NERF Infinus N-Strike Elite Toy Motorized Blaster with Speed-Load Technology

Nerf Elite Infinus reviewMy ProChrono Digital chronograph measured the speed of the darts fired (at peak rev) by this stock Elite Infinus blaster at an average of 72 feet per second (FPS) using Nerf Elite darts (it is capable of shooting any standard Nerf Elite darts; blue, green, white, orange, purple/grey, Starwars themed, Accustrike, and decorated Rebelle darts). The standard average velocity of a Nerf Elite blaster is 70 FPS, so it is on par with the rest of the Nerf Elite line. The bar set by this technological marvel that the Nerf engineers managed to create is something other toy manufacturers are going to have a hard time duplicating. This is because the Infinus allows the user to electronically feed darts from the top rear, traveling through the blaster, and directly into the drum (or whatever magazine is inserted at the time). This is pretty cool. There is an LED light above the dart feed port that shines solid yellow when it senses that your mag or drum is empty, solid green when it senses that a dart is ready to be fired, solid red when the jam access door is open, and blinks yellow when it senses that the magazine is at maximum capacity (and is unable to cram any more darts into it). I have to be honest, I doubted that this was possible to run smoothly because of the jams that happen so frequently in the Nerf Universe. But I have to say that I rushed the feeding mechanism, I used old battered and squashed darts, I overloaded it multiple times, and I even fed darts in backwards... and... no jams. None. It simply shot out whatever was in it, even the backwards darts (of course the darts inserted backwards did not fly well). I must say that I was very pleased at the smoothness of the Infinus’ operation. That said, I will now move on in my review of the rest of the blaster. This design screams heavy class, and it is on the heavy side. There are four 1.5v D alkaline batteries (not included) located in the rear shoulder-stock area of the blaster. This location helps to balance out the weight, evening the distribution from the handle so that it is not front-heavy due to the 30-dart drum. Because of the similar art design cues (tiger stripe camouflage embossed on the shell, blue, orange, black, grey plastic shell, etc.), I expected a repeat of the predecessor blaster, the Nerf Elite Hyperfire, but apparently the internals are closer in relation to the Nerf Elite Rapidstrike in that it has a dart-pusher feeding mechanism after it’s conveyor belt relays the dart from your fingertips and to a chamber above the magazine, which then activates another mechanism that pushes the dart down into to the magazine chamber. From there the blaster operates like the full-auto Rapidstrike. So it has the best of both worlds. The Hyperfire, with it’s high darts per second (DPS) ability, actually suffered from dart jams (including the shredding of darts) and it’s conveyor belt type dart feeding mechanism did not take well to modifications. I have not found any issues with the Infinus in regard to shredding or jams, and that is a good thing because opening the jam-access door reveals mostly an internal black plastic panel and an even smaller window which allows you to see about half the size of a dart. It would probably be very difficult to fish a dart out of such a small window. Anyway, moving on, the ergonomics are actually not that bad. The oversized angled fore-grip that is incorporated into the shell design is a comfortable way to hold the blaster while operating. It just gives a feeling of hollow plastic (there is a lot of dead space, so it actually is hollow plastic) when squeezed. The main pistol grip looks small in comparison to the bulk of the blaster’s body, but it is a decent size. The rev trigger is in close proximity to the mag/drum release button, but there is little chance of an accidental ejection because you need to give a little tug on the drum or magazine in order to remove it. I mean, you have to really shake it hard while holding the button down in order to drop the 30-dart drum without physically pulling it out, so no problems there. The main trigger operates as expected. The front barrel has a Nerf attachment point that allows you to add some barrel [drag] if you want. There are 2 Nerf tactical rails on the top of the blaster: one front and one in back; down the sight lines. There are 3 sling-mount attachment points: 1 under the barrel, the 2nd on the top of the shoulder-stock area, and the 3rd underneath it. For the aspiring young modders out there, I am fairly certain that the sensitive circuitry of this blaster will not be able to handle voltage modifications (Hasbro/Nerf frowns upon modifications to their products) without the proper checks and balances and electrical knowledge, expertise, or know-how to safeguard the circuitry from utter annihilation. The Nerf Elite Regulator’s circuit board was prone to frying, rendering it’s select-fire function useless, and it is highly likely that the Infinus’ dart loading function will also be controlled by a sensitive circuit board that is unprotected (that is, once you remove the thermistor). In conclusion, this is a fairly reasonably priced “flagship” blaster in the Nerf Elite line. If it is a one-trick pony, it is a terrific one-trick pony. I am thoroughly impressed at the flawlessness of the design, so my hat is off to you Nerf engineers. Thinking objectively, only real con in a sea of pros that the Infinus has is it’s sheer size and the heaviness that comes with it. Once past that, perhaps this is going to be the preferred blaster on the field of battle.

Love this gun. got it for my 7 yr old grandson. We all used it! Even the 4 yr old could use it. It's a little big for him but he managed. Shoots far! When the darts start getting wore out they don't shoot as well but doesn't have anything to do with the gun. It jammed a couple times but again, I think it was due to worn out darts and it didn't take much to unjam it. I think for $45 this gun was worth it. I will be buying all the grandkids this gun. Heck, even my 28 and 25 yr old want one for their birthdays! haha!!

With Hasbro's rush to make progressively higher-tech blasters in the RIVAL series, it can feel at times that the classic "dart blasting" N-Strike Elite series is left in the dust. Fortunately, this seems to not be entirely the case as shown by the release of the Infinus, a wholly novel and well-engineered dart blaster.The Infinus is, at first glance, very similar to previous N-Strike Elite motorized flywheel outings such as the Rapidstrike or Hyperfire. It boasts a respectable capacity of 30 rounds with the included drum, features fully-automatic blasting and is powered by a battery tray (accessible in the stock) requiring 4 "D" cell batteries. This makes the blaster a bit heavy but not completely unwieldy, as the weight is reasonably well distributed from front to back. Some interesting features include a barrel extension attachment point and a Tactical Rail on top for adding a sight, light, or other accessory.Most interesting of all is the Infinus' unique automatic-loading mechanism. While it is possible to detach the included drum-style magazine (compatible with most N-Strike magazines) and reload manually, the Infinus includes a "dart deposit" feed at the top of the blaster. Simply placing a dart (rubber tip first, this is important!) into this feed activates a motor that draws the dart into the chamber and then automatically loads it into whatever magazine is attached to the blaster. This feature works surprisingly well, and I was not able to jam or misfeed the dart at any point when testing the blaster. Even better, the dart feed has a nifty "priming light" that glows red or green to indicate if your blaster is empty (red) or ready to fire (green).In terms of performance, the Infinus works on par with most current N-Strike Elite flywheel-powered blasters, delivering subpar accuracy (due to the flaws in Elite Darts for the most part) but excellent range and power. Being fully automatic also makes this blaster very enjoyable to use, and the option to feed more ammo "on the fly" with the automatic loading mechanism or go old-school and simply manually reload a magazine is both practical and fun. Simply put, the N-Strike Elite Infernus is a fantastic addition to its product line and a reminder that dart-firing blasters remain relevant today!