The Holy Stone HS720E is a decent beginner-friendly and entry-level drone with more than a few features found in drones around this price.
But this drone, like any other, may have issues. It’s uncommon, but considering its lower price, nothing is impossible.
So here we are, ready to troubleshoot everything we know that can go wrong with this drone.
Therefore, if you have an issue with your HS720E, let’s find a solution together.
Cannot connect with Holy Stone HS720E, range issues, or the controller disconnects
The linking process is one of the most common issues with Holy Stone drones.
Sometimes, the controller simply does not want to link with the drone, and in this case, with the HS720E, or the phone does not connect to its WiFi.
Remember that the drone and RC use a radio connection while your phone WiFi is used to connect for live view mode. These are two separate connections.
After you have purchased this drone, you should have received a standard controller (no specific name) that will work with the Ophelia GO App on your phone.
Most phones are compatible with this drone, but keep in mind that it has to run on 5.8 GHz, and it is recommended to have the WiFi version 802.11ac.
As this may be the reason for linking problems, we recommend you link your drone with another mobile phone to see if that fixes the issue.
In the worst-case scenario, we do recommend contacting Holy Stone customer support. There could be a slight chance the drone’s WiFi module does not function properly.
If you cannot fly further than a few meters before either the drone loses signal to the remote controller or you’re simply not allowed to, here’s what can be the issue.
Your HS720E can be in beginner mode. This will restrict you to a maximum distance of 15 meters, so you cannot fly the drone far away. This option can be disabled by going to the drone settings on the top right corner (within the app) > Safety > Uncheck Beginner Mode.
Note: The HS720E can be flown no farther than 1000m or 0.62 miles, which is far below what other drones are capable of.
If you can’t fly farther, there are no issues with this drone’s range – that’s just how it works and the drone’s limits.
The Ophelia Go is the main app to use with your Holy Stone HS720E. However, a lot of people have been complaining that the app is poorly customized and has a lot of issues.
So, if you have problems with the drone disconnecting, we recommend you have a look at an alternative app, such as the M RC Pro App, available both on Android and iOS.
I would give the same recommendation if you are struggling to connect with the drone in the first place.
If you still have issues with either connecting the drone to WiFi or keep having poor range, here’s another solution.
- Turn off your phone’s mobile data and/or go into Airplane mode
- Manually turn on the WiFi (while airplane mode is still on)
- Try to connect with the drone with Ophelia Go. If that doesn’t work, use M RC Pro.
This was the solution for many drone pilots, where some of them had range issues while others were unable to connect at all.
» MORE: Holy Stone HS720 Camera Not Working (And How to Fix It)
SD card does not work
One of the most common issues with this drone is that you cannot see what you have recorded on the SD card with the drone, and/or the SD card is simply not recognizable.
If, for some reason, you cannot see what you recorded, try to take the SD card out and put it on a computer. See if that fixes the issue, and you’ll be able to see your videos.
Keep in mind that the Holy Stone HS720E supports Class 10 U3 SD card with a capacity no higher than 128 GB, which should be formatted in exFAT if above 32GB and FAT32 if below.
But to format it, you’ll have to put your SD card in an adapter, connect it to a Windows or Mac computer, and follow the process from there.
As most SD cards nowadays are even 256 GB and up, it may be yet another common mistake to simply put an SD card that is not supported by the drone.
If that is the issue, we have a good recommendation list of what SD cards work best with the HS720E
» MORE: Best SD Cards for Holy Stone HS720E
Note: After you have landed your HS720E, stop recording before turning off the drone. Doing the other way around may corrupt the video file, which is one reason why you may not be able to read it.
Video lag on the live feed
This is not as common an issue as it was before, but if you have video lag when flying the drone, there are a few fixes or possible reasons why.
- The first issue can be related to the Ophelia Go App. It was often raised that pilots have a bad experience and video lag when flying the drone with their official app. One of the easiest fixes should be to have the M RC Pro app installed as well and try that.
- The second issue is related to interference. The HS720E does not have a solid signal to penetrate high interference areas, especially in places with many 5.8 GHz devices, such as WiFi routers. While range is an issue here, video lag is prevalent.
