Are you looking for an affordable camera drone like Holy Stone HS510 that can go anywhere around the world with you? Then look no further because this is one of the best foldable camera drones for beginners. It is completely foldable and sports a true 4K UHD camera that puts most of the smart camera drones like DJI Mavic Mini to shame.
If you are planning to pick up a new drone that will teach you how to fly and capture aerial shots, the Holy Stone HS510 is perfectly capable of doing these types. That being said, it is one of the best foldable camera drones for a number of reasons thanks to long flight time and stellar performance.
I created an in-depth Holy Stone HS510 review to help guide you through each aspect that you need to know about this drone. In this review article, we will talk about this camera drone’s build and design quality, flight performance, controllability and features.
At the end of Holy Stone HS510 review, you will be able to make the final decision whether to buy this drone or not. That being said, is the Holy Stone HS510 drone the right pick for you? Stick around with us to find out more about this camera drone.
Holy Stone HS510 Drone: Package Contents
Before we talk about Holy Stone HS510 drone design and build quality, you need to know what to expect inside the package. A lot of time buyers buy something and end up regretting because they didn’t know what to expect inside the package. While the Holy Stone HS510 drone itself is a complete package and will get you flying right out of the box. I highly recommend purchasing a 32GB microSD card to go with this drone for storing the footage.
Inside the package, you should expect to get these following items:
- 1 x Holy Stone HS510 Drone
- 1 x Remote Controller
- 2 x Lithium Batteries
- 1 x Carrying Case
- 1 x USB-C Charging Cable
- 4 x Spare Propellers
- 1 x Screwdriver
- 1 x Charger Hub
- 1 x User Manual
Holy Stone HS510 Drone: Design and Build Quality
At the first glance, the Holy Stone HS510 drone comes in jet white coating that gives it a professional appearance of premium quality. Most of the high-end gadgets that you see in general usually come in jet white coating such as Phantom 4 Pro and DJI Mavic Mini for instance.
The white coating, although, makes this drone a bit harder to spot in the clear blue skies. Its foldable motor arms can be easily folded to the size of a smartphone. When the drone is unfolded, its total body dimension size extends outward to 9.44 x 9.25 x 2.16 inches or around two times bigger than an adult hand.
One of the biggest design upgrades that the Holy Stone HS510 has over most of the camera drones and toy drones are the brushless motors. This type of motor doesn’t break that often and delivers a much higher revolution per minute (RPM) compared to a said drone like Sanrock U52 for instance.
The camera is located at the front and delivers up to 4K UHD resolution quality. But that is for stills only as the videos actually record up to 1080P HD resolution. The battery is located at the back and provides up to 16 minutes of flight time.
The material which is used to construct the Holy Stone HS510 drone is made with durable ABS plastic, which provides an exceptional layer of protection against rough impacts and crashes. Overall, the design and build quality gets a big thumb up from me.
back to menu ↑Holy Stone HS510 Drone: Flight Performance
One of the biggest factors when it comes to shopping for the perfect foldable camera drone is the flight performance. The Holy Stone HS510 weighs around 0.54 Lbs. Which is below the Federal Aviation Administration registration limit requirement. So this drone doesn’t have to be registered at all to fly legally.
Thanks to brushless motors, this camera drone can fly up to a maximum flight speed of 20 miles per hour. It is able to handle light to moderate winds with ease. Even indoors where there is plenty of flying space as provided.
As I mentioned previously about the battery and how much flight minutes it provides which is 16 minutes. Most of the camera drones in this price range like Potensic D68 and Holy Stone HS720E have batteries that last a bit longer between 22 to 25 minutes.
But that’s because the Holy Stone HS510 is equipped with a 4K UHD camera which draws in a lot of power. While it is a minor downside, this camera drone has one of the biggest flight transmissions range. In fact, you can pilot this drone up to 2,000 feet away without any issues. With FPV mode, you will be able to command it up to 1,000 feet.
back to menu ↑Holy Stone HS510 Drone: Remote Controller
Getting to know how easy it is to fly a drone is a common question. Smart camera drones like Holy Stone HS510 are equipped with GPS modules which obtain precise location data. Using these data, it helps keep the drone balanced and steady throughout the flight mission.
