KOBOTIX Real Racer XR RC car review – fun but flawed

REVIEW – Should you’ve ever pushed a 500+ horsepower automotive, you understand that you simply’re a sneeze away from a harmful and/or costly wreck with out ability and focus. A couple of years in the past I spun out a rented Dodge Challenger with a observe package on the streets of Las Vegas and fortuitously all I broken was my pleasure. Perhaps you even have the itch to race, however aren’t snug with that sort of hazard? KOBOTIX might need simply what you’re on the lookout for of their KOBOTIX Actual Racer XR RC automotive! 

What’s it?

The KOBOTIX Actual Racer XR RC automotive is a small RC (distant managed) automotive. Beforehand you possibly can stream a “first particular person view” from the digicam constructed into the automotive in your cellphone or pill (and even in a headset viewer that makes use of your cellphone because the display screen). They’ve simply added a Meta Quest 3 app that permits you to get even deeper into the fantasy of driving your personal race automotive by simulating a digital cockpit and letting you management the automotive with VR controllers. 

What’s included?

• Actual Racer Automobile
• 2.4 Ghz Pistol Grip Controller
• Rechargeable Li-Po Battery Pack
• FPV Headset
• Battery Charger
• Instruction Handbook
• Mini Screwdriver

Tech specs

Design and options

There are two shade selections on KOBOTIX’s website for the KOBOTIX Actual Racer XR RC automotive: Royal Blue and Lava Purple. They ship me the crimson one, and I believe it seems nice. Moreover the digicam hump up high, it’s a fairly sporty trying little automotive. The outside is plastic, and so they even promote different shade shells like Stealth Black and Cosmic Silver. 

From the facet profile you’ll be able to see how outstanding that digicam hump is, in addition to how the wheels are secured by a normal Phillips screw (although they’re small ones, the included mini screwdriver will work to switch them if wanted). 

On the underside you’ll be able to see the battery entry panel and the on/off change. The battery panel is secured by a small screw, which retains it secure and safe however means you might want to hold observe of that small screwdriver and cope with the trouble of a screw each time you need to recharge the automotive. 

The automotive is just below 6 inches lengthy, and is fairly mild as effectively. 

There are not any exterior LEDs, I want that the automotive at the least had crimson taillights and LED headlights – you possibly can then drive in darker rooms and extra simply see opponents in the event you get 2+ of those to race with pals or household. 

The included headset feels mild and cheapish, however not a lot in order to simply break. The straps keep securely in your head, and the optics are ok to race with, although after testing it for a couple of laps with an iPhone 13 I used to be glad to take it off and stow it within the field to by no means be used once more. 

The padding was snug, and the cellphone stayed securely in place. 

Dials modify the position of the cellphone, which is held in a cradle in entrance of your eyes whereas in use. Should you’re getting this to race in FPV mode although, you’ll need to skip the headset and go straight to a Meta Quest headset in the event you can. 

The included 2.4 Ghz controller is sweet, I discovered it to be responsive and had no points controlling the automotive this manner – I’m used to this type of controller from a number of different RC car opinions now. 

Up high you might have steering and throttle trim controls, facet buttons to take images or movies (onto a micro-SD card-not included), and a giant crimson energy button. 

Meeting, Set up, Setup

The charger is a USB-A charger, with an LED mild to point charging standing.

The battery itself had a problem the primary time I went to unplug the charger: the darker crimson plastic piece within the picture above pulled out of the battery housing so I used to be tugging instantly on the wires themselves. Fortunately I noticed that earlier than yanking them out fully and it nonetheless works, however I’ve to watch out now to grip the darker crimson piece when attaching/detaching the connecting wire. It will render the automotive unusable if I kill this battery, and replacements don’t appear to be accessible on their web site. 

Efficiency

For all the flaws talked about so far in my evaluation, I did nonetheless have a blast doing the precise drive testing of the KOBOTIX Actual Racer XR RC automotive. I began by simply driving round the home with the included 2.4 Ghz distant, and it’s an incredible little indoor RC automotive with applicable pace and turning for typical rooms in a suburban home, although you will get comparable RC vehicles for less expensive in the event you don’t care in regards to the FPV capabilities. 

I then tried out the app on iOS and with the included headset (once more utilizing iOS with the cellphone within the headset). Each labored with out hiccups, although I didn’t discover the headset expertise to be very immersive or snug. The lag wasn’t dangerous, nevertheless it was simply perceptible sufficient to forestall racing with quick reactions on an impromptu course I arrange. I then tried out the XR expertise on my Meta Quest 3. The video under reveals the setup course of after which a few laps of testing, with video of the automotive itself driving round on the finish. If you wish to skip the app setup simply soar to the 1:00 mark for the precise driving:

As you’ll be able to see, KOBOTIX did a great job of making a enjoyable automotive inside that you simply work together with and added sound results for the engine to present you audio suggestions on how a lot throttle you’re giving the automotive.  You possibly can steer with the two.4 Ghz distant or with Meta Quest controllers (you “grip” the digital wheel in entrance of you and steer by turning), and the view forward is a low-latency FPV view from the automotive. This appeared like there was much less lag than with the iOS app, nevertheless it did undergo from repeated drops in picture high quality and artifacts and error messages saying that Wi-Fi was poor. The automotive was doing this at a distance of 8 toes or much less from me, so Wi-Fi stability doesn’t appear to be the most effective. In my tight (and cluttered) workplace, I did have to start out and cease and even make some 3 level turns, nevertheless it was nonetheless lots of enjoyable.

That mentioned, the method of getting the automotive and headset out, organising a observe of kinds, beginning up the VR app, connecting to the automotive, and eventually driving for a most of about 20 minutes (I by no means acquired greater than 20 regardless that they promote as much as 25) felt like lots of work for somewhat enjoyable. The barrier to entry is simply excessive sufficient that I doubt I’ll pull it out fairly often sooner or later. If I had a second automotive to race towards household or pals, it is likely to be a unique story. 

What I like in regards to the Actual Racer XR

• Fairly low latency on Meta Quest 3
• Good dimension and pace for indoor use
• Racing in VR is enjoyable, the included controller is sweet as effectively

What must be improved?

• Battery connector rapidly popped out – I fear about this failing
• An exterior USB-C charger on the automotive could be MUCH higher – and/or USB-C on the battery packs themselves
• Battery compartment wants a small screwdriver to take away that will be straightforward to lose
• Additional batteries aren’t accessible on the web site at time of evaluation
• Poor video streaming efficiency, even at shut vary

Remaining ideas

Whereas I had enjoyable reviewing the KOBOTIX Actual Racer XR RC automotive, by the top of it I can inform it’s a kind of devices that I’ll not often take the time to drag out and arrange – it’s simply sufficient of a trouble that it’s going to deter me from future classes until nieces or nephews need to drive it. Even then, the utmost 20 minutes runtime I get signifies that at household gatherings every child will solely get a couple of minutes if we need to give all of them a flip. I like all the concepts that Kobotix goes for with this RC automotive system, and it most likely makes extra sense for a somebody with extra time or ardour for creating indoor race tracks after which driving them. The battery points are additionally worrying to me – I may see the cables pulling out and stripping from contained in the battery itself, which is able to render the entire automotive unusable till I order a brand new one. If the concept of driving round your own home or condominium in FPV view in somewhat race automotive is in your wishlist although, you must most likely take a look at the KOBOTIX Actual Racer XR RC automotive!

Value: $150
The place to purchase: Kobotix and Amazon
Supply: The pattern of this product was offered without cost by Kobotix. Kobotix didn’t have a closing say on the evaluation and didn’t preview the evaluation earlier than it was revealed.