Fisher-Price Smart Bear

This bear is so great! It's a perfect playmate for my 4 year-old only child. He hasn't always been the best at imaginative play...probably because there is very little imaginative play done at his school. But this bear, he know the ropes around imaginative play. He comes up with lots of ideas. The two of them pretend that his bedroom is a dark cave and they use a flashlight to find their way. Or he will borrow the bathroom rug and turn it into a magic carpet for his adventure with his bear. The two of them will draw together and make their drawings come to life with imaginative stories. Since my son has played with this bear I've noticed that he is able to imagine much more with his other toys that don't talk to him. He will sit and play by himself way more often then he ever had before and I attribute that to the Smart Bear. My child very much desired adult or peer attention all the time before and now he can play on his own and be peachy. I love it. So, I just realized that I kinda jumped into things without giving a true intro to the Bear. So here goes: 1. He comes with some charge. So just press his foot to get started. 2. Download the SmartBear app to your phone. Pick a name for your bear, and tell the app your child's name... (He or she will get a real kick out of the fact that the bear knows their name.) 3. You show the bear the QR code that comes with his activity cards. This syncs the Bear with your app on your phone... Note: This was very tricky for me to do. It took a few minutes as the Bear did not seem to notice the card that I was showing him...Don't give up, the Bear is supposed to be able to read that QR card. 4. Now introduce the Bear to your child. 5. Let them play for awhile. 6. Now, YOU can have a bit of fun! Click on one of the buttons on the app and watch the Bear all of a sudden change activities... (I like to use the teeth brushing button...it's amazing how fun a routine thing like teeth brushing can be for a child when they are busy searching for "Foodgatives" in their mouth with CSI-like spy music playing from the Bear in the background.) 7. Eventually the Bear will need charging, and he will let you know this. And he will get "sleepy." He comes with a USB cord but no plug, so you will need to have your own plug for it... I just use the one that came with my phone. 8. The Bear's foot will change colors when he is done charging. Overall, this bear is super cute. He has the most friendliest of voices and he is a great little pal for your child....especially only children or children that don't live with their siblings, or children who's siblings can't really talk that well yet. This little guy becomes their playmate when the grown-ups in their life can't play. Oh! One last thing: About 2 weeks after we got the bear he stopped responding to when his tummy was pushed. You push on the bear's tummy to let him know that you want a new activity or to respond to his questions. Once the tummy push became unresponsive, the bear was basically useless because we couldn't really interact with him much. I would have probably written a not so happy review about this... how quickly the bear broke unexpectedly, etc. but Amazon did an amazing job of sending us a replacement bear within a very short amount of time. All I had to do was pack up the unresponsive bear and send it back. Yay Amazon!

Fisher Price - you have GREAT customer service. I emailed the company because the day after giving this toy to my son who is 4, we realized the bear wasn't listening to any of his commands like it's supposed to. He would do the opposite activity of my sons request. Hmmmm.... So I emailed Fisher Price (cynically thinking) they wouldn't respond. It was Christmas break and I figured they would be slow to respond. Well, I got an email back from a representative who listened to everything I had said and didn't make an excuse for the toy not working. They gave me a 2 troubleshooting ideas to try before they sent me a new one. They were very much okay saying "Little Bear should be listening. If he decides to , we'll have a new bear in the mail to you in 24 hours. Let us know how the troubleshooting goes!" Again, cynical, I figured the 2-steps wouldn't work and we'd have to explain why we had to get a new "George Bear" Well, low and behold the 2nd reset worked and little bear started to work again. This was the email back when I reported he was working "Thanks, Lisa. I'm so glad your bear is able to hear again! Must have been just a little wax in his ears that a little reset was able to clear out. Have a wonderful day. -Kim S., Mattel Consumer Services Associate" Just as a word of advice: When you email a company, try and not be highly angry and emotional. State your needs, the problem and the goal outcome and Ive found I get a lot farther with reps. My 2 separate representatives from Fisher Price were indeed priceless and saves a Christmas Toy from the disappointment pile. My 4 year old loves doing quiet time with George and the adventures they go on, things they learn and even the clean up feature has been so fun to watch as my son learns to play on his own even more as he grows. This is a great toy and I recommend it and the customer service if there is an issue! To reset the bear here is what they told me: (Just be aware that by resetting him, it takes him back to his original factory settings and will erase any saved data, such as your child’s name and unlocked activities from additional card packs that you might have set up in the parent app. Once you complete the reset, you will need to re-connect your Smart Bear with the parent app.) Here are the steps to reset him: 1. Look for the charging slot on the back of Smart Bear. 2. Right above the charging slot is a reset hole. Insert a pointed object (the end of a paper clip) into the reset hole. Press until you hear a long tone. 3. Remove the pointed object from the hole in the back of the Smart Bear.

