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Holy Stone HS470 Brushless 4K Drone w/ Gimbal, $189.99 (holystone.com...)
Manufactured by Holy Stone (www.holystone.com)
Last updated 01-30-22
The Holy Stone HS470 Brushless 4K Drone w/ Gimbal (hereinafter, probably just called the HS470) is a mid-sized (365mm sq. x 70mm H), surprisingly light (544g {19.10oz.}) drone that features GPS stabilisation, a camera gimbal, a rechargeable 2S (two cell) 2,800mAh Li:Po (lithium polymer) flight battery, and the ability to tilt the camera's lens over a 110° range -- from pointing forward and slightly up to pointing straight down.
This isn't a flashlight, household lamp, Christmas light set, or other thing that glows, but it *DOES* have a number of LEDs on its fuselage (this word is definitely *NOT* pronounced "fyoo SELL' uh jee" as Drake Parker from the TV program "Drake and Josh" would pronounce it; the word is pronounced "" , so what the hey
I love things that fly; that's why I took the bate and also why I added a seperate section titled "PRODUCTS DESIGNED TO FLY" on my website a number of years ago and created a new website just under a year and a half ago specifically for flying machines of this nature!!! I was also attracted to something that this drone has that many others don't...
1: It has GPS -- simply meaning that it can stably hover despite any mild wind and knows where 'Home' is.
2: It has brushless motors (I tend to avoid brushed-motor quads these days because of their very short life!)
3: It has a 2-axis gimbal to keep your video rock stable.
4: It has a gyro -- that means it's easy to fly even for a "craptastic" pilot like me.
5: It has all of those wonderful LEDs
6: It has an
optical flow sensor; this allows the drone to stay stable in the air even when GPS isn't present -- such as when flying indoors.
7: It has folding pylons (arms) and propellers; this makes the HS470 easier to store and transport.
The HS470 is in the lower-end of being HOBBY GRADE, rather than just being another run-of-the-mill pisson toy grade drone.
It's not puny for one thing (it isn't huge, but it isn't microscopic either); and it sports BRUSHLESS motors that deliver incredible amounts of power and have a far longer useable lifetime than their brushed counterparts.
It sports a 4K camera with a 5.8GHz transmitter to furnish a live video feed to the app; both still photos and aerial video can be taken with it!
If you choose to use a memory chip that is rated lower than Class 10, you *MAY* see skipped frames, "jitters", unwanted intermittent video artifacts, and similar horse puckey.
The HS470 has a very substantial, sturdy feel to it; it does not at all feel flimsy or loose like many products of, "Hoo Phlung Pu" origin so often do.
When you deploy (unfold) the pylons (arms), you can tell at once that the HS470 just exudes quality!
In the last photograph above, you should be able to see a pair of TheRCSaylors Stickers affixed to the drone -- including one of the much-vaunted Power Patch stickers.
I believe that the HS470 can withstand winds of up to 22mph (35.42kph) thanks to that GPS stabilisation!
This quadcopter is a bit more complicated to get it to take off than your average toy-grade drone...here's how to get it off the ground:
As with any rechargeable product, charge the drone first, insert a Class 10 or higher 4GB+ MicroSD memory chip into the drone, install four AA cells into the radio, REMOVE THE GIMBAL PROTECTOR FROM THE CAMERA (this is critically important! If you forget, you will very likely fv¢k up the gimbal when you power-up the drone!!!) and then you can pretend to fly a humongous dragonfly (well, that's what kitty cats would think it was if it were designed to be flown in a small living room -- you CAN fly it indoors, but you'll want a decent amount of space such an empty two-car garage at minimum!)
Video showing how the gimbal on my Holy Stone HS470 drone has gone to pot (been damaged). :-(
I realised well into the first flight that I made on 11-15-20 that I forgot to remove the gimbal protector before launch. This is evident here because the first part of the video looks as though it were recorded through a very filthy lens. So I landed, removed the gimbal protector, recalibrated the gimbal, and then relaunched.
Static testing once I arrived home has revealed that
THE GIMBAL HAS INDEED BEEN DAMAGED, however it still has a limited range of motion in the Y-axis and appears to still compensate for the drone's "roll" motion.
This video demonstrates that quite effectively. When the video starts, I execute the gimbal calibration and then I attempt to adjust the Y-axis via the buttons on the radio.
First off, load the app called, "Hfun Pro" or "Hfun Fly"(the Android version from Google Play or the iOS version from the Apple App Store) onto your 5G WiFi cellular telephone handset.
