Review: Zibits

Written on Sep 9, 2010 by RuthJS and filed under Brands, Reviews, Senario

The Zibits mini r/c robots from Senario are collectible toys with sound and lights, speed and spin. They are fun, easy to use, durable, and the new favorite toy of many of my testers. At $10 each, I can see the Zibits being a must-have stocking stuffer or Hanukkah gift.

Out of the Box

There’s not much setup with a Zibits robot. The bot contains the required three button cell batteries, but you need to provide two AAA batteries for the joystick. The joystick battery compartment is on the back of the controller and easy to access.

In case you are curious, the battery compartment for the bot is in the back of the head.

Once the batteries are installed, simply turn the switch on the side of your bot to “On,” and you’re ready to go.

Design

These little bots are well-designed. Each Zibit is about 2.5 inches tall and the remote is about 3 inches. Both easily fit in the cargo pocket of a boy’s size 8 pair of shorts – critical for transport. They come in three themed varieties: Junk Bits, Tech Bits, and Urban Bits.

The Junk Bits look like old-school robots, cobbled together. The Tech Bits are rounded and sleek with more of a bad-ass quality.  The Urban Bits are, well, adorable. They have big heads and round little bodies that are just cute, but don’t tell my son I said so! All Zibits have eyes that light up when you first turn them on and whenever you press the joystick. The joystick also makes fun robotic sounds as you control the bot, making these toys even more attractive to their 8+ target audience.

Durability

The Zibits bots appear to be sturdy and easy to use. When I opened the package, I accidentally dropped the bot, and it skidded across my table and onto the floor. When I inspected the toy, there were no scratches or marks at all, which boded well for use by my testers, some of whom can put toys through the ringer. In fact, after hours of “testing” by my son and his friends, the bot looks as good as it did when I unpacked it.

Let’s Play!

Pressing the joystick forward makes the bot go forward, picking up speed and making metallic scratching sounds as it goes. Pressing the joystick back makes the bot spin doing 360′s, also with sound, until you stop pressing the joy stick. The bot is not designed to go side-to-side, so the joystick doesn’t have those options. Check it out:

With a tiny spinning wheel on the bottom of the bot, the Zibits work best on smooth surfaces. We had no trouble on wood, linoleum, and smooth cement (like in a basement), but even sidewalk cement had too many divots and the bot couldn’t move.

Carpet is definitely out of the question. In fact, if pet hair, carpet fiber, or string gets wrapped around one of the wheels, it would be very difficult to remove. My advice: just don’t do it.

One other thing I should mention is that Senario plans to introduce play sets for the Zibits. Due out this fall, these sets will include a lab, a mine shaft and a race track.

Tester’s Reaction

I handed the bot to my first tester, my 8-year-old son, with the instructions to go play with it for a bit and let me know what he thought. He took off for another part of the house. Thirty minutes later, I had neither seen nor heard from him, so I went in search of the boy with the bot. I found him, under the kitchen table, spinning the bot in front of the dog, driving her crazy. My son, on the other hand, was in heaven.

Since the first tester, the bot has survived countless children and adults in the neighborhood, all with similar reactions, “Cool!” and “This is fun!” It’s not an understatement to say that this is the favorite toy I’ve had my testers play with this summer.

In a Nutshell

The bots are marketed well (boys 8+) and priced right ($10, though I’ve seen some stores price them at $15, so shop around), and they have great appeal for their audience. We give the Zibits bots:

5 out of 5 stars

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