Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Emerging Tech
  3. Buying Guides
  4. Entertainment
  5. Evergreens

The best Star Wars toys for the tech-focused fan

From drones to lightsabers, these tech toys will appease every Star Wars fan

By
Add as a preferred source on Google
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Just like March 14 always makes us think of pi (or should that be pie?), May 4 has become synonymous with George Lucas’s iconic sci-fi franchise. Playing off the classic catchphrase “May the Force be with you,” May 4 is officially an international day of appreciation for all things Star Wars. To celebrate the occasion — and the upcoming release of Solo: A Star Wars Story — we rounded up some of our favorite tech-focused Star Wars toys, from X-Wing drones to a pint-sized version of BB-8.

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Electronic Chewbacca Mask ($32)
Image used with permission by copyright holder

By now, we’re pretty sure everyone has seen the viral Facebook video with the woman wearing this mask. If you haven’t, however, make sure to check it out, because it’s a roaring good time (get it?). The plastic device does look a lot like Chewbacca, but that’s not why we chose to include it on this list. Opening your mouth while wearing the Wookiee mask will cause Chewbacca’s roar to erupt from it — and it’s absolutely hilarious. And we’re not the only ones who think so. At one point, the mask was so popular that Kohl’s completely sold out of it.

Sphero BB-8 ($100)
Image used with permission by copyright holder

BB-8 captured the hearts of millions when it was first introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, arguably dethroning R2D2 as the most lovable robot in the entire Star Wars canon. Sphero’s miniature, app-enabled droid is just as cute as the original and can roll around at up to 4.5 mph. The orange-and-white robot also comes equipped with a waterproof shell, an hour of battery life, and a range of up to 100 feet. It can even interact with other Sphero droids and react to the Star Wars films, if you watch them together.

Read our BB-8 hands-on review

‘Star Wars: Jedi Challenges’ ($183)
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Lenovo offers one of the coolest Star Wars experiences of any tech company, if you’re willing to spend a little more. Star Wars: Jedi Challenges is an augmented reality game that allows you to experience what it feels like to hold and fight with a real lightsaber. In order to play, you need to buy the bundle, which comes with an AR headset that is compatible with most Android and iOS devices, a lightsaber controller, and a tracking beacon. You also need to download the free app onto your smartphone, but once you have properly set everything up, you will be able to mow down Stormtroopers and get your Dejarik on.

Read our full Star Wars: Jedi Challenges review

Luke Skywalker FX Lightsaber ($103)
Image used with permission by copyright holder

While there are dozens of different FX lightsabers to chose from, you can’t go wrong with Luke Skywalker’s original, green lightsaber from Return of the Jedi. This collector-grade weapon offers authentic sound effects and realistic lighting. It also features an authentic metal hilt, one designed after the blade Mark Hamill used in the 1983 film. Although you probably don’t want to go on an all-out onslaught with this lightsaber, it is sturdy enough for light to medium dueling and will look awesome on display in your home.

Propel X-Wing Drone ($80)
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For anyone who has ever wanted to fly a Star Wars spacecraft, but was unfortunate enough not to be born in a galaxy far, far away, now you can! Propel offers three detailed Star Wars remote-control drones, including an X-Wing, TIE fighter, and a speeder bike. Our favorite of the three is the X-Wing, which uses four miniature motors positioned under the device to keep it afloat. It also has three different speed settings and a T-Mode to accommodate different skills levels. Once you get the hang of the controls, this starfighter can reach speeds of up to 35 mph (yes, really).

Read our full Propel Star Wars Battle Drones review

Brie Barbee
Brie Barbee
Former Staff Writer
Brie is a writer from Portland, Oregon. She received a bachelor's degree from Portland State University in 2016, where she…
Topics
A new startup wants to fix the military’s working-dog shortage with cloning and gene editing
Promising pitch, plenty of unanswered questions about the dogs.
a new startup wants to fix the militarys working dog shortage with cloning and gene editing warhound featured image

Military working dogs charge into places the rest of us would flee. So, I understand why anyone would want to breed tougher, healthier dogs for the job.

Warhound, a new startup from Colossal Biosciences co-founder Ben Lamm and Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey, has stepped out of stealth with $200 million to clone and gene-edit working dogs for American troops, police departments, and emergency services (via TechCrunch).

Read more
AI can describe a picture, but it still struggles to understand blind users
A University of Maryland study finds that Be My AI often buries useful answers in lengthy descriptions, leaving blind users to work harder to get the information they need.
Blind Man using walking stick

AI can describe a picture, identify objects, and answer questions about what a camera sees. But when a blind user needs a quick answer, getting an entire spoken essay about the scene isn't exactly helpful. Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have found that AI-powered visual assistance can leave blind users doing too much work to get the information they actually need.

The study, titled Say It My Way: Exploring Control in Conversational Visual Question Answering with Blind Users, examined how people interact with Be My AI, an AI-powered feature of the Be My Eyes app. The researchers found that users often received lengthy descriptions that didn't adequately address their immediate goals, forcing them to ask follow-up questions or find ways to steer the AI towards a more useful answer.

Read more
Etsy cracks down on AI slop listings. Everyone else needs to take note.
Now every platform must decide what counts as handmade.
Etsy featured image

Platforms tend to shrug off AI clutter until it threatens what they sell. For Etsy, that thing is trust in the maker.

To protect that, Etsy has banned AI-generated how-to guides and listings made entirely by bots. Most sellers must show at least one unretouched photo of the item (via Etsy Seller Handbook).

Read more