DRONE NEWBIE HERE!!!
Ok this hobby, to start off with, is a ton of fun. i think this drone is a great intro to the hobby. I did a bunch of research on Amazon, and everywhere else, and basically what I really want is a $1500 drone, but thats probably not going to happen any time soon. :) Theres a lot of mention if you read about Drones, that its best to start off small, with something like this ($100 range) then step up to the big boy drones. I believe this is solid advice. I took the plunge on the holystone F181 after reading a ton of reviews, and hoping for the best, as far as custimer service goes.
Let's talk about customer service first. In my experience they are TOP NOTCH. If you read thru the reviews here, you'll see many refrences to 'Wow these guys are great', etc, etc and in my experience that is 100% true. I had to reach out to them because I completely burned out one motor, and half-burned out all the others... on my second day flying :) (more on this later...). I contacted their Customer Service dept via email late on a Friday afternoon... They emailed back i think within AN HOUR... Thats just fantastic, as far as Im concerned. The CS person (named Ally) immediately offered a whole new set of motors right up front, and also offered a link to how to install the motors without soldering. Lastly, she requested that I send a video to her if possible, as some of my description might have been lost in translation a bit. I did so, and then the next Morning, I had a confirm email from Ally with a USPS reference # for my warrantied set of motors. I can't say enough how great Holy Stone did on helping me out. Bottom line, I wasn't *negligent* with the burning out of the motors, however uhhh... they definitely did burn out due to user error. :) It seems that Holy Stone want to go to great lengths to make their customers happy, and in this case they did. So bottom line, I highly recommend Holy Stone because it seems they make a very, very consisent demonstrable effort to make the consumer happy.
On to the actual Drone; First time out of the box, the first thing I did was fire it up (indoors, of course) and immediately give it full throttle (left stick) while inadvertantly holding the right stick to the side, shotting the drone off at high speed into our couch, and utterly freaking out my 3 year old. Then I almost gave our cat an involuntary shave with the propeller blades. Long story short, if you are a neophyte like me as far as Drones, or RC in general; THE CONTROLS ARE SENSITIVE, even in 30% rates mode. Once you have the hang though, they work awesome. I've had my drone for over a week, ive flown it 10+ times now, and I can get it up, hovering, and can shoot it around my house, and outside pretty well. This thing handles very, very well once you have the hang of it. It's so much freaking fun to fly.
On to the 'Motor Incident'; When you are new, you WILL crash your drone. When you crash, you WILL break parts, thats just how it is. I can't say for sure, but from a lot of my crashes into trees and whatnot, Ive noticed that the drone's motors go into super high spin mode, probably because it knows it isnt hovering upright, so it's trying to compensate or something (my guess). Basically, if you fly it into a tree or a wall, until you shut it off, it sort of 'Red Lines' the throttle, which I think is how I burned out my motors. Whatever tho, a full set of motors only costs $12.50 now. As I stated earlier, Holy Stone gladly replaced my motors, BUT, due to the nature of how (i think) these things work, I am now planning ahead, and have already ordered up ANOTHER set of motors so I am rady to go if another one fails. I did end up soldering on the wires for ONE of my motors. The other ones have not died completely yet, so I am just going to wait to replace those. The soldering process was a little difficult... Those wires are TINY, and you really need to be careful. I am relatively handy, know electronics, and was comfortable doign it, but it still was a very delicate operation. I would offer as constructive criticism to Holy Stone that they should really make those connections thu a click-mechanism like how the batteries connect. Bottom line, motors burn out, they are a 'maintenance' item, so it really would make sense if you could quickly/easily change them out and not have to break out the soldering iron.
Battery power sucks on these things, but this kit included two batteries which is very good. From my research, all Toy Drones have short battery lengths. If you look on Amazon, you can get a 4 battery pack with a charger for $25 from Holy Stone. I will probably be ordering that up soon.
The Camera/App works flawlessly for me. Looking at the FPV thru your phone, while holding the controls is pretty cool, especially once you get it up in the air a good distance. The videos automatically d/l to your phone in addition to being stored on the SD card. The 'Jello effect' is very prominent, but thats not a defect in the drone or camera, its simply due to the fact that this setup doesnt use a gimble. Look that up if you care to, but basicaly, all the super-cool drone aerial videogrpahy? Yeah, thats coming from a $1,000 set up, not a toy drone. I will say im happy with the camera features on this drone.
Flying the drone takes some learning. I'm pretty good now, and i feel like this drone is very responsive to the commands, I just need to practice to really make it zip around. Again, it's a TON OF FUN flying these thing!
To wrap it up, Holy Stone has won me over for sure, I am very happy with this purchase, and feel very comfortable telling the world they are a great company, and this product is well worth buying.
