Disney Cars RC Turbo Racer Lightning McQueen 1:24

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Sphero’s BB-8 also used an app for controls, but it was less of an issue there because you didn’t need to be as accurate with a rolling ball. It helps that the car has been voiced by Owen Wilson himself, but there’s also some incredibly smart technology under the hood. He’s immaculately presented in a shiny foil-covered box, and looks more like a collector’s item than a children’s toy. Yes, the Christmas Day tradition of unwrapping your favourite present and then not being able to play with it right away is alive and well. He’s well built though, and didn’t take any cosmetic damage from the numberous bumps and crashes we put him through.

Once you open it up, though, you’ll find there’s not much actually inside there, apart from the car, a manual and a charger. All of the RC cars we recommend also have an adjustable speed dial, which allows a parent to reduce the speed as they see fit. If you had a physical controller, you’d be able to just feel these buttons in your hand instead, and not need to look down at the screen. With this radio control in hand, you can go faster than fast, quicker than quick… you are Lightning! You use an on-screen joystick to control the car’s movement in 360 degrees, which is simple enough .As well as testing each car for how fun it is to drive, we also conducted durability, build quality, ease of use and top speed tests to inform our review. We found Sphero’s stated range of 30m to be optimistic – racing him around our office, we got a disconnection warning on our iPhone 7 Plus at around 15m.

Sphero has used a trapezium-shaped screen to perfectly match the shape of McQueen’s windshield from the films.

The wheels are protected by small plastic clamps, and the accessories slide neatly out of a drawer underneath. The thrill of racing a remote control car comes from making a tight turn, or weaving around objects in your house. There’s also a mini-game where you work in the pit stop during a race, equipping cars with the right oil and wheel changes within an allotted time. Many of the cars we tested from these retailers were expensive and they underwhelmed our testing panel. So we rated each car for how easy it is to turn on and off and synch up with the controller, as well as how easy it is to access and recharge the battery.