by 28 reviews.
Force1 Scoot LED Hand Operated Drone Review: A Fun and Safe Flying Toy for Kids and Adults
The Force1 Scoot LED Hand Operated Drone is a unique and innovative flying toy designed for kids and adults alike. With its vibrant LED lights, hand-operated controls, and durable webbed shell design, this mini drone offers a safe and entertaining experience for beginners. Whether you're looking for a fun indoor toy or a STEM learning tool, the Scoot LED drone promises to deliver hours of excitement. But does it live up to the hype? Let’s dive into the details based on real customer experiences.
Key Features
- Ultra-Bright LEDs
Features vibrant green and blue LEDs that light up during flight, creating a mesmerizing UFO effect. - Hand-Operated Controls
Uses motion sensors to detect hand movements, allowing users to guide the drone without a remote control. - 360° Rotating Flight
Equipped with powerful motors for smooth, multidirectional flight and obstacle avoidance. - Durable Webbed Shell
A protective cage design ensures safety for hands, walls, and furniture while preventing damage to the drone. - USB Rechargeable
Comes with a USB charging cable and offers 8 minutes of flight time on a 50-minute charge. - Award-Winning STEM Toy
Recognized with the 2020 Mom's Choice Award Gold Seal for excellence in kids' products.
Pros and Cons: What Customers Are Saying
1. Fun and Easy to Use
One of the standout features of the Scoot LED drone is its simplicity. Customers love how easy it is to operate, making it perfect for kids and beginners. One reviewer shared, "My 4-year-old had no problem getting it started. You can just drop or toss it, and it’ll right itself and start hovering." The hand-operated controls and motion sensors make it intuitive, even for young children who might struggle with traditional RC controllers.
However, some users noted that the drone’s flight can be erratic at times. "It sort of meanders around the room, changing height and direction by itself," mentioned one parent. While this adds to the fun, it can also make the drone feel less controllable.
2. Safety and Durability
The webbed shell design is a major selling point for parents concerned about safety. "The cage protects hands and furniture from the propellers, and it’s lightweight enough to avoid causing damage," said one happy customer. The drone’s obstacle avoidance feature also helps prevent crashes, though it’s not foolproof. "It does a pretty good job of avoiding objects, but when it bumps into things, it’s pretty gentle," noted another reviewer.
That said, some users raised concerns about the cage’s effectiveness. "The fans might seem enclosed, but my fingers slipped through the slats and got cut," warned one customer. This issue is particularly concerning for younger children, whose smaller fingers could easily get caught.
3. Battery Life and Charging
The Scoot LED drone’s battery life is a common point of contention. With just 5-8 minutes of flight time and a 30-50 minute charging period, many users found the experience too short-lived. "It’s fun, but the battery life is disappointing. You play for 5 minutes and then have to wait half an hour to charge it," complained one parent. While the USB charging is convenient, the lack of a swappable battery limits extended playtime.
On the bright side, the charging process is straightforward. "The USB cable and charging light make it easy to know when it’s ready to go," said a satisfied customer. Just be careful not to overcharge it, as one user learned the hard way: "I had one bust because I overcharged it, and it wasn’t covered under warranty."
4. Build Quality and Repairs
The drone’s lightweight design is both a blessing and a curse. While it feels delicate, it’s surprisingly durable in most cases. "We had a couple of crash landings, but it kept working fine," shared one reviewer. However, others reported issues with the drone breaking or malfunctioning after minimal use. "Mine cracked one of its stands instantly, and after a few flights, it started flipping over and thrashing around," said a frustrated customer.
Repairs can also be tricky. "A single strand of hair wrapped around the rotor can bring it down," warned one user. While the drone comes with a mini screwdriver for maintenance, frequent repairs can be a hassle.
5. Entertainment Value
Despite its flaws, the Scoot LED drone is undeniably fun. "It was the present everyone wanted to play with after all the gifts were opened," recalled one parent. The vibrant LEDs and UFO-like flight patterns captivate both kids and adults. "Even I had fun with it because it can do tricks," admitted another reviewer.
However, the short battery life and occasional malfunctions can dampen the experience. "It’s perfect for a 4-year-old, but it only lasted a few hours before it started flipping all over and stopped working properly," lamented one customer.
Final Verdict: Is the Force1 Scoot LED Drone Worth It?
The Force1 Scoot LED Hand Operated Drone is a fun and innovative toy that’s perfect for young kids and beginners. Its hand-operated controls, vibrant LEDs, and durable design make it a hit at parties and family gatherings. However, the short battery life, occasional malfunctions, and safety concerns with the cage design are notable drawbacks.
If you’re looking for a simple, entertaining drone for kids, the Scoot LED is a solid choice—just be prepared for its limitations. For more advanced users or longer play sessions, you might want to explore other options. Overall, it’s a great introductory drone that delivers on fun but falls short in durability and battery performance.
Rating
3.5/5 Best For
Kids aged 4-8, beginners, and casual users looking for a fun indoor toy.
Specification Force1 Scoot LED Hand Operated Drone for Kids or Adults - Hands Free Motion Sensor Mini Drones, Easy Indoor Flying Orb Ball Small UFO Toy for Boys and Girls (Green/Blue):
Comments from Amazon:
My two-year old nephews love these! So does the whole family because of how clever they are. DO NOT OVERCHARGE THEM. They operate fine at a less than full battery. I had one bust but couldn't return it because it was in the instructions to not overcharge. Easy to figure out; had to buy extras so both nephews could have one.
