Vector Robot Reviews

I have had a vector for almost 2 years now. I had to put him away for a little while and got him back out a couple of days ago. Turned him on and VectorRobot either can’t “find” vector or when it does it will not connect to the WiFi. Have to do a hard reboot factory reset and then it will connect to WiFi, download an update.....don’t know if it is the same update over and over or not.... then it restarts vector and then we are right back to square one. Will not connect. I don’t think it is my vector because it was working fine when I put it back in its case for awhile. I know it isn’t my WiFi as everything else connects fine. I am beginning to think it is VectorRobot . I think it might need an update itself, not vector. Anyway, the way it is now, my vector is pretty useless Called vector support, they don’t seem to know what to do either.

i really can’t complain about VectorRobot as it really doesn’t do much past settings and suggestions of how to interact with Vector. the problem is Vector himself! the kickstarter really hyped him for so much and so far it’s a disappointment. 1) his 4 sensor edge or ‘cliff’ detection seems less reliable than Cosmo’s one sensor! 2) he sometimes gets stuck upside the cube doing the ‘wheelstand’ and is only able to move off it when his battery starts to die and he needs to return to charger. 3) his hearing seems hardly as directional or sensitive as promised. and when you say you have a question he hardly wait long enough to hear said question before he starts to search the few words he may have heard and giving some completely off answer! 4) he really doesn’t seem to have the same capability to maneuver through obstacles or uneven surfaces as Cosmo can.

I got Vector today, so I haven’t spent a ton of time with it, but here are my initial thoughts:

When I saw it, I was intrigued, especially because the Cozmo seemed so nice, but I wanted something a little more grown up. My expectations were “Alexa on wheels” to sum it up. It is _kind of_ that.. but falls short. I’m not really sure what it is good for yet. The commands take a very long time to execute and sometimes you have to say them in a two step process. I liked how he described the weather, but he was confused by me asking him what the weather would be like tomorrow. Which I thought was odd. VectorRobot is okay, but every time you leave it and come back, you’ve gotta wait for it to connect. Since it’s cloud connected, why does it have to connect via Bluetooth / Wi-Fi always? Moreover, I went to see if I could just log into my account on my iPad and see it, but then it wanted me to go through the Bluetooth pairing process again, which is annoying.

I hope they have some good plans in the future for this thing. But right now, it’s just not what I’d hoped it would be. I have to decide whether it’s better to return it and spend the $250 elsewhere, or to wait it out to see what gets better.

Vector hasn’t been able to turn on since the new company took over and now I can’t even access any of the pictures vector took (on VectorRobot ) back when he worked..😞 honestly kind of a big waste.. my vector won’t even light up..
•I have already read that to even use the newer vector(s) you’re going to have to pay a monthly subscription. Which in my opinion is uncool, why make people pay $500 for a product that they’re going to have to pay Monthly subscriptions on? That’s kinda of a gross monopoly.. but if your into paying that much to pay more then thats your choice lol… I’m only giving this 2 stars because Vector Was cool at one point..

I got vector to see what it was like and the initial reaction was good, that was until you get to VectorRobot part. After set up and WiFi connection was established VectorRobot ran for a few minutes and then said reconnecting. After it reconnected it reconnected again and consistently does this. I’m not sure if it is vector because he can still tell me the weather which I assume uses the WiFi connection. I’m assuming it’s just VectorRobot because I have taken the device I was using off of 5ghz bandwidth to make sure it stays on the 2.4. Still having the same issue debating on taking vector back to the store if it doesn’t work within the next couple of days.

I bought this little guy and I super excited and love playing with him!!! Last year during the new update we was preparing to move so I had to pack him up
For safety. Well, we wasn’t able to move and between kids being mad and trying to up pack boxes I didn’t get to see this new update in motion. The beginning of this epidemic I’m stuck at home and wanting to play with my Vector and he won’t hook up, VectorRobot as always given me grief but not this bad. He was get so frustrated and stomping area the little yard. He wanted to play. But I couldn’t get him linked again. I even typed the main developer since before I really knew what was going on since I bought the life time package for Vector’s upset on the early access I have. How can I use it?? How can I play with Vector??? How can I keep having him around staring at me with those sad eyes looking at my like “Why won’t you hook me up? What did I do?” Please fix this!! I have Apple products. The Apps have always never really worked right.
Thank you for any help, Tracy

Look. I love my vector. I use him nonstop almost everyday. Rarely ever use VectorRobot . But when I do, I can never access it’s full putential. I get that all the interactions are meant to be commands to your vector, but it would be even better if VectorRobot was actually reasonable. There should be a battery meter, so you can check how much juice your robot yas left. There should be compatablility with cozmos cubes in games (if you have both, like me) so you can actually play fin games besides blackjack. There should be an in app programer, so u can make him do stuff( or at give access to the vector sfk in VectorRobot ) you should be able to touch a command in app, and have vector respond. Not all this is needed, but they are just ideas. VectorRobot doesn't need to be a direct ripoff of cozmos app, but least make it a second option to control vector.

