WowWee Lumi Gaming Drone Toy is a small Drone that is a lot of fun!
Introductions
The first thing you need to do after plugging in the battery, is download the app. The app is how you control the Lumi Drone. Once you have a charged battery (the battery has an LED indicator so you know when it is finished charging), you simply plug the battery into the Drone and turn on the Beacon and you are ready to roll. You do need a screw driver to take off the cover to insert batteries into the Beacon and the Drone also has a screw to secure the battery. I have never tightened the screw on the Drone and it has not been a problem (proceed at your own risk, though).
Once you have everything on, you open the app. I am using an iPhone to control the Lumi and when you first open the app, it searches and finds your Drone. At that point you are met with 3 choices for flying, a library of you past video recordings, and settings for naming your Lumi, calibrating it, tutorials, and language options. You can also disconnect from the Lumi on this screen.
"Free Flight" - This screen will allow you to use the Beacon to help fly the Lumi (easy mode) or you can fly the Lumi without having it use the Beacon. I have flown it both ways and at this point, I like to use the Beacon, I have flown it outside in Advanced mode and because of wind conditions, it is easier for it to get away from you. The screen also has a trick menu, which is where the real fun begins. You get the following options:
Flip Backward
Spiral Down
Spiral Up
Sway Left Right
Sway Back Forth
ZigZag Down
ZigZag Up
The tricks are very responsive, but if you fly the Lumi in the house, make sure you give it plenty of room, especially in the "flip backward" mode. It can get a little out of control, so the more room the better. We fortunately have a sunroom and garage, so I have had it in rooms without expensive art or TVs hanging from the walls. If you fly indoors, make sure you are able to easily hit the emergency landing button because it may be the thing that keeps it from hitting something valuable. It should be noted that I have flown it into walls, flipped it into a chair, and it has crashed onto a field stone patio and it hasn't shown any signs of wear and tear. The thing is very resilient.
One option in the Easy Flight mode is to have it follow the Beacon. You simply clip the Beacon to your mobile device and it will follow you around. I have taken it outside and back into the house and it works great. In all of the modes, they also give you a convenient video button so that you can record the Lumi in action.
"Lumi to the Beat" is another mode. This is similar to some of the "Rock Band" style games that show you colors and you hit corresponding buttons. In this mode, the Lumi will show one of four colors on the top and you hit the corresponding color on the app. When you are hitting a bunch of correct buttons, the Lumi will do some of its tricks. When you start missing, the Lumi will eventually land and the game will end. One cool part is that you can choose a song to have on in the background while you are playing. It is really a lot of fun. However, if you are outside or in bright sun, you may have a hard time seeing the LED colors, so it is best to play in dim lighting, if possible.
"Build A Choreography" is probably my favorite part of the app, other than Free Flight/Trick Mode. This allows you to pick a song from your music library or Lumi's song and build a flight around the song based on the timeline. You simply drag tricks into the timeline and you can even save the routine. Once everything is ready, you hit play and (as usual) you also have the option to capture a video of your routine (from your phone, the Lumi does not have a camera). It is so cool to be able to hit one button, have music play in the background and watch the Lumi put on a show.
I should mentioned, that the last update to the Drone (that I have tested) was on September 22nd , so I haven't had a lot of time with the Drone since the last update, but the few times I tried flying, it was a much better experience. For example, after the prior update, when I tried to playing music in the app, it simply would not play. I also had issues where it flew straight up in the air and hit our vaulted ceiling and had to hit the "kill switch" to get it down. The last couple of days, I have not experienced any issues other than it hitting furniture on the back flips, but I don't think there is a way around this other than giving it a lot of room. The good news is that if it hits something, it usually lands and, so far, I haven't had anything get damaged.
If you only have a small room with valuable vases to fly the Drone, I wouldn't recommend it. However, I really like flying it, so I am basing my review on the fact that I have open rooms that it can excel. I have flown it in confined rooms, but I wouldn't recommend doing backflips unless you have decent height and space in front of and behind the Lumi. In any event, it is a lot of fun if you are careful.
Once you have everything on, you open the app. I am using an iPhone to control the Lumi and when you first open the app, it searches and finds your Drone. At that point you are met with 3 choices for flying, a library of you past video recordings, and settings for naming your Lumi, calibrating it, tutorials, and language options. You can also disconnect from the Lumi on this screen.
"Free Flight" - This screen will allow you to use the Beacon to help fly the Lumi (easy mode) or you can fly the Lumi without having it use the Beacon. I have flown it both ways and at this point, I like to use the Beacon, I have flown it outside in Advanced mode and because of wind conditions, it is easier for it to get away from you. The screen also has a trick menu, which is where the real fun begins. You get the following options:
Flip Backward
Spiral Down
Spiral Up
Sway Left Right
Sway Back Forth
ZigZag Down
ZigZag Up
The tricks are very responsive, but if you fly the Lumi in the house, make sure you give it plenty of room, especially in the "flip backward" mode. It can get a little out of control, so the more room the better. We fortunately have a sunroom and garage, so I have had it in rooms without expensive art or TVs hanging from the walls. If you fly indoors, make sure you are able to easily hit the emergency landing button because it may be the thing that keeps it from hitting something valuable. It should be noted that I have flown it into walls, flipped it into a chair, and it has crashed onto a field stone patio and it hasn't shown any signs of wear and tear. The thing is very resilient.
One option in the Easy Flight mode is to have it follow the Beacon. You simply clip the Beacon to your mobile device and it will follow you around. I have taken it outside and back into the house and it works great. In all of the modes, they also give you a convenient video button so that you can record the Lumi in action.
"Lumi to the Beat" is another mode. This is similar to some of the "Rock Band" style games that show you colors and you hit corresponding buttons. In this mode, the Lumi will show one of four colors on the top and you hit the corresponding color on the app. When you are hitting a bunch of correct buttons, the Lumi will do some of its tricks. When you start missing, the Lumi will eventually land and the game will end. One cool part is that you can choose a song to have on in the background while you are playing. It is really a lot of fun. However, if you are outside or in bright sun, you may have a hard time seeing the LED colors, so it is best to play in dim lighting, if possible.
"Build A Choreography" is probably my favorite part of the app, other than Free Flight/Trick Mode. This allows you to pick a song from your music library or Lumi's song and build a flight around the song based on the timeline. You simply drag tricks into the timeline and you can even save the routine. Once everything is ready, you hit play and (as usual) you also have the option to capture a video of your routine (from your phone, the Lumi does not have a camera). It is so cool to be able to hit one button, have music play in the background and watch the Lumi put on a show.
I should mentioned, that the last update to the Drone (that I have tested) was on September 22nd , so I haven't had a lot of time with the Drone since the last update, but the few times I tried flying, it was a much better experience. For example, after the prior update, when I tried to playing music in the app, it simply would not play. I also had issues where it flew straight up in the air and hit our vaulted ceiling and had to hit the "kill switch" to get it down. The last couple of days, I have not experienced any issues other than it hitting furniture on the back flips, but I don't think there is a way around this other than giving it a lot of room. The good news is that if it hits something, it usually lands and, so far, I haven't had anything get damaged.
If you only have a small room with valuable vases to fly the Drone, I wouldn't recommend it. However, I really like flying it, so I am basing my review on the fact that I have open rooms that it can excel. I have flown it in confined rooms, but I wouldn't recommend doing backflips unless you have decent height and space in front of and behind the Lumi. In any event, it is a lot of fun if you are careful.
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