60 Second Review: Lego Vidiyo Robo HipHop Car

Have you ever wanted to see your LEGO creations come to life in your living room? The Vidiyo augmented reality app puts you in the director’s chair of a 60-second music video, starring a range of unique Minifigures, which can be digitally animated with dance moves and visual effects on your smartphone.

As well as a huge cast of intricately detailed characters there is also a collection of brick-built backdrops and props to enhance the video’s presentation and bring your creative vision to life. We’ve tested the Robo Hiphop Car, which looks like it’s come straight out of MTV circa 2001.

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Playing with Lego is usually a very analogue experience and this new digital element should appeal to a younger audience (it’s surely no coincidence how much the app looks and feels like TikTok) but it also means you can carry on playing with the physical models you create long after they’ve been assembled.

So naturally, I enlisted the help of my two young children to test this new Lego innovation out. After insisting I help with the construction stage, of course.

How does it work?

There are three elements – Vidiyo Stages, Bandmates and BeatBits. The first provides a backdrop to the performance and offers a range of customisable elements. The Robo HipHop Car has speakers and headlights that can be rotated, which subsequently changes the digital scenery on your phone screen from a garage location to a graffiti car park, for example.

The Bandmates are the most dynamic element and will dance and sing (on screen) to the track you’ve chosen, while also reacting to the BeatBit effects you’ve chosen for that performance. There are hundreds of these, ranging from subtle things like a sepia brown screen tint to more exciting things like fireworks or a spacesuit costume change for the whole band.

You don’t have to spend huge amounts of money to get involved though, it’s possible to buy a single bandmateand start using the app to create entertaining performances. These come in a cardboard box (so you don’t know which character you will get) and include three random BeatBit effects.

The characters across the Vidiyo range are highly stylised and unique in their appearance – so you definitely won’t get them confused with figures from other sets. If you’d rather pick the Minifigure you’re buying then BeatBox kits give you that option, as well as including a carrying case and a whole load more BeatBits to play with.

Score: 4/5

A deeper look at the Lego Vidiyo Robo HipHop Car

What’s to love?

Lego Vidiyo has partnered with Universal Music Group, so there’s a huge range of songs to choose from, by artists including The Weeknd, Imagine Dragons, Elton John and Lady Gaga. This range means there’s something for everyone and the fact they’re all recognisable makes it feel a lot more authentic.

But looking at the Robo HipHop Car stage specifically - this set comes with two figures, a whole bunch of BeatBits and a very detailed and fun model to assemble – there’s even a small hot tub in the back! Both of my kids really enjoyed moving the two Bandmates around on the various small stages and seeing how this looked on screen. Just remember to charge your phone first.

In terms of value for money this makes it easy to recommend as it contains everything you need to get going, plus lengthy replay appeal, without spending a huge amount more on the larger stage sets in the range (although they do look pretty amazing).

What’s okay?

I was also sent a couple of BeatBoxes to test alongside the car. You get a load of extra BeatBits and a colourful case to store them in, and the ability to choose which character you’re buying (unlike the single Bandmate boxes).

Whether these seem worthwhile to you will come down to how much you like collecting Lego Minifigures. For my money I’d rather pay a little more and have one of the stages to build, but that’s probably down to personal preference.

Any negatives?

As with anything digital, there’s an obvious concern about privacy - especially as you can share your creations with other Vidiyo users.

Lego says it has put safeguards in place, including a moderation stage to ensure there is no personally identifiable information, such as children starring in the video. Plus the app requires verified parental consent and anonymity to work.

That’s obviously a good thing but on the flipside, there doesn’t appear to be a way to take videos you’ve made and share them in any other way, with Grandparents or friends not on the Vidiyo app, for example.

Finally there are the BeatBits themselves – which look fantastic and offer a range of different effects - black for visual, pink for costumes, aqua for sound, orange for comedic, yellow for dance moves and green to change scenery and background.

You have to scan these 12 at a time to use in each performance, and the trouble is, we couldn’t remember what they all did. It’d be handy if the app could save the BeatBits you’ve scanned previously so you could select them from the list with a description for each.

Otherwise Lego Vidiyo adds a surprisingly satisfying digital element to what is traditionally quite a physical, brick-built experience.

Adam Binnie is the Commercial Content Editor and reviewer for WhatsTheBest, specialising in bikes, fitness, cars, parenting and cooking.

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