Volantex Vector 28 2.4G RC Boat Multicolor Waterproof Speedboat

Before you get the impression this isn't an awesome boat - let me explain why I gave this boat 4 stars. First of all - the packaging is excellent. The boat is well packed in Styrofoam and arrived perfectly unharmed. The boat is fully assembled - comes with a remote with batteries for both the boat and the remote! Big plus for the remote batteries! They also include an extra propeller and a boat stand. Nice.When I slide it out of the box I was very happy to see everything was in order and quickly pulled it all out to get started. Ok so for starters - you want to charge the battery. The charger is a usb based charger, and for one there was no USB to outlet adapter and it looked a bit odd so I tried to read about it in the instructions. There were no clear instructions on charging - or what I should see in the way of lights. There is only one plug on the battery that fits the charger so I plugged it in and put the USB attachment into an iPhone USB to Outlet adapter since the boat didn't come with one. The charger went from solid red light to blinking red light. Later the charger went to green after a couple of hours. The inside of the boat had some Velcro and an empty spot so I attached the Velcro to the battery and then put it in the boat on the empty side. The battery fit snugly in with ample room in front and back. I put mine in with the cables going toward the stern. I attached the other red connector and followed the "Pairing" procedure included. In a seconds my rudder was turning as it should and I was off.My sons and I had already purchased a boat from Toys R Us for close to the same price and were expecting much of the same performance. We put this in the water and it shot off like a rocket and we all smiled! We had so much fun with this boat - and it was a bit windy so there were small waves on the lagoon. We ended up wave jumping and having a blast. Several people came over because this boat is so fast people want to see what it is. Here are my thoughts - and ideas for anyone who has one or wants to buy one.1 ) the boat is very fast and responsive and turns literally on a dime. YOU WILL NOT BUY A BOAT CLOSE TO THIS SPEED AND SIZE ANYWHERE ELSE FOR THIS PRICE! (they do have larger versions of this and I will review them when they arrive - but this boat is literally under $50!) This is so much more fun than a boat for twice the price from the toy store.2) That being said it is very small and even small waves seem big to an 11" boat! You can flip this thing. Good thing is if you run it over with another bigger boat - it just pops back up right. (which we got good at) Drive it from a shore with the wind or current coming towards you so it can float back to you. Otherwise you need another big boat to run it over and flip it. I saw someone rescue one with a quad copter. That being said - the better you get at it - the less you flip.I seriously recommend if you're getting this for a very small child - go with a bigger boat. Less flips = more fun overall if it is on a big lake or lagoon. They have a larger version of these boats which I also bought and will try out and review later. Don't let the fact that it flips stop you - because if you play on a small pond, big pool, or are where you can wait for it to drift - it is insanely fun boat! They also have a switch at the top of the remote to lessen the rudder movement so kids can learn how to drive.3) the 380mAh battery that comes with it isn't going to last you longer than 5-10 minutes. We changed it out with a venom 1320 7.4V Lipo battery very cheaply on amazon and it fits very well (lasts over 30 minutes!) Definitely just go ahead and get a battery upgrade. The 1000mAh turnigy battery is too fat and long. It won't work.If we're just going on value for the money? 5 stars. Reason I go with 4? Due to the small nature - and extremely awesome speed - flipping isn't that hard to do. You'll get a lot better with just a few runs. If the bigger version is good - it might be perfect! If the bigger one is a bust this is a REALLY awesome boat. I'll write about it later and let you know.

My 5 yr old loves it!