Original BB-8 by Sphero (No Droid Trainer)

I'm a longtime Star Wars fan who is into tech and, yes, hyped for Episode VII. Considering purchasing BB-8? First, have a compatible smartphone and be aware that it recharges via USB. Taking the price of the Sphero alone at about $129, the Star Wars treatment and BB-8 personality (BB-8 head, design and app sounds) are worth the additional cost.Just another opinion in this set of reviews, I can share what I really enjoyed about BB-8:+ The design - Some Star Wars desktop statues can go for a much higher cost than this, but this obviously allows you to do so much more than just displaying it on your desktop.+ The packaging - simple and secure packaging in a nice design. It's Disney + Star Wars. Easy to start playing with it out of the box.+ The accessories - I prefer a USB cable over another AC adapter. The cradle is detailed and provides a secure and clean charging platform for BB-8. The magnetic BB-8 head has wheels to help rotate 360 degrees.+ The interactivity - The downloadable app allows you to control BB-8 directly, listen to the cool sounds of BB-8, has a camera to record augmented reality messages and listens to voice commands. Surely will be upgraded in the future with more!It's super fun to direct and control BB-8 around your home for your friends, family, pets and other BB-8s! The charger and BB-8 unit has lights to indicate charging or when BB-8 is being expressive. See the photos I've included for more details.The $149.99 MSRP may be restrictive to some, but if you have some money that you can put into having one piece of Star Wars Episode VII memorabilia, the Sphero BB-8 is something great to consider. I had no problems with operation. Enjoyable and to me, worth it!

This is the coolest toy I've ever had, and I'm 33. The folks at Sphero clearly were in a rush to get the product out the door for the movie release, but they've kept their promise to update him, and I expect that they will continue to unlock the immense potential of this little guy in the coming months.Pros:-Sooooo cute! The little autonomous head movements make him feel alive. He's just full of personality.-Good battery life. I've yet to have him run down on me during a play session (though I don't think I've tried to push the hour mark)-Durable. The body is made of very thick plastic. He's taken some tumbles, and though the head will sometimes fall off in an impact, he doesn't have a scratch on him. He takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.-Controls are easy to learn and use.-Sphero continues to update the actions and sounds available.-Compatible with other programs like SPRK Lab and Tickle (iPhone only) for infinite programming and customization. This allows you to use BB-8 like a regular Sphero. He's more versatile this way, but not as cute. It's the head movements that really make him special, and older Sphero programs don't account for that added motion.- Voice commands are pretty fun, though there are only a few to choose from.Cons:- The current interface is very limited. There are 12 programmed actions, and you can of course drive BB-8 freely. There's no light functions to play with, and Sphero cannot put the program on an open platform because of the Star Wars licensing agreement.- BB-8 runs a bit more sluggish in his specific control program than he does in custom programs like SPRK Lab.- Patrol mode is worthless. BB-8 does not "remember" when he bumps into something, so he just keeps running into the walls and getting stuck in remote corners. Annoying. It would be so much better if he could somehow use distance from your phone or GPS to actually navigate spaces, like a Roomba does. This just may not be possible, but I hope to see better functionality in updates.- Hologram mode does not work that well on my Samsung S5; the image often doesn't line up correctly with the robot, so the image just randomly projects in space. The record function is pretty cool, though. It's just kind of glitchy right now. Hopefully Sphero will update this function.- No "follow me" or "come here" function. This seems like it would be pretty simple to implement. Another function I hope to see in an update.-It would have been SUPER COOL to have a little camera in the head. I know, power issues, it would be too heavy, etc. But I can dream, can't I?Overall, this is a really excellent little piece of technology, but its capabilities are not even close to being fully utilized at the moment. With some added voice and command functionality, and improvement of the patrol mode, I might just never put him down. Well done, Sphero. I look forward to your next updates for my little droid buddy.

So fun! This is one of these toys that every grown man who loves Star Wars should have

BB-8 has been a ton of fun to play with today. Even the cats got in on some droid-chasing action. The small head has little wheels underneath and attaches to the bigger body via a magnet - but the user does have to be careful in where to attach it. It had enough juice out of the box to play with for a little bit, but it does take about 3 hours to fully charge and runs about an hour on that charge. So there is some limited functionality that might disappoint some consumers (not ones who have watched the video). Right now (launch day 9.4.2015), the Android app does NOT support voice commands, which is a little disappointing. There is supposed to be an update "soon" and I expect the enjoyment of this droid will greatly increase.Upstairs, the rooms have a medium pile carpet and several wool rugs. BB-8 navigated them with ease, including the transition up and onto the rug. The downside? If there is pet hair in your carpet, even after vacuuming, the head of BB-8 will pick up some of the hairs and need a small cleaning out of the wheels (ahem, ask me how I know).It is adorable, fun, and takes a bit of time to master the controls. However, a certain very delighted 4 year old was able to make BB-8 move as he wished. The sounds and lights are great, although sounds are made via the phone app (would've been hard to balance and place speakers in a rotating object this small) and BB-8 stops working if the user shuts down the app - hence the moniker "app enabled droid" vs "droid".It's incredibly cute and while smaller than the Star Wars R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid it's more actually more engaging and fun. Looking forward to much more play with it..