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.

We bought this for Christmas for our son's big gift. Such a disappointment for our 12 yr old Star Wars fan! All day long we tried using a recently updated iphone 7plus (labeled approved), but it would get hung up on connecting the headset, telling us to: "Please wait- Searching for headset..." We followed the app installation instructions exactly in specified order. After trying our Samsung Galaxy J7, and one other (we knew those weren't approved), but still same hangup error. We figured we got bad hardware??? We immediately exchanged it this morning Dec 26, at our 12 yr olds plea, but once again are having the same exact problem with the second set. We have called Lenovo, but they just sent us to a website: help.starwars.com. The customer service and website are useless- and did not address our problem. We are sad and frustrated, and feel this should not have made it on the market. Now searching for a new gift idea. No more Lenovo for us.

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)

Does not work, after charging both lightsaber and headset for 2 days I’m plagued with error screens on a supported iPhone 6s

this really cool so much fun to play but let me put in some pro and cons. Pros : 1. The fact its fun to play and what is great that it gets you off the couch, its great for exercise, after my first battle i felt a little worked. 2. The graphics are very cool to see that in front of you and the characters do speak to you which is pretty cool, not only that but augmented reality is great so you can see whats around you, so you dont get hurt or knock something over. 3. you can choose your own destiny which you can play mission over again to get better or you stay at the level you want not only that you dont have go mastery level you can play FOREVER its really up to you. 4. its pretty easy to operate not to confusing once you understand how it works your good to go ( if your younger or not sure have someone help you so it doesn't get damaged ) 5. you get have that feel that your actually a Jedi, to know that experience to feel as if your part of the saga. Cons : 1. I hope they can figure out how to keep the phone cool when it gets to hot it tells you you need to shut down but that this a great idea however for one that wants to play longer, the fact is its limited play until that message shows up maybe the best way to cool it is by putting in cooling packets in some compartment not sure ? 2. could be a little bit more comfortable after some time my cheeks start to hurt ( probably could loosen it a bit but dont want it to fall off LOL ) also forehead was sweating, maybe extra pading 3. its using a small cored to plug in from phone to head set i mean that is ok, however its not Bluetooth from head set to phone just phone to light saber, would like to see it that happen or like the Samsung VR. ( maybe this more of a suggestion ) 4. it can be heavy for someone that is younger so i am hoping for that next one that comes out like a Version 2 that there is some way to counter balance the weight. Suggestions : 1. More Bluetooth capability 2. More of a story line its ok now but would like to see characters interact more ( like star wars online game but not online but you answer question along the way and choose weather you are dark-side or light-side ) 3. two player would be very cool to battle your friend would be awesome. 4. sell to more than one store best buy is good but people dont always have that store close to them. 5. counter balance, more comfort 6. cool the phone reason for rating: 5 out 5 its because this is very cool when the pros are better than the cons in any gamer product it wins, i just like to be picky lol, I hope this helps

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.

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 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.