You may remember that last year, the Madhouse kids were delighted to receive a Teksta Robotics Scorpion to review. They love making it scuttle across the floor and grab things in its pincers but, to be quite honest, it gives me the creeps because it is just a bit too realistic. I was therefore much more enthusiastic when we received a Teksta Newborn Puppy to review.
As you can see, he's a much cuter companion than the scorpion and, even if he's made of blue and white plastic, there's still something decidedly lifelike about him.
He does an impressive amount of puppy-like actions. He can wag his tail and his ears, he will walk, sit, beg and respond to your voice and touch. He yaps like a real puppy and you can even program him to sing. The manufacturer says that he behaves like an 8-week-old puppy but, having had a litter of puppies to look after here at The Madhouse a few years ago, I can immediately tell you that the two huge advantages are that it won't chew things up and it won't poo everywhere (and I mean everywhere !). It does make about the same amount of noise as a real puppy though !
This is one of the new breed of micro pet robots so it's the perfect size for smaller children to handle, especially as it only weighs 160g. It will fit comfortably in the palm of your hand or your pocket/handbag, if your child gets fed up of carrying it around. It's smaller, more interactive and more animated than the original Teksta puppies and it also has a smaller price tag to match, which is a bonus ! It has been engineered with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence so it will react to your voice, physical gestures, lights and sounds. When I compare it to the little wooden dog on a string that I used to pull along behind me, giggling at its yapping noise, when I was a child, I find it quite incredible to see the technology and development that goes into creating kids' toys these days. Although kids' toy is possibly a misnomer - the adults who come into contact with it seem just as taken as the children !
The only very slight negative is that its ears tend to come off quite a lot - this seems to be a common Teksta issue because the Scorpion frequently loses a leg too. If that's the only criticism I can think of, that's pretty good going though ! It requires 2xAAA batteries which aren't included - I was surprised to see that they seem to last quite a while, but we are using Duracell batteries as opposed to cheap ones.
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £19.99
for more information : http://www.character-online.com/products/Teksta/Newborn-Robotic-Puppy/
Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.
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