Unboxing
The unboxing with this toy is fairly easy as long as you have a good pair of scissors. The Drone is secured in the box with a couple of zip ties for safe shipping, but the car is stored in a box separately. Be careful because it is a little tricky to find the very small detachable battery and USB charger for the drone. The small box is located in the cardboard packaging with the drone and camouflages as a garbage “support” so make sure you locate the charger and battery before discarding any packaging.
Once all the items have been located you should have 1 car, 1 drone, several sheets of instructions and the removable battery with charger.
The Playtime Experience
The Car from WowWee R.E.V. Car Vs. Drone requires AA batteries to operate and the Drone battery will require a full charge (about 1 hour). You will also need the associated app on your Apple or Android Device. The R.E.V. app is simple to download and walks you through setting up your equipment.
I didn’t really enjoy my playtime with this toy. Unfortunately, the phone has to “scan” the equipment in order for you to play with either the Car or the Drone. I say “unfortunately” because the phone almost always picks up the Drone first, even if it across the room. Also if you manage to get the application into game play mode you will be able to play a “battle” game. In this game the theory is you operate the car and shoot at the Drone before it shoots at you. However, the Drone cannot be simultaneously operated and it’s auto flight mode is completely crazy. My Drone went flying straight up about 15 feet to my vaulted ceiling which ended in a 15 foot fall for the Drone and scuffed propellers. As much as I tried to like this toy, I just don’t think the application does a good job of communicating with the toys quickly enough to offer good control.
Things I Liked
The design of the Drone and the Car is very nice. They both seem rather sturdy and durable. I like that they can withstand some rough play considering the app doesn’t give you great control. I also like the theory of the battle game, though I couldn’t get it to work well enough to actually play it.
Things I Didn't Like
The WowWee R.E.V. Car Vs. Drone is a good to, but paired with the application it is so full of bugs it is hard to enjoy. I couldn’t get anything to work properly long enough to play and I found that really frustrating.
Appropriate Ages
WowWee is recommending this R.E.V. toy for players 8-15. I would say that the Car vs. Drone could be a great toy even for adult use. If it worked correctly.
Final Note
For the expense of the WowWee R.E.V. Car Vs. Drone and the problems I had getting it to work. I am not likely to make this purchase again. This is the first time I have had issue with a toy from WowWee since I have previously been surprised and pleased with the robotics and drone toys from them. I was however, disappointed with my experience with the Car Vs. Drone toy.
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