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Product Description
Main Features:
- 1080p 120°FOV Wide-angle Wifi Camera
- FPV Real-time Transmission
- Altitude Hold Function
- Powerful Battery and Motor
- One Key Take Off & Landing
- Multiple Speed Control
- Headless Mode
- 3D Flips
- Controllable Led Light
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Voice ControlFLY/ LAND/ FOWARD/ BACKWARD/ LEFTWARD/ RIGHTWARD/ STOP the drone with voice control. |
Gesture ControlControl the camera by Gestures. Paper--Video & Scissor--Photo |
Custom Flight PathDesign a flight path on the App page and the drone will fly along the path you set. |
FUN FEATURES
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1080P 120° FOV HD Wifi CAMERAEquipped with the newest 1080P 120° Wide-angle HD Wifi Camera, which allows you to take high-res pictures & video during flight. |
FPV Real-time TransmissionWith the built-in WiFi module, you can see exactly what your camera sees with a live video on your mobile device by installing the APP. |
Headless ModeUsually, the forward direction of a flying multi-rotor is the same as the nose direction. In headless mode, the forward direction has nothing to do with nose direction, the direction will be the same as your transmitter. |
Specification
- RC Drone Weight: 4.9 Ounces (FAA Registration NOT Required)
- Drone Dimensions: 12.6(L) X3.3 (H) X12.6 (W) Inches
- Vdeo Recording Modes: 1920×1080P
- Battery of Quadcopter: 3.7V 750mAh Lipo Battery
- Battery of Controller: 4 X 1.5V AA Battery (Not included)
- Charging time: about 60-90 Minutes
- Transmitter Operation Range: about 50-100 meters
- Playing time: 8-10 Minutes
Package Content
- 1 x F181W Chaser Quad Copter with 1 x User Manual
- 1 x 2.4 Gigahertz Remote Transmitter
- 2 x 3.7 V 750mAh LiPo Batteries
- 2 x Rotating Blades
- 4 xProtection Frames
- 2 x Landing Skids
- 2 x USB charging cables
- 1 x Screwdriver
Reviews with images
It's pretty cool learning to fly one
My First DroneFor Christmas 2017 I got The Holy Stone F181W "Chaser" drone as a gift. It's pretty cool learning to fly one.The drone requires attachment of landing skids and propeller guards that are held in place with provided tiny screws and tiny screwdriver. The screws are very tiny and nearly impossible to find when you drop one one the floor. It came with two batteries and two USB charge cords.Since this is my first drone, I was hoping the instruction manual could be a little more informative. It's lacking the explanation of how the video feed app has to be opened after the drone is synced with the controller and running. That took some figuring out to get the proper sequence.The packaging for the drone was well organized, although it would be great to have the box hold all the stuff between flights without having to take the propeller guards and landing skids off, those tiny screws are tricky.The camera attaches to the battery cover with two little "feet" that slide into loops. The flexible cover tends to make the camera come off so care must be used to not knock off the camera when changing batteries. The battery compartment is a little tight when trying to fit the wire leads in and close the cover without causing the camera to fall off. Also the camera is on a pivot but no method of securing it in the set position.I was very pleased that when you press the camera or video button on the phone while the drone is transmitting, the photos and videos are stored on the phone without having to download them from the micro-sd card.Maybe it's my novice skill level or there's a slight breeze but it's not easy to get it hover in place. When you aren't pressing on the throttle it holds its altitude pretty well, it's the front/back left/right trimming that seems either too sensitive or not sensitive enough.The controller fits the hand well and all the controls feel like they're in the right place. The biggest problem is the holder on the controller for the smartphone. The actual holder piece has a spring clamping mechanism that barely fits my iPhone 6s+. But the holder piece has no method of securing it to the controller. There is a slot and grove but no locking "click" to hold it in place. If you tip the controller downward your phone which is worth more than the drone will drop to the ground. I have a heavy rubber band holding it together, but am considering driving a screw through the slot and tab, or perhaps using some plastic cement to attach it permanently. This is really annoying and is poorly thought out by the product designer. This is the reason I didn't award five stars.The drone seems pretty responsive but being so light it struggles with a breeze. I'm still trying to get the hang of flying and not up to the 100% power level yet so perhaps it's a little stronger at the higher settings. When a "forced" landing occurs the propellers automatically shut off and if it's on its landing skids just press the start button, throttle up and you're airborne again.There are blue and red LED lights on the bottoms of the struts to the propellers and when it arrived one of the blue LED's was inoperative. I contacted Holy Stone via email requesting a replacement and they said they don't offer that replacement part but offered to send me a $5.00 rebate.Overall, I like this drone. It's fun operating it and makes for a good trainer.Phil KulisLas Vegas, NV