Then (and you only need do this once) affix the two metal joysticks onto the radio by pushing them into the holes for them in each gimbal on the radio. This may be a bit fiddly, but they WILL eventually fit in there.
1: Unfold the pylons (arms) starting with the two front ones (they have short landing sprigs on them). Once that is done, unfold the two rear pylons. Place the drone on the ground.
Press and hold the POWER button on the drone (it's located on the back of the flight battery) for several seconds until all of the blue lights come on and the drone starts to emit a short series of tones.
2: Place the radio behind the drone first. Then turn the radio on by pressing and then releasing the circular button located directly between the two joysticks.
Observe the lights on the radio. When they change from rapid strobing to steady-on, then you can pick up the radio.
At this point you may deploy the "antennae" if you wish -- or leave them folded. They appear to be decoys added to the radio for cosmetic purposes.
3: Go into your phone's WiFi settings, and connect the one named XL-PRO-4K-5GA {string of letters and numbers}.
Then launch the app.
4: At this point, you'll need to perform a geomagnetic calibration of the drone. Press the button labelled, "CALIBRATE" in the app, and follow the onscreen instructions.
5: Press & hold the leftmost button on the radio for several seconds until you hear it beep; then release it.
This is the drone's level and gimbal calibration. The lights on the radio and on the drone will flash rapidly when this calibration is in progress; the lights will stop blinking when the calibration is completed.
6: Turn up the audio (sound) volume on your FPV device if you have not already done so; you'll want to do that so that you can hear the LVC (Low Voltage Cutoff) alarm so that you can safely bring the drone in and land it when the flight battery is going to pot.
When all of the drone's LEDs turn steady-on, you're ready to take off.
Pull both joysticks downward and inward (or downward and outward) to start the motors at idle speed. Now, push up on the left stick or press the Auto Takeoff button on the remote near the upper left corner, and the drone should now blast off and possibly leave an expanding cloud of dust (if you launched in a dry, dusty area anyway).
Congratulations, you're now a pilot!!!
For additional instructions & tips on how to fly, please read the instructional material that comes with the product.
On the remote control, press & hold the "OFF/ON" button for a second or so, and then release it. On the drone, press & hold the "OFF/ON" button for a couple of seconds (until all of the blue lights have extinguished), and then release it. This should neutralise both of them.
Fold everything up, replace the gimbal protector, place the items back into their form-fitting compartments inside the bag (the radio goes near the top of the bag; the drone fits near the bottom of the bag), zip the bag up, and go on your merry way.
The LEDs on the radio serve as the transmitter's battery level indication; three white LEDs and a red LED.
All LEDs on indicates great battery health; fewer lights indicate a reduced level of charge. When all of the white LEDs are off and only the red LED remains lit, it's time to get those AA cells changed.
The app records video to your mobile device whether you want it to or not; you'll want to go into the device's File Manager and delete them periodically or else you'll start seeing errors and other issues regarding low memory. *
If you're recording video and wish to take a still photograph, you must first neutralise video recording. Then take your still photo(s), and then restart video recording.
Videos are saved in clips of approx. 402,000 bytes (4:49 runtime) so don't be surprised to see multiple videos on your MicroSD chip after each flight.
Most droners (drone pilots) prefer their flight videos split up this way; that way, if one video clip is corrupted, you don't lose the whole flight.
You can fly the HS470 strictly-dictly LOS (Line Of Sight) -- no FPV device is necessary even for preflight calibration.
Time from unzipping the bag to getting the drone in the air is a modest 2:58 (timed on a stopwatch)
The battery in the HS470 is rechargeable.
To charge the Li:Po battery in the HS470, plug the furnished charge cable into any free USB receptacle on your Pee-Cee or Mac computer.
Plug the smaller end of the USB cord into the female MicroUSB receptacle on the side of the back of the battery itself.
You should see a series of blue LEDs on the back of the battery. Once all four LEDs glow continuously (e.g., none of them are flashing), the charge cycle is complete and the battery may safely be unplugged from the charger.
Fully charging the HS470's battery should give you approx. 20 minutes of flying time.
To change the AA cells in the radio, slide the battery door off, carry it to the top of the basement stairs, and kick it down those stairs into the basement crawling with thousands of hungry silverfish that need to have a wee -- they'll think it's something yummy to eat and start chewing on it, but quickly find it unpalatable, so they all pass micturition on it...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.
Remove the four used AA cells from the compartment, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.
Insert four new AA cells into the compartment, orienting each cell so its flat-end (-) negative faces a spring for it in each chamber.
Finally, slide the battery door back on.
