Holy Stone HS160 Shadow Costs Under US$100: Just How Good Is It?

Founded in 2014, Holy Stone is a drone manufacturing company that has had a meteoric rise to success in recent years. They’ve done this largely by employing a smart strategy for their line of drones, opting to produce affordable entry-level products that are packed with useful features, while being compact and lightweight for easy transportation.

If you’re interested in flying a drone for the first time and want to invest in a quality machine that’s a step above the toy-grade level products, Holy Stone’s HS160 Shadow drone is one of the best on the market, and well worth checking out.

Featuring a foldable design, HD camera, and range of beginner-friendly modes and functions, it’s the perfect starter drone for anyone looking to enjoy all the fun that a quadcopter has to offer.

The HS160 doesn’t cost anywhere near the same amount of money as the popular DJI foldable camera drones, the Mavic Mini or the Spark, making it a fine choice for people looking to dip their toes into drone piloting without needing to spend a small fortune.

Key Specifications

Granted, the specs on the HS160 are good, but not as powerful as some industry leading products, which is often not a bad thing especially for the newbie pilot.

With a very affordable price tag, foldable design, and lots of features that let you learn all the fundamentals of drone piloting, the HS160 is one of the best entry level drones currently available.

Here’s a short 60-second introduction video from Holy Stone showcasing some of the features the drone has to offer.

https://youtu.be/1DgMDlwoetc

What’s In The HS160 Box?

Everything you’ll need to fly the Holy Stone HS160 Shadow drone is included in the box, as well as some additional bonuses such as a second battery.

1x HS160 Quadcopter 1x Dust-proof Travel Bag 4x Propellers 4x Spare Propellers 2x 3.7V 500mAh Batteries 1x Landing Pad

1x Remote Controller 1x Controller Phone Holder 2x Spare Controller Sticks 1x USB Charger 1x Screwdriver and Screws 1x User Instruction Manual

HS160 Design + Build

Perhaps the most eye-catching aspect of the HS160’s design is the fact that it’s foldable. Foldable drones are one of the emerging trends on the market due to the need for portability, so it’s great to see an entry-level model taking the initiative and implementing this in their design.

The HS160 has a sleek body and four plastic motor arms that fold underneath. When the drone is folded away it takes up virtually no space in a bag, and you can even fit it in your back pocket, so using it on the go doesn’t become a hassle like with many drones that don’t fold.

When folded, the HS160 Shadow measures 5.51″ / 14cm in length… 2.64″ / 6.7cm in width… and 1.18″ / 3cm in height… fits in the palm of your hand and can be compared to the same size as some smartphones.

The foldable design also improves the HS160’s durability, as the propellers are less likely to break off when transporting, because they are safely stored underneath the drone. In fact, the entire build is surprisingly durable for such a compact drone – it can handle a fair amount of wear and tear despite being so small!

The HS160 is mostly constructed from flexible ABS plastic, giving it a robust and durable build that remains lightweight at just 2.88 oz / 81.6g.

HS160 Camera + Video

Equipped with a camera at the nose of the drone, the HS160 is capable of recording 720p HD video at 30fps and take still images at 2MP.

Yet for such an affordable price it’s hard not to appreciate the quality on offer here. Most drones within this price range offer 420p at best – and in fact many don’t even include a camera, let alone one that is HD quality!

As mentioned, the HS160 drone is designed with beginners in mind, so while the 720p quality won’t result in professional quality video or photos, it’s certainly powerful enough for most people getting started with drones.

The camera is a welcome addition to the drone because it let’s you practice how to take videos and photos when flying. Beginners often overlook how challenging it can be to capture good photos and videos when first piloting a drone – and so the HS160 is the perfect way to learn all the basics of a camera drone without paying a ridiculous amount of money.

Plus, 720p at 30fps still gets you great video footage from the drone. Recorded video comes with great clarity and smoothness and you can record the footage directly to an SD card, which maintains a higher level of quality compared to uploading it to your phone.

