What can the new Lego do? We played with it to understand if it can replace smartphones for children

Everything included in these sets. Background replaced by a neural network. Photo: "Nasha Niva"

Electronics inside plastic: how it works

Under the hood of the new line lies the so-called "Smart Brick", which is built inside each ship. The irony of fate is that it's still impossible to completely get rid of smartphones: the system requires a Bluetooth connection to a special Lego Smart Assistant application.

All data for firmware updates is downloaded there, and the volume of effects is also regulated there.

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App interface with a connected brick

At the same time, the sets themselves differ greatly in content:

• In Darth Vader's TIE Fighter (75421) there is only one interactive figure. The autonomous cannon included in the set, which shoots red pieces, is not connected to the general electronics and the system does not react to it.
• In Luke Skywalker's X-Wing set (75423) there are several interactive elements, which makes co-op play much more dynamic.

In Poland, they have become a little cheaper and cost 218 zlotys (51 euros) compared to 290 zlotys (68 euros) at launch for Darth Vader's ship, and 290 zlotys (68 euros) compared to 399 zlotys (92 euros) for the X-Wing.

In Belarus, their prices are astronomical. Luke's X-Wing set (75423) costs 489.9 rubles (approximately 152 euros), and Darth Vader's TIE Fighter (75421) - 389.9 rubles (about 121 euros).

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Contents of Darth Vader's TIE Fighter set. Backgrounds created by a neural network. Photo: "Nasha Niva"

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Contents of Luke Skywalker's X-Wing set. Backgrounds created by a neural network. Photo: "Nasha Niva"

Space battle in a new way and aiming problems

The battle system between starships is built on acoustic and sensory effects. When the fire button is pressed, the ship emits the signature laser sound, and if an enemy is nearby, a hit is registered. After a series of hits, an alarm siren sounds, ending with an explosion sound – this means the ship is "destroyed".

Video of a ship and cannon battle. Video: "Nasha Niva"

Main drawback of testing: the "aimed shots" function announced by the manufacturer at a distance of up to 80 centimeters currently fails. Our tests showed that the system reacts to any button press within a certain radius regardless of where the ship's rudder is directed.

Demonstration of shooting - it's unclear if this will be fixed

Repair and refueling mechanics: a survival game

To deepen the gameplay, developers added repair and refueling mechanics that simulate space resource management.

Refueling and repair. Video: "Nasha Niva"

However, in practice, there's not much use for this: as practical tests showed, the ships' damage counter resets immediately after the virtual explosion directly at the brick level, meaning you can wait a couple of seconds after the "explosion" and continue playing.

Verdict

As a result, Lego has created an interesting, but still raw toy.

For children, this is a great chance to run around with plastic ships in their hands instead of staring at a screen. A child will definitely find it interesting for a week or two. It remains only to hope that problems with shot accuracy will be fixed in upcoming firmware updates, and new features will be added.

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Cannon from Darth Vader's ship set. Photo: "Nasha Niva"

For adult collectors, however, this is a controversial product: due to the size of the "smart brick", the classic proportions of the X-Wing and TIE-Fighter had to be slightly altered towards an enlarged fuselage. Plus, they cost as much as other more detailed and slightly larger models, but without the smart bricks.

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