Aren't you glad you didn't kick that battery door down the stairs to all those hungry, hungry silverfish that really need to go pee-pee now?
This R/C drone is meant to be used as a toy in a large dry area outdoors or a large indoor venue, not as a flashlight meant to be carried around all the time, thrashed, trashed, bashed, and abused; so I won't throw it against the wall, stomp on it, viciously chuck it at one of those wall-mounted porcelain uranators to see if it becomes broken (the drone, not the uranator!), try to drown it in the {vulgar slang term for a fudge bunny}bowl or the cistern, run over it, swing it against the concrete floor of a patio, bash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoñata (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piñata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a scanner-type device on a platform with a large readout, with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; and the cannoñata is only used to shoot piñatas to piñata parties away from picturesque Piñata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analyses, launch it into the upper atmosphere of Gamalon V** so that chairman Sonji gets all bent out of shape about it, or inflict upon it punishments that I might inflict upon a flashlight.
This drone has foldable pylons (arms) and folding props; this makes transport and storage a whole lot easier.
The drone uses 2.4GHz RF radiation to communicate with its radio, and its camera uses 5.8GHz (802.11ac or just 5G WiFi) to relay its photographic and videographic data back to your smartphone or tablet.
There is an optical flow sensor on the bottom of the drone; this helps to maintain the drone's position at lower altitudes. The ambient light level must be fairly high in order for this optical flow positioning system to function though, so please do not expect it to function on night missions.
I just love the living tweedle out of the carrying case! Everything (and I do mean ***EVERYTHING***) that the HS470 comes with fits neatly into cutouts in the foam for them (or into closeable pockets on the outside of the bag and a noncloseable pocket on the inside of the bag -- which is great if you wish to bring along another flight battery or two or three): the drone itself, the transmitter, all spare props, and charger cord).
The mobile phone holder on the radio can accomodate handsets up to 86.60mm (3.41") wide
It still seems to act a bit wonky; video recording is a bit sporadic, latency is longer than I'd like, and the drone occasionally seems to get a mind of its own -- it comes to a hover, sometimes yaws (spins horizontally), and becomes unresponsive to inputs on its radio. Pressing the RTH button on the radio, waiting several seconds, and then cancelling RTH (by pressing the same button again) appears to make the drone "snap out of it" and start obeying the radio.
For this very reason, I don't (yet) trust it enough to fly over water or make an extended night mission.
I received some advice from tech support at Holy Stone yesterday morning, and followed it.
Prior to yesterday's (11-10-20) first flight, I performed the following actions.
1:Removed every app and file (images, videos, APKs, etc.) that I was able to. 2:Uninstalled & reinstalled HfunPro app (this is the drone's app). 3:Performed a cold start of the device. 4:Turned "Airplane Mode" on. 5:Made certain that the only two open apps were the WiFi selection screen and the HfunPro app.
And the results...no significant change was noted. Latency is still unacceptably long (45 seconds) and the FPV device itself (a Samsung Galaxy S5 cellular telephone handset) usually reboots almost immediately (within the first minute anyway) after I launch the drone. This is leading me to believe that the app is not compatible with the FPV device.
The earliest that I can replace the FPV device is when the next round of COVID-19 economic stimulus payments are distributed.
The HS470 appears to be a rebranded version of the XiL 193 Pro drone.
The mobile phone holder on the radio can accomodate handsets up to 78.40mm (3.08") wide and because of it's twin-boom design, your phone cannot be shorter than 126.200mm (4.97") wide (measured from the center of each clip) or else it simply won't fit.
ALL OF THE FLIGHT VIDEOS ARE ON THEIR OWN WEB PAGE
SO THAT THIS EVAL. WOULD NOT BECOME TOO CUMBERSOME!!!
Photograph of the radio (transmitter) in its feral state.
Photograph of the radio (transmitter) for this drone with a cellular telephone handset clipped into place.
Photograph of the underside of the drone, specfically so that you can see the camera for the optical flow positioning system.
Aerial photograph taken by this drone.
Click on the pic to see it full-sized (as the drone recorded it).
Aerial photograph taken by this drone in twilight, allowing you to see the Moon.
Click on the pic to see it full-sized (as the drone recorded it).
Aerial photograph taken by this drone.
Click on the pic to see it full-sized (as the drone recorded it).
Aerial photograph taken by this drone showing part of Granite Field, a series of three baseball diamonds nearby.
Click on the pic to see it full-sized (as the drone recorded it).
Aerial photograph taken by this drone showing colorful skies shortly after sunset.
Click on the pic to see it full-sized (as the drone recorded it).
