Nerf Elite Stryfe Review (75ft orange trigger)

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Stryfe in the pictures is missing the notorious dart sensor. This is not evident in any of the photos below, and pictures of it can be seen from an earlier post.

First up in a string of reviews, I am reviewing the orange triggered Stryfe. Down here in Aus, we still haven't sighted the Stryfe in stores, so I was lucky enough to pick up one of these (and other things) from overseas. The Stryfe is a very simple kit, with just itself, 6 Elites and a 6 clip (mag). The box itself was very thin, with merely cardboard supports and not even the cardboard tray you usually see.

Assembled (which literally takes about 10 seconds), the Stryfe is merely a Stryfe with a pathetic Elite 6 clip (mag). It does look a little cooler with the clip (mag) loaded in, but 6 darts in this age of Nerf is pretty pathetic.

The other side of the Stryfe. Notice that it is pretty much completely flat, unlike the right side which has the battery box and other bits and pieces. Also take note of the complete white stripe, which is interrupted on the right side by the battery box.

A close up of the battery box and 4 AAs loaded in. It has its usual single screw, and just above the batteries, says "Power Up with Duracell". The 4 AAs do add some weight, taking into consideration the Stryfe is extremely light.

The trigger area of the Stryfe is unlike that seen in other clip (mag) system blasters. While it does share the trigger and accel trigger design of the Rayven, it also has the clip (mag) release button just in front of the accel trigger. This allows for easy clip (mag) release, either by using your secondary hand or by using the second/third finger of your primary hand. Because the Stryfe is a flywheel blaster, the clip (mag) drops out and can be inserted very easily, and thanks to the placement of the clip (mag) release, reloading the Stryfe is very easy and can be done quickly.

Here you can see how thin the Stryfe is. The shell is barely large enough for the clip (mag).

Some Stryfe size comparisons. As you can see it is approximately the size of a Retaliator, and much larger than the tiny Firestrike. You can see how much more fancy the shell is than the Retaliator though.

The Stryfe, as I've said numerous times, is extremely tacticool. It has 2 tac rails, a stock attachment point and a barrel extension accepting muzzle.

The jam door of the Stryfe is somewhat unusually designed. Because the left side is completely flat and the right side has all sorts of protrusions, the jam door is assymetrically designed to fit the shell suitably.

The jam door, while it is reasonably sized, is actually partially obscured by a structure that protects the dart sensor. This makes removing darts out the jam door a pain, although I haven't actually experienced any jams with it.

Here you can see the various locks and bits in the Stryfe. There's an electrical lock that prevents revving when the clip (mag) is not loaded, and a lock that prevents pulling the trigger when a clip (mag) is not loaded (not certain on this). Further up, not pictured, is the dart sensor that prevents trigger pull if it doesn't detect a dart. While awesome in concept, it actually tends to lock up the trigger, preventing rapid fire, and doesn't work with older clips (mags) and Streamlines. Nerf has rereleased the Stryfe with updated dart sensors, all better than their previous versions, but still not perfect. I highly recommend disabling or removing the lock.

Down the jam door, you can see the two plastic 'gates' which help centre darts into the flywheel area. They probably reduce range slightly, but the accuracy and reliability presumably offered by the gates is definitely worth it. I have never encountered a jam or misfire with Elites or Streamlines.

Down the muzzle, you can see the gates clearly.

The handle I find is very comfrotable, with the exception of the sling loop. While the handle is of suitable size and shape, the sling loop is too high up, making a small short section cut into your hand, as you can see here. Both triggers are comfortable though, and as you can see my hand has plenty of space below it on the front of the handle, so larger persons can handle the Stryfe comfortably if not for the sling loop gap.

Here you can see my third finger reaching forward to hit the clip (mag) release. You can see that although I can reach it, I was somewhat losing grip on the blaster to do it. For persons with larger hands or longer fingers this will not be a problem, but smaller persons will have trouble.

Here is the much easier solution, using your second thumb to hit the button while grasping the clip (mag). This makes reloads very, very easy and works with 12 and 18 clips (mags) as well. It also likely works with all the drums, but I don't have a 25 drum so I wouldn't know on that one. The 35 drums may be a problem, because you're grasping the neck of it with your weaker hand, but as I don't use 35 drums I don't find it a problem.