This eliminates the need of manually controlling the drone’s stability. Beginners who have never flown a quadcopter before will absolutely love to have their hands on a Holy Stone HS510 drone because of how easy it is to fly this bird.
By default, this foldable camera drone will be at its slowest speed setting. This allows new remote pilots to learn the basics of flying and capturing aerial shots as well as tweaking the controls. Once you feel comfortable with the basics, you can adjust the speed settings to experience its true and full performance.
Flying the Holy Stone HS510 feels responsive. Throughout our flight test, this camera drone soars with absolute grace and breeze like a sparrow. The integration of GPS modules and brushless motors are definitely two biggest factors that provide this drone one of the best controllability and reliability.
back to menu ↑Holy Stone HS510 Drone: Camera Quality
In the next part of our in-depth Holy Stone HS510 drone review, we are going to talk about this quadcopter’s camera quality. If you are looking for a budget-friendly camera drone with good camera specifications to start with. The Holy Stone HS510 drone is equipped with built-in 4K UHD camera, which makes it one of the first 4K UHD camera drone at entry-level price tag compared to these DJI drones such as Mini 2.
With Holy Stone HS510 drone, you can capture 4K UHD 8MP stills with great details level and vibrant quality. Though, when it comes to recording videos, it is able to do so in 4K UHD resolution quality up to 16 frames per second. Furthermore, this drone do not have any built-in gimbal stabilizer as the camera is affixed on the main body framework. Which means when the drone tilts, the camera tilts as well.
Despite these minor drawbacks, the Holy Stone HS510 drone surely do have some really good camera quality, including lighting and color quality that helps the footage stand out. If you are looking for a drone to practice flying and master the basics of aerial photography, the Holy Stone HS510 is a good choice to start with. Even so, you can learn ins and outs about the drone before you move on to the smart camera drones.
back to menu ↑Holy Stone HS510 Drone: Features
Believe it or not, the Holy Stone HS510 drone comes packed with tons of features. At first glance, this camera drone looks small and does not have a bunch of features. But you can thank the integration of the GPS module, which is the main factor for introduction of intelligent flight modes and a number of advanced safety functions.
This camera drone can perform Follow Me Mode, Orbit Mode and even fly a customized flight path. These intelligent flight modes are an awesome way of getting creative and discover what this camera drone is truly capable of.
While it doesn’t have obstacle avoidance sensors that high-end camera drones like Mavic Air 2 and Phantom 4 Pro does, you do have to pay a bit extra attention to the direction Holy Stone HS510 is flying in. Other than that, it has a built-in detection system called Optical Flow which measures air pressures and adjusts accordingly based on the environment.
If you ever lose sight of this camera drone, simply press smart return to home. It will tell the drone to fly several meters up and head to home point in a straight line. The remote controller and drone have built-in out of range and low battery alarm that notifies you and prompts for an action to be taken.
back to menu ↑Holy Stone HS510 Review: Conclusion
Before I wrap up our in-depth Holy Stone HS510 review, this is one of the best foldable camera drones that delivers a true 4K UHD resolution quality for stills. It takes advantage of Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) that provides exceptional imaging quality. Though, it is a bit disappointing that the drone can’t record 4K UHD resolution footage.
If the fact that this drone can record 1080P HD video resolution doesn’t bother you at all (I mean, it’s standard just like other drones — DJI Spark for instance does the same thing) then the Holy Stone HS510 drone is a good choice.
Several customers who got their hands on this camera drone have given a positive review based on their experience and how easy it is to fly the quadcopter. If you are new to drone and you want a good quadcopter to get started with, I recommend the Holy Stone HS510 drone.
Great review. We have this drone and all worked well the first time we took it out. Now it simply flashes green all the time for some reason. Cannot complete the calibration. Any ideas?
How does this put drones like the DJI mini to shame?