Holy Stone X300C: The Drone That Lets You Fly A Space Ship

The Holy Stone X300C is a drone that is currently gaining popularity in the online market. This drone has incorporated both the primitive design strengths of recreational mini-drones and some of the great capabilities of professional drones for aerial photographing.

Just like anyone could guess, this being a product of The Cheerson Company, it also combines great exterior design with an anatomy that takes after the Holy Stone F181. However, it has a distinctively curved frame that resembles that of the starships in Sci-Fi movies and, somehow, it’s this design that gives it an identity in the market.

Product specifications:

Buy Holy Stone X300C on Amazon

Apart from being a work of art, it also puts on the table advanced capabilities that most drones costing $100 do not. Think of a quadcopter that has a 6-axis gyro, comes in a Ready-To-Fly state with an FPV controller and makes brushless flights that cost $100 only.

In essence, it is able to compare with many of the leading market players’ products like the Airbot, Parrot or even Walkera. In this edition, we will examine these minute and advanced features of the Holy Stone X300C.

Build specifications

Packaging

The X300C is often packaged in an RTF (Ready-To-Fly) state. Thus, it is able to take flights off the box (if the battery is well charged). Alongside the drone itself, you will find the following components in the packaging:

• The Holy Stone X300C drone
• A 2.4 G transmitter
• The FPV phone handling gear
• A battery (3.7V, 750maH)
• Goggles
• A USB charger
• 4 blades
• A screw driver
• A user’s manual

There is always a removable 2GB internal SD card that comes with the drone though it is not mentioned among the accompaniments.

Basically, this being an RTF quadcopter it is able to take on air just right off the box as long as the battery is charged. Thus, the packaged screw driver may actually not get its use immediately. However, it still serves a great deal when the need to customize the drone for efficiency emerges. E.g. you may need to fly faster when in the open field.

Such a move will require you to remove the prop guards in a bid to ease the drone’s weight. In addition, you may need to replace/repair the plane in case it breaks; and in such instances, the screwdriver will serve a greater service.

Note: The TX transmitter requires 3 AA 1.5V batteries that are not included in the drone’s package. So, make a point to buy them separately.

Design and durability

This quadcopter has a uniquely designed shape that takes after the generic starfighter plane in Sci-Fi movies. This design serves two great purposes: it firstly gives the X300C quad a unique look, and it also aids it to have an easier way to cut through the air.

The drone also comes in two main color outlines: a whitish (silvery) and a reddish design. Well, as you could expect, the silvery outlined is often the most showcased as it is the most sold quad.

However, I am not sure it’s really a wise idea to take the white option since it easily gets dirt after a few crashes; besides, I tend to think dark colors could cool faster than the brighter ones. Even so, painting causes no harm. There are two additional flashlights at the front that help the bot during night flights.

The plastic material makes the quadcopter seems durable enough to sustain most of the crashes that the drone may encounter. In addition, the prop guards also play a great role in protecting the drone when flying indoors. Nonetheless, you should be very careful not to crush the drone with the top as the propellers aren’t protected.

In case your drone may experience physical damages/breakages, you can always order spare parts at a cheap cost online and employ the screw driver.

The main shortcoming that will hinder this drone’s durability is just too much internal heating. If it will not be controlled well, it can cause the internal parts to burn up. Just like the F181, this drone too will require you to take lengthy breaks (of about 10 minutes) in between flights for better cooling. You will also need to avoid very windy regions as the drone is not so good in handling strong winds (winds exceeding 5mph).

Camera

The X300C quadcopter has a single fixed front camera of 2MP. Though this camera’s resolution is clearly quite poor, it provides a First-Person-View (FPV) and helps you to record videos and take aerial snaps where required. Videos and images taken by the camera can be stored into the mounted SD card or even uploaded directly to the phone. This eases piloting of the drone and makes it somehow applicable for commercial uses.

Even more, this is a very stable drone, easy to control and it has an added feature of Phase-Detection Auto-Focus (PDAF) which enables the camera to adjust with changes in speed. Thus, it is able to record live events.

