Remote Control Robotic Ball

Product Description

Meet Sphero - The world’s first robotic ball you control with a tilt, tap, or touch on your smartphone. Sphero comes ready and eager to play. Weave in and around obstacles or feet, or just try to outrun the family pet. Test your skills in Sphero Drive, challenge friends to Golf, video your cat chasing Sphero with KittyCam, and more. Your experience changes with every new game app you download, and with single or multi-player games Sphero will always surprise you.

Features

• A New Way To Play: Play in the real world, control it from your smartphone
• Games for Everyone: Comes with free downloadable games with more available in the iTunes App Store, Android Market or Amazon Apps Store.
• Works With Your Smartphone: Control Sphero from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Android device.

Top Reviews

A Great Toy For Kids
by Boom (5 out of 5 stars)
November 4, 2013

I got this as a gift for an 8 year old (with a 10 year old sister) and they are both in love with it. There are so many different apps and games that you can play with it that they haven't gotten bored yet! We have actually been having a lot of fun coming up with our own games to play with Sphero as well.

This toy, while still being an electronic video game, has made the kids be more creative and active with their playing. I really recommend this game for any kids, since there is so much you can do with it. And playing with it with pets is a lot of fun too.
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Headache
by CyberLouis (1 out of 5 stars)
January 12, 2014

It seems it can bring a lot of joy--if it works. I've owned for a year. It only worked smoothly for a few months. Since, it appears that every update of iOS or the sphere apps causes a need for troubleshooting. The device is hard to trouble shoot since it depends a lot on flashing lights. Most devices have an easy solution when everything goes wrong: REBOOT. Or maybe RESET. But this device does not have that. This last go around, it has become practically totally inoperable. Although the base light indicates a full charge, it will only turn on sometimes when you shake it. It will connect to iPad via bluetooth in settings, but as soon as you turn on an app it will shut off. Sometimes it will turn off after you place it on the ground. It's very sad. After hours, I found a faq and youtube video about resetting using a magnet. That did not work either. In short, the few hours of joy have not been worth the endless hours of troubleshooting and frustration. I gave up.
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Great little toy for the geek with some time on their hands
by A. Patterson (4 out of 5 stars)
July 11, 2013

This is really a fun little toy -- at least in the mind of a mid-aged software nerd. I haven't done much more with it than tease dogs and make my kids jealous, but I've enjoyed every minute of it.

Fairly easy to setup (though I did have to try to pair it half a dozen times). Fun to use. Android software is well done.

I have to say the product folks at Orbotix are really missing a prime opportunity. I have three dogs (2 Australian Cattle Dogs and a Terrier) that love to chase things. They are really enthusiastic about this quirky little ball. Unfortunately, if I let them get it for 5 seconds, it would be toast...

I'm guessing this might be cool for cat owners -- since I can't imagine a cat destroying it. But I'll never know since my dogs like cat chasing even better than ball chasing.

Recommendation to Orbotix: Cover the thing in a durable skin, sell them at a pet store, and I will buy stock in your company and give you 5 stars :-)

Could anything else make it better? Add sounds to the ball! "Boing" sounds coming from the android phone isn't nearly as effective as if Sphero were barking or boinging at the dogs it is chasing...
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A must for any kiddo
by Nancy J Quesenberry (5 out of 5 stars)
March 4, 2015

Well...my grandson discovered I have Amazon Prime so a lot of my reviews are his...but I am going to do this one...this is the coolest thing I have ever seen. I had never heard of it but what an amazing toy? I can' t say it's really a toy and it is so high tech. It's a bit pricy but worth every penny....it is even water proof and has a cover you buy for outside adventures. You have to read up on it to discover how fun it is. My cats think its pretty fun too!
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Neat for about 5 minutes!
by Anonymous Coward,Top Contributor: Cycling (2 out of 5 stars)
June 28, 2014

The Sphero hardware is still some of the neatest stuff to ever be designed. The software, on the other hand, has been evolving these past few years, and not in any good directions. If you think you're just going to fire up the application and drive around, well... that isn't really an option anymore. You've now got to join in with their completely gamefied and monetized environment that includes needless push messages, inscrutable user interfaces, and features that hide behind paywalls. It used to be that you could start with the basic app and add on additional apps to get the splashy stuff. Less so, now.

In the meantime, the amusement value wears off pretty quickly, and this just becomes another gadget to be disposed of somehow.
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Needs a lot of work
by Roger E. (2 out of 5 stars)
January 6, 2014

This is a neat little device and when it works, it's fun to play with. However, with an Android device, the amount of time it works, is very short. It stops working if you move too quickly, it goes around a corner and is no longer in line of sight with your device, if it hits a wall, just because it wants to sometimes, and for a lot of other reasons that I couldn't figure out. If you plan to use this with an Android device, wait until they've greatly improved things because it's just going to be a headache for you and you'll find yourself pairing, initiating and re-pairing the device over and over and over, instead of actually playing with it.
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No longer supported by app.
by likeakite (1 out of 5 stars)
December 29, 2018

This product should not be sold. There are no longer apps to download to support the use of this product.
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Its fun but...
by Rog (4 out of 5 stars)
February 1, 2014

Its fun but you are going to get bored after a while. The 3rd party augmented reality apps are kind of cool but you will need plenty of room to work the sphero. I also ordered the 2.0 version and have not even opened the box. So bottom line if you want to drive your cats and dogs nuts and if you 22 and work in a high tech incubator this is the toy for you.
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Fun Toy for Kids and hackers
by Delta Lima (5 out of 5 stars)
September 8, 2013

This can be a very fun toy, very durable and works well.

overall the setup is easy, especially with the new app published with the release of the new Sphero 2.0. Since there isn't a major difference between this one (v1.0) and the new Sphere 2.0 this is a good deal.

The ball is best driven on a hard surface. cement, tile, hardwood all do fine. I haev a textured area run that gives it a real touch time.

Controlling the sphero can really take some getting used to as the turning controls do not respond as one might think. when going straight, if you want to then go right you have to plan for full curve into that right turn. the ball will no just start spinning to the right. It is also important to adjust the "tail" so the controls translate properly. Again this has been made real easy in the new release of the Sphero App.

Another important thing is that with the release of Sphere 2.0, its now getting easier to get these and ever decreasing price, especially if you can find them used, on sale or in a Amazon Warehouse deal. This is great for Hackers that want to tear it open. The guts of this magic ball are amazing for hackers, makers and others that would use them for electronics projects or robotics. in one package you have an ios/android app, communication via Bluetooth, full spectrum LEDs and lots of motion components.
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Sphero IOS and Android App Controlled Robotic Ball
by animal lover (5 out of 5 stars)
January 2, 2015

This toy was the biggest hit for my 11 year old grandson. He begged me for it and said he would play with it all the time. He was good to his word, playing with it the entire Christmas day. He couldn't wait to take it outside in the rain since it was waterproof. That seemed to make a big impression on him.

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