PowerUp 3.0 is a nifty paper drone with a little electric engine and Bluetooth controller which connects to a propeller through a rigid beam allowing you to control a paper airplane with your smartphone. The Powerup 3.0 Smartphone Controlled Paper Airplane Kit comes with several foldable paper airplane designs, a USB cable and a spare propeller and rudder. Before getting started it's a good idea to watch the PowerUp tutorials for guidance.

In the meanwhile, it's also a good idea to charge the engine unit by simply connecting the USB cable into any USB power source (make sure the unit is set to "ON", otherwise the unit won't charge). Full charge is completed in around 30 minutes.

Once you fold the paper plane, you simply slide the unit in the middle fold of the paper plane so the propeller is in the back. Then, attach the clip on the bottom of the unit nose to hold the unit and the paper plane together.


Once that's done, download the app from the App store or Google play, turn on both "airplane mode" and Bluetooth on your smartphone. Then, launch the app and the app will search and pair with the unit. The app's interface is actually pretty cool and features: a fuel level (battery level), the Bluetooth signal strength, a throttle controller, a compass heading and thrust percentage. You control the plane by tilting the the smartphone left or right to change direction. When launching the plane, a good tip is to run full throttle and then release the plane.

The Verdict
PowerUp 3.0 is a fun little toy that big kids and little kids will really love! Once you get the hang of it, you'll find how surprisingly well this nifty smartphone-controlled paper plane really works! What's really cool about PowerUp is how it modernizes traditional  paper plane flying, and allows you to experiment with different wing designs and even modify the standard ones. Check out Powerup 3.0 Smartphone Controlled Paper Airplane