Sphero really outdid themselves with the creation and design of the Mini. The shell is so easy to pop off when you need access to the charging port, but I've found that it will never come off on its own (unless dropped. Oops). It matches my walking speed perfectly, and keeps me occupied for much longer than I'm willing to admit. And when it dies, it's so easy to remove the shell and plug it in. I've found that it'll usually charge within an hour.

When opening the product, the first thing I noticed was how simple and easy it was to get started. I simply plugged in the sphero to wake it up, downloaded the app, and it connected within seconds. This product doesn't require any settings or accounts to use. I'd highly recommend this product for children with phones, or adults bored in the office.

Our 11yo son wanted a Sphere Bolt for Christmas, but we weren't sure how much he'd actually use it, so this was a great alternative. He was super-excited to get it and used it constantly for about a month. He still gets it out occasionally, but I think he has pretty much done all he can with it and is ready for an upgrade.

I used to have a gag remote control golf ball. It was an inexpensive little novelty but great fun to swap out someone's golf ball, put it near the hole, and then remotely sink the putt or steer it offline so he misses the easy putt.
But I lost it.
I searched for it on Amazon, and this is what came up. Yes, it is a remote control golf ball, but at about 20 times the price of the one I lost.
Still, glad to have it.

FINALLY MY CAT HAS SHOWN INTEREST IN A SPHERO TOY!!!

I thought I was gonna be all about the branded Sphero toys after a very successful run-in with their new BB-9E but then they went an introduced miniature Sphero balls and I had to get myself one in green. It's my son's favorite color so I quickly rationalized that it's a toy for both of us. But, like with the BB-9E, he's terrified of this thing, too. There was hope for a second there when he found it on the carpet in the morning after I'd played around with it the night before after he'd gone to bed. He brought it to me and his mom and announced, "An egg!" Because it's actually just a hair smaller and obviously rounder than a plastic Easter egg. Feels like one, too. So there was promise. My wife has me load up the app and give it a run for him and he was immediately over it. He jumped on our bed and wanted nothing more to do with it.

But you know who loves it? Our cat. That cat's ignored the full-size Sphero, Ollie, and BB-9E but THIS ONE is something she'll stalk around the ottoman.

The good - It's smaller but no less solid or speedy than the larger models. I imagined it'd be a significant drop in quality or speed or SOMETHING because it's not only smaller but significantly less expensive than the larger models but I haven't found this to be the case at all. It even runs on our tufted rugs which ave texture/different heights. I'd have been understanding if it couldn't overcome the heights but it hasn't been the case. Your (miniature) mileage may vary, though.

The bad - Still terrifies my son. Isn't branded (I'd be down for a mini BB-8) so the app feels light compared to all that the Star Wars models come with. Completely delivers on all that's promised so that's more an observation than a true "bad". I'm gettin' greedy, clearly.

The unexpected - Twice now I've had to stop and restart the app because it's tried to load up in portrait mode with half the screen black and the load screen basically only being half there. I couldn't rotate the phone and have it be corrected I just had to stop the app completely and then re-open it. Once open the apps been solid, like all of their stuff, but that did happen twice so it's kind-of, sort-of something that happens. Easily fixed so not a bad, just an unexpected.

Off to play with the cat and hopefully not give my son nightmares!

Granddaughter and her parents said this gift was a HIT!