Photograph of the beam of a red (650nm) laser taken in fog.
Photograph of the beam of a green (532nm) DPSS laser taken in fog.
Photograph of the beam of a bluish-green (505nm) laser taken in fog.
Photograph of the beam of a greenish-blue (488nm) laser taken in fog.
Photograph of the beam of a blue (450nm) laser taken in fog.
Photograph of the beam of a violet (410nm) laser taken in fog.
All photos were taken at a distance of ~20 feet (~6.10M).
Photograph of my Apple Ipad Mini 4 affixed to the radio for use as an FPV device after my Motorola Moto E4+ cellular telephone handset that I had been using as an FPV device went to pot approx. a week ago as of this writing (12-06-21).
The replacement arrived later this same day.
Spectrographic analysis of the LEDs in the flight battery.
I performed spectroscopy of the LEDs in the flight battery because it's been very many years since I've seen this shade of blue from an LED; it's significantly more broadband than most other modern blue LEDs.
Spectrographic analysis of the LEDs in the flight battery; spectrometer's response narrowed to a band between 445nm and 465nm to pinpoint peak wavelength, which is 456.11nm.
The raw spectrometer data (tab-delimited that can be loaded into Excel) is at hs470b.txt
TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on Ebay on 10-18-2020 and was received at 11:25am PDT on 10-27-20.
I purchased a second battery right off the bat.
** From the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Final Mission".
UPDATE: 11-03-20
I have noted that the camera performs somewhat poorly in very low light (the one in my Contixo F24 1080p Brushless Foldable Drone w/ Gimbal does significantly better under these conditions), but it appears to do extremely well in any significant amount of light -- such as at dawn, in daylight/sunlight/twilight.
UPDATE: 11-12-20
Customer service at Holy Stone appears to be somewhat biased.
If you didn't purchase directly from them or from Amazon.com, they basically tell you to go fv¢k yourself -- in more polite terms of course.
Here is the email that I received at 11:00pm PST on 11-10-20 {no changes made to syntax or grammar}:
Hi Craig,
Thank you for your updating .
If you purchased the drone on ebay , please contact the ebay seller directly .
I am sorry that I can 't help you .
We just process the Amazon case .
I have attached a picture to you .
Thanks for your time and patience!
Best regards,
{name withheld to help protect this person's privacy and maybe to prevent a possible shooting}
The following is the image that the tech support person furnished:
UPDATE: 11-16-20
The gimbal has partially failed (it was totally my fault!), therefore, the dreadful, " icon will be appended to its listings on this website at once, denoting the fact that the product has PARTIALLY failed, but that it still does what it's supposed to -- that is, fly and take photos & videos.
Some dimbulb fv¢kw€€d (that would be ME!) forgot to remove the gimbal protector prior to a flight; this caused the gimbal to become partially fuxxored -- it still functions properly in the X-axis (horizontally) but its range of motion in the Y-axis (vertically) is limited. The camera's Y-axis adjustment (via the wheel on the radio) has also been damaged.
UPDATE: 11-19-20
I have started using an FPV app called Hfun Fly after being turned onto it by ciLvRc on YourTube two evenings ago. After a bit of a shaky start, I finally got it to record a full flight last night!!!
* If you use the Hfun Fly app, video will *NOT* be recorded to your FPV device.
But the Hfun Fly app appears to function properly on my FPV device!!!
UPDATE: 11-25-20
I failed to mention that a small Phillips screwdriver is supposed to be furnished, but it was not included in the package that I received. I have a number of small screwdrivers from other drones, so my routine checking of the propeller screws has continued unabated.
UPDATE: 11-28-20
I have come to note that the placement of the Photo and Video buttons on the radio makes it surprisingly easy to neutralise recording while in flight. The way you hold the radio (esp. with a heavy phone affixed to it) makes it quite likely that one of the fingers on your right hand will inadvertently press one of these buttons while flying -- and doing so terminates the recording in process.
In fact, I can't think of a single flight that this has not happened on!
I still love the living tweedle out of this drone though; this problem will ***NOT*** make me stop flying it!
UPDATE: 11-25-21
This drone CAN be flown strictly-dictly LOS without the app or even a cellular telephone handset.
Even the preflight calibrations can be accomplished manually.
To wit:
1: Place the drone down where you intend to launch from, and turn it on.
2: Place the radio directly behind the drone, and turn it on. Wait for all of the lights to turn steady-on.
3: Press and hold the "Photo" button for three seconds, and then release it.
4: Pick up the drone, hold it as level as you can, and rotate it counterclockwise until the radio beeps.