Update after 7 months: Bear has NEVER recognized any responses. The battery built up a memory after 4 months and now only last about 30 minutes between charges. The internal microphone makes a loud high pitch squeal every time the bear asks a question. This toy has definitely not been worth the purchase price. Paid $79 through Amazon. Reviewed after 6 weeks of play. First one arrived defective. Fisher Price was no help when I called them 3 weeks before Christmas. They said it would be the middle of January before they would replace it. Returned bear to Amazon and got a new one in 2 days. Bear will not recognize my child's voice even though she speaks loud and clear. Cards have limited activities. The clean up card has around 3 different activities. The music card has around 6. The adventure card has around 4. The story card around 6. Beadtime card around 4 activities. The bear doesn't really "learn" anything. It does cycle through a different daily activity for each day of the week. 7 activities then it repeats itself. There is nothing really "smart" about this bear. Great concept by Fisher Price but a poor product. Would not recommend.

So, this Smart Toy Bear has a lot going for it. The voice is extremely cute. It has some interactivity which is good. It has a decent amount of stories and activities built in. Some of them are quite funny and cute. They did a good job with that part of it. For a couple of weeks, my son loved this toy. It was great at getting him to brush his teeth. The bed time wind down is fine if you don't read your kids stories, but not so useful if you do, as it just adds an additional amount of time to do the bedtime routine. He enjoyed playing with this quite a bit. Now for the cons -- Ours never did learn my son's name (it is an unusual name, but given that is a central feature of the toy and it is not an inexpensive toy, you'd think they'd figure out how to add in unusual names). Curiously, it did not even apparently learn its own name (which you are stuck with a list provided by Fisher-Price, though it is a very extensive list). It also could never quite understand my son's (4) responses (which are part of its interactive nature). It was curious -- it could understand me OK, but not my son. Finally, and most importantly, even with a fairly extensive array of activities and stories, after about two weeks, it's all a repeat. While kids do like to hear the same stories and songs over and over again, at a certain point they are ready for something new. To make a toy like this really work, it needs to be updated with new content regularly. Not sure if that's economically feasible, but the next toy company that works on this type of toy should think about the product as a regularly updated service, not a piece of plush hardware. Bottom line -- It is well executed for what it is, but not sure at this price point I would buy this toy again. It was his favorite toy, but only for a couple of weeks and now he barely uses it. And, to make matters worse, since it needs to be charged regularly, once he stops using it, even when he wants to use it, it's not charged, so he can't.

***Update*** so, we purchased the money for 29.99 for the 7 year old and set it up correctly with Wi-Fi. It did not want to recognize the app and did get frustrating. Then when I handed him over to kiddo.. the first 2 adventures were the SAME exact ones the bear did. ( I won't judge to harsh because it is the same toy for another kid yet I figured their would be an algorithm to not always stay in the same order,) We tried to use the bear and now it's having a challenge reading the cards. The app is easy to control though and my 7 year old still brushed his teeth because 'Harry the Monkey' told him to. He is bummed out that 'Frizzy' and 'Harry' don't realize they are brothers sitting side by side on our couch. I am in between my original review and my current feelings. I believe this product could be 24.99 vs anything higher. I believe the cards should be easier to ready and cost less with better algorithms. It says the app will allow more content for the 'animal' yet, I don't see that option. We have kept the boxes. At this point we are 80.00 invested into 2 toys and 2 extra packs. I hope that it gives the older one some sort of fun but if it continues to repeats stuff... that will not be fun. **********!!!!!!!!!!!!! Original Review My husband has wanted to buy this for our last kid since I was pregnant. I have always been hesitant because the high price and Wi-Fi feature. On tiny tots 1st birthday shopping trip at Babiesrus we saw it for 49.99 on the shelf and my husband jumped. But, I used the Amazon app and AMAZINGLY it was 29.99!! So, I bought it. We have yet to connect it to Wi-Fi and it works just fine. The 1 year old likes turning on his foot and finds it a few minutes interesting when 'Grizzy' starts talking. He carries him around and does kisses. Yet, we keep the toy from him because we fear he may break it. (His belly is a response feature and fear tiny tot sit/break the sensor) Now, our 7 year old has always been curious. (Again, not his toy and we don't want anyone to break it) but, today I let him play with it. Oh my word I wish I bought this when the summer began! They did the adventure of a pirate ship. Kiddo drew a map, made a ship, ran around the house following it's orders lol. He played another one that had him grab a flash light and go into cave /"bedroom" to find the lost toothbrush. He's Sold as well am I. I will wait for it to go back down. I do not agree it's worth more than 30.00 bucks yet, do agree with 30. After more research we may attach it to our Wi-Fi until then it's a talking bear that responds to the cards.

