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programmable app-enabled robot ball for kids ages 8 & up - stem educational toy by sphero mini (red)! logo

Programmable App-Enabled Robot Ball For Kids Ages 8 & Up - STEM Educational Toy By Sphero Mini (Red)! Review

17

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Very good

Revainrating 4 out of 5  
Rating 
4.0
🤖 Robots, 🚁 Toy Remote Control & Play Vehicles

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Details

BrandSphero
ColorRed
MaterialPlastic
Cartoon CharacterRobot
Assembly RequiredNo

Reviews

Global ratings 17
  • 5
    6
  • 4
    8
  • 3
    1
  • 2
    1
  • 1
    1

Type of review

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Neat little thing on my review.

Kid Christmas present. They have these at her school and she wanted one for home. It's super cute and works well. Seems durable too.

Pros
  • Flexible and responsive, allowing children to customize their robot ball as per their needs
Cons
  • The ball may get stuck in corners or against walls

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Works great: my feedback

My 9 year old loved this for about 2 weeks and maybe he'll pick it up again later after he gets tired of his other Christmas gifts but it was a pretty good 2 weeks. He spent enough time "programming" the sphero that I think it was probably money well spent.

Pros
  • Perfect gift for kids who love coding, programming and robotics
Cons
  • The ball may not function properly if it gets wet

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Pretty Cool on my review.

I really like this as a gift. You kind of have to calibrate it so that the ball goes in the correct direction when you are playing with it. But over all, this is a really cool toy to have. You can change the colors, and have a couple of different games to play. There are different kinds of control options for driving the Sphero. My 7 year old son does think its pretty cool and he appreciates the present

Pros
  • M001RRW
Cons
  • The app may not offer enough instruction for beginners

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Real fun, but not that durable to play with.

The controling was a bit wonky. It basically would go opposite or just a different direction entirely from where I want it to go, I constantly have to adjust it. One other thing is the durability of this thing. I thought for something that's around $50 with some pretty cool mechanics and electronic features it just pops open like a battery coming out of my old samsung galaxy back in 7th grade. It's made of plastic and is easy to pop open and lasts at least 2 minutes before it pops open when it…

Pros
  • Robots
Cons
  • It can be challenging to program advanced movements

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Great prank turned obsession.

I bought this product to play a prank on friends while out putting. This looks just like a regular golf ball, with the exception of the seam where it separates. In your hand or up close you’d quickly realize it’s not a normal golf ball, on the ground you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.That being said, this is soooo much more than just a prank golf ball. I was geeking out at all the fun stuff you can do with this thing. It’s brought hours of entertainment to my kids and cats. The app is

Pros
  • Can create a sense of accomplishment as children learn to solve complex problems
Cons
  • It may not have enough sensors to offer a wide range of features

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Nice gift, fun game but probably not for long.

Like:* It does all as advertised.* It's small and works great as a giftDislike:* The steering is a little weird. It's not too accurate, but I suppose kids will "live with it" just fine.* It is not attractive for long. Less than a month and my kid is not playing with it any more. But I could be different with your kids. Who knows.

Pros
  • Provides a hands-on learning experience for children interested in STEM fields
Cons
  • It may not hold up well to rough play

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Different but good gift for 7-8 year old girl

Bought for my 7 year old daughter's birthday. She'd played with something similar last year at camp so she was very excited when she saw it. It was a shame that I couldn't use the app on her kindle fire because freetime blocks location services and this app requires it. So I installed it on my old android phone and it worked perfectly. It does frequently lose calibration but I have not found it annoying yet.

Pros
  • This has provided hours of entertainment for my nine year old. Good product. Good app.
Cons
  • It requires a lot of device storage to download and run the app

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Fun for grown-ups too

My 7 year old daughter took a STEM class over summer break. One day after school she was telling me about this "robot" they were playing with. The teacher happen to send an email the next day, letting parents know where these could be purchased, but they were not "cheap". I don't usually just buy toys like this for my kids "just because", but I figured if they are using it for school.I think I have been playing with it more than my daughter has! 😉 Don't get me wrong, she does set up little…

Pros
  • This is a great toy, but it's way smaller than what I thought...I guess it was my fault.
Cons
  • The robot ball is quite fragile and can easily break

I missed the different apps that Sphero originally had that made it as good as it was. Most of their functionality lives on in Sphero play, but the games like Chromo are lost forever.