I bought this for my 4 year old, figuring he'd play with it also with my almost 6 year old. Neither of them is particularly good with video game or RC style controllers yet so this seemed like a good solution to still have fun with a "drone". Charging is easy - it has a USB with a charging light and a tiny barrel connector on the other end. When the light goes out, the drone is fully charged and ready to go. This seems to take around 30 minutes plus or minus. The drone itself has a center light that doubles as a status indicator. Flashing red and green means it's calibrating itself. Solid green means ready to fly. Blinking red means it needs to charge. The unit itself is fairly small, maybe the size of a DVD and a few inches thick. The entire thing is caged so it's safe to hold and be near when flying - it's not going to nick anybody and you can't easily get your fingers in a prop (even if they're little fingers). It's surprisingly lightweight and feels a bit delicate but not flimsy. The actual flying is super easy. You really can just drop or toss it and it'll right itself and start hovering. My 4 year old had no problem getting it started. The drone seems to rotate slowly when flying which gives a cool UFO effect with the outer lights. It will sort of meander around the room changing height and direction by itself if you don't interact with it. It does a pretty good job of avoiding objects and when it does bump into things, it's pretty gentle and just lightly bounces off. We had a couple crash landings and could just pick it up and toss it to get it flying again. When flying, it does make a loud angry mosquito noise, which is pretty typical for any smaller quadcopter. There are a few negatives, as with most products. The flight time is only around 5 minutes, and the battery is not swappable, so you can play for 5 minutes and then have to charge for 30 to fly it again. This isn't terrible but it really limits your interactions with the drone since there's literally no way to play with it for longer, and I worry it may be forgotten about or set aside before long. The battery must be really tiny given the overall light weight. The flight is kind of erratic at times and on our first flight, the drone wandered into a small bathroom, crashed, tried to fly behind the toilet, and popped off a propeller. We had to rescue it and it wasn't immediately obvious a propeller had come off. It would then flip upside and fly in one direction only and was pretty much unusable. After studying it closely, we noticed the missing prop and I went to track it down (it's small!). My wife was able to repair it and we were back in business. The motion sensors work well and you can "push" the drone back and forth which is fun but it doesn't always do what you want. There's a bottom sensor you can use to make the drone go up and my kids chasing it around tends to make it rise out of their reach (they're short) so instead of controlling it, it kind of flies away from them, which is still fun but doesn't make them feel like they're in control of it. I still think the price and simplicity here are a total win for young kids. They can do it without help and it's amazing and fun to watch it really fly around and the cage and obstacle avoidance makes it pretty safe. You could argue it's not a "real" drone like the more advanced quadcopters because you only sort of control this one, but it's about all kids in the preschool-ish age range can handle. I wish it had more battery life and that the sensors were more effective but I'd expect to pay twice as much. A drone exactly like this but much larger (say 12-16" diameter) would be hilarious fun.
Starts of great but within a few hours I couldn't ignore all these issues. Safety: This is the biggest issue for me with these. The fans on this might seem enclosed but that only barely works for Adult sized fingers and my fingers easily slip through the slats. Any kid's finger will easily fit between them and mine got cut immediately when they caught it. Cue the tears and band-aid. They could have used a mesh instead especially as it requires you to constantly be picking it up or touching it while it is on. If it lands upside down, it will keep spinning until you pick it up and rotate it. Breaks easily: Mine cracked one of it's four stands instantly. But that was not the biggie here. Repairs R Us: After the first 4 flights of this, it started acting strange. It wouldn't fly and would simply flip over and manically thrash around and I would have to carefully pick it up for it to turn off (again watch your fingers). I immediately knew that it meant that 1 of it's 4 rotors was compromised. Get your tiny screw driver sets ready. I removed the case and was able to access the rotors and sure enough, two of the rotors had a strand of hair wrapped around their base. I removed those and it started to fly again but was back to misbehaving again almost immediately due to the same issue. So 1 strand of hair will bring this bird down or stop this from working. Yep! After my third hair removal service, I gave up This might be fun to start with, but my experience was to shelve it within a few days of use as it was just frustrating.
Bought it for friend's kid for chirstmas. 4 year old loved it and had a great time. The toy comes with a few spares in case things break but overall haven't needed it yet and durable. Even I had fun with it because apparently it can do tricks. Def would recommend as a simple toy.
Perfect for a 4 year old. Even fun for a 37 year old. Unfortunately after a few hours of use it started flipping all over and hasn’t worked properly since. No hairs stuck or hard falls. I would be tempted to order another of if this thing even lasted us a week and not just a few hours of Christmas.
This was a hit with the kids on Xmas morning with the kids. They literally dropped all other presents and played with this toy for hours. The battery life is not good yet they still loved it and waited patiently for it to charge each time. Really happy with the purchase.
Charges quickly but doesn’t have a very long running time. Happy with the build, it kinda has a flexible “cage” around it to protect it. Fun to use, flys well. We got this for my sons birthday present. It was the present everyone wanted to play with after all the presents were opened.