Which tablet for Holy Stone drone?

McBlue · Jan 6, 2023

Hi Folks...
I'm looking at getting an 8" tablet to use with my HS720G drone. Any one here have experience of tablets with Holy Stone GPS drones? I've been having trouble with devices not seeing the WiFi from the 720G, I don't want to be caught out again with a tablet that is not compatible. I've been looking at the Lenovo Tab M8.

Thanks, Brian.

Bushy the Beerman · Jan 7, 2023

I have the 720E but I think the difference is just in the camera mounting.
You need to make sure it has 5 GHz wifi - The drone uses 2.4 GHz to communicate with the hand controller but 5GHz for the App device.
Don't confuse 5 GHz with 5G - different things
Also be aware of the gape on the clamp holding it to the controller may not hold an 8" tablet - I use velcro to attach my phone to the antenas. Velcro is a good plan anyway - allows more room to access the buttons on the top edge of the controller and you are less likely to get that "boing" sound and see your tablet skidding down a hillside to certain doom.

McBlue · Jan 7, 2023

Thanks for the reply bud...
Yeah, 5GHz, but have not been able to find specs on devices listing this. Anyway, I've decided to go with the 8" Samsung Galaxy A7 Lite Tablet, as I have an old Samsung tablet and phone that both work with the drones WiFi, so surely a model that only came out 18 months ago will also work. I'll post back next week after it has arrived.
I thought I would figure something out later about getting the tablet to fix to the controller. Either buy an adaptor, or make a bracket, or something. Thanks for the tip about Velcro, I'm thinking that could work.
Kindness
Brian.

McBlue · Jan 18, 2023

Well I can confirm that the 8.7" Galaxy A7 Lite tablet does work with the HS720G WiFi. The connection speed is much faster that my old tablet, with the delay of the picture feed from the drone being maybe a third of a second, as opposed to the 1 or 2 seconds I was getting. The screen aspect ratio is a bit wider than other 8" tablets I looked at, which makes it good for the Fly app - which was designed for the wide ratio of phones.

I can't vouch for the other features and performance of this tablet, but as a drone screen I'm very happy. Brightness seems good, but I've yet to try it in bright sunlight. It's a little heavier than I hoped, but in first tests the weight was not noticed. It's too thin and slippery as usual, so a silicone cover was added to give the controller more grip on it. I went for the model with the phone cellular inbuilt - SM-T225 - as opposed to the T220 without. I thought it might be handy for map updates in the field. I found a good one on eBay for £90.

I made a little bracket to simply extend the controllers phone holder. It does the job and holds the tablet well, I made it as tight and snug as possible. However due to the weight of the tablet I'm not sure I trust it completely, so planning to add some Velcro straps for backup.

Brian.

Bushy the Beerman · Jan 22, 2023

McBlue said:
Well I can confirm that the 8.7" Galaxy A7 Lite tablet does work with the HS720G WiFi. The connection speed is much faster that my old tablet, with the delay of the picture feed from the drone being maybe a third of a second, as opposed to the 1 or 2 seconds I was getting. The screen aspect ratio is a bit wider than other 8" tablets I looked at, which makes it good for the Fly app - which was designed for the wide ratio of phones.

I can't vouch for the other features and performance of this tablet, but as a drone screen I'm very happy. Brightness seems good, but I've yet to try it in bright sunlight. It's a little heavier than I hoped, but in first tests the weight was not noticed. It's too thin and slippery as usual, so a silicone cover was added to give the controller more grip on it. I went for the model with the phone cellular inbuilt - SM-T225 - as opposed to the T220 without. I thought it might be handy for map updates in the field. I found a good one on eBay for £90.

I made a little bracket to simply extend the controllers phone holder. It does the job and holds the tablet well, I made it as tight and snug as possible. However due to the weight of the tablet I'm not sure I trust it completely, so planning to add some Velcro straps for backup.

Brian.

Or perhaps since the tablet appears to be in a casing, perhaps attach a safety lanyard so if it does fall it only drops a few inches.