Then again, considering its relatively high buying cost when compared with most recreational drones, it cannot serve just for fun. And its image lag of 5 seconds is poor for commercial use. Thus, it becomes a challenge to classify such a drone.

Battery & flight time

The drone comes with a single 3.7V 750maH battery that takes about 72 minutes to fully charge and drains in less than 10 minutes. This flight time can be lowered if you fly the drone in night mode and use an FPV control. In order to achieve a lengthier flight time, it is advisable to buy more than one battery and charge one battery as you use the other.

Either, you should always ensure you discharge the battery completely before recharging it again. This will ensure your battery lasts longer.

Controller

The controller of the X300C combines the strengths of the TX transmitter with an app to help in piloting the quadcopter. The drone initializes itself and broadcasts special WiFi signals that can be picked by the transmitter and the phone controller to ease navigation.

The TX controller gives you an easy-to-connect access via the manual controls and 2.4G connectivity. It also helps you to mark the altitude of the drone as well as the signal strength. On the other hand, the app helps you get the First-Person-View of what your drone hovers over.  The combination of both leads to great efficiency. But, if you want to find out more about the drone models with this feature, we suggest checking out our article about FPV drones.

Since it uses an app for control, very minimal training is required as all the controls are explained by both the users’ manual and the app itself.

To have a video review of the controls, watch them above.

Flight performance

The Holy Stone X300C is a great performer in the airspace. It is capable of making 3D rolls/spins, instantaneous swings, throttle and many other drone acrobatics. The automation of takeoffs and landings make it even easier to control. This drone has an effective control distance of between 50 and 100 meters and the 6-axis gyro and its unique design play a great role in the drone’s stability.

Despite all those great features, the drone’s flight performance is not totally devoid of shortcomings. The leading among them is the annoying lag duration of 5 seconds for the drone’s control signals. This means that it takes about 5 seconds between the time you press a control and the time the drone responds to the control. Some will undoubtedly find this quite annoying.

Despite that, this drone is really worth trying out. The flight features of the drone include:

• Flight control range: 50-100 meters
• Maximum flight speed: 5mpH
• Maximum flight duration: 10 minutes

Value for money & guarantee

The Holy Stone X300C costs between $90 and $110. That deal isn’t really too costly, but neither cheap enough when compared with the features of the drone itself. Based on a sincere opinion, this drone is a little bit overpriced. This is because it fits perfectly for recreational than for commercial usage. Given that most recreational drones cost less than $70, the $100 price tag seems quite exaggerated.

The drone also lacks a warranty from its producer. Nonetheless, most sellers will accept to replace the drone in case it arrives when in an incomplete or broken state. Some sellers may as well not give a cover at all. Therefore, the warranty of the drone depends solely on how well you strike the deal with your seller.

Unique features

The X300C has got the following 4 unique features:

• Three distinctive Flying modes: It has 3 different flying modes that are suited for uses in different levels. The Beginner mode suited for total beginners, the intermediate mode for experienced drone users and the headless mode for advanced users.
• A 360 degrees flip button: This will help you to make a 360-degree flip with a single button press.
• It also has a unique anatomical design.
• Goggles: they’re just for a fancy look.

Similar models/main competitors

The Hawkeye III

One of the best competitors to the X300C in the current market is, of course the Hawkeye III. Somehow, I find the Hawkeye III less attractive when compared to the X300C. Then again, the Hawkeye is a better performer than the X300C in the airspace.

This bot also uses WiFi connectivity and has an easy to use FPV that is much like the X300C. However, it costs only $80 which makes it more attractive to buy if you are working on a tight budget.

This drone takes about 1hour to fully charge and drains within 6-10 minutes of continuous use. While it has no preeminence over the X300C in the flight time, it surely takes a shorter time to charge. In addition, it is more stable on air and since it uses 4 signal control channels, it is very easy to control with an almost insignificant signal delay problem.