Pros
  • LEARN TO CODE: Powered by the free Sphero Edu app, you can create and customize games and code Sphero Mini by drawing on your screen, using drag and drop coding blocks, or writing JavaScript.
Cons
  • The app can be slow to respond at times

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Fun toy for kids; good learning tool for parents

I got this for my son for Christmas, and he had a blast with it. It was ready to play right out of the package (that is, after charging, but more on that later), and that hooked him. And it allowed him to program ever more complex activities with it, and he became more interested. So a great toy for him, and a learning tool that got him learning to program under the disguise of fun. Another point of note is that it's a small package, and I wasn't too confident about how long it would last…

Pros
  • PLAY GAMES: Use Sphero Mini as a game controller for arcade-style games in the Sphero Play app. Perfect for playing on the go or with limited space. Choose from 3 different games - shoot through space, speed through a tunnel, or smash a polygon of bricks. With 1 hour of play time, Sphero Mini is the next big thing.
Cons
  • It may not be as durable as other toys in this price range

Revainrating 2 out of 5

Seemed fun.until. good for me

I got this to play with the cats. Seemed like a good idea at the time. However, it kept losing it's bluetooth connection. The only way to get it connected again was to plug it in to charge. It would work for a few minutes and lose connection again. Perhaps mine is defective, but who knows.

Pros
  • Improves hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and control over movements
Cons
  • Some children may have difficulty understanding the programming language used

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Neat little toy! for my opinion

Gave this to my 13 yo for Christmas. He was excited about it for about a day and has barely touched it since. His younger siblings find it much more interesting but they aren’t sure how to make it do much. It does exactly what it says it does though and it seems quite sturdy.

Pros
  • August 11, 2019
Cons
  • It can be difficult to control the ball accurately

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Great gift for a 10 year old

A big hit! My daughter is 10 and first test drove a Sphero bot at the Franklin Institute in Philly. She immediately added it to her Christmas list. Once we got the app downloaded she dove right into the remote driving and coding games. She has already put hours into this thing and she's only had it 3 days. Charges quickly and holds it's charge well. The only complaint is that there are no instructions in the package. Do yourself a favor and get a case for it that fits the charger.

Pros
  • Can be used both indoors and outdoors for a variety of play scenarios
Cons
  • The app may not work on all types of smartphones or tablets

Revainrating 1 out of 5

Many issues in my review

Would not connect to my daughter's phone no matter how long I tried. Also, the battery would die shortly after removing it from the charger.I returned it and I'll give a second one a shot, but I don't have my hopes up.Will update with the new experience.Btw, this was a Christmas gift that disappointed my kid. I would not advise giving this as a gift, or at least not the sole gift.

Pros
  • Toys & Games
Cons
  • The app may not have enough content to keep children entertained long-term

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Fun Little Gadget - but Pretty Pricey

I used to have a gag remote control golf ball. It was an inexpensive little novelty but great fun to swap out someone's golf ball, put it near the hole, and then remotely sink the putt or steer it offline so he misses the easy putt.But I lost it.I searched for it on Revain, and this is what came up. Yes, it is a remote control golf ball, but at about 20 times the price of the one I lost.Still, glad to have it.

Pros
  • Sphero
Cons
  • It may require frequent troubleshooting to keep it running smoothly

Revainrating 5 out of 5

This thing is so cool!

This thing is so cool! Your phone is the remote. I got this as a gift for my youngest but I was the first one to play with it. It has a good battery life charged it after opening and haven't had to charge it yet.

Pros
  • does what it says, Fun with cats.
Cons
  • I was not very satisfied

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Good Cat Toy 😸 - my new review

I use this primarily as a cat toy, and would recommend after my experiences. Some performance observations:• The orientation calibration gets lost every 10 mins or so. Due to my high latitude, I have 50μT magnitude magnetic field strength but only 20μT parallel to the ground; Maybe that's why it has trouble.• When driving on a hardwood floor, the slightest impact will make it go into an erratic tailspin. A little more traction by the ball or some software to limit/filter the acceleration would…

Pros
  • DRIVE MODE: Beginner learners can drive and play STEM-inspired games with the free Sphero Play App. Drag and drive with Joystick mode, pull back and release with Slingshot mode or tip and rotate your mobile device with Tilt mode. Included with Sphero Mini are 3 traffic cones and 6 bowling pins to inspire obstacle course fun right out of the box.
Cons
  • Some children may quickly lose interest in the ball after a few uses