5: Turn the drone so that the camera faces the ground, and rotate it until the radio beeps again.
6: Set the drone back down, and press & hold the "SPEED" button on the radio for three seconds, and then release it. This calibrates the drone's camera gimbal.
7: When the radio emits a beep, you are ready to take of and fly.
When flying this way, video or still photos are NOT recorded to the MicroSD chip in the drone's fuselage!!!
UPDATE: 12-23-21
The female MicroUSB connection on the flight battery has become fuxxored (it no longer mates properly with the male plug on the charge cable and does not make an elecrical connection) but I do have a second battery that DOES charge, so I can still fly this bird.
UPDATE: 12-29-21
Both batteries have now gone to pot (see the 12-23-21 update above to see how both of them have petered out).
Tomorrow night, I'll be able to purchase replacements, so no icons need to be appended to its listings on this website.
UPDATE: 01-06-22
The replacement battery arrived late yesterday afternoon. It was in a significant state of discharge, but it did mate properly with the charge cable and appears to be accepting a charge, so it looks like I'll be able to fly this (wounded) bird today. :-)
UPDATE: 01-09-22
Battery life for the 4 AA cells in the radio has to be rated as EXCELLENT!!!
I say this because I changed them yesterday for the very first time since purchasing this drone on 10-27-20, and making 435 flights!!! :-O
UPDATE: 01-11-22
If you let the drone go to Stage 2 LVC, even if it's just a meter from the takeoff point and just a few centimeters off the ground, it will execute a Return To Home in which it will shoot up to the RTH altitude and then slowly descend whether you want it to or not.
Other drones will not increase altitude when RTH engages if they're within a few meters of the launch point.
UPDATE: 01-30-22
The port (left) rear pylon (propeller arm) lights have inexplicably stopped functioning.
To wit:
Although this in no way affects the functionality of the drone, it is worth noting nonetheless.
UPDATE: 01-31-22
The drone has completely failed (it can no longer be flown or even launched).
The following brief video shows what happens when I power up the drone:
Error code on the Holy Stone HS470 Brushless 4K Drone w/ Gimbal
This brief video shows an unknown error code (both visually and audiably on my Holy Stone HS470.
I am unable to take off.
The visual error code is one long flash and two short flashes of the orange LEDs on the upper surface of its fuselage -- sequence repeats.
The audible error code is that the drone emits a "beep" tone approx. everey 1,500ms (~1½ seconds).
The drone can be successfully calibrated and also generates the, "GPS lock confirmation" beep, but will not lift off.
I tried switching out flight battereies to see if that was "it" -- no joy.
Anybody out there know what this indicates?
Since the drone can no longer be flown, the dreadful, "" icon must regretfully be appended to its listings on this website.
MANUFACTURER: Holy Stone
PRODUCT TYPE: Medium-sized hobby-grade drone w/ GPS and camera gimbal
LAMP TYPE: LED
No. OF LAMPS: At least 23 (4x green, 4x red, , 4x orange, 1x blue in drone, 4x blue in the battery, 1x red, 2x blue, 3x white in radio)
BEAM TYPE: N/A
REFLECTOR TYPE: N/A
SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/off on both drone and radio
CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
BEZEL: N/A
BATTERY: 1x 7.40V 2,800mAh Li:Po for drone, 4x AA cells for radio
CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
WATER- AND POLAR BEAR MICTURITION-RESISTANT: Very light sprinkle-resistance at maximum (though if a polar bear really does go poddy on it, you've got FAR bigger problems than a stinky dead drone, hahaha!!! )
SUBMERSIBLE: ¡¡¡EL DIABLO USA PAÑALES LLENO DE MIERDA!!!
ACCESSORIES: Carrying bag, USB charging cable, flight battery, 4x spare blade sets, 2x thumbsticks for the radio, 8x Phillips screws for props, Phillips screwdriver
SIZE: (Unfolded): 365mm sq. x 70mm H; (Folded): 180mm L x 95mm W x 80mm H
WEIGHT: 544g {19.10oz.} (incl. flight battery & gimbal protector); 399g (14.11oz.) (empty but w/gimbal protector); 145g (5.11 oz.) (battery itself)
COUNTRY OF MANUFACTURE: China
WARRANTY: 30 days
PRODUCT RATING:
Holy Stone HS470 Brushless 4K Drone w/ Gimbal * holystone.com...
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" 
" icon will be appended to its listings on this website at once, denoting the fact that the product has PARTIALLY failed, but that it still does what it's supposed to -- that is, fly and take photos & videos.
" icon must regretfully be appended to its listings on this website.
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