Sphero Mini: The App-Controlled Robot Ball
(Sphero $49.99)
For the money, you can’t beat this amusing little spinning robot that will do almost everything last year’s Platinum Award winning droid could do and promises to do more. Sphero Mini is really small, the size of a ping pong ball. Players control their robot with a smartphone to change the color of the lights, speed, and direction. The app has joystick control that allows you to move the robot by tilting your phone. It works with a little gyroscope and has a funny slingshot mode that will act like a rubber band to propel the mini. Or try using your phone's camera and control it by moving your head. The robot comes with 3 mini-sized traffic cones and 6 tiny bowling pins that are designed to help you develop your driving skills.There are a few games on board and the company promises that the robot will be able to code on the Sphero EDU app. But we were not able to test its still–to-come coding skills.
Ages: Tweens, Teens
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2017
