money If You Want Professional-Quality Vids and Photos When You Travel, You Need This Drone
With the world opening up to travel again, I was ready to start trying to find cameras that would show the wonders I’d be seeing to their best advantage, despite my poor photography skills. For me, that meant a new phone and— finally—a drone. The trick was going to be finding both devices that could deliver the quality I deemed acceptable within my budget.
Purchasing the drone was particularly challenging because it not only had to be capable of excellent quality footage, but it also needed to be able to travel well. Drones tend to be a bit delicate, yet also fairly large, and even the lighter-weight ones at about two pounds were heavier than I wanted.
So the first criteria I used to narrow down my options were that the drone had to weigh around a pound, it had to fold up for travel and it had to have a protective case. Unfortunately, most of the drones that fit those criteria were not very high quality. They either lacked features or weren’t capable of shooting the best videos and images. In fact, the Holy Stone HS720 was the only one that had everything I wanted.
Holy Stone HS720 Foldable GPS Drone with 4K UHD Camera
There's a reason this budget-frinedly drone has earned a near perfect rating backed by over 6,000 glowing reviews on Amazon.
Buy Holy Stone HS720 Foldable GPS Drone with 4K UHD Camera at Amazon, $290
It has a 4K camera with image stabilization, so I knew the visual quality would be excellent. Plus, it can rise up to 3,000 feet, which allows it to capture truly panoramic views that just aren’t possible with drones that can only rise up to half that distance. Best of all, the Holy Stone HS720 drone comes with an extra battery, so you get a total of 52 minutes of flying time.
It has all the other bells, and whistles, as well. It automatically returns when the battery is low, it has one key start and stop. Altitude hold and an electric fence make it easy even for beginners to control.
To get all of that and more in a drone that weighs just a hair over a pound and comes with a very well-padded case plus extra battery, for under $300 seems like a miracle. And Amazon is still offering it with a $20 coupon applied at checkout. Really, there is nothing more I could ask for in a travel drone.
MORE FROM SCOUTED:
Scouted selects products independently and prices reflect what was available at the time of publish. Sign up for our newsletter for more recommendations and deals. Curious about a specific product or brand? Let us know! If you buy something from our posts, we may earn a small commission.
Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.
Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