It can accelerate to a speed of 10mph which is almost double of the X300C. Since it does not heat much, it is also likely to stay longer than its counterpart.

Even so, the Hawkeye III has a great drawback in its 1MP camera resolution. As such, it takes very poor snaps and videos in comparison with the X300C.

When considering the two drones, the X300C has got the looks and a better camera (but more expensive). On the other hand, the Hawkeye presents a great piloting experience but fails in the quality of its camera. Though it’s not the best, this drone is surely a piece worth trying out.

If you interested you can check its price here.

The UDI U842 Predator

Once again, the UDI has released a drone into the market that will certainly amaze as much as it will perform. The UDI U842 does have a very attractive design coupled with a great performance. It is packaged in an RTF state and can take flight off the box.

The limited safe-control distance is 100 meters and it also uses the FPV control feature, much like the X300C, though, it has a more advanced camera resolution.

It is packaged with two 1000mAh batteries. The battery takes about 1.5 hours to fully charge and discharges with 6-10 minutes of continuous use. This drone is very easy to control since it also uses 4 signal transmission channels and 6-axis gyro stabilization. It is durable and it can sustain several crashes as well.

But this drone has a major drawback in that it takes a huge duration of time to fully charge and discharges too rapidly, unlike the X300C. Either, this drone costs a staggering $160 currently which is way above the X300C. Besides these two challenges, this drone is surely way better than the Holy Stone X300C. It is still new in the market; go ahead and get one. It is worth the cut.

Like this product? Then you can check the current deal for it on Amazon.

Eachine Racer 250

The Eachine Racer 250 is the perfect quad to replace the X300C. This is the good old “jeep” of the airwaves by design. Then again, I must admit it doesn’t look so cute; but it is a perfect both for drone racing and commercial photography.

It also comes in an RTF state when fully packed with an HD camera of resolution 800 X 480. It also has an FPV capability and it is very easy to control on air. In addition, it has an unmatched stability and agility that will certainly blow you away. Its safety control distance is 300 meters.

It is packaged with two batteries. The drone takes a maximum of 1 hour to fully charge and will discharge within 10-14 minutes of continuous usage. Though the flight time remains low, it is far better than the X300C.

Either, it can take snaps and shoot videos that can be uploaded instantly to a site of choice. Really fascinating features, both is its ability to shoot stable, and clear videos, even when moving at breathtaking speeds. It is a perfect drone for both fun and commercial use. You can get much more familiar with what this speedster has to offer by reading our Eachine Racer 250 in-depth review.

The Racer 250 is clearly above the Holy Stone X300C in almost all features. However, when contrasted with the latter, the only drawback could be the pricing. Since the Racer 250 is priced at around $350, which is more than thrice that of the X300C. Nonetheless, given the ability of the Racer 250, this drone is surely worth the huge cut. Several people spend over $1000 to get a racing drone. It is surely recommended.

Like this product? Then you can buy it on Amazon.

Overview

Let’s see some of the pros and cons that I could identify during the Holy Stone X300C review:

Pros:

• It is durable: this done is made up of strong plastic covering and prop guards that are able to sustain several crushes.
• It is stable: anyone who has used this drone will easily note hos stable its videos are and it is able to handle strong winds better than many other drones of its class.
• It has a fairly good camera: which can help you to take some aerial photographs.
• It is easy to use: this is because it has an FPV feature.
• It’s fancy: this drone’s design is something close to that of a Sci-Fi movie and the pair of goggles completes its fanciness.

Cons:

• It is quite costly: since it is more of a recreational drone, its $100 price tag is quite high.
• It overheats: this drone too, does have an overheating problem that may affect its durability.
• It slow in connectivity

On a scale of 5, the Holy Stone X300C deserves an overall rating of 4.6. It is great because it is durable, easy to control, stable on air and has a splendid design.

However, it still falls short mainly due to overheating and the slowness in speed and slowness to controls. Even so, it is still a great bird worth buying, don’t you agree?