One of the features we love most about the HS160 is the cool LED navigation lights on the front and rear of the drone, as well as the remote control indicator lights for indoor low level lighting flights and outdoor night flights.

HS160 Flight Performance

While the HS160 isn’t the most powerful drone, as you might expect given it’s smaller size, it is great fun to fly. You won’t reach the highest of speeds and may want to avoid taking it out on windier days, but the handling and overall flight performance is certainly impressive.

You can fly the drone indoors and outdoors… although most will want to use it outside to take advantage of the camera functions, so it’s good that the HS160 can handle calm and comfortable weather conditions.

Despite it not being as fast as some racing drones which are built for pure speed, the HS160 does boast decent speeds that bring a lot of excitement to flying. For example, there are four different speed settings allowing you to adjust the speed to suit your level of experience.

Beginners will want to stay clear of the highest speed settings, as these can be quite troublesome to handle if you’re new to drone piloting. The first two settings are especially useful for beginners, giving the chance to better understand orientation, turning, ascending and descending etc… and to get a better handle on photo and video operation at the same time.

HS160 Flight Modes

There is good a selection of flight modes included with the HS160, including all the staple beginner flight modes to help you come to grips with drone operation.

Headless Mode is ideal for this, allowing the pilot to direct the drone forwards and backwards regardless of its orientation. Usually, the forward direction of a flying drone is the same as the nose direction. By using Headless, you don’t need to keep remembering the nose direction and fly as the direction of remote-control lever, which is fabulous for beginners.

Another great mode for beginners and even experienced pilots is Altitude Hold. This allows you to automatically hold the altitude of the HS160 so you can easily capture a photographic or record a video.

Altitude Hold is especially useful for taking aerial photographs. You just set the HS160 to the desired height, use the hold function and then capture the perfect stills from the camera. It’s great for taking all kinds of amazing landscape photos… and even selfies!

Then there’s the One Key start and landing feature which does exactly as the description suggests… you press one button to make the drone start up, and the same key to make it land safely and steadily when ready.

Next is the Gravity Sensor Mode, a unique feature where the drone’s movements are a direct reflection of the position of your smartphone. For instance, tilting your phone to the right, turns the HS160 to the right, and so on. 

FPV (First Person View) streams a live video feed to your phone via Wi-Fi connection. This is a cool flight mode that lets you fly the drone using your smartphone to help navigate, although we found it does come with a few performance issues and the feed did drop out a couple of times during testing.

By way of example, the Wi-Fi range is around 30m, but the transmission distance from controller to the drone is around 70m, so flying the HS160 beyond the 30m mark does lead to video feed problems. Also, we found the downlink had a few seconds of lag, so the view from the camera was always behind, which can make capturing footage problematic when using your phone for orientation.

Instead, we’d recommend you look at the drone itself to get a better idea of orientation and where the camera is facing. It’s an unfortunate performance issue but one that thankfully doesn’t completely ruin the flying experience.

Finally, there is the 3D VR flight mode. This is a surprising addition for such an affordable drone, allowing the HS160 to be connected to a VR (Virtual Reality) headset for an immersive FPV. You do need a VR compatible VR headset for this to work but it certainly makes for one incredible flying experience.

HS160 Remote Controller

The HS160 comes with a remote control transmitter that requires four AA batteries to operate. It has an okay control range of up to 70m, so you won’t be flying the HS160 too far away from your starting position, but will still have plenty of range to take some great photos and video.

Controls are stable, smooth and very responsive, if somewhat tricky to learn to begin with, with the HS160 using a 6-axis gyroscope for improved accuracy when controlling the drone.

You can also attach your smartphone to the controller. This is a common option for many drone controllers these days, allowing you to use your phone to enhance your flight experience either by using FPV (First Person View) for a direct view from the camera or to use modes such as Gravity Sensor mode.

The holder is completely adjustable and should fit most modern smartphones, keeping them securely in place to ensure they don’t fall from the controller.

