Best Buy will be showing new tech at Fan Expo in Toronto

Best Buy is coming to Fan Expo!

From August 31, through to September 3, Best Buy is bringing this fall’s hottest toys and gadgets to Fan Expo. Taking place at the city’s massive Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Fan Expo is Canada’s largest family-friendly pop culture event. Best Buy will be on-site demoing the latest drones from DJI and the newest Star Wars toys from Force Friday. This is your opportunity to see first-hand—and try out—the biggest toys and tech available this holiday.

Last year’s Fan Expo drew over 130,000 attendees, and the event has been growing in size each and every year. I’ve covered the gaming portion before on the blog, but this time I’m excited to swing by Best Buy’s booth. Star Wars is my all-time favourite universe and I can’t wait to see what toys release alongside Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. I’ve also had a chance to fly a few DJI drones before and it’s always an exciting experience. So if you’re attending this year’s Fan Expo, be sure to come by Best Buy’s booth in the South Building!

Fan Expo details

Want to know the show’s days/hours and location? Here are all the pertinent details you need to know:

Fan Expo days/show hours:

•    Thursday, Aug. 31: 4-9pm
•    Friday (Force Friday), Sep. 1: 10am – 7pm
•    Saturday, Sep. 2: 10am – 7pm
•    Sunday, Sep. 3: 10am – 5pm

Location:

•    Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 222 Bremner Blvd, Toronto, ON M5V 3L9

You’ll see the Centre is conveniently located downtown Toronto, mere minutes away from major hotels, the highway, and Union Station. My advice is to plan your day well in advance and arrive early though, this is one busy convention!

Now that we’ve covered the Fan Expo details, let’s take a closer look at the toys and tech you can try inside the Best Buy booth:

Fly the latest DJI Drones

Each year drones are getting more advanced with cool new features and sleek futuristic designs. Inside the Best Buy area you can fly the latest DJI drones, including the Mavic Pro and Spark. Representatives will be on-hand to explain the features of these high-tech quadcopters and let you try them out yourself. I love the beautiful designs of these drones and really can’t wait to explore what they have to offer. Here’s a snapshot of both drones:

DJI Mavic Pro Foldable Quadcopter Drone

The DJI Mavic Pro is a high-end professional drone that can fly up 65km/h and weighs only 743g. It comes with a 4K Ultra HD camera to capture crisp, high-resolution video and images as it flies.

Our own Leonard Bond recently reviewed the Mavic Pro and highly recommended it for “serious drone hobbyists or photography enthusiasts.” He noted the drone is capable of capturing extremely stable footage with its advanced 3-axis gimbal system. It also has sensory hardware embedded in the unit designed to make the drone smarter at recognizing obstacles.

As well, the drone has different modes like one where it follows you around, a Gesture Selfie mode, and a Return to Home feature. I’m so excited to see these various modes in action! To learn more about the DJI Mavic Pro features, be sure to check out Ted Kritsonis’s overview article here.

DJI Spark Quadcopter Drone with Camera

Another drone you can fly in the Best Buy booth is the new DJI Spark Quadcopter. It’s the smallest drone DJI has ever built and can take off right from the palm of your hand. What’s super neat about the Spark is you can control it using hand gestures. At just 300g, it’s less than half the weight of its big brother the Mavic Pro. Now that’s small and super light!

Just last month our tech expert Justin Tse reviewed the DJI Spark and said it “serves as an excellent starting point for those who are looking to dive into aerial videography.” It has three different convenient control types: using your smartphone, the included remote control, and with your hand. It sounds fun to wave your hands around to control the drone like you wield the power of The Force!

With both the Spark and Mavic Pro inside Best Buy’s booth, it means you can fly entry-level and professional DJI drones. I can’t wait to fly both of them and see how they compare. For more on the Spark, be sure to take a look at our recent DJI Spark Overview.

Demo the newest Star Wars toys

Inside Best Buy’s booth you’ll also get a first-look at the latest Star Wars: The Last Jedi tech toys. Fan Expo happens to coincide with Disney and LucasFilm’s big Force Friday II event, where they’ll be unveiling new toys. You’ll be able to demo many of these toys inside the Best Buy booth from Sept. 1 to Sept. 3!

As Leo Bond mentioned just a couple days ago, Best Buy stores across Canada are also featuring Force Friday events. So if you can’t make it to Fan Expo, there are still plenty of opportunities to see the new Star Wars toys in-store at Best Buy. Super fans in the Toronto area can even check out both—Fan Expo is located not too far from Best Buy’s Bay and Dundas Store!

While we won’t know what toys will be demoed until Force Friday begins, you can sure bet they’ll be awesome. For 2015’s The Force Awakens we got amazing tech toys like the Sphero BB-8 App-Enabled Droid and Hasbro’s Force FX Lightsabers. There are guaranteed to be lots of incredible toy announcements and Best Buy’s booth will let you see them in action!

Stay tuned for post-event coverage of the DJI drones, Force Friday toys, and the games I tried at Fan Expo. There’s sure to be lots of excitement, I hope to see you there!

© & tm 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd.