Holy Stone HS360E: Fly free, capture 4K for just $1/1g

The Holy Stone HS360E is a beginner-friendly 4K camera drone that weighs under 250g and costs just $1 per gram. Packed with features like high-quality 4K video, GPS positioning, easy portability, and no need for FAA registration, this drone offers fantastic value for its price. In this review, we’ll dive into its performance, camera quality, and overall usability, showing you how this compact drone provides a seamless flying experience without breaking the bank!

The ‘E’ model is the second in the HS360 series we are reviewing here on FirstQuadcopter (we got an insight that the company will soon release a new model of the series). While there isn’t much difference in design, except for the color, significant improvements, such as better battery life and an improved transmission system, are inside.

Unfortunately, the new HS360E also lacks a mechanical gimbal (2- or 3-axis), which has several disadvantages. Footage is prone to shaking, vibrations, and sudden movements, making it less smooth and professional. Instead, it relies on EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization), but this often crops the image and reduces video quality, especially in low light.

Holy Stone HS360E review

Disclosure: I received this sub250g drone from HolyStone (HS) to test and do an in-depth review. Although the product was free, all opinions in this article remain mine, with no partner’s influence. Over the last few years, I have collaborated with the company; they always look for honest articles.

Since 2014, HS has been a leader in the drone industry, offering family-friendly technology and selling over 5 million units. HS has four main drone categories: Advanced GPS, Basic GPS, Basic, and Indoor Toy.

As market standard, the HS306E comes in a nice storage bag with an included flight battery,  charger, remote controller, spare propellers, and drone manuals.

At a glance

The HS360E resembles other drones in its weight class, such as the DJI MINI 2, Hubsan Zino MINI, Autel EVO Nano, FIMI MINI, and Potensic Atom. When folded, it measures just 14.3 × 9 × 5.3 cm (5.6 × 3.5 × 2.1in) and weighs 249 grams with a battery and a micro SD card installed. The compact, foldable design makes it easy to carry, fitting into small bags or even pockets, making them ideal for travel and spontaneous aerial photography.

While its predecessor, the HS360S, had a black color, the “Enhanced” HS360 is now white. It has two fake OA sensors in the front; at least they could have installed some LEDs in that spot for improved visibility.

On the belly, there is a tiny camera that serves as an optical flow sensor (OFS). This feature enhances drone stability, especially in GPS-denied areas, by analyzing ground patterns for precise hovering.

For a budget drone, the overall build quality is surprisingly solid. While it’s not as premium as higher-end models, it feels durable and well-constructed for its price range.

4K Camera

The 4K camera looks impressive on paper, but expectations should be realistic. It delivers decent footage for its price, but without a gimbal stabilization, you may notice occasional jitters or a tilted horizon, especially in windy conditions or fast maneuvres. While it’s suitable for basic aerial photography and beginner drone pilots, professionals will need a more advanced setup.

It supports recording only in 4K at 30fps — no support for lower resolutions with higher frame rates. The camera is in auto mode with no manual adjustments, which is helpful for beginners, especially since many drone pilots are new to photography. However, its limitations make the HS360E less suitable for more experienced pilots and photographers seeking greater control.

Battery life (Flight time)

The Holy Stone HS360E is powered by a 2000mAh rechargeable battery with a 7.4V nominal voltage. Instead of a built-in Type-C port, the battery is plugged into a matchbox-sized dedicated charger. This approach saves some grams but complicates things if you forget or lose the charger. The HS360E battery also lacks charging level indicator LEDs, so you can’t know if it is fully charged or empty without loading it into the drone.

While the battery’s sticker warns against keeping it 100% charged for long periods, it arrived exactly this way, which is harmful to drone batteries.

Holy Stone advertises the HS360E drone as having a flight time of 30 minutes per charge. In real-world flying conditions, you can expect a battery life of 24–28 minutes, which is still impressive for such a small drone. During my hovering battery life test, the drone stayed in the air for 25:30 minutes.

Remote controller and Flight range

The remote control is also very similar (if not identical) to those found on the market from brands such as Ruko and Veeniix. It features a built-in signal repeater, meaning that your phone communicates with the drone through the transmitter, allowing further flight distances. This technology doubles the flight distance compared to its predecessor, from 3 km to 6 km. It has two USB Type-C ports. The bottom one (between the stick storage bays) allows charging the controller, and the top one, under the retractable phone holder, is for connecting with your mobile device.

A status LCD in the controller’s center shows telemetry data such as flight distance, altitude, speed mode, and recording status. The front panel also contains the Take-off/Land, Speed, Power, Photo, Video, and RTH buttons. Additionally, the controller has two shoulder dials for digital zoom and for gimbal tilt angle.

