RC Scorpion Pro
Street Price: $69.99 US
Manufacturer: New Bright
Mfgr's recommended min. age: 8+
Our recommended age range: n/a
Primary use: Outdoors
Top speed: ~9mph
Runtime per charge: ~15 mins
Controller: Quad-band radio
Includes:
- Assembled RC truck
- Controller
- 12.8V lithium ion battery pack
- Controller batteries
- Instructions
- Just a driver!
Overview
New Bright RC has had some delightful hits and some ghastly misses in the past, but with the new RC Pro series, which includes the 1/12th scale Wolf, the 1/10th scale Scorpion (shown here), and the 1/8th scale Sabre, they've introduced a healthy complement of new technology that could catapult them to the forefront of the toy-grade RC world and pull the entire industry forward with them. On the surface, these are very normal off-road RCs. Lightweight & cheap, with big tires & big, flexible bumpers. For extra credit, they have working suspension, including independent springs for the front wheels. To bring them to the top of the modern range of features, they have no external antennas to get in the way, bend, or break off, and they use multi-band radio techology that lets you run up to 4 of the same vehicle at the same time, even if they're all the same color. Where New Bright forges new ground with the RC Pro series is the introduction of state-of-the-art lithium ion battery technology. Learn more in the full review video below, and see how it all works out!
Test & Review Video
Conclusion
This could have been a giant leap forward for toy-grade RCs. Lithium batteries have worked absolute wonders for true pro-grade RCs, and the technology has been powering recent generations of toy-grade airplanes & helicopters as well. Being the first big manufacturer to bring larger lithium batteries to large toy-grade cars & trucks gave New Bright a huge competitive edge. However, they completely squandered this opportunity for market domination by going inexcusably lazy on the front-end design of these vehicles, turning a potentially great product into something nobody of any age will enjoy driving for long, unless they strictly drive in very large, open, spaces with completely smooth street surfaces (with these rough & tumble "off-road" RCs). It's a travesty. I was all ready to congratulate New Bright on a job well done, and to thank them for finally pushing toy-grade RCs beyond the level of performance & fun they achieved in the mid-1980s. Instead all I can do is roll my eyes. From the very edge of total victory, they have managed to materialize another epic failure. To RC Malarkey this one goes!