At over $200, the Holy Stone HS100 is not cheap. The HS100 is in a small category of GPS drones in the $100 to $300 category. It completes with drones like the MJX Bugs 5W, the Hubsan H501S, and the Syma X8 Pro. If nothing else, the H100 has some of the best reviews on Amazon. So it must be great, right? Let’s take a look.
Make sure you stick around for the end where we unveil the strongest competition to the HS100.
Learn more about the Syma X8 Pro, MJX Bugs 5W, and Hubsan H501S.
Who is Holy Stone?
We have been around the drone world long enough to know that there are drone manufacturers and there are drone branders. Holy Stone looks to be the latter. They likely contract drones to be made by other companies like Syma, MJX, and others. This doesn’t mean they are bad drones – they can’t be bad with all those 5-star reviews.
Savvy consumer drone brands like Holy Stone can lock in their own unique designs and test drones for quality control before stamping their brand on it, and that’s what Holy Stone is able to do. They only seem to sell on Amazon and their own site, so they are truly an “Amazon brand”.
Really 5 Stars?
We would love to show you the star ratings from Amazon, but they don’t like us to do that. CHECK AMAZON for the latest prices and ratings.
We know that there are Amazon sellers that game the system by sending free product or by reimbursing reviewers. We turn away offers to post Amazon reviews all the time. This is a common way for brands to quickly get 50 positive reviews.
While Holy Stone may (or may not) be doing this, they certainly are not sending out 1000 free drones to get all those reviews. 1000 happy customers don’t lie, Holy Stone must be selling some good quads.
Now let’s take a detailed look at the HS100.
HS100 Features
The HS100 is about as polished as it gets for a brushed motor camera drone. Brushed motors mean you won’t have the power that you get with other brushless motor drones, like the Bugs 5W.
Setting aside the motors, HS100 includes a battery that indicates charge level – a feature you typically see on drones twice this price. The HS100 touts a 150-meter range, which is typical for wifi-controlled drones. The 15 minute flight time is better than most brushed motor drones, so we are not complaining. The HS100 sports altitude hold and GPS, which makes it a good option for beginners.
The HS100 is a well-polished machine, with a battery that indicates charge level.
HS100 Camera
The best feature on the HS100’s camera is the tilting servo motor that supports it. Unlike the Syma X8 Pro, the HS100’s servo does not add a lot of shakiness to the video. The 720p video will leave you wanting more. The price tag of this quad really demands 1080p video quality.
HS100 Flight Modes
The Holy Stone HS100 does not include many of the flight modes that more expensive GPS drones include. The MJX Bugs 5W and even the less expensive Yuneec Breeze have more advanced flight modes, like orbit. The HS100 does include a return to home feature as well as follow me, which will follow the remote control that the pilot is holding.
HS100 Competition
At the end of the day, we like a couple of other drones much more than the top-rated Holy Stone HS100. The newer MJX Bugs 5W uses the updated Bugs Go app which includes an on-screen map, waypoints, and an orbit feature. The Bugs 5W also includes a nice 1080p full HD camera.
The older Yuneec Breeze can sometimes be found for less than $200 with an included remote. Don’t let the Breeze’s age fool you, it is still a top-notch drone by today’s standards. It is truly an excellent deal. The Breeze is smaller, has brushless motors like the MJX drone, and sports 1-axis mechanical and 3-axis electronic image stabilization. The Breeze is the drone you want.
Learn more about the Yuneec Breeze
If you are looking to save some coin then make sure you check out our complete list of drones under $200. A case can be made for drones like the F100, Yuneec Breeze, and Zerotech Dobby.
Learn about the best drones under $200
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