Original BB-8 by Sphero - App-Enabled Droid Robot Toy for Star Wars Fans | Perfect for Kids' Birthday Gifts & Interactive Play at Home

I waited impatiently to get my own Sphero BB-8 App-Enabled Droid! I had watched the Sphero product videos and was amazed at what this cute little guy can do. I'm a gadget nerd and had to get my hands on this! Unfortunately, my expectations were too high.First, let me start off by saying BB-8 is very cute. That part is true. I love the look, the design and the shiny finish. It is made of plastic, but appears to be good quality. It's very user friendly and you can be playing with BB-8 within minutes. The only set-up required is to charge BB-8 and download the app.What can BB-8 do? Once you download the free app, you can:"Drive" This feature of the app lets you control BB-8 as if you were using a joystick."Message" Record and play holographic messages."Patrol" When you select patrol, BB-8 goes exploring on his own.BB-8 has the capability of responding to 10 preset voice commands by going to the settings in the app, such as "wake up", "watch out", "go explore" "go to sleep". I was expecting more than 10 voice commands. Siri has spoiled me. I have heard, but cannot verify, that the voice commands only work with iOS devices. If this is accurate, that's a huge drawback for anyone without an iPhone or iPad.BB-8 is very cute (I know, I'm saying it again), has a great personality and is entertaining to watch as he rolls across the floor. That is about the extent of the entertainment.I feel I was misled by the promotional videos. I was under the impression that BB-8 can "detect" when he is going to run into an object, stop himself and change directions; or, perhaps, adapt to his surroundings and learn where objects are. My impression of this came from the part in one of the promotional videos where BB-8 rolls up to a fishbowl with a goldfish in it, stops before hitting it and changes direction.When I set BB-8 to "patrol", he wobbles around a bit, rolls quickly across the floor, hits a wall or other object, wobbles around again, rolls across the floor, hits another object, etc. It's entertaining to watch and the expressive sounds are fun, but after about 5 minutes I'm bored. The worst part of this is BB-8's head falls off frequently when running into an object so I'm constantly following him around to put it back on. Also, if you have stairs in your house as I do, watch out! BB-8 will roll right down the stairs and I'm not sure if he's sturdy enough to bounce down the stairs and land on a tile floor without breaking. I've "saved" BB-8 an untimely death a few times now. Again, this falls under my misunderstanding of thinking BB-8 will adapt to his surroundings or detect a drop off. I have a robotic vacuum that didn't cost much more than BB-8 and has that very capability. It knows to turn around to avoid crashing down the stairs. It also vacuums right up to the edge of walls and furniture, but never actually touches it. Hmmmm.......Next is the issue with the sound. Again, my expectations being different than reality. I thought the sounds would come from BB-8, when really the sounds all come from your smartphone. Very disappointing! I'll set BB-8 on "patrol", set my smartphone down in one room and let BB-8 go explore the house. I don't get the enjoyment of hearing the sounds if I don't carry my phone with me and it's not as realistic even if your phone is right next to BB-8 because you can easily tell no sound is coming from him. This is perhaps the biggest disappointment.Finally, the holographic messages. I thought it would be like in the movie and BB-8 would project a recorded message onto the wall or what-not and play the recorded message. The message only shows up on your smartphone. When using the app through a Motorola smartphone (and others), this feature doesn't work at all. I don't know if it's something that there will be a fix for in the future? It does work on an iPhone and other devices, but is still disappointing that BB-8 isn't really projecting anything.This is a very expensive toy and the novelty wears off very fast, especially if you're expecting something more and it doesn't deliver. If you're a Star Wars Memorabilia collector, you've probably made up your mind and probably should purchase it. If you're like me and love Star Wars but aren't a collector and/or your a gadget nerd like me, you'll probably be disappointed. There's not much to it besides watching it roll around the floor, crashing into things.To summarize the Pros:Very Cute!Realistic looking miniature version of BB-8Great novelty item for Star Wars CollectorsCool GadgetEasy Set-UpFun Sound EffectsTo summarize the Cons:Entertainment won't last longDoesn't detect obstacles or objects in it's wayHead falls offDoesn't sense drops to prevent it from falling down the stairsSound doesn't come from droidHolographic messages are really just a video on your smartphone ~ if your smartphone is compatibleOnly 10 voice commandsVoice commands may only work with iOS devicesPrice is too high for what you really getBought this for grandchildren and think they will have fun with it. Reason for three stars is that I find on thick pile or even some thin carpets that it slows to a crawl if it moves at all. I have wall to wall carpeting with orientals and it has trouble climbing from the wall to wall onto an oriental. But on hardwood or other had flooring it is a speedy little droid. No instructions come with the droid other than pictures that do not tell you much. You can go on their site and click on links and only then will you find some useful information e.g., that you are supposed to set it on hard surface and attach head until magnets find it, that you need a full charge before first use, that it has a lithium battery so unlike NiCad does not need to be drained before recharging. That there is a reset button the side of the base. Have not had to use it but only found reference to that in comments under their link, not in link itself. That the charge to play ratio is 3:1 e.g., 3 hours of charging to 1 hour of play. The user manual unfortunately is filled with little but warnings and cautions and while that is useful an operating manual would be very helpful. I am still not sure I have found all the features. Sent an e mail to support about this and got no response other than an e mail telling me issue was solved! Not terribly supportive! I printed out the page from the links on their support page on the voice commands but an operating manual with all these that you could print would be a big help. Obviously you cannot be looking at their links at the same time you are operating the droid. Some have pointed out that it is small but I have no problem with that. Younger children will find easier to handle and on hard floors it does run like crazy. Wondered what my dog, a Jack Russell, would think of it but he tends to ignore it. Watches it go by but does not find interesting enough to chase. More curious than anything but leaves it alone. Have