UBTECH JIMU Robot BuilderBots App-Enabled STEM Learning Kit (357 pcs)

This is one of the best robot kits for the money out there. A robot that is below $100 and can do what this robot can do with the amazing build quality is hard to find. My son and I were easily able to build this robot and the app that shows the instructions and lets you control and program it is amazing. I wish that there were other ways to control the robot but I think the app works great. I ended up having to buy my son a tablet in order for him to program and control this robot but it is worth it. The battery is also very nice and is Lithium Ion. Many other kits we had tried by other manufacturers use C or D batteries and they eat through them quick. Anyway, I could go on and on about how great this robot is because it is an excellent buy. If you are on the fence on this one, and you are looking for an inexpensive and capable little robot, give it a try, you will love it.

As a teacher, I like things that are organized by colors and make sense. The app is how you build the model and at first, I was hesitant about that. Directions are in 3D so you can rotate views to see how the pieces lock into others. I imagine with big hands, getting pieces apart may be arduous, but if you wiggle them slightly from side to side, it unlocks the pieces for easy removal. Considering our son has built 1440 LEGO piece systems, we felt it was time to expand his skills. At first, getting acclimated to the app was uneasy, but with most children of the digital age, he soon mastered how to progress through the steps. It shows how much one has built and what parts (that are enlarged on the inside of the box) to use. While not finished, the main part of the grabberbot is finished, along with its arm. This will not be the last Jimu we buy. Note-no free bot given for this review. We wish!

STEM toys and build kits usually require a lot of tech support from parents, but once the software is installed, the Jimu bot and associated UBTech app are self-correcting in a way that encourages experimentation. My kid is tech-savvy but often frustrated and/or easily bored by systems that require a lot of “Mom, I can’t figure out how to make this work,” especially when I get frustrated trying to figure out how to help. The app includes interactive 3D diagrams and instructions, which allows my visual learner to do the construction independently and experimentally. For example, he didn’t want to complete the full build before playing with the coding part of the app, and the Jimu accommodates that. He’s been playing for hours (HOURS!) without assistance or insurmountable frustration, learning and modifying as he goes, which makes Jimu a rare tech toy. The app itself is wonderful when it works as designed. However, given the other Christmas Day reviews, it sounds like the UBTech servers were not prepared for the heavy spike in traffic from new users—an understandable but terribly timed fail. We seem to have gotten lucky by downloading the app and initial content on Christmas Eve. Except a few delays downloading video content this morning, it’s been functioning perfectly ever since. I’m hopeful the company will implement a fix quickly for all the families out there trying to make their robots work. Persevere, parents! It’s really cool when it works.

I wish I could give it a ZERO. Everything revolves around their APP and connection to their server. Apparently they are not using Amazon servers. And so as I write this description, I have an 11 year old almost in tears because of this POS on Christmas day. So thanks for nothing UBTECH! You cannot build the robot without the app, You cannot connect to the robot without registering your email and a Jimu account. As I sit here pushing the register button, I receive a REQUEST FAILED. going past that and trying to connect to build the robot does not work. It also will not connect via bluetooth. This failure happened on my kids Leonovo Adroid Tablet, my Ipad mini, My iphone. I am steaming mad and here to scream at Amazon for making this a recommendation and at myself for not reading the APP reviews. As far as the reviews here, someone probably exchanged product for a good review. Avoid all of UBTECH until there is an updated APP and proof of their existence in backing these robots.

After many many tries of downloading the app it finally worked and it is such a great robot. Our 7 year old boy absolutely loves it. I edited this to say that the app did Eventually work!! Once it did it was smoothe sailing from there and a joy to put together! Great product and so cute! It reminds me of WALL-E but hopefully they have fixed their app for good!

Was bought as a present for my son. It is very well build and works as advertised. Some of the builds may take a while as some parts are small and there are several, so may want to split it between a few day or have the whole family do a team build. Once together my 6 year old loved it and I was impressed as well

My engineer brother has been wanting to get his 2 young kids (ages 8 and 10) more into STEM. Not too long ago, I came across some articles online about toy robots for STEM education which lead me to finding Jimu Robot. They're basically...TOY ROBOTS... how cool is that?! Anyways, I ended up ordering some other sets as gifts before. This time, I ordered this the GrabberBot Kit since it's the cheapest of the Jimu Robot line. Regardless, these kids love it too. They built GrabberBot together as a family and my brother loves playing with it just as much as his kids do. Great product.

This is an excellent toy for kids who are looking for lego type activity with additional to control and play with phone/tablet. If you are looking to make kids understand coding or help them develop code to make certain saved sequence of actions then it has a lot to improve. Actions are not in sync with code. Certain actions like turning has additional movement which are not needed. Then if there are instructions to multiple servo motor, it does not wait to finish first action/move before starting next. Also, while saving it does not store times for actions. My daughter wanted it to move slowly for her sequence. She has to load and adjust timing everytime. We are using Android 7.0 on LG-M322.