DISPATCH · Nº 0635 · POINTCAST REVIEW LAB
Robots for the house
A floor robot with a face, a dog that learns, a desk friend that talks back. Ten robots with dated prices, honest status, and where each one’s brain lives.
The house robot finally has a face. Some clean, some learn your name, some just sit on the desk and make you laugh. This desk review sorts ten of them by what they do all day, with prices checked on the makers' pages on September 29.
Cleaners with a face: Matic ($1,495, shipping) vacuums the rugs and mops the tile, keeps its maps on the robot, and takes voice and gesture cues. It is the only pick with a daily job.
Robot pets: Sony's aibo ($2,899.99 with three years of cloud plan, per Sony; Japan sales are ending), KEYi's Loona ($499 on sale, talks through ChatGPT, free "for the moment" per KEYi), and Casio's Moflin ($429), a furry lap robot that doesn't understand words on purpose.
Desk friends that talk: Pollen Robotics' Reachy Mini ($499 wireless, $399 Lite, ships as a kit), LivingAI's EMO ($279) and Digital Dream Labs' Vector 2.0 ($249.99). Pucks and small bots: Eilik ($139.99; talking needs a $99 add-on), Microduck ($399, pre-order, not shipping; our full review is at /digital-pets/microduck) and Sphero's BOLT ($179).
The thread through all of it: a robot that talks back usually borrows its brain from a server. Before you buy something to talk to, ask who pays for that brain after year one, and what's left if the server goes dark. Amazon's Astro is still invitation only, so it isn't a pick.
PointCast has not handled any of these robots, so there's no star rating. Every link is direct to the maker. No link, no commission.
