Nerf 'Elite' Jolt Mini Review

I picked up an 'Elite' Jolt for $5, wondering if it was any better than an N-Strike Jolt, or was really just a blue Jolt with fancy orange bits on the front.
As the Elite Jolt is so similar to an N-Strike Jolt, I've left some details out, but they can be found in the Jolt's review.

As made obvious by the picture above, the Elite Jolt comes in a blister package, with itself and 2 Elite darts. Pretty much the same as a regular Jolt (except of course the darts).


The Jolt I got looks similar to the images above, but as you can see in the following pics, has Jolt painted in black, the handle is grey not white, and has a white strip on the barrel. And also because mine is from Aus, it has a grey trigger.

Here you can see how the right side is fancy and good looking, while the left is comparatively boring. This is the same as an N-Strike Jolt, in which Jolt was painted only on the right. My personal opinion is that the Elite Jolt looks better than the N-Strike Jolt, but as always this never affects the ratings.
A key aesthetic feature is the new orange muzzle piece, made of 3 smaller pieces glued together. This orange piece makes the Elite Jolt look quite cool, but obscures the tiny iron sight piece that is on the front of the Jolt.
Besides aesthetics, the muzzle piece has no effect on performances or dart compatability, as it is wide enough to fit a Whistler head.

The Elite Jolt works just like an N-Strike Jolt - load a dart, pull down the priming rod, aim and fire. The spring feels the slightest bit stronger than a regular Jolt spring, but it may just be me not having used a stock Jolt for a while.
A key feature to take note of here is that unlike a regular Jolt, the Elite Jolt does not vacuum load (at least mine doesn't). With an N-Strike Jolt, you could place a dart part way in the AR, then prime quickly to suck it all the way in. The Elite Jolt does not have such a good seal, and thus cannot vacuum load. This may, however, actually be an advantage, as will be explained soon.

In the large, powerful modded blasters, a good seal is a must to ensure maximum firepower. However, with stock blasters and their ARs, a perfect seal can be detrimental to the performance. If the seal is too good, then without a dart loaded in not enough air can be drawn in to the plunger through the AR to get the best performances. If a dart is loaded in, then even less air will be drawn in, resulting in even worse performances. In the case of the Elite Jolt vs N-Strike Jolt, the N-Strike Jolt had a good enough seal to vacuum load Whistlers. However, this meant that it may not have been getting as much air as it could have been, meaning performance was limited. The Elite Jolt does not have such a good seal, and thus maximum air input is guaranteed, because if the barrel is blocked, air can seep in through the sides of the plunger.
Of course a bad plunger seal means that not all the air is utilised to maximum effect, but in the case of these stock blasters the lack of perfect seal is actually helpful.

EDIT: After playing around a little more, I've come to the following conclusions:

• Seal is nowhere near as good as orig Jolt, but still good enough to suffice for a stock blaster
• Spring seems significantly stronger than N-Strike Jolt 

EDIT 2: I borrowed a friend's N-Strike Jolt, and I can confirm that the spring in the Elite Jolt is significantly stronger. However, its o-ring isn't as good, hence somewhat similar performances with Whistlers. With the seal fixed up, the Elite Jolt is getting at least 20% more range than the N-Strike Jolt, and feels a lot more powerful.

Now for the part everyone has been waiting for.
Ranges of the Elite Jolt are very impressive, surpassing 15m with Elite darts quite easily.
Ranges with Whistlers are not so great, at around 13m - about 1-2m more than a regular Jolt.
Accuracy with Elite darts is great. The darts go completely straight, and hit with a decent amount of force.

Overall, I'd say the Elite Jolt is definitely worth the $5 ($1 more than Jolt) if you haven't already got a Jolt. Great power, great accuracy, looks awesome, and fits in your pocket. They're only available at BigW, but they should have loads since they had loads of N-Strike Jolts.

Pros:
Same as N-Strike Jolt, includes Elite darts instead of Whistlers so darts can be used in pretty much all blasters, has slightly more power
Cons:
Same as N-Strike Jolt, iron sight is blocked due to muzzle attachment

Power: 6/7
Accuracy: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Rate of Fire: 1/5
Overall: 3.96/5

Personal Rating: 4/5 - as good a micro pocket pistol as you'll get.

A good buy, but if you've already got a Jolt probably not worth it.