robothut Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 The Hasbro BB8 robot is sold at Target only and costs 1/2 as much as the Sphero and is twice as big and does not require a smart phone to operate as it has its own IR remote control. here is a you tube that compares both bots.https://youtu.be/Ea4IlpGfquY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennetzel Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I ordered the Target one as well...it's due to arrive today. Now I can do my own comparison...LOL. Anyway, it's going to have to do a lot to compare to the Sphero one. That one is slick and works really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 The hasbro one is better for me as it costs less, does not require a smart phone and the sounds come from the robot not the "remote" smart phone. The bad part is they used a IR remote system so 10 to 15 feet on the control and bright sun light will make that even shorter. A guy would need to convert to RC remote then he would have the best of both worlds. Based on the supper simple way these ball robots work it would not be hard to hack one together, the hard part would be the paint job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Nice video and love the larger working version by Hasbro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennetzel Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Having the Sphero one, I can see how more advanced it is than the Hasbro one is. Yet the Hasbro version has yet to show up...UPS comes late here. But judging by the video, the Sphero one is more high tech. It actually learns it's environment and is subject to frequent updates. They say there are things that BB8 does in the movie that we don't know about yet and will be programmed into the sphero BB8 as the movie comes out. So it will grow, where the Hasbro is what you see is what you get. I personally am looking forward to whatever surprises are in store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Laurie (wife of Morbius) came up with an excellent point when she read your post Ken. The toys will be tracked as with you with your smartphone. Sphero will tell all about its whereabouts, information about it's owners and when it rests and plays. I think the toy company will know where all these robots live, be careful Ken to check yours out whether its got a little spy camera built in...and constantly following you around. Maybe you'll find him one day trying to communicate with your vintage 'bots, think of 'The Invaders' or 'Talking Tina' of Twilight Zone fame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennetzel Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 LOL...I don't think there is a smart cam in there. When he's on his charger, he just sits there and you can turn him around to face the wall, so I think I'm safe. :D I did however get my Hasbro BB8 in the past hour. I got him together and I'll tell you, he is a bit of a let down. His head keeps falling off for one thing. Plus, as the video shows, you kind of unscrew the body halves to put the batteries in. Problem is, when you put him back together, there is no "snap" to lock it in place. As he rolls on the floor, the halves slowly unscrew and it comes apart. It's not a tight fit. And the circles don't match up completely...they are a bit off. He also moves much slower than the Sphero one. Plus he wobbles a lot. Really kind of flimsy compared to the Sphero. A true case of you get what you pay for. The Sphero has performed flawlessly for me where I find myself constantly "tightening" the halves of the Hasbro so he doesn't split open like an egg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 I didn't like BB-8 when I first saw him(?) but I'm liking him more and more. I'll probably go with the Hasbro release cause it's not like I'd play with him every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 Side by side of both versions, web picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 I like that Sphero helped design the actual prop seen in the movie. (For those who still don't know, it's not CGI, it's a practical effect.) It's sort of cool having something with that connection to the film... Definitely happy with the Sphero and worth the cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.