If you are looking for a radio-controlled drone for children but do not want to spend a fortune, the Holy Stone HS210 mini drone could be the ideal solution, without giving up some flight functions typical of drones for adults. It is small enough to be taken anywhere, even if its natural environment is at home. Let's find out if it is worth it and if it is an entertaining companion for children, but also for adults who are just starting out.
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Package Contents
The Holy Stone HS210 arrives in a relatively small box that immediately makes it clear how small the drone itself is. The box is sturdy enough to protect the drone during transport and has an attractive but minimalist design. The interior is made up of two halves, the upper one containing the drone tied with a band and a plastic string that keeps it still in its support base. The lower half contains three small 250 mAh batteries with a proprietary connection, the charger to charge all 3 at the same time, a spare set of both front and rear propellers, screwdriver and propeller removal tool, instruction manual in Italian and category 0 certification that identifies the drone as a toy, so no licenses or permits are required for flight. Finally we find the radio control that must be powered by 3 AAA batteries (mini stylus) not included in the package.
Autonomy
The drone's batteries are very small and have a short cable with a square plastic clip on the end. The clip connects to the USB charger; it looks like a USB stick and can charge one battery individually or both at the same time. The USB connection potentially allows you to connect the charger to any device, such as a computer, a car socket or a power bank. The small size also allows you to keep both the batteries and the charger in your pocket or in a carrying case, therefore always having a spare available and the possibility of charging the batteries on the spot without having to wait to return home, although I emphasize that this drone gives its best indoors as it does not have any sensors.
In reality, to charge from zero, a battery takes from 40 to 60 minutes, and even if you can fly the drone while waiting, this does not correspond to the time required for charging, as each battery reaches a maximum of 7-8 minutes of flight, so you will only get 21-24 minutes of flight, finding the mini drone discharged before the batteries are ready. However, you can try to find replacement batteries to extend the range of autonomy (on various online stores you can easily find batteries with the same physical dimensions and technical characteristics). The charger is equipped with a charging indicator light for each battery, which lights up red during charging and turns green when charging is complete.
It may seem obvious to say, but it is right to clarify: the batteries must be inserted into the appropriate housing located on the lower side of the drone, inserting the clamp into the dedicated wiring. The battery in its housing fits perfectly and firmly. As for the radio control, to insert the 3 AAA batteries, you must remove the cover on the lower side, using the screwdriver provided to remove the screw, something that could be inconvenient for changing the batteries but which is actually designed for the safety of the little ones, preventing them from opening the cover and swallowing the batteries. Naturally, the autonomy of these depends not only on the use, but on the quality of the batteries themselves that you insert into the radio control.
First start
Once the batteries are inserted, you need to pair the controller with the drone. To do this, simply push the left joystick up and down. You can also calibrate the gyroscope of the Holy Stone HS210 mini drone by moving both the left and right sticks of the controller to the lower left corner of both sticks. An acoustic signal will notify you of the actual confirmation of the operation. Once this is done, you are ready to go, but first I will explain some functions of the radio control, which has some function buttons, including the automatic take-off and return button (you can find the button under the left controller).
By pushing the button once, the drone will start the propellers to take off, but by acting on the specific lifting command, while if you push the button when the drone is in flight, it will end its aerial adventures to land immediately. You can also make the drone take off from the palm of your hand, throwing it gently into the air.
Controls
The radio control, on the lower profile, offers the on/off button, a function that is also highlighted by the small red LED located centrally on the front. On the left we find the start/return button that I already told you about a few lines above and then the joystick lever, which by default has been set with lifting/lowering of the drone (up/down lever) or rotation of the drone (left/right lever). On the right we find the other joystick lever, which by default has been set with forward/backward flight (up/down lever) or left/right flight (left/right lever). It should be specified that the drone has a head and a tail and that for take-off, the HS210 must be positioned with the tail facing the pilot. You can make the left lever correspond to the forward/backward command and the left lever to the ascent/descent command, starting from the controller turned off, pressing the speed button and turning on the radio control and then releasing the button pressed previously. You can recognize the head by the fact that it is colored blue (in my case) and by the presence of the brand logo.
However, you can also control the drone without a head/tail and to do so you will have to press the button under the right joystick that will enable the headless mode, wait for the drone to beep and then press the same button again. On the upper profile we find on the left the speed button that when pressed switches from low speed to medium and high speed. By default the drone always starts at low speed, while by pressing the button you will recognize the speed level as a single, double or triple beep will be emitted. On the right we find the FLIP button, which if pressed allows you to make the Holy Stone HS210 mini drone perform a stunt, selecting the direction on the right joystick of the radio control. If you hold down the FLIP button and the speed button at the same time, you will obtain the emergency stop of the drone, to be used in dangerous situations.
But we also have some special functions, in fact if you hold down the speed button for 3 seconds, the mini drone will start flying in a circle. If instead you hold down the FLIP button for 3 seconds, you will enable automatic rotation, in practice the drone will start to fly in the air rotating continuously.
Quality and performance
The drone weighs next to nothing and feels quite flimsy, but while the plastic isn't very thick, it does feel sturdy enough. However, you should be careful when attaching and removing the battery, as the plastic can break if you apply too much force. The battery is also a bit tricky to remove, as the plug is tiny and you have to pinch the sides to get it out.
That said, the drone can hit walls and objects and fall to the ground without apparent damage. The propellers are surrounded by protective barriers, but if it were necessary to replace them, Holy Stone has provided two spare propellers for each color. As mentioned, the Holy Stone HS210 mini drone can be used indoors and this is highly recommended, as I tried to control the drone outside but at the slightest wind, it was uncontrollable, at least as far as flying adjacent to the pilot is concerned, while if you just want to fly it without performing particular trajectories then you can do so. Considering that the drone is a toy and therefore aimed at children (recommended age 8), I do not find this aspect totally negative, as a child will certainly not seek perfection in driving, but will simply be satisfied with seeing the drone hovering in flight.
The lightness of the drone means that it does not stay in position once lifted from the ground, so you will always have to "level" its position using the joystick, then continuously pilot it and this despite the company declaring that its HS210 can maintain altitude, but in reality the toy always tends to move, to go up and down and move on the various axes. The negative thing is that this affects the flight time. The maximum speed that the mini drone can reach is fun, even if I think that for small children, this can also be risky. In any case, once you become familiar with the controls, the HS210 is fun and easy to pilot, also taking advantage of the special features, such as 360 ° rotation, performing real Top Gun stunts. The headless mode is also excellent, for worry-free fun and if you are not sure of the orientation of the drone, preventing it from moving too far away from you, but if necessary you can proceed with the standard guide to practice and then aim for a more professional drone in the future, but in the case of the HS210 the range is 50 meters.
Conclusions and price
While it obviously doesn't have all the amenities that might be found in larger, more expensive products, the Holy Stone HS210 is a fun drone that can easily be used by the little ones in the family. It may be too light to be used outdoors, but that makes it a great option for indoor use on a rainy day. If you're looking for a cheap option for kids to play with, or you just need something small and simple to practice with, then this drone might be the one for you. In fact, the selling price is €35,99 by redeeming the coupon on the purchase page on Amazon, valid on the 3 available colors, namely red, blue and green. A great gift for the little ones and also fun for dads.
