Review: WowWee Lightstar

Written on Sep 28, 2009 by Brian and filed under Reviews, WowWee

WowWee’s Lightstar is a hovering remote flight vehicle with a few twists, including light effects. Lightstar has an internal battery that gives it up to four minutes of flight time, and comes in three colors and channels so three Lightstar’s can be flown at the same time.

WowWee Lightstar Features

• Hovering flight
• Glowing LED effect on bottom and side
• 10-minute charge for up to 4 minutes flight
• Three channel options – up to three can fly together
• 1-channel digital IR scroll wheel remote controller
• Made for indoor use
• Comes with two spare propellers

Flying Lightstar

Lightstar works just like other WowWee flight vehicles. It charges off the remote control; roughly 10 minutes of charging will yield four minutes of flight time. WowWee has modified the connection some, it’s not a single round port, which is great. Prior versions were more difficult to connect, meaning most kids required parental help. That’s no longer the case, kids can easily plug and unplug the charging cord.

After you have a full charge, set Lightstar on the floor and give it power by scrolling the wheel up. Lightstar easily takes off any hard floor and we had good success even on carpeted surfaces. As more power is given to Lightstar, the higher it will go. There’s no lateral control, this is strictly a hovering vehicle. It hovers very well though, we followed the instructions and shut off the fans and AC unit to provide as still an environment as possible. We were easily able to control Lightstar, often running it out of battery before crashing.

You will crash Lightstar though; it’s inevitable. The unit is well constructed though; the leading edges are wrapped in foil to give the wings extra durability. WowWee also includes two backup propellers in the event those become damaged. We didn’t run into this problem, but with enough use I can see a prop getting banged up enough to require replacement.

Evidenced by the name, Lightstar comes with two lights, one LED in the base and another on the wing. Both provide for cool visual effects, especially in the dark. While I can’t say the lights added a lot to the play value during the day, they do make it a treat for kids to play with in the basement or other dark spots.

WowWee recommends Lightstar for kids 8 and older, but we found the controls and recharging to be so easy, that kids down to 6 had no trouble and really enjoyed flying it. Without the lateral controls, Lightstar is very easy to control and running into walls, pets and other obstacles doesn’t happen as much as with other flying vehicles we’ve tested.

For a suggested retail of $20, we find it impossible to complain about anything with WowWee’s Lightstar. This is their bread and butte type product and it shows. Everything is well thought out, simple to operate, and perhaps most important, it’s cost effective. We recommend Lightstar for kids down to 6 years old and think girls and boys will get a kick out of the product. And of course, parents might enjoy a flight or two as well.

Editor’s Rating – 5 out of 5 stars – Editor’s Choice

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