not had problem of head falling off that others have mentioned but can see if hit a wall or table leg at top speed how that could happen. I agree with comments that camera on the droid would have been nice feature but I do not find the fact that sound is on the app device bothers me. The hologram feature is interesting but limited in the built in features. I agree with those commenting that it does not seem to have any learning or adaptive features; if so I have not found them. True it will change directions if runs into an obstacle but it does not seem to learn anything in the process. Not sure what they are talking about when they say it learns and adapts. On the whole it is a fun toy even though pricey. Will be interested to see how my grandchildren like it and whether it is something they will play with or tire of it quickly. They say they will be adding features and will look forward to those upgrades.Added post Christmas. Gave this item to my adult son for Christmas to play with his young daughters. Found that they have added some added features. Before the only hologram was a figure but now they have added a starfighter. Of course you can add your own. Also they have added several new features in the drive setting. Wish they had BB-8 talking or making sounds more than it does. Know some are bothered by sounds not coming from BB-8 but the device used to control it but while that would be nice it does not bother me. The adults had fun playing with it and grandkids enjoyed watching and eventually they will learn to use it as well. Dogs (more than one at Christmas) just ignored it which is probably good! I was bit concerned that for the price this would be a one hour wonder. Fun for first hour and then put away. But that was not the case so far. As for size we all liked the smaller size. One thing we did find that it was easiest to wake up BB-8 either on its stand or on a table. Putting on floor you have to bend over too long for it to initialize. You have to hold the control app close to BB-8 to get it started. Once it is wake and ready to go putting on floor then works fine. As noted above works best on hardwood or other hard flooring and on some of my thicker carpets it would not go at all.Because of the fun my son and my daughter's boyfriend had with this at Christmas I am raising my stars from 3 to 4. Reason for only four is that support needs to be better and they need an operating manual although perhaps until they finish adding features you would have to update that but even an operating manual now with occasional supplement and revision would be helpful. Not all the features are intuitive or covered on their site. And using your app device to control it you cannot be going back and forth to the links for information if needed. Plus not everything is included there.Really fun, has a bunch of really cool apps you can use with it and it can teach you to code. However the sphero droids app keeps leaving the App Store and is not downloadable at the momentYes this is a cool little item but not without it's difficulties. no 1 It is meant to react when you put the movies on but does so poorly. no 2 Also biggest issue is that the company were in the news a few months ago as they are no longer going to support the app in about 18 months and so you wont be able to use it properly or possibly at all. A lot of money down the drainHaving ordered the device for my son’s Christmas present, it arrived as expected. First impressions were impressive - nice packaging and device. However this is where my enthusiasm and confidence of the product stops. Having opened the device on Christmas Day and placed onto charge, it was still apparently charging some 12-hours later. Pairing the device with an iPhone was ridiculous - I kept going round and round in circles as it constantly refused to link. Having eventually gained a connection (more by luck than anything else), the device then ran for all of about 5mins before a recharge was required. Charging of the device, linking it to an iPhone and it’s general operation as proved problematic ever since.Sphero support were contacted on the 26th December outlining our initial problems and following numerous email exchanges, a replacement device was suggested - this following several unsuccessful attempts with the troubleshooting guidance provided by the support team. Sphero confirmed the likelihood of a battery issue. Initially, a $10 shipping charge was quoted due to the device being out of warranty which, when we politely informed them that the device was a little over 2 months old, was waivered. Much to our surprise then when were given an invoice by the courier for a fraction over £31 related to customs and brokerage charges. We subsequently refused delivery of the replacement device this representing 40% of the original price paid!I’m sure the product is a fun toy to play with - given the limited usage which my son has had with it since Christmas, he seemed to be enthralled by it. However, despite an initial pro-active response by the Sphero Support team, my confidence of them ever actually fixing the issue is currently in limbo. It’s currently gathering dust as an expensive ornament in my son’s bedroom.Great fun! BB-8 is a cute little fellow and it's the adults more than the children who fight over playing with him! The app downloaded quickly and is very easy to use. There are quite a few features to play around with. BB-8 seems quite robust; the head doesn't fall off as often as I expected and when it does it just goes straight back on. He works best on a clean hard floor though; he struggles a bit on carpets!I heard about this a few months ago and decided to buy it for my girlfriend as a surprise for Christmas. I wasn't sure what to expect but I am absolutely delighted with it. The box looks really good and it's of excellent quality, especially the foam mould for the droid to sit in to. The droid itself is amazing. It charged fully in about and hour and it was really easy and simple to connect to my phone. You need a good bit of space on your phone to use the app, but it is well worth it. As soon as it is connected the droid is extremely reactive. The second you command it to do something it does it. Driving it takes a while to get used to but once you do you see how versatile it is. I would also recommend making sure the surface is as clean as possible as the body and head are separate parts and any dirt would seriously affect them connecting working correctly. There is a USB cable included but it is quite short and it does not have a plug. I just used the plug from my phone charger to charge it up. Couldn't say a bad thing about it, would highly recommend for Star Wars fans and for anyway who would love a droid.My son had to buy this. We told him that it's a lot of money for something that wont get played with a lot. It's already been put to one side. Good if your child is a fan though. I think it's a lot of money for something pretty small but I suppose that's most toys these days.