I'd been wanting a drone for a while and finally decided to get it one. I didn't really know what I was looking for but had a price limit in mind which is what lead me to this one. The first thing that impressed me is how easy it was to set up. It was up and flying in about 5 minutes. The second thing that impressed me is how fast it is. I didn't expect it to be as fast as it is but it's really easy to control. There's for sure a learning curve, especially when it's flying toward you, and I'm still practicing but pretty quickly I stopped worrying I'd crash it because the controls are so simple and responsive. The only issue I had was connecting the phone to it but after a quick chat with customer service it was taken care of and I haven't had any problems since so in addition to the drone being great customer service is also awesome. Overall I'd say it's a great starter drone. It has some cool features like Follow Me and is a lot of fun to fly. It's big enough that you need to register it but that takes like 5 minutes and costs $5 so no big deal. You also need a Trust certificate which is free and took about 15 minutes and is actually kinda cool to have. I recommend getting an app to find if you are in controlled airspace and to get authorization to fly if you are, approval is instant. Odds are a cop or ranger isn't gonna harass you but why find out there's a bored one in your area the hard way. If you are looking for something affordable and easy and fun to fly this is the drone for you.

I have had this drone for about two years now. Replaced one arm after it hit a telephone pole. My phone slipped down and was pressing the joystick, I didn't realize it till it was too late. Just two days ago it hit a tree and straight into the river, about 5 foot deep. We managed to get it out within a few minutes. Let the drone dry for two day, fired right up. I just can't kill this thing. I am just a hobbyist with drones not an expert.

[Background] I bought this quad-copter drone to be able to visually inspect hard to reach places like my gutters and the back-side of my chimney. My house's height challenges my 35-foot extension ladder in some spots and the trees around here have grown so tall over 20 years that leaves in gutter is a problem.

[Features / Performance] I'm new to drones and the aerial inspections I want to do require some skill. So, I watched a lot of YouTube videos and realize some drones are very good at making up for inexperience. HS720 appeared to be one of those for a fraction of the cost. I started out practicing in open fields and parks to develop the reflex and hand coordination to make multi-axial maneuvers. When this drone locks on to at least 7 GPS satellites, it is amazing how stable it is even in mild winds (4-10 MPH). The flying modes of Point-to-Point Tap Fly, Follow-me and hover & rotate over Point of Interest, are very impressive. The return to home feature works quite well and is very intelligent as it accounts for remaining battery energy. I found one YouTube video demonstrating a Return-To-Home landing (Holystone HS720 GPS Camera Drone) where the drone literally landed exactly where it took off (see 9:20 minutes into the video). I tried this several times and the closest it came to the mat for me was within 3 feet (so I'm not complaining at all). But it was a jaw dropping demo when I watched it.

[Customer Service] The best part: I did have one issue with the drone after flying it 9-10 times (erratic behavior). It resulted in some physical problems with the craft. So, I picked up the phone right away and called Holy Stone US. BEST CUSTOMER CARE service ever! The rep. on the phone asked me some basic questions, verified my purchase. This was a non-routine problem and she had to defer to someone else in-house a couple of times while we were on the phone. She asked that I take and email to her photos of the craft and she waited for them to arrive in her email box (while we were on the phone). The "experts" looked at the photos and gave me an immediate resolution; all in the same 15-minute phone call. This completely satisfied me (wowed my spouse in the process). Who does that anymore?

[NOTE: Before Use] Do be sure to remove all the surface protective plastic "stickers". They are on the hand-held control screen, the frontal camera lens, one on each of the bottom LED lights and a donut shaped one lens on the imaging positioning camera on the bottom. This last one is important because this lens utilizes color contrast beneath the drone to gauge its horizontal stability/position when near the ground (I guess that means less than 2 meters above ground). Lastly, there is a foam pad that goes around the battery which comes inserted in the drone. You must remove this before the battery will insert fully into the drone. I did not find that step anywhere in the manual. If you manage to get the battery to connect with the foam insert in place. It will slip out (killing power if in flight).

