🤙
@@AlienDrones thank you for your recommendation 💪☺️
Have a good week. I.m sorry about the fail drone
I got mine. Review below
Drift hell. Just tried unit #3, 3 MPH wind, 3rd location, spun like a bitch wider and wider circles. Glad yours worked good, count your blessings. This thing is a ridiculous, unsafe hazard. For reference tested 2 other drones at the same time, one HS one other. Both of those worked fine so not the location, not the wind, not the pilot...
@@AlienDrones
I’m changing my comment on this. I just sent mine back. And wrote a not so nice review on it. For one, I’m not about to purchase a drone that I fly for 20 minutes and then takes 5-7 hours to charge. 2. They claim max distance is 1.8 miles. No, mine goes 720 ft, disconnects and comes home. 3. Last flight, went 720ft. Disconnect, DID NOT come home. Just hovered there 110 ft in the air. Even after I walked all the way to it and it reconnected. Sat hovering at 110 ft up until it ran out of battery and fell out of the sky.
Ups just left with it
Big time fail. Wow
Looks like this drone isn't available to purchase right now. That's good especially with all the problems here with this one.
Indeed, I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out. I'll be happy to give it a second chance test if they think they worked out all the kinks...
@AlienDrones Good for them. They made the right decision. Hopefully they quickly fix the issues it has.
Awe man.. you did the calibration wrong....
I'm skeptical about that, but enlighten me, happy to try it. I reached out to Holy Stone to confirm what to do and how and they replied agreeing that there's a problem and pulled the drone from the market until "the QA issues are corrected." Regardless, if a calibration procedure can be performed wrong that easily then that's a problem by itself...
@AlienDrones I have the cinemaster 2 and when I would do the geometric calibration wrong it would toilet bowl out of control. I lift the drone up, hold it "belly down" do 3 spins counter clockwise then turn it camera up and spin it counter clockwise 3 times. As soon as I saw you calibrating it a light bulb went off in my head 😆 it's important to go counterclockwise both times for some reason.
@@stevemarkovic9326 FYI, just to confirm I did go back and did the rotations in the opposite direction multiple times with the same result. They sent a replacement yesterday, and I tried multiple directions as well, just to prove the point, and the new replacement flew even worse. I was truly afraid it was going to hit a pedestrian or fly into the street, it was terrible and disturbing. Circled faster and faster and was barely responsive to controls, felt like at about 10% control. I struggled to get it on the ground in a safe place without violently crashing. I did try gyro calibration multiple times as well, no love from this model. It is simply unsafe to fly. Don't know what else to say except that Holy Stone needs to do better.
The video from the drone is much better than the way overexposed video you are filming yourself with.
Yeah, it happens. That day there was really bad wild fire smoke in the air in the direction I was shooting. The sky actually glowed when the sun hit it, but I in retrospect could have done something different... Blame global warming.
🤷♂
Very sad and dangerous, I refused a replacement for follow up review. Time to get into the year 2023 HolyStone! I like the company, but the GPS compass system is old tech. Time for an upgrade!!!
So your not alone on the drone having a mind of its own. Cheers, Donnie
Stick with DJI.
seems to me that every drone HS has released since the HS720G has gotten worse and worse
The HS360S was fantastic as far as quality and functionality....
@@AlienDrones Haha i apologize, but I basically wrote a book for this reply!....
As you refer to the HS360S, i will concede that for the target demographic it's not a bad drone. However....
I just personally think that something like 4k @ 20 FPS is ridiculous, and only exists so they can claim "4k video" in marketing. In my mind, there is no reason a camera should even try to have 4k when it doesnt even have gimbals. if the footage isnt smooth, who cares about the resolution? Its like putting a formula 1 engine in a 1995 honda accord and claiming its a race car. It just doesnt make sense. And lets be real, MOST people are still only watching videos on 1080 or 1440p monitors so the 4k aspect is completely wasted. Id rather see nice, refined, 100fps 1440p video than crappy, choppy, "4k" video at 20 FPS.
But hey, thats just me!
Also, releasing a drone before it's polished (the severe toilet bowling issues, or the common issue of the drone just going completely AWOL upon launch and ignoring remote control inputs by the pilot, etc) is just a bit tough to handle for me. I prefer the Fimi method. Sure, everybody is angry at them because the X8 Pro was supposed to be released in what, March or something like that? but rather than release a buggy, incomplete product and hope they can fix it remotely with updates, they simply prolonged the release date so they can smooth out the issues and release a well-polished, quality piece of hardware.
Dont get me wrong, I personally like HS and am eager to see where they go in the coming years. They just (in my mind) have a bit of an identity issue and are trying too hard to cram professional photography components into a toy that has no business having those components. I like that they are trying to bring higher quality components to a more budget-oriented market, and I can only imagine how difficult that is, so i'm not trying to tear them apart for that. The 720G/R are bridging the gap between toy and tool, and i think thats great! With that being said, they have no business trying to claim 3km transmission on a drone that will only travel about 500 meters in a wide open field (hs720g) or wasting money on a 4k camera when that money should have instead gone towards a cheaper 1080 camera, but with the addition of a 2 axis gimbal (hs360s). Theres no denying that full msrp of $330 for the hs720g is absurd either, considering the DJI Mini 2 SE and Fimi x8 Mini V2 are both that same price and are much higher quality drones in every aspect, video, photo, transmission, flight time, speed, safety, intelligent flight modes, app features, etc. As soon as Holy Stone begins doing radio-drone transmission rather than relying on a phones WiFi connection, I will give them another chance. But in the meantime, I'll stick with my X8 SE 2022.
Either way, good video my man. Always been a fan of your content.
@@H484R No worries. Wasn't really commenting of the viability of Holy Stones technical capability or market comparison other than to say in the chronological releases they've done, the HS360S was a noticeable improvement in quality over other models. For someone just wanting to fly and take a few pics, $175 (with discount) is all they can afford and IMO will treat beginners well if they just want to fly and take a few pics of the kids and the dog... PS. You didn't get the longest comment ever on the channel. I checked. 😎
@@AlienDrones haha yeah sorry, that kind of turned into a rant about HS as a whole, rather than simply the drone, which is the focus of the video. But thats a bummer, i'll have to up my game a bit on the next video to get longest comment😂
LIke flying a DJI mini 1 from ~10yrs ago, but worse
Not their best showing for sure. I give them credit for taking the drastic step of pulling it from the market until it's fixed, too bad they didn't check it out better before releasing it, but hey, that's where we come in, lol!
I flew this drone, and it's 100% crap. Save your money and get a DJI
I'm surprised they even had it available as they pulled it from the market after having issues, you must have got old stock. Was just contacted by Holy Stone and they have the upgraded model available, will be reviewing it soon so we'll see how it goes. Depending on the price range, the Potensic ATOM 3-axis is a better value than even the cheapest DJI at the moment.
Do not buy this.
Why not?
Isnt that a hs720 g ? Anyway its all crap holy stone cist me a lot of money n frustration cuz of theres garbage drones
They upgraded the 720G to the 720R with better camera, better communication and more stable gimbal from what I can tell. Those were pretty decent but the GPS or control algorithm just had issues. I just received a message that Holy Stone is pulling this one back due to quality issues and will be releasing it at a later date once the problems are worked out.
If you fly with in airplane mode with GPS on with lowbudget drones such as holystone....does that cause any connection issues?
The WiFi needs to be turned back on once airplane mode is enabled to connect to the drone, haven't had any connection issues myself...
Have a good week. I.m sorry about the fail drone