Recently I was lucky enough to attend the Star Wars Propel Launch event in Sydney and got to preview all three of their drones. If you’re a Star Wars fan, these toys are an interesting release this year as they’ve created a drone for three well known Star Wars ships. These include the Star Wars 74-Z Speeder Bike, Star Wars T-65 X-Wing Starfighter and the Star Wars Tie Advanced X1.
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When flying them, the drones do look quite like the famous Star Wars ships. I had thought initially that they would move more like helicopters because of their done setup. But surprisingly when you do fly them, they do look pretty good in the air and can move back and forth rather well. It was explained to me while there that the propellers on the drones are made to be transparent rather than coloured so that when they spin, it’s hard for the eye to see them. I couldn’t really see them at all when the drones were flying so it does give the appearance that the ships are flying on their own (without propellers). I spent a good amount of time with both the T-65 Wing Starfighter and the Tie Advanced X1 models and was impressed with how they manoeuvred.
At the event there was a short presentation from a few people from Propel who demonstrated and explained what types of things these drones could do. Interestingly, if you know a few people who own one, you can actually create your own battles. Each of the drones comes with a LiFi capability, which is a mode of data transfer that is faster than WiFi and functions by transmitting light. With the LiFi added to the drones, they were able to use the technology to allow the ships to fight each other. Basically you can shoot another ship with your drone and if you hit the other ship, it will recognise it as a ‘hit’ and this will be recorded as a point. Points are recorded in battles using the Propel app, which players also use to learn to fly the ships as well.
I found all this to be interesting, having not really flown a drone at all myself, it was a fun experience learning to fly one for the first time. If you’re a Star Wars fan, then this is certainly something that’s appealing. They will however cost you $199 for the standard edition and $299 for the collector’s edition. If you do choose to buy one, they are really the same ships and drones as far as I could see, but the collector’s edition does come with an extra nice box and is quite well presented. There’s a little surprise when you un-box it, in that Star Wars music will play. Your ship will be nicely presented in a clear case and mounted on a stand, which are things that don’t come with the standard edition purchase.
I thought I’d include a little of the product details for these drones and they’re as follows:
· Batteries: 4 AA 1.5v alkaline batteries (not included) for wireless remote control
· Charge time: 30-40 minutes average
· Run time: 6-8 minutes
In my view the products were impressive. There’s an app you can use which will teach you the basics of flying, so you don’t break them when you first get it. The ability to battle other people who have drones is also an interesting option. Depending on your budget, these might be a little expensive for some, but it is quite an advanced toy. If you’re looking to just have the drone and have some fun and really want this, I’d recommend the standard edition over the limited edition set. They’re a lot of fun to fly and kids will really love playing with them, but keep in mind the battery time for each use, which I think is the only limitation these toys have. If you’re buying this for a kid, you’re going to spend a lot of time charging it back up for them.
With Christmas coming soon, these will likely be popular toys and a common ask from kids who are Star Wars fans. If you’re buying one of these, keep in mind flying these about does require a big area, your backyard might be okay, but I do recommend taking them to a park to fly instead as it also will help you to not crash it into walls or fences at first (although the toy is quite durable, I wouldn’t recommend doing it). If you’re learning how to fly them, more space is always good.