The Stryfe has 2 sling loops, which allows for effective slinging. A number of older blasters only had one sling loop, such as the Maverick, so for someone like me who likes slinging blasters, this is good. There is one sling loop on the handle and just above the muzzle.

Many people have noted that the Longstrike barrel seems to have trouble attaching to the Stryfe. On the outer ring of the barrel, you can see two small protrusions.

These protrusions cut into the faux barrel of the Longstrike barrel extension, as you can see below. It doesn't affect performance in any way, but it's annoying to know that the Stryfe has to damage an accessory for it to work.

Now that all the pictures are over, I can continue with the wall of text section of reviews.

Using the Stryfe is easy. To disable all the locks, you must load a clip (mag) with at least one dart into the Stryfe. Then you must press the acceleration trigger BEFORE the main trigger, because if the accel trigger is not pressed the main trigger will be locked. After a few seconds of holding the accel trigger, the flywheels will have spooled up and will be emitting a hum. This hum is more quiet than that of a Rayven or Barricade. Once spooled up you can  begin to fire. Ensure to pull the trigger hard and all the way back to reduce jam/misfire chances. The dart should shoot out with reasonable velocity, and the flywheels will lose some speed, audible in a reduction in the hum. Fire rapidly and each shot will have a shorter range than the previous shot, but leaving a short delay in between each shot allows for more consistent ranges.

The Stryfe's accel trigger is very sensitive, often revving up with the slightest touch. This me and others have found out by accidentally touching the accel trigger to be met with a revving up of flywheels. This is both good and bad, in that it allows for quick revving during battle without worrying about whether the button is pressed fully or not, but if the Stryfe hits obstacles and other natural features like playgrounds, it'll rev up and potentially give away position and waste power.

The Stryfe's trigger pull is very smooth, smoother than the Rayven. It is extremely comfortable to pull the trigger, making it very easy to fire. This is good, particularly for people like me used to rough and tough trigger pulls. A smooth trigger pull also allows for very fast rapid fire.

The Stryfe is semi auto, meaning one shot per trigger pull. This means that with a good trigger finger you can pump out a very fast rate of fire, potentially exceeding 5 darts per second.This also means that the Stryfe can be handled with one hand, so the other is free to do things like reload clips (mags) or something.

And now performances, possibly the most important part of a review.
Ranges of the orange trigger Stryfe, with used and possibly low quality non-rechargeable AA's are 17-18m. These equate to around 60ft. At shallow angles 75ft ranges are quite easy to achieve.
Accuracy is decent at 8m, but not so great at 15m. At the full 17-18m ranges, dart spread is at least a 1m diametre circle. Considering the Stryfe's abilities as a rapid fire weapon, accuracy is not particularly important.
ROF is impressive, peaking around 6dps for me. Other, more trained persons will be able to push out a greater ROF, possibly 7-8dps.

I purchased the Stryfe for 100RM, the equivalent of 31AUD at the time. For this price you can get an AT, and for a bit more a Retaliator. For the price I purchased it for, the Stryfe is not fantastic value, but considering how well it performs it isn't a bad deal either. For a new Nerfer I don't recommend the Stryfe because it only has a 6 clip (mag), but for those who already have a few blasters and clips (mags) the Stryfe is quite a good addition to any arsenal.

~270 Streamlines, heaps of clips (mags) and a Stryfe with 2/3 Trustfires resulting in over 2 minutes and 40 seconds of spraying and reloading.

Pros:
ROF, range, quiet for a flywheeler, compact, super tacticool, extremely smooth trigger pull, sensitive accel trigger
Cons:
Usual flywheel cons like fire delay, revving up, included 6 clip (mag) is pathetic, sensitive accel trigger, various locks, dart sensor is unreliable

Power: 7/7
Accuracy: 3.5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Usability: 4.5/5
Rate of Fire: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.3/5

Personal Rating: 4/5 - an excellent blaster which is also incredibly tacticool. I just wish it came with more out of the box.