Parrot AR.Drone lets you take flight with your smartphone or tablet [REVIEW]

Verizon Wireless has given me lots of fun toys to play with (they call them smart accessories, I call them toys) but I’m not sure there is any toy more fun to play with than the Parrot AR.Drone 2.0.

The ironic part is that I was skeptical about even accepting the Parrot AR.Drone because it was yet another flying device you control with your smartphone or tablet and I didn’t exactly have a great experience with the first flying device I tested, the Helo TC helicopter.

Safer and less accident-prone

But the Parrot AR.Drone has an answer for everything I hated about the Helo TC. For starters, it’s designed to fly outside. And it comes with a giant foam wrap-around cover that protects you from the blades. And perhaps the best feature, if your Parrot AR.Drone loses communication with your smartphone or tablet, it simply goes into an auto-pilot-like hover mode.

I could give you a spec-by-spec review of the Parrot AR.Drone but I’m guessing most people don’t care about that. They just want to know what it is, how it works and whether it’s worth buying. So let’s get to it.

What is it?

The Parrot AR.Drone is a remote controlled flying device that you control with your smartphone or tablet. Basically, it broadcasts a Wi-Fi signal that your device connects to and then a simple, free app you download does the rest. There’s also a built-in high definition camera that records a bird’s eye view of your flight.

It’s very easy to operate but like a car, I found you need to log your hours to really get the hang of it. But even if you don’t get the hang of it right away, there’s plenty of videos like this one to help you out.

Once you master piloting the Parrot AR.Drone, you can even join the AR.Drone Academy to track all of your flights and share them with other AR.Drone pilots across the world.

I didn’t know I was making a video!

You heard me mention, there’s an on-board camera on the Parrot AR.Drone, right? Well guess what? The very first time I flew the drone, I had no idea it was recording. It wasn’t until weeks later that I found the video while going through photos and videos on my iPad.

So I took the video, edited it down a bit and added a few fun subtitles. The result is what you see below.

If you can not see the embedded video above please use the following link: Parrot AR.Drone Test Flight (I didn’t know it was recording!)

Is it worth it?

The last big question—is it worth it? Well, I guess that depends on your budget. The Parrot AR.Drone clocks in at about $300 so it’s probably not for everybody. But it’s definitely a ton of fun and worth your investment if you can afford it.

Note: The Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 in this review was provided to me by Verizon Wireless and can be purchased at your local Verizon Wireless store or at www.verizonwireless.com.