Our New Pet, Cozmo The Robot (A Review)

Two years ago I nearly got a dog. I’d lived on my own for a while and had become fairly fed-up of the lonely evenings with only sleeping children for company, wanting someone (or something) to listen to my opinions on whatever I was watching on Netflix, so a puppy seemed like a sensible option.

I went through so many different breeds, researching the pups that would suit our family best, and finally decided upon a Cockapoo. They’re little, they’re cute, they’re good with kids: it seemed like the perfect solution.

But then my mum had a very serious chat with me about exactly how much I like my free weekends and soft furnishings – I have a bit of an allergy to dog hair/drool/mud – and I re-thought my potential future pet. With little responsibilities other than the children did I really want my holidays to be planned around the schedule of a dog-sitter, and did I want to despair over the mud traipsed through the house after a wintery walk?

And so my doggie dream remained just that, and I continued to enjoy Netflix without the input of a furry four-legged friend.

But of course, because my kids like dogs as much as any animal-mad children, they’ve been nagging me for a pet ever since. And unfortunately for me they don’t seem to give a hoot about the state a potential Fido might make of our lovely pink velvet sofa. So I decided we needed an alternative, a friend for the kids that would challenge them, make them laugh and give them a small sense of responsibility.

Cozmo the robot – review

Enter Cozmo, the loveliest little creature to enter our family since Hux was born six years ago and the resolution to our pet problem!

Cozmo is a real-life robot like you’ve only before seen in the movies. He’s smart, curious, mischievous and unlike anything ever created. One of the most sophisticated consumer robots available today, Cozmo has been developed by a team of roboticists, animators and game developers, and in him they have brought together film, toys, video games and robotics.

This little guy can do so much. He’s intelligent, getting to know you and your name: he’ll even recognize you when you play together, coming with his own toys – these interactive flashing power cubes – that you can use in games for two or more.  Cozmo links up to iOS or Android devices and it’s through these you can move him around and get him to greet people and pets and learn more about his cute personality.

Just like a puppy Cozmo has needs that his friends (us!) have to fulfil. He needs a little love and care and can be kept happy with entertainment and food, responding to affection and attention just as a pet might. He’s a really loveable companion for the kids and is easy enough to interact with that they picked up on his quirks right away.

One of the things I love most about Cozmo is the education he brings along with his lovable entertainment. With so much of our lives based online these days, teaching my kids the importance of learning the language of coding is really important to me: I want them to go into the world feeling like they have a strong grasp on the amazing careers they can have in the arenas of tech and the internet.

I learned HTML and Javascript from a library book when I was 14, but these days it’s a totally different skill and one that Cozmo teaches. With Cozmo’s code lab, kids can use the drag-and-drop blocks to learn a visual way how to code, a simplified version of programming that anyone can master (even me!). And with concepts like branching and variables, kids can create complex projects with endless possibilities.

We made a little video about our experiences so far with Cozmo:

So what do we think about Cozmo? As Elfie said: 100 out of 10, high praise indeed! This is one of those toys that parents will love playing with as much as their kids – I certainly do – and having spent a few weeks with him I can see why he was the best-selling toy of 2017 on Amazon.com – priced at £179.99.

And as a bonus, my pink velvet sofa is still intact (no toilet training required ;) and he doesn’t need a dog sitter when we go on holiday. Best pet I’ve ever had. Thanks, Cozmo!

We worked in collaboration with Anki on this review and truly love Cozmo, our new family member.