I was provided a sample for review purposes but my opinions are my own. Amazon limits video reviews to 100 megs, so I will include a link to my higher resolution video review in the comments section. Also, this review is for the Tempo boat but the Venom is just a different color.
UDI RC’s Tempo/Venom boat is a ton of fun.
This boat is awesome and I like lots and lots of things about it. Let me start with the boat itself. The hull is very, very fast and it can go up to 15 mph in the water no problem. I did get some water in the boat on my first two runs but did not get any in on my next two runs. You need to really make sure you have sealed the top down into the grooves and have pressed it down and have sealed it as tight as you possibly can.
The boat is very stable in the water and I tried to flip it but could not. However, should you flip it in the water, have no fear as this boat has an automatic flipping feature. That is by far the best feature of this boat as it means that you can run it virtually on any water surface and not have to worry if it accidentally gets flipped over.
The rudder is nice and big and the servo that controls it is nice and smooth. Servo based control means that a little left is a little left and a lot of left is a lot of left. It is proportional to how much you turn the steering wheel which is a great thing.
I found the transmitter which requires 4 AA batteries very easy to use. When you put the boat in the water, I suggest you just go straight out first and adjust the trim settings so the boat travels as straight as possible – this will help you for the whole time you run the boat. I did not receive two boats so I cannot comment on if two boats can be synced up at the same time but the manufacturer states that you can do this I think with up to three boats. 2.4 GHz transmission is hobby grade and I had no range issues at all with this boat. Apparently when the battery gets weak the transmitter will start to beep, so this is a good safety feature that the manufacturer has built in.
The batteries are robust and you get about 6-8 minutes of runtime with each battery pack. You can tell when the batteries are getting close to dying because the boat slows down considerably. Do not let the batteries run all the way down, they are lithium ion and this will really damage them if you continually fully drain them.
A note of caution, supposedly the prop will stop turning when the boat is out of water. I noticed that it still turned occasionally when it was out of the water – so just be careful. Your best bet is to turn off the transmitter and then remove the boat from the water so you don’t have an accident.
Last but not least, this boat is not built for saltwater, so don’t take it to the ocean or it will quickly get ruined. One last tip that I want to pass on is to make sure you are comfortable getting into the water you drive your boat on or that you can access it with a boat. I caught mine in some weeds about 10’ away from the bank of the river and luckily the boat had enough steam to motor on in. However, had this been far out I would have had to go swimming, get a boat or be prepared to say bye-bye.
