Holy Stone
Holy Stone HS720G
A two-axis motorised gimbal plus electronic stabilisation, brushless motors, GPS return-to-home and built-in Remote ID — for a drone that has been on shelves since 2022, the feature list holds up better than the numbers behind it. Range is the giveaway: the controller is rated at roughly a kilometre, a fraction of what the newer sub-250 gram models claim, and there is no obstacle sensing. At 380 grams it also crosses the registration line, which means $5 to the FAA, a TRUST certificate and Remote ID that this aircraft at least provides itself. Two batteries come in the box, which is where the "52 minute" figure on the packaging comes from; a single flight is 26.
The 250-gram line
Over 249 g: FAA registration is required ($5, 3 years) and it broadcasts Remote ID itself.
Every recreational flyer must also take TRUST and carry proof of it, at any weight. Rules from faa.gov. Not legal advice — how this is worked out.
What that 26-minute claim is measured at
Holy Stone quotes 26 minutes per battery. The "52 minutes" on the retail box is the two included batteries added together.
That works out to 8.7 claimed minutes per $100 of the base kit. Compared with the rest of the catalog.
Buying one in the US: discontinued
Checked 6 Oct 2026. Holy Stone's own store no longer lists the HS720G — a store search returns only its spare parts, and the HS720R now occupies its slot — so any new unit is third-party stock. Shown for comparison.
Specifications
True first-year cost: ~$300 — the base kit at ~$300; no crash-plan price has been verified for this model, so nothing is added for it.
What it has
- Two-axis motorised gimbal with electronic stabilisation
- Brushless motors
- Built-in Remote ID broadcast
- GPS return-to-home and follow-me
- Two batteries included as standard
- 120-degree field of view
In its favour
- Built-in Remote ID on an aircraft that genuinely needs it at 380 g
- Two batteries as standard, so a real session costs nothing extra
- Brushless motors and a motorised gimbal at an entry price
- Simple, forgiving flight behaviour for a first drone
Against it
- Roughly 1 km of range, far short of anything newer
- Over 249 g, so registration and TRUST are mandatory
- No sensors of any kind, which on a 380 g aircraft you must register is the gap that costs most
- Two-axis gimbal leaves yaw correction to software
- The "52 minutes" on the box is two batteries, not one flight
The two lists above are drawn from the manufacturer’s published specifications and from the cited reviews, not from owner reports.
What owners report
Summarised from public owner discussions plus the dated, published sources listed at the end.
Holy Stone's mid-range has been on shelves a long time, and the HS720G's specific selling point is built-in Remote ID at a price where most competitors do not mention it at all, plus two batteries in the box. A two-axis gimbal with electronic stabilisation is what the price buys; range is where its age shows, at roughly a kilometre.
The thing to plan for is wind. At 380 grams with modest motors, a sudden gust on approach is the realistic failure mode for a light GPS drone, and return-to-home cannot make headway against air the aircraft cannot out-fly. That is a function of mass and motor authority rather than anything specific to this model, so land early and write a phone number on the airframe.
What owners like
- Built-in Remote ID on an aircraft that genuinely needs it, which is rare at this price
- Two batteries as standard, so the box contains a real session rather than half of one
- A plastic airframe with folding arms that shrugs off the bumps a first drone collects
- Simple enough to hand to a complete beginner without much briefing
Common complaints
- Roughly a kilometre of range, far short of anything newer
- Over 249 grams, so registration and TRUST apply for an aircraft with modest capability
- No obstacle sensing
- Light and modestly powered, so a sudden 20 mph gust on approach can take it downwind faster than return-to-home can bring it back
Questions owners ask
Do I need to register it?
How far will it actually go?
What happens in wind?
Published sources: space.com, firstquadcopter.com
Holy Stone HS720G, head-to-head
Shopped alongside it
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Sitting a step below the sub-250-gram HS900 in Holy Stone's range and a step above it in weight, this is the brand's answer for people who want reach rather than a registration exemption. Two-axis gimbal plus electronic stabilisation on the roll axis, a 48MP 1/2.3-inch sensor, integrated Remote ID, a 7.9 m/s wind rating and roughly 6 km of transmission. The current kit ships one modular battery quoted at 40 minutes "under ideal conditions"; the older two-battery listings that headlined 56 minutes were two packs added together. At 603 grams the registration, TRUST certificate and Remote ID obligations all apply, and the aircraft at least handles the last of those itself. There is no obstacle sensing, which at this weight and speed is the specification most worth noticing.
- Sensor
- 28.1 mm²
- Claimed
- 40 min
- Base kit
- ~$400
Best for: Range and a stable airframe at about $400
Full spec sheet
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Holy Stone HS360S
Two hundred dollars, GPS, optical-flow hold for indoor flying, a modular battery and 249 grams on the scale. Read the camera spec twice, though: the 1/3-inch GalaxyCore sensor records 4K at 20 frames per second, which is below the 24fps floor most people consider watchable and well below the 30fps nearly everything else here manages. Stills at 4K resolution are fine. There is no gimbal and no obstacle sensing, and return-to-home fires automatically on low battery or lost link, which is the feature that keeps a first drone out of a tree line. As an aircraft to learn on in an open field before spending real money, it does the job; as a camera, it is the weakest in this catalog.
- Sensor
- 17.3 mm²
- Claimed
- 20 min
- Bundle
- ~$239
Best for: Learning to fly before spending real money
Full spec sheet
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Holy Stone HS175D
Worth including mainly as a warning about how the word "4K" gets used at the bottom of this market. Holy Stone's listings put 4K on the box, and the aircraft will indeed produce a 4096x3072 still image — but video tops out at 2,688 by 1,512 at 25 frames per second, which is 2.7K, not 4K, and below 30fps. Everything else is what $170 buys in 2026: brushless motors, GPS hold, return-to-home, a 90-degree manually adjustable lens with no gimbal at all, and about a kilometre of range. Two batteries come in the box, which is where the advertised 46 minutes comes from. At 215 grams it stays under the registration line, and as a genuinely cheap way to learn stick control outdoors, it still works.
- Sensor
- 17.3 mm²
- Claimed
- 23 min
- Base kit
- ~$170
Best for: The cheapest way to learn stick control outdoors
Full spec sheet