Hex Bugs: A Review

Hex Bugs are a relatively new product from Innovation First. They won the Platinum Award at the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. While they are best for children six years and up because they seem to be a bit fragile. You will find that kids of all ages love these tiny robotic bugs. Hex Bugs are a perfect gift not only for kids and robot lovers but office workers chained to their computers all day will find these little guys a very welcome distraction.

The original Hex Bug includes a battery and comes in five colors. The original Echo is red, Alpha is orange, Bravo is green, Charlie is blue and Delta is black.

These robotic bugs are huge fun even though they easily fit into the palm of your hand. Their sensors enable them to navigate away from physical barriers. With this feature you could easily construct a maze for your Hex Bug to find its way through. Hex Bugs also react to sound. You must be rather close to the bug for this. A loud clap or slapping a book on a table near it will do the trick and it will move away from the sound. Hex Bugs will walk right off tables, counters and hard surfaces of the like so watch out for your little guy.

Aside from the adorable Original Hex Bugs there are some new bugs in the neighborhood. The Inchworm is rapidly gaining in popularity. It comes in five colors as well; green, red, black, indigo and plum.

The Inchworm is not only different in appearances and mobility styles than the Original but it comes with a remote control so you can steer your little robot around obstacles .

The third type of Hex Bug available is the Crab. This Hex Bug is crazy cute how it scuttles around. The Crab is available in five colors which are black, green, indigo, red and turquoise. The Crab functions a bit differently than the other Hex Bugs in that it will retreat to a darker area unless startled out by loud noise or a bright light.

The Hex Bug Original is great entertainment. The Hex Bugs do have an on/off switch as well as replaceable batteries which is handy since they will get played quite a bit. The best part of these robotic bug toys is that they cost under $20.00. The Original is the least expensive and can often be found for right around $10.00. Quite a bargain for how fun and interesting they are.

The only downsides to these awesome little robotic bugs is that the on/off switch can be difficult to find and manipulate. I feel it is also important to note that they are small and can break if not careful with them. They are not extremely fragile but more so than typical toys so keep that in mind if you plan on giving these to a youngster.

All in all these Hex Bugs are a fabulous gadget/toy/distraction at a very reasonable price. I have two of the originals and plan on expanding the family.