We bought this because we have another Mattel smart toy that is a lot of fun and it is just as wonderful - and we also owned Violet when my child was young and had a great experience with that. I would imagine that once your child outgrows Violet or Scout - they graduate to this toy. This toy is different than the many other talking/interactive toys with a limited range of activities that are played with only once or twice. There are so many activities that it never gets boring. The activities can be chosen via cards that are read by the toy and it often says the child's name like a real "friend" would; the way they've developed interactive is wonderful too - the toy waits for responses and reacts to them which is perfect for older children who more easily recognize and tire of canned responses. The accompanying app allows parents to control volume and play sessions which can limit time, initiate bed time activities, brushing their teeth activities etc. We like this toy so much that if you were to one buy a handful of toys this year - this would be one to buy. The only cons are the boxy shape - I think it's cute but it might not be for everyone. They've definitely succeeded though in making them unisex which is great! Other than that, the only other con is that smart toys are always inherently prone to hacking. On the box it states that this toys doesn't transmit personal information but I am not well versed in IT so I can't comment on it and whether or not to responsibly introduce these toys into your home is a personal decision. One last note about toy logistics - the battery life lasts for about 3 hours and the toy charges through an easily accessible port in the back. The cards are stored in the backpack that comes with the bear version with room for more that can be bought separately in order to expand the toys capabilities. The back pack fits well and stays on the bear securely for travel.

My daughter LOVES the bear and is having a lot of fun with it. HOWEVER, the app for the bear is total crap. I spent an hour Xmas morning trying to get it to work - constant connection problems, freezing, crashing, etc. Once I was finally able to get my daughter's info entered, we synced it with the bear, which caused the bear to totally stop working! Nothing I did would get it going again - I finally had to do a factory reboot and forget about using the app at all. It's a bummer that none of the personalization will work without the app. I feel ripped off. UPDATE: After playing for it and then recharging it, the bear will no longer read the cards. I have a very upset little girl. Thanks Fisher-Price for a truly crappy Xmas present.

This toy was HIGHLY anticipated in our household. Bought it as a Christmas gift for our 5-year-old son. He had Scout LeapFrog My Pal Scout as a toddler and carried him everywhere until he just stopped working after about 2 years. So if you are shopping for a child under 3 I would steer you in the direction of Scout or Violet because this Smart Toy is definitely for the 3+ crowd. When I saw this Smart Toy had come out I thought it looked like a big boy version of Scout and would be the perfect gift. We chose the Bear because he looked like his fur would conceal wear and tear most effectively and obviously you can't wash a toy like this. He arrived when expected and was packaged very well. We had a lot of difficulty setting up the WIFI. For some reason he just didn't want to connect. Finally it worked and the corresponding app made the rest of the set up very easy. Another disappointment was that the bear does not say my son's name or his own name. My son's name is Fletcher. Maybe not a common name but not an unusual or particularly unique name either. I'm hoping this issue can be corrected by a future update because Scout, a much simpler (and cheaper) toy, had no problem with the name Fletcher. On day two of play his tummy sensor stopped working and I had to do a factory reset to correct the issue. I contacted Fisher Price directly and they are sending us a new bear. Customer service is excellent! They sent the new bear at no cost to us with 2-day Fed Ex shipping. When we get it we will send back the current bear and they are going to send us a $35 voucher for our trouble. Some quick observations- He takes about 2 hours for a full charge. I would say the additional card packs are a must because currently there are not many activities per card (I'd say 3 adventures, 3 stories, 3 games.) My son LOVES this bear! He has the bear with him always and has so much fun with the activities even when they repeat. He is really cute. To sum it up, I would recommend this toy to patient parents of children in the recommended age range. I think there are some kinks to be worked out because this is such a new product. Because of the excellent customer service and how much my son has fallen in love I am a satisfied consumer.