After the hovering (battery life) test, I checked the maximum flight range in my usual test field at 70 m altitude. The live video signal becomes glitchy around 1,500 meters and unusable at 2,000 meters (5,314 ft). While the RC signal indicator was still full (5 bars), I pressed the RTH button because it was too risky to continue flying blindly.

Mobile APP and advanced flight modes

While the HS360E is designed to be used with the HS Fly app, it worked seamlessly with the Veeniix Fly app, as I had it previously installed on my phone. Besides the live view, the app allows for advanced flight modes such as GPS follow me and quick shot modes (Point of interest, Catapult, Spiral up, and more). You have telemetry data on the bottom ribbon, such as flight distance and altitude. In the “Parameter” tab, you can enable/disable beginner mode and configure RTH altitude, max flight altitude, and distance.

During testing, I found a few shortcomings and issues with the application, such as an incorrect display of the remote control’s battery level and the lack of transmission signal quality monitoring.

Pricing and availability

The HS360E is currently on sale, and you can order it for $249.99 (down from $299.99) directly from the official Holy Stone store. This is a great opportunity to get the drone at a discounted price. Additionally, the HS360E is available on Amazon and other online platforms, providing flexibility in where you choose to purchase it. This might be the perfect time to move if you’re considering getting a reliable, feature-packed drone without breaking the bank.

Key features

• Lightweight 249g, No FAA Registration Required: This lightweight drone weighs under 249g/8.7 ounces, allowing adults to fly without the need for FAA registration. It is the ideal choice for hassle-free flights and easy portability.
• 20,000ft (6KM) Long-Range Transmission: Enjoy long-distance control and real-time video with the drone’s remarkable 20,000ft transmission range, perfect for easily capturing expansive landscapes and exploring further.
• GPS Auto Return & Intelligent Flight Modes: Equipped with advanced GPS functions, this drone for adults ensures safe flights with Auto Return Home and intelligent features like Follow Me, Waypoint Flight, and Circle Fly, perfect for creating dynamic 4K content.
• 1503 Brushless Motors for Stable Flight: The HS360E is powered by durable 1503 brushless motors, providing a quieter and more stable flight experience for adults, enabling smoother control while capturing incredible 4K footage.
• 4K EIS Camera with 1200W Sensor: The drone’s 4K camera, featuring Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) and a powerful 1200W Sensor, captures professional-level videos and photos, ensuring crystal-clear shots for all your adventures.

User experience

Thanks to the Class ‘0’ sticker, you can legally fly the Holy Stone HS360E in most countries without registration, a pilot license, or a Remote ID requirement. Of course, I recommend checking and following your local aviation authority’s rules (e.g., FAA in the U.S., EASA in Europe). Also, avoid restricted areas like airports, military bases, and national parks and always maintain a visual line of sight (VLOS). Respect the privacy of uninvolved people.

Without exaggeration, the Holy Stone HS360E can be piloted by anyone without prior experience with drones. You can have your first flight within 5 minutes of unpacking and installing the phone app. The drone is very stable and easy to control.

Except for a minor issue with the app, everything went okay during the two weeks of evaluation. Another thing that HolyStone should address is the auto-land function. During the range test, when the drone was about 2 km away from me, I accidentally pressed the landing button, and the drone, without any warning, started descending. As the video signal glitched, it could have landed in a tree or water and been permanently lost. Luckily, I noticed the altitude decrease on the remote control display, and I intervened in time, finishing the flight safely.

The gimbal-less 4K EIS camera provides decent image quality, but without mechanical stabilization, you can’t use the footage for professional work. The footage has many’ jumps’ in windy conditions or when you brake/accelerate. The camera allows tilt angle adjustments (from front to ground view ±90°), but the movement is sudden and not smoothly cinematic.

Active tracking or Image Follow doesn’t keep the subject perfectly centered. Still, the ability to draw a box around the desired subject in the HS Fly app and have the drone track it reliably is impressive for a high-quality beginner model.

Holy Stone HS360E vs HS360S comparison table

Holy Stone stands that the HS360E is an enhanced version of the older HS360S, designed specifically for adults. It has a 4K EIS camera for stunning image quality and smoother video stabilization.

You Can Trust Our Reviews!

Since 2014, FirstQuadcopter has reviewed, thoroughly tested, and rated hundreds of products, including drones, gimbals, power stations, action cameras, 3D printers, video lights, and other high-tech gear to help you make better buying decisions.

We don’t do paid reviews or agree to affiliate links. All products are tested fairly and equally, and if anything changes over time, I will update the written reviews.

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