My Ubooly Review
I didn’t know even know what Ubooly was until I was accepted on Sverve to do a review in exchange for my own Ubooly. My first thoughts were how cute the little stuffed friend looked. I thought it would be something that Aidalyn would really enjoy playing with.
She loves playing with my phone when I let her, so why not have something that is educational and interactive?
Ubooly is a stuffed toy that has a zipper slot for certain iPhones or Android devices to slide inside bringing the character to life.
-Small Ubooly is compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPod touch 4, iPod touch 5, Android 4.0 and newer.
-Jumbo Ubooly will fit an iPad Mini and 7 inch Android tablets.
I ordered my Ubooly on Amazon and it arrived quickly in just a few days.
Setting up
The Ubooly came in this really cute, easy to open box. The included instructions were nice and clear. They showed step by step what I needed to do for getting ready for play.
Steps 1 and 2 went very quickly. There is a code included with the Ubooly to register with the app.
Step 3 “Updating Smart Toy” took more than 10 Minutes. (This could have been my phone and not the app).
I gave up and Uninstalled app and re-installed. Then it worked perfectly with no stalls.
First impressions:
The box was easy to open.
Aidalyn loved the opening the zipper at the top. It is pretty kid friendly, because she figured out on her own where the phone should go.
Quality of Ubooly: Nice weight, not too heavy. Seems durable, good quality.
Aidalyn loved the Ubooly face when there is not phone inserted. It looks like it is sleeping (so adorable!). She kept telling us that it was asleep.
First play:
Encourages active play: The first activity was to throw the Ubooly in the air. When Aidalyn threw it, it would “squeal with delight.” I loved that the Ubooly wanted to be thrown in the air and would respond with the movement – Aidalyn wasn’t too sure yet.
Next the Ubooly started asking simple questions. Using Voice recognition, it was able to understand if Aidalyn was saying “yes” or “no.” It responded appropriately… which was so cool!
“Do you want to sing a song?”
Changing activities is easy – To change an activity just swipe left. It seems pretty easy to teach kids how to change from one activity to the next.
Aidalyn engaged in the toy well. She was pretty cautious at first, then warmed up with the help from us. The Ubooly age recommendations are 4-10. She is 3 and 2 months, so a little under the target age. She still enjoyed playing with the Ubooly. She had a little more trouble with the pretend play activity and didn’t comprehend the jokes. We would laugh and she would laugh with us.
The Ubooly has a great personality.
It asked “do you like to play pretend” Aidalyn responded “No, I don’t” and Ubooly said ” Well, maybe you’ll like the way I play.” I loved hearing how it responded to Aidalyn’s answers.
Additional Play times:
As Aidalyn became more comfortable with Ubooly, she would sit and play with the toy more. She would listen and respond appropriately. She liked the active play (jumping over toy and throwing toy), the music, and the games the best. Aidalyn was watching a movie on my phone and asked to stop the movie and play with Ubooly instead. I think that is a good indication that she likes the toy!
I think it would be great for road trips as well and to play with when friends come overall as well.
This would be a great toy for families.
You can customize the Ubooly with additional purchases, but the free app version is well designed alone.
The Price:
Ubooly on Amazon was selling for $29 at the time of purchase. Adam and I thought about if it was worth it. With the app being free to start using Ubooly, the price for the actual toy comes from the stuffed toy and app design. Part of the price of the Ubooly is this access code that comes in the box with your Ubooly. Just downloading the free app won’t allow you access to Ubooly’s features. I would think the stuffed toy alone would probably be worth about $15, so is the app really worth another $15? I’m not sure. You would have to decide on your own.
Price Update! As of 2017, Ubooly has dropped in price to $12.99 with Prime Shipping! At this price point, this is a great toy for this age group. So go check it out!
Overall I think it would be a really great gift that kids in the target age would love. read more