In terms of design, the remote control is quite standard, resembling a traditional video game controller with two control sticks at either side, shoulder buttons, and two d-pad controllers beneath the joysticks.

It fits comfortably in the hands and doesn’t feel too heavy or cumbersome, even with a smartphone attached. Joysticks make flying relatively intuitive, although a bit of practice may be needed for first-time pilots!

HS160 Battery + Charging

As with any drone, batteries can make or break your flight experience, so how does the HS160’s 3.7.V 500mAh battery hold up?

Well, as a modular battery goes, it’s durable and built to a good standard… but the one issue we have is with it’s 7-9 minute battery life. Now to be fair, this is quite common for an entry-level drone. But it can be frustrating for newbie pilots who are trying to master their flying skills.

The good news is that Holy Stone have included a second spare battery which essentially doubles the flight time to between 14-18 minutes… although it does means you’ll need to land and do a change over to get that outcome, which can be an inconvenience.

So providing you always have both batteries charged and ready-to-go then you can expect closer to around 15-minutes of flight time. This definitely helps with the lower charge time for a single battery, especially considering many drones in this price range only ever include just one battery!

Even then, we always recommend getting a few spare batteries so you can fly and capture footage for even longer. The fact two are included means there is less urgency to get another spare battery though.

Charging the batteries doesn’t take too long either. It takes between 50-70 minutes to fully recharge a battery (depending on how much is discharged), so you can have the batteries charged and ready-to-go at fairly short notice.

So, while the battery life could be better, the fact you get two batteries included with the drone and they recharge quickly means does make this a point most beginner pilots will probably be happy to overlook.

HS160 Usability

The HS160 is marketed as a drone that is perfect for beginners. It’s mostly true, with a host of features namely Headless Mode and Altitude Hold, making the HS160 a great drone for learning the basics of how to fly and take decent photos and video.

On the other hand, getting to grips with the general flight controls does take some practice if you’re not familiar with how to handle a drone. But of course that’s true of almost any entry level drone, and once you’ve clocked about an hour of flying you should find it easy enough to operate.

The HS160 has great stability and in-air handling, and the most trouble you’ll likely have is with turning and getting used to the orientation down, although you can use headless mode or gravity sensor mode for a more user-friendly flying experience.

As mentioned earlier, one area where the usability of the HS160 really shines is capturing photos and recording video. Because you can pick up the handling relatively quickly, the HS160 becomes the perfect practice camera drone.

You can use it to learn how to best frame your shots, especially when using altitude hold, while the smooth handling allows you understand the best speeds to use for capturing great video footage.

HS160 Price

The HS160 is available for a very competitive price, typically retailing for less than US$100. This is even more impressive when you consider it comes with a 720p HD camera, foldable design, two batteries, and a remote control transmitter.

In fact, you’ll struggle to find a drone that comes with the same features and specifications as the HS160. For instance, the DBPOWER X400W is cheaper, but doesn’t have the same camera quality, while the CoFight IN 1802 has a good battery but lacks the same handling and stability.

A huge selling point on the price is that you get two batteries. Yes, the batteries could perform better and give more flight time, but the fact that two are included means you’ve doubled the runtime from the get-go and don’t need to spend more money on a second battery, which is essential for most drones in this price range.

HS160 Final Thoughts

If you’ve always wanted to try out a camera drone but have no idea where to start, you can’t go wrong with the Holy Stone HS160 Shadow Drone. Equipped with a beginner-friendly camera, intuitive controls, and a range of useful features, it’s a great drone for learning all the basics.

Better still, it’s available for an incredibly reasonable price. Instead of falling into the pitfall of overpaying for a high-end drone despite having no flying experience, you should start off with a well-priced camera drone such as the HS160.

Perfect for learning the fundamentals of drone piloting and how to best take cool photos and videos, the HS160 is an ideal place to start your drone experience. Once you’ve had some fun and like what you see, you can then move on to bigger and better things!