We love all gadgets here at GadgetHead but toys have a special place in our hearts. Ollie’s reputation has proceeded it and we have been itching to get our hands on one for a while, we definitely weren’t disappointed. Excuse me while I refer to Ollie throughout the review as if it’s a living thing but it is easy enough to imagine as this little rascal has a lot of personality. Ollie comes with a companion app to control him, download the app, charge him up and he is ready to go.

The app gives you various settings to control, driving surface (soft/hard), driving area (room/open), speed, handling and acceleration, there are also all the instructions and tips you need to maximise the experience. He uses Bluetooth to connect to you phone, you just need to put your phone next to him to connect and after that he will stay within range up to 100ft (30 meters) which is more than enough to play with. It’s great that there are settings for using Ollie in a room but this isn’t his natural habitat, think more ballroom than living room, Ollie really comes to life when you get him out in the open reaching speeds up to 14mph. Flipping your phone over horizontally will allow you to enter trick mode and get Ollie flipping and spinning about, his durable polycarbonate body means you don’t need to worry about damaging him as he is super robust and can withstand a bit of a bashing. He is a toy but it doesn’t mean that controlling him is child’s play, practice is the key with this little guy but I think this is one of its perks, when you nail a trick it is such a sense of achievement it strives you to keep going and I think there is real potential there to encourage kids (and adults) to focus on something and with the added option of customising him this stops the novelty wearing off quickly. Downsides are that because it runs off Bluetooth you can find it drains your phone or tablet quite quickly and Ollie himself takes a while to charge up fully also I feel Ollie could use a reverse, he can spin on a dime but if he gets stuck in a corner it can be difficult to get him out which really comes back to making sure you have plenty of space to let him run about. Ollie works with both iOS and Android but to avoid disappointment it is worth double checking he is compatible with your particular phone or tablet although he does work with most up to date devices. We quickly became obsessed with playing with this little speed freak, he is an exciting and educational toy suitable for kids and big kids alike. RRP $99.99

4 out of 5

Buy now

Pros

Durable

Fun

Ollie can be Customised

1-1.5 hours play time

Cons

Drains device battery life

needs plenty of space