» MORE: Holy Stone HS720E Camera Settings (Explained)
The drone drifts when hovering
One other common issue with this drone is the hovering stability.
Basically, when the HS720E is up in the air, it starts hovering chaotically, moving from left to right or up and down without any stick input.
That means the issue we have to focus on is HOVER.
Firstly, check the GPS level. If the drone doesn’t acquire enough satellites or none at all, you cannot use many functions, but that’s not all.
With the advancement of global positioning satellites, drones depend a lot on their accuracy and number to hover.
That’s why most of the time, if you want to fly this drone indoors, it starts drifting a lot, as usually indoors, you have issues acquiring satellites.
Your drone should lock on at least a couple of satellites to ensure accurate hovering.
Also, interference and metal structures can have an impact on the drone gyroscope and GPS lock.
The next thing to check if you have issues hovering is to ensure the drone is calibrated correctly.
More modern and expensive drones have higher quality and newer technology, so calibration is rarely needed.
But the HS720E is not one of them. That’s why it is recommended to calibrate the compass before every flight, which is the reason why it drifts when hovering.
Gyro calibration would be the second one to look into. The compass and gyro work together with GPS for good drone stability and orientation when flying.
The calibration process can be found on the sensor status in the drone settings.
» MORE: How to Fly Holy Stone HS720E (Explained for Beginners)
The drone won’t turn on
This may not be easy to comprehend, but there could be a real issue behind why your HS720E won’t start.
But before panicking, let’s check together and see all the possible reasons why this drone simply refuses to start and if there are any fixes.
The battery may be dead
The first reason why your drone won’t start can be directly related to its battery.
The HS720E batteries are bulky and heavy and do not have much juice in them, at least not compared to DJI batteries. Sorry, Holy Stone, that’s the reality.
But battery failure is pretty standard, mainly if you stored the drone for a few weeks or months with the battery empty. That would almost guarantee battery failure.
In this case, the solution would be to try with the second battery and see if that works. I just hope you didn’t store your drone long-term with both batteries depleted (as I did with another drone, unfortunately).
As a note, if you plan to store the drone for the long term, the battery should be at around 70-72% power level. No more, no less, which is the equivalent of 7.4-7.6 volts per your holy stone battery (3.7-3.8v per cell).
» MORE: How to Safely Dispose of LiPo Drone Batteries
The drone could be damaged
It doesn’t have to happen after a crash, but let’s remember, the HS720E is decent but a cheap drone and does not compare with the more expensive DJI drones, so it’s not that reliable.
On that matter, the flight controller can be fried, rendering the drone useless.
Here’s a question: the drone won’t turn on at all, not that it won’t start flying, right?
If the drone doesn’t want to fly, but it does start, there’s an entire line of reasons behind that. For this reason, we recommend you check the following article
» MORE: How to Fix My Holy Stone Drone that Won’t Start?
But if you’re looking for more in-depth information on why your Holy Stone HS720E drone won’t turn on, here’s another article we recommend reading
» MORE: Holy Stone Drone Won’t Start: Here’s What to Do
Holy Stone HS720E does not fly long
Who doesn’t want their drone to fly for as long as it can?
But the HS720E does not fly long. As advertised, they tell you it flies for 46 minutes when you buy it new. That’s the total flight time with both batteries, where you should get a maximum of 23 minutes per battery.
In reality, you should get around 18 minutes, but this can vary depending on many factors.
For instance, if you fly in high winds, the flight time can be decreased significantly.
How you fly the drone (slow, fast, more aggressive approach) can also impact the flight time.
But let’s say that you should get around 15 minutes of flight time in optimal conditions and land the HS720E with 20-25% battery left for safety reasons.
If the conditions you’re flying in are okay, but you get much less flight time than this, then we can relate to the battery capacity. For some reason, it may not hold as much current as before.
Try with the second battery and see if this changes the situation. Most of the time, it should.
The main reason a battery decreases its performance is you either stored it for a long time, or you have used it too much already.
If you have 50 or more flights, you should start noticing minor decreases in battery performance. This would be more prominent as you have more flights with that battery.
There’s no information on how many cycles the HS720E battery can last before complete deterioration. But we expect to be somewhere between 150 to 400 cycles, so I aim to assume it’s towards the lower-end number of cycles.