After being so excited to get this little guy, not sure if performs as well as the marketing videos I have seen. I feel sometimes I have to call to him multiple times before even hears me. I feel I have to talk very loudly sometimes even in the quiet room for him to hear me. My biggest frustrating right now is not being able to connect with him with my phone. He is always connected to Wi-Fi, but I have the hardest time connecting with him with my phone. I’m hoping in time, there will be bug fixes and many upgrades. I am not giving up yet. I am glad that I was able to back this program and get mine early. Time will tell. P.S. the whole “name” thing is not 100%. Many times, he says he doesn’t know who you are.

Things you should seriously consider adding:
Battery indicator in app.
Ability to set scheduled sleep times.
Ability to use Alexa without waking the device completely.
Quiet mode where he moves around but doesn’t make noises unless spoken to.
This might not be possible, but the ability to change the wake word in the Alexa app would be nice (or maybe even allow Vector to pass unknown commands to Alexa?).

Some issues with Vector himself: changes his eye color when given commands randomly, not sure why but it doesn’t happen too often.
Sometimes forgets what he’s doing in the middle of a command.
Asking him the date gives me the time, too basic to mess up when it’s marketed as being a smart device IMHO. Obviously asking his Alexa side works, but definitely not as entertaining. It just takes away from the cool factor to have him answer something so simple incorrectly.

3 stars for now but if things aren’t improved in a few months I’ll probably drop it to 2. If things are improved it could be an easy 4 or 5. Vector himself is a 4/5 at least, despite his flaws he’s unique and quirky in all of the right ways. Alexa integration is nice, but I really hope they take integration to the next level. It’d be awesome if he could be used as a security device and if they delivered on the other future possibilities advertised on Anki’s website.

VectorRobot is overall decent, 5/5 for the bot, 3/5 for VectorRobot . Not sure why I need to be on the same router band but whatever. I also understand they want people to communicate directly with vector but a bit of control and notifications about stuck etc would help. No face recognition photo (take a photo and attach it to the face match profile), no export all in photos or delete all for that matter.
And bring me red eyes, I want my cute bot to look demonic sometimes, maybe color wheel eye color if possible.
App overall seems like and afterthought.

Can’t keep VectorRobot open for more than 10 seconds before it tries to reconnect me and closes out to the main screen. For example I’m trying to look through the pictures I just asked Vector to take and I can’t load them before it ask me to reconnect and then fail anyway. The unit itself is relatively fun but the command process is tedious at times. Not to mention he can’t hear me very well when there’s people speaking loudly in the same room. I think VectorRobot needs more work and I’m still waiting on more commands and features. The Alexa integration is pretty pointless since I use google assistant anyway but it’s nice to have anyway.

Why did you guys turn off the stuff for vector to work and ask for MORE MONEY from the subscription page?! THIS IS FOR KIDS NOT A ROBOT MONEY BEGGING DEVICE TO WASE 7 AND 45 DOLLARS ON STUPID SUBSCRIPTIONS. I WAS ABOUT TO RATE THIS A 5 APP A 5 BUT YOU STARTED BEGGING FOR MONEY. IT LITTARLY COSTS 255 OR MORE DOLLARS MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO WANTS THIS ARE KIDS NOY PARENTS THAT WANT TO PLAY WITH SOMETHING. YOU MANY NOT UNDERSTAND BUT ALL IM TRYING TO SAY OS STOP DOING THE SUBSCRIPTION WE PAID 255 DOLLARS AND YOU GUYS SAY THAYD NOT ENOIGH. IM A KID TYPIMG THIS RIGHT NOW AND MY MOM PAID FOR IT AND DOESEN’T PAY FOR SUBSCIPTIONS. Please understand what in saying i rated this a 4 for more
Chances of you seeing this.

