Thank you to Spin Master for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own. 

If your kids have been wanting a pet but you are not ready to be on board with that idea yet, you might want to check out Zoomer. A realistic toy puppy that zips around the room with speed, but essentially no grace. This makes the toy remarkably puppy-like, and fun to interact with. He even does things a normal puppy would — like pee on the floor (without the mess), go after my shoes, and get stuck in tight places.

ZOOMER

Zoomer is white with black spots, has LED eyes, and a rubber tail. He also has an internal battery — a huge plus if you don’t like the idea of swapping out batteries in all your new toys for months on end. He has motorized joints and sensors in his chest to detect motion, objects and touch. He also responds to voice commands in three different languages: English, Spanish and French.

Interacting with Zoomer

Spin Master’s instructions and website explain that Zoomer can actually learn and improve at following commands. He starts out in a ‘training’ mode, and will learn to listen over time. If you don’t play with him enough though, he might start to forget things.

Zoomer didn’t get noticeably smarter in my time with him, but I hope Spin Master’s claim holds true.  Zoomer did okay at following instructions like “lay down”, “play dead,” “protect me”, and a few more, but there were several other voice-activated commands I had to repeat multiple times before Zoomer would react, and even then sometimes he didn’t — just like a real puppy.

All commands start with announcing the robot’s name, which I actually found a little annoying. You have to press down on his head to get his attention, then say his name before you start the command. Once you play with Zoomer long enough he may start to remember the commands so you don’t have to continue to “train” him, but I’m not sure how long this takes.

Here are a few tricks Zoomer and I practiced in our short time together so far:

The quick run-down on Zoomer:

Pros:

  • Cute
  • Built well
  • Responsive
  • No mess (unlike a real puppy)!
  • Internal battery

Cons:

  • Short battery life (20-30 minutes run time is listed, but could probably be extended if shut off when not using)
  • Doesn’t always listen well when in training mode (just like a real puppy)
  • You have to physically touch Zoomer to get him ready for a command

Get a Zoomer of your own!

Zoomer retails for $99.99, but most of the stores have him for $79.99 which I think is a great price for a toy of this caliber. You can find Zoomer at the following retail locations:

Walmart (Zoomer is a Walmart Top 20 toy as chosen by kids. Zoomie white and purple pup coming soon)

Target

ToysRUs (with a purple Zoomer exclusive to the store)

Kmart (Sign up with me as a personal shopper and get great coupons and discounts!)

Amazon

Kohls (Zoomer Varsity coming soon)

 

So tell us…

What tricks that Zoomer does do you find most fascinating?