[Performance Against Purpose] I did get videos of my roof and gutters (See attached photo taken from video). I inserted a SanDisk 32GB HC I SD card. I doubt this is a Class 10 SD card which is what Holy Stone recommends. I don't know what "class" my memory card is, but looking at the video and video freeze frames, I was able to determine where along my gutters I do need to place the ladder to remove leaves. The drone took very clear video images from maybe 10-20 feet above the gutter line. A Class 10 SD card might be even better quality. However, this made me very happy. No attempt to inspect the back-side of chimney as I will have to fly "blind" and rely on the altimeter and camera only. I suspect I will need to prove myself in a lot more flight tests before ready to try that.

[Battery Life / Recharging] can drone on and on (pun) about how nice this craft is, but I am really not qualified enough to give a good technical critique yet. I will leave that to the YouTube demonstrators. I will say that what they claim about this vehicle has been true in my limited 5 days (about 9 flights) of use. I know the biggest complaint is the 5-7 hrs of charge time on the battery. Yup, its true. It is about 5-7 Hrs. I don't know about actual maximum flight time as I've not pushed it. As I'm learning, I generally develop a flight plan consisting of a 4-6 maneuvers (wind stability, elevation stability when flying over objects, targeted video capture, etc) and then call it quits. I've flown this up to about 15 minutes. Those recharges required about 3-4 Hrs to complete.

[Instruction Manual] These are more important that many people know. This one is written is clear English and there is a downloadable .pdf one available too. Read the manual several times. There are some nice fail-safe features, some behaviors that I would not have anticipated (like cruise altitudes for Return-To-Home), and cautions that make reading the manual valuable. Example: the drone will not avoid obstacles in its path when in Return-to-Home mode. I do highly recommend watching others on YouTube use this drone before flying it if you are new to drones. You have to be smart when flying and think ahead.

EDIT: Customer service reached out and has offered to send me a new one. Wonderful response from CS team - hope the new one is a better experience, which I expect to be given all the positive reviews I saw on YouTube. Will update again - but wanted to update about their quick and positive customer service team

I received it today, and its already crashed/stuck somewhere in a tree.

I watched the videos on YouTube and it seems everyone has GREAT experiences from this drone.

I'm not sure what happened I think it's the remote -but it went up, stopped about 30'ish ft in the air and then wasn't responding to my forward direction via the remote. It seemed to mildly respond to backwards and sideways - then it took on a mind of its own and crashed into the trees and I can't even find it. It went out of site but I have an idea of where it went but have been looking for an hour with no luck.

Thought it was for beginners but I guess it is not - I wasn't being wreckless or even moving it around yet, didn't even have the chance. Total flight time was probably 3 minutes if even.

$250 down the drain -

UPDATE after review was read by manufacture.

Holy Stone reached out to me and said they would refund my purchase amount for the issue that I had with the drone. In todays fast pace & quick turnover of product(s), it is wonderful to see a company really stand behind their product. Service is getting to be more of a "oh well it happens" more and more now days. I was very surprising to see the company reach out and offer to help after having an issue right out of the gate.

When I saw the email my first response was, "WOW!!!!" I never expected that email after I had wrote the review hoping to help someone else from not having the same issue I had.

I am going to be ordering another one of these drones from Holy Stone & have become a life long customer of this company. This was the second drone(1st one from Holy Stone) I had bought in 3 years & was looking forward to using for scouting fields in my operation.

Thanks again & if you buy a Holy Stone drone you will have the peace of mind that the company stands behind their product.

After it crashed the first 2 flights it's not fixable I believe. Make sure it is not in beginner mode if you go up to 14 meters. It will take off & you will not be able to control.

It flew around & around with NO control from the controller. It crashed into tree & broke 2 arms & the lower part of the drone.