Lenovo - Star Wars™: Jedi Challenges - AR Headset with Lightsaber Controller and Tracking Beacon - Black

The headset weight is a drawback for younger player. Foam eye cushion came off in first week of playing. Great graphics and exciting light saber duels. We got a second unit when it came on sale.

Being in the emerging technologies field, I have had the opportunity to test many different systems involving Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). The Star Wars Challenges VR system is a great introduction to AR for those who don't want to sink $1,000+ in a VR system and a high-end PC. This phone-based system takes the concept introduced to the public by the likes of Google Cardboard to the next level with the addition of a tracking beacon that orients the in-game graphics and your visual space to the real world, giving you a motion-sickness free experience that you soon lose yourself in. The three different types of games you can play provide hours of entertainment, which include a chess-type game, a battle strategy game, and the one you will purchase this for, the light saber battles. They are all designed to cater to your activity level, allowing you to pull up a seat in the middle of the floor for a thinking game of Holochess, get down on the floor to move your live-action battle, or break into a sweat fighting the likes of two Crimson Guards as you slash, block, duck right, slide left and duck under their onslaught, as well as many other enemies including Droid Troops, Grand Inquisitors, and the dreaded Darth Vader. In all, the cost of the system is worth the amount of entertainment you will receive, especially with some of the sales Best Buy has on the systems (I purchased mine at 50% off). At the discounted rates, and the recent release of a multi-player battle mode, It may be worth picking up two systems. PROS: - A wide variety of game play - Very stable, so no worry about motion sickness - The "hologram"-type graphics fit well to the plot, so you don't notice the resolution - Portable; You could play it outside on a nice clear night! - The developers are continually improving the gameplay - Setup is easy no matter what phone you use CONS: - The AR headgear is front-heavy, reducing the play length of any one session - Tested on seven different adults, and four children, and all wished the strap near the back of the head could be lower to help with the balance, but the design stops the strap at the top of the ears. - While the battery life of the lightsaber and tracking beacon are long, the app puts high-demand on your phone, which causes much heat and will have your phone battery running low before anything else. - There is no easy way to clear alerts or messages you may get on your phone during the game, so you have to disassemble the headgear to clear an alert. (I find putting it in airplane mode before playing reduces some of it, but the low-battery alert still has to be dealt with)

My kids love this game. My 6 and 9 yr olds have played it. My 9 yr old does better but with the 6 yr old it involves a lot of parent assistance which drives me crazy since I’m not into playing games. The graphics are pretty neat though. It can be confusing to play with the chess like games and navigating the menu. My 9 yr old figured it out after I was just done with it. The 6 yr just wants to fight people. Lol. I wish there was just a basic play fight option rather than this real game of trying to figure things out. The 6 yr old doesn’t do well with that. They do have a lot of fun though. My only other concern is how hot my iPhone gets! It wears down the battery fast and typically when it pops up low battery on my phone, they finish, but when I take my phone out of the headset, it is really hot! I worry about long term damage to my phone.I wish there was better ventilation to the phone while it was in there. I have the iPhone 6s. It’s a pain anyways because I have to take my phone out of the case to put into the headset which worries me. My iPhone was expensive and I never like it out of it’s case. It would be better if this could use an older 4s instead since I have a spare. If you have an older smart phone that’s compatible with this, I would recommend it, but if you are using your main more expensive smartphone, I wouldn’t recommend it. You really won’t want to hassle with it. Another thing is since you are using your phone’s screen to play through the headset, any texts or alerts that pop up stay up the whole time and display on the play screen. My kids didn’t really care but that would drive me crazy. When the low battery alert pops up, it’s right in the middle of the screen which is why they stop playing. Otherwise you need to slide the cassette out of the headset which holds your phone and push the button to get rid of the alerts.

I had really low expectations going into this, which may color my review. Also, I used an iPhone 7+ for this. You probably need a beefy phone for the best experience. (I'm curious how a Galaxy S8 looks since it's a higher resolution screen) Setup is a PAIN! Not only is the caddy that you slip the phone into very delicate and hard to open, but the on-screen instructions for the AR app are very poorly done. It's not immediately obvious how to proceed to the next screen when setting up the device. Also, the USB plug doesn't seem to always register a connection. Despite the setup issues, the floaty/jittery tracking, and a controller which has to be frequently re-centered during gameplay--I have to say this is a really amazing experience. The games are VERY well made, and cleverly deal with the limitations of the hardware. Obviously the light saber battle game is the centerpiece. The other two games are cool but are kind of annoying to play standing up.

I found one of these in stock at my local store and had to pick it up. Downloading the app and setting it up were straightforward (this does require a compatible smartphone). The headset and light saber controller are comfortable and relatively sturdy. I have had issues on and off with the whole AR environment "spinning", but I think this is coming from my phone, not the headset. Give yourself plenty of space, and take on your favorite Star Wars baddies in virtual light saber duels. The "strategy" games are kind of fun, and the control feels surprisingly intuitive. If you are a Star Wars fan and enjoy virtual/augmented reality games, give this one a try.

Mom bought Lenovo's Star Wars Jedi Challenges for the young adults coming for the holidays, expecting they'd set it up. After opening the box & reading the instructions, however, mom took a leap of faith and downloaded the Jedi Challenges app onto her iphone. Within the hour, with the ball unit on the living room floor, the visor over her head & eyes, she was pointing that light saber all over. I couldn't see anything, but it was great holographics, she said. She was able to do a few things in the game, but most aspects of the game she gave up on--we both assumed that was because she wasn't a gamer. We didn't get around to pulling out this unit for the nephews, but Mom's been saying she wants to get back to it--which ends up being a good recommendation for both this Lenovo unit and the Jedi Challenges app.

Very cool VR game. Ran it a few times with my iPhone X. Games is awesome, however, set up kind of stinks. Set up documentation is lacking a bit. Walk through the app BEFORE you put the phone in the headset!!!! Even go past the title screen. Also, be very careful putting the phone in adapter, first time I did my Zagg screen protector got caught on the one metal slide adjuster and ripped/cracked the protector (had to replace). Make sure the metal slides are back and also bend the plastic open a little more to give it space so you don’t caught on that dang thing each time. Other note is that the phone gets very hot, after about 45 mins of gameplay my phone showed the overheat warning so we were forced to stop. Phone was very hot when I took it out. If you can get by these issues, game is intense!! Would still recommend to any SW fan of any age!

I will start with the negative - Sales person told us that my Galaxy Note9 was compatible even though the box didn't list my phone...they were wrong, so after spending a lot of time trying to load everything to use my phone finally found it was not going to work. Luckily my wife has the Galaxy S9, which although not listed on the box, is listed on the website as compatible. After a great deal of frustration, and talking to a useless tech support person, I have it workings. now, the positive...it is awesome. The graphics are so real, the audio is great, the many different types of battles you can do are beyond fun, and many turn out to be a great work out as well. Overall, I rate the fun and game a 5 but overall a 4 due to all the difficulties.