Holy Stone HS600D review: a much-improved model that's still far from perfect

Holy Stone has made some impressive ground in the past year with the launch of its best drone to date, the HS900. But like most drone companies, time never stands still and the release of the Holy Stone HS600D delivers yet another beginner drone to a burgeoning market where the consumer is increasingly spoilt for choice.

So, whether you're looking for the best camera drone, the best beginner drone or the best non-DJI drones, you can be sure that there's a model that fits your requirements and budget perfectly. The HS600D is an upgrade on the HS600 and brings with it upgraded performance and an improved camera. The question is, is this enough to stave off the fierce competition within the beginner drone market?

That's a question we'll aim to answer throughout the review but for now, let's take a look at the basics. The HS600D is a mid-size and mid-weight drone similar in these regards to the DJI Air 3S. Sure, it's nowhere near the level of this hugely impressive drone, but it costs less than half the price so no surprises here.

The HS600D can capture 48MP photos, 4K videos at 30fps and offers features including timelapse capture, vertical shooting and subject tracking among others. Plus, being a drone of its size and weight means that it has more power than sub-250g drones, so it can be flown in stronger winds than these smaller and lighter models.

Holy Stone HS600D: Specifications

Holy Stone HS600D: Price

The HS600D was released in late 2024 and is currently only available from Amazon in the United States. Holy Stone typically releases new models in the US first with availability in other regions shortly after.

The HS600D kit costs $570 / £458, which is expensive and puts it at a higher price than many beginner drones with superior cameras, including the Holy Stone HS900, so this could potentially be an issue. However, at the time of writing you can enjoy a 40% discount on amazon.com using the code Y4WJFL26 at the checkout.

The HS600D kit includes the HS600D drone, a controller, two batteries, phone connection cables, USB-C cables for battery and controller charging, a spare set of propellers and a shoulder bag to carry everything.

Holy Stone HS600D: Design & Handling

The HS600D looks similar to its predecessor, the HS600, with the most obvious difference being the 3-axis gimbal on the HS600D which is an upgrade from a 2-axis gimbal. Both drones also incorporate Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) and the HS600D video is as smooth as you'd expect thanks to the combination.

The HS600D features a simple folding design where the propeller arms fold out horizontally taking the drone from 7.95x3.74x3.27in / 202x95x83mm when folded to 14.76x10.16x3.27 in / 375x258x83mm when unfolded for flight. Two legs on the front propeller arms need to be folded down to lift the front of the drone during take-off and landing; when the propeller arms are folded in, the large propellers sit parallel to the sides of the airframe.

The build quality of the drone is good and can’t be faulted overall, although it doesn’t have the same quality look and feel as many other drones at a similar price point. The gimbal and camera housing are also made of plastic, which isn't an issue but again makes the drone feel like a less premium product. The drone also weighs in at a fairly hefty 21.03oz / 603g, so it's more restricted than sub-250g models.

The HS600D controller is one we've seen before with other Holy Stone and Veeniix drones and appears to be based around the DJI RC-N2. The DJI controller is of a much higher build quality, but while the HD600D controller has a more plasticky feel, it does have a simple screen for displaying basic flight information.

It also has a telescopic phone holder at the top where the phone cable can be stored when not in use, and the control sticks can be removed and stored in rubberized compartments at the bottom of the controller. Then there are There are also seven direct access controls to make operation more convenient.

The controller and drone take around 40 seconds to pair each time one or both are switched on. You'll also be prompted to calibrate the compass most times when the drone is switched on, but this only takes around 15 seconds to complete so it's quick and easy but something to be aware of.

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Holy Stone HS600D: Drone Performance

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The HS600D flies well and the controls are smooth, but it's fair to say the controls lack the precision of control found in DJI and Potensic drones and even the Holy Stone HS9000. In terms of features, however, the drone is fairly generous and there are several functions available that beginners will undoubtedly enjoy and appreciate, including built-in Remote ID for US pilots to meet FAA requirements.

