Holy Stone HS450 Mini Drone, Remote Control Nano Quadcopter for Kids, with 3 Batteries, Throw to Go, Flips, Circle Flying, Altitude Hold, Christmas Gifts and Toys

I purchased this drone for my 5 year old to explore and have fun with both indoors and outdoors. It was the first drone purchased for the my child and I was concerned it wouldn't last longer than a day.I'm pleased to say it's been nearly a month and despite being constantly crashed, this little drone is still going like day one. It also survived being snapped out of the air by our dog (120lb. beast), tangled in my 5 year old's hair and accidently stepped on by the dog. The propellers have nice cage covers that are easy to remove with a twist n lock feature whenever I need to access the propellers directly. The plastic used for the cages and propeller frame are semi-rigid making it easy to bend back if they accidently get deformed. If brittle plastic was used that could not withstand deformation and the occasional bending back, this drone would've been busted a long time ago.I'm also pleased with the stability, responsiveness and ease of use of this drone. If you take the time to read the manual and learn about calibrating and trimming, this thing is very stable. The calibrating is easy and my 5 year old had no trouble picking up how to do it. Simply hold a button down for 2 seconds while the drone is on a flat surface and wait for the lights to stop flashing. Push and release the same button to go into headless mode where the same light begins to blink slowly. He's able to swap batteries and get the drone up and running with no problems. The trimming is a nice feature if the drone seems to be drifting. I only use it occasionally since the drone is usually very stable. Trimming is also fairly intuitive. You just hold a button down and push a control stick in the opposite direction you need to correct for drift. You can do this while it is in the air to see when trimming is no longer necessary.It's nice this comes with 3 batteries that are quick to charge with the two included charge cables and also quick to swap out on the drone. While I handle the charging of the batteries, my 5 year old can easily manage swapping the batteries on the drone during flights. We get around 20 minutes of fun out of 3 fully charged batteries. We look forward to bringing this outdoors when the weather gets nicer.

When I first flew this drone, I was going to give it a one star, simply because of the other drones I currently have. I quickly realized I could not compare it with my other drones…it is not in the same class. I felt initially it was boring, until I realized there was a speed button on the top left. Once I increased the speed, it was more fun to fly.What I like about this drone:For indoors, it is great to fly. The propellers are enclosed inside the guards. This is good when you bump into walls, or if you lose control of the drone. I believe this is a great starter drone for any beginner, but I also believe the age range should start at 8+ rather than 14+.What I believe needs improvement:Me personally, I do not like the feel of the remote control. It doesn’t feel as comfortable in my hands as the others. I also do not like the button placement on the controller. I think the take-off and land should be where the power button is, simple because you will be doing more interaction with the take-off and landing button. The power button is only used a couple of times when you fly this drone (at the beginning when turning it on and once you’re finished when turning it off). I also think the battery should fit a little more snug…there have been times when I pushed the flip button, the batter lost connection to the contacts (but it wasn’t often).Overall:Although I only gave the HS450 three stars, it is still an ok drone. It is great for flying around in the house or in the office. You don’t have to worry about your props damaging the walls if you bump it since the props are totally enclosed. I also think Holy Stone was generous by giving two batteries instead of just two.

The media could not be loaded. I have a few mini drones that cost about $80, and they're good, but they shouldn't cost that much. Then I found the HolyStone HS450 Mini Drone, and I regret buying all of the other high price mini drones. Just for about $30 the HS450 goes beyond expectations and absolutely dominates the category of Mini Drones.There's obviously some CONS like:- When you get the package, the lid doesn't shut all the way due to the plastic covering inside- The battery life is pretty short, so you should try to conserve as much battery life as possible- the hand operating system is quite confusing and hard to do at first, but I'm sure you'll get the hand of it- the rotating mode makes the drone drift off, so I WOULDN'T try it in a busy areaThat's basically all of the cons, they won't affect your experience, but it may get a bit annoying at times.Now for the PROS:- three batteries are included- the remote control is fantastic, doesn't feel cheep either, and the joysticks are really smooth- simple remote control, with only a couple of buttons, so very good for beginners- comes with two charging cables and charges VERY FAST- even if the drone crashes, there are 360 degrees propeller guards, so it'll be fine- all side sensors work really well- the flips are easy to do and works better than I expected- Obstacle avoidance is one of the best features, it helped me not crash into a bush once- altitude hold is great- headless mode is very useful- the "throw to go" works about 85 percent of the time- overall, its very small and easy to carry anywhereI REPEAT, THE BEST MINI DRONE I'VE EVER OWNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!