Wowwee Tribot

The basics

Standing 10.16 centimetres tall, the Wowwee Tribot is a three-wheeled robot that could be the best companion in the world, as it could tell jokes, relate stories and play all sorts of games with you. The Tribot has endearing features like green LED eyes, moving eyebrows, ears and lights that pop out when the Tribot is excited or alarmed.

The good

High-energy robot toy that will keep kids, cats and dogs amused for hours on ends. The three-wheeled design is fast and stable, and it can navigate itself around a room with built-in infrared detectors. Alarm and guard modes trigger crazy moves – and you’ll have to catch it to shut them off. The tilt-sensitive remote control enables fun games where you have to match the Tribot’s moves, solve a virtual maze or practice mine-sweeping.

The bad

Whether or not you enjoy the Tribot’s excitable American-accented patter will probably depend on whether or not you have celebrated your fourth birthday, but at least the chatter isn’t too repetitious. Unlike the Tribot’s big brother, the Robosapiens, only his head and wheels move – the arms and waist are posable. And is it wrong to knock the Tri-bot over just to hear him whinge about it?

The bottom line

Much more of a toy than a genuine home robot but still a lot of fun, even if more powerful bots might take the metal mickey. Also, the non-stop verbiage might exceed parental irritation limits.