Like most, if not all camera drones, the HS600D features GPS to allow it to maintain a hover. It certainly works although there is some horizontal and vertical movement. GPS also allows for other useful features and these include GPS Follow Me, which uses the GPS signal from your smartphone to track you and Return to Home (RTH) functionality where the drone can be set to autonomously return to the take-off point at the touch of a button.

Return to Home also includes Failsafe RTH and Low Voltage RTH, which return the drone automatically when the signal to the controller is lost and when the battery charge is low. There's also Optical Flow Positioning for times when a GPS signal is unavailable, but this is a crude downward-facing sensor that's better than nothing but can’t be wholly relied upon.

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HS600D shooting modes include Panorama, Time-lapse and Slow Motion video. The latter two are easy to use and effective, but when creating panoramas, which are also easy, the photo is only available on your smartphone with low-resolution dimensions; these vary from photo to photo but are around 2346x633px rather than being saved on the drone's microSD card at a higher resolution.

A feature that does work well is AI Subject Tracking where the drone follows the selected subject with the camera. The caveat here is that the drone either remains in a hover or you have to fly it manually if the subject is moving, so it's not the full subject tracking feature the name suggests. This makes it better for tracking moving subjects other than yourself for obvious reasons.

There are also Quickshots automated flight patterns, Gesture Selfie and Selfie Video, Camera Filter and portrait format capture. For portrait format capture, a 9:16 format 4K video is captured while a landscape format image is captured on the microSD card; the upright photo is saved to your smartphone in 9:16 format in 4K dimensions. It's a bit of a mess getting your photos with how they're sometimes saved with some features, but it's not the end of the world once you're aware of the quirks.

The 3500 mAh LiPo batteries are advertised to provide up to 40 minutes of flight. Testing of the drone was conducted in UK winter temperatures around 32°F / 0°C, so flight times were much lower at around 25 minutes. In warmer months, battery life would naturally be extended so it wouldn’t be fair to comment on battery life at this stage but it's still respectable given the cold temperatures.

Holy Stone HS600D: Camera Performance

The HS600D camera features a 48MP Sony 1/2.3 in CMOS sensor and a fixed f/1.8 aperture. Additional camera Information is unavailable, but the equivalent focal length of the lens is undoubtedly wide-angle like most single-camera drones.

The camera itself is pretty much point-and-shoot to capture photos and videos. The only adjustments available are for white balance, contrast, saturation, sharpness and brightness with the brightness control being the most useful for applying exposure compensation. Settings can be reset to their defaults at the touch of an onscreen button.

Photos and videos are captured on the microSD card that's inserted into the drone and also on your smartphone. Photos are captured at 48MP with 8000x6000px dimensions when saved to the microSD card in the drone, while the same photos are saved to your phone in 3840x2160px (4K) dimensions. Video is captured at 4K 30fps when saved to the microSD card while 720p 30fps is sent to your phone. It's pretty basic, but the main thing here is that 4K video is captured at 30fps.

The image quality is OK, but it can be inconsistent in terms of colour, sharpness and exposure. Closer subjects always appear sharpest, while there's an obvious depth-of-field fall-off when shooting deeper scenes. This is most apparent in photos and less so in videos because the drone is typically moving. Video quality is also much more forgiving than in photos where the JPEG processing is noticeable.

Holy Stone HS600D: Verdict

The Holy Stone HS600D is ultimately a basic beginner drone, but one that's larger and more powerful than what is typically released in this category. For some, the additional power will allow for flights in stronger winds than smaller drones, but this will have to come at the expense of image quality when compared to similarly priced drones.

The drone does offer useful features including time-lapse, slow-motion video, panorama and GPS subject tracking among others, so there's plenty there to keep beginners happy. The ability to capture 48MP photos and 4K video at 30fps is certainly useful, but the limitations of the camera could drive pilots towards the competition.

Alternatives

Holy Stone HS900

The Holy Stone HS900 is Holy Stone's best drone to date and is a far more impressive drone in all aspects despite being a less expensive sub-250g model. Read the full review...

Potensic Atom

The Potensic Atom is a less expensive sub-250g drone, even for the Fly More Combo option. It also offers more features overall and a significantly better camera for capturing photos and videos. Read the full review...