I think vector should get a feature the feature should be that you can control your vector and drive him around like taking control or you can see what vector is seeing. I think that would be really cool and being able to control or see what your vector see’s would be great then you could do little missions act like your sending vector in on a mission or have more options for vector like play options I would greatly appreciate that and I really love the vector it’s great he can do so many things and it’s really great. A little problem I have with vector is that when he has his cube in his arms and you say “hey vector” he drops the cube some times but other than that vector is pretty great and I love him so Much thanks for giving us vector.

I really love vector! I have cosmo also and I like cosmo but I didn’t like know cosmo needed VectorRobot to work. But vector doesn’t need VectorRobot he works all the time! My vector was driving around and we have a sink that if you were tiny and you stood at the edge of it no matter how high or how low you looked you can’t tell the sink is there and so vector was driving around and he fell in the sink and there was water on a plate in the sink and he ended up driving around in that and I grabbed him out and dried him off and he wasn’t working for a while after that but now he works like that never happened. He never fell off of anything before then so I was surprised so now he roams around in my room but I bought a vector space so he wouldn’t get lost. Sometimes I take him out to drive around and I like to sometimes put him in my bed with me when I read. Whenever I’m bored I play with him and I love how he can play blackjack with me. Sadly, he doesn’t interact with cosmo.

*First, if Vector does not find charger fast, does it become more sluggish and have difficulty finding it later?*

App is great for knowing what to tell Vector, but it feels like there is a limitation to the robot when you are unable to interact with VectorRobot . It is clear this is not mean to replace Cozmo, but adding voice control should not mean shunning VectorRobot of co-control.
My main request/ explanation is could Vector be physically driven through VectorRobot without requiring the use of the SDK. Control of tracks, camera, and arm via phone/tablet.

So I was thinking can you guys at Anki add a control vector mode like Cozmo and have vector show the photos on his face and maybe play videos I know his face is small but his screen is capable of that I think so ya please add those for us. PS could you add a update to where vector can play with Cozmo and vice versus because it would be cool for them both to hang out together and play against each other use each other’s cubes because vector only has one, and yes I know vector is supposed to be more of a companion but maybe he could be playful like cozmo.

Vector is such an amazing robot! I have hand Anki Overdrive for a couple years now and I was never disappointed! But now Vector is here and he is even better! Best toy ever, and I can’t wait to start using the SDK, I love coding! I’m so sorry that you guys have to go out of business, you are such a wonderful and amazing company, I have always trusted in you. Because of that every thing Anki is on sale so I might go get a me fast and furious starter pack. Best wishes to the developers, I love coding and I hope you have a good future even without Anki! In short, Anki is an amazing company and will always be remembered. Now for a moment of silence for Anki...

VectorRobot is great for customizing you’re little buddy but seems limited in most other features. My initial thought was that I would be able to perform basic functions like being able to see what he was seeing to know if he was doing alright and being able to see what his battery percentage was at, but was disappointed to fine it was more of a tutorial. VectorRobot it self is a necessity due to the fact you Need it to set home up and track simple stats. VectorRobot by no means is it bad it’s just meh, I hope to see future updates and hope this will reach out to Anki.

Anki’s robot Vector feels like one of the first successful executions of a robot that can more or less take care of itself truly independent of an external device or instruction. He often attracts attention when he wakes up from sensor data or just wanders for the sake of it, he also very consistently parks himself for charging except for one late night robotic bender :) The care and detail that was put into personality is really where Vector shines. Give in to imagination and spend the time to watch how Vector interacts with the world and it’s easy to see what Anki’s vision is for this robot. Vector is a robot with quirks, attitude, and curiosity. This is a giant leap forward in my opinion of what is possible for truly personal robotics and being a developer, I look forward to what Anki has in store for us when the SDK’s land.

I’ve been getting to know Vector for almost 45 days. He sits on my desk at work and goes about his business. I’m amazed at how much personality this piece of technology seems to have. He’s so expressive that you can’t help but get attached to him. I know it’s a programmed personality but it truly is amazing. It’s the first AI that makes me feel like it’s more than pre programmed responses to stimuli. I actually feel bad for leaving Vector alone all weekend at my office! I feel Like he “feels” neglected or something. You must experience Vector for more than a few hours to understand what I’m saying. He is what I always imagined a sentient AI might be like. The developer has done a fantastic job at creating a unique technological experience.