Anki overdrive

Just picked up a set on a whim last night.
Simply put, this is a toy, not a hobby. It's fun for what it is, but there's little about this to appeal to existing slot racers, and the market for them is so geared toward video games that I doubt there will be much in the way of crossover from Anki to slots of any kind.

I set it up at the race last night, and the guys thought that it was cool... but none of them had a compatible smartphone, and/or none of them thought it was cool enough to download the app to race me. Maybe next time, and maybe if they can get the app ahead of time.

On the bright side, they really nailed the track system. It goes together so easily, and comes apart so easily, that changing the track between every race is not even remotely a problem. At $20 for a pair of track pieces to expand your layout, it's not far off from many slot track systems. I wish that it wasn't limited to 4 cars on the track at once, though. I don't really like the control from the phone, but there's pretty much no other way to do it, what with the virtual weapons and such.

Was it worth $150? Probably would be if I had another compatible phone, or someone else had bothered to install the app and race against me. Racing the AI is ok, but I'd rather race my friends. I doubt I'll be buying more cars or tracks for it, though. Like I said, it's a fun toy... it's not a hobby.

Thanks for the review. Four car limit is definitely a major downside.

This is one of the products that when I show it to my wife (who find slot cars very boring) makes her say "That looks far more interesting." She also says the MagRacing is more interesting than slots and also that digital slots could potentially be more interesting too. Whether she finds them interesting enough to let me spend the estimated £500 or so to have a decent MagRacing or digital set up remains to be seen!!

Faulty car from the Anki factory and they will not replace!!! AVOID!!!!

The concept is great but very poor customer service who will not guarantee and stand by their product.

We bought a starter kit brand new and sealed from the factory but it had a faulty car. The car would not charge fully and the app reports low battery as soon as you take it off the charger no matter which steps you follow on the Anki Support pages.
Anki customer service will not replace the car since it was distributed through Ebay, the most commonly used world shop!

This is very poor customer service. I cannot recommend this product because you cannot guarantee getting a working model and Anki Support will not stand by their product. This is especially poor since the car are extremely overpriced. There is very little technology in the car, resembling a $5 toy. All the work is done between the track and the device app. The car is just two motors and a couple of sensors....way over priced and peanuts to produce, which makes it even more frustrating that Anki Support will not replace it if you get a faulty one.
Good luck with your business Anki, but I suspect it might not last long with this kind of customer service.