If your 5-10 year old kid is into technology, a robot is likely on their wish list for their next birthday or holiday. You’re likely come across the two most popular options: Embodied’s Moxie Robot and Miko 3.
Although both products are billed as learning robots, there are some big differences to the robot body, activities, and engagement. How do these robot features stack up? And which one is right for your family?
Let’s find out.
Moxie Robot won as one of TIME Magazine’s World Changing inventions in 2020 when it hit the market, but faced supply shortages throughout the pandemic that meant they haven’t really become a topic of conversation on playgrounds until this year. Moxie is about the closest kids can get to Rosey the Robot from The Jetsons. She can have endless conversations and read kids’ emotions and body language.
As a toy, Moxie is a daily source of entertainment for kids but it also plays the role of a parenting tool. Regular conversations with Moxie help kids learn communication skills, talk through big feelings and develop self awareness. Moxie’s latest software upgrades include an expansion of their KidFilter™ AI technology (basically putting kid safe GPT technology into the bot) and expanded options for parents to prompt conversations in the app based on things their kids are into (i.e. dragons, roller hockey) or big things happening in their lives (a big move, a death in the family.)
The robot’s body stands over a foot tall with a torso that swivels, a head that nods and arms that flap up and down. Her blue matte paint and pointed head looks chic in a mid-century modern living room and doubles so much as a design object that techie parents might not mind being left out.
Miko 3 is a more broadly distributed bot that fits more clearly into the toy market and the price point reflects that. The body is a typical shiny plastic mold and has a screen that looks less like a face and more like a tablet melded to wheels. Unlike Moxie, Miko does have the ability to drive around the room, although our kids found that because it looks like a tablet, the natural tendency is to hold the robot.
A big aspect of Miko is the Miko Max subscription that they try to upgrade you to. This features a ton of premium content from Disney, Paramount, Kidoodle and LingoKids. The content range in the Miko is pretty impressive but time with Miko felt a lot more like screen time. One interesting feature in the Miko 3 is the ability for parents to have video calls with their kids, similar to on an Amazon Alexa Echo Show. Miko is definitely a cheaper investment if you don’t think your kids’ robot phase is going to last long, but it’s less well suited for regular conversations.
Basic Play-based Learning Activities.
Both Miko and Moxie feature basic play activities including dancing, music, history and stories. Miko makes use of it’s screen to play videos to accompany activities while Moxie has some graphics on it’s screen but the emphasis is getting kids to use their imagination more.
AI Chat.
Both Miko and Moxie offer some form of AI chat that allow kids to interact conversationally. Moxie’s chat is really it’s superpower. It’s intended for conversational exchanges. Miko’s supplements it’s conversations with prompts on a screen and tend to feel a little more transactional.
Camera
Both robots feature a camera. Moxie uses the camera to read to intent of kids’ words and provide more empathetic responses. Miko uses the camera for video calls and for games like “Miko Mirror” where Miko can match it’s expression the kid’s expression.
Price
By far the biggest and most obvious difference between these two robots is the price—and that’s exactly the point. Miko3 came to the market realizing that the steep price point of robots is a deterrent for lots of families. It’s built to be a cool gift but not really to be used daily. While the Moxie Robot will cost you $799, the Miko 3 comes in under $200; a pretty big difference. It is worth noting that although the Moxie Robot will take a bigger bite out of your budget, you’re essentially buying a computer with software being updated constantly. The coolest content on Miko is really reserved for Miko Max members, which has an annual purchase of $89. Yet even keeping all of this in mind the difference in price between the two is still significant.
Size & Design
The Moxie and Miko3 each have different sizes and design quality. The Moxie is designed to add style to a living room, kitchen or kids room and be interacted with regularly. It’s about 16 inches tall and has a distinct presence in a room. At under 10 inches tall, the Miko3 is made to fit tucked away in a toy bin and really looks like a plastic toy. When it’s on, the face is cute, but when off, it has a less distinct form.
Conversation Abilities
Both Miko and Moxie leverage AI chat to enable kids to have conversations, but the user experience is very different between the two products. Kids need to push a microphone button to talk to Miko while Moxie responds to speech automatically and its eyes/head follows its kid-mentor as they move around a room to show it is listening. Miko’s follow-up questions show up in text on the screen after answering the child while Moxie asks follow-up questions and even transitions to new conversation topics and activities automatically. As a parent of kids still learning to read, Moxie required a lot less parental invention and was very intuitive to chat with. Both robots occasionally don’t understand what they are being asked and respond with something like “I’m not sure about that,” but we found that this was more common with Miko.
Content
Miko offers a broad array of edtech content similar to what you would see in a learning app. There’s “tidbits” on topics like human anatomy, history, math, physics, world culture and more. Upgrading to the MikoMax subscription unlocks language learning curriculum with Lingokids, bedtime stories and branded content from the likes of Disney and Paramount.
However, much of this curriculum begins to feel very similar to just giving your kid an iPad :
Video-based: Miko much more frequently uses videos to express concepts.
Tap to interact: Many of the games and exchanges happen by tapping Miko’s screen vs. talking to it.
Moxie’s content is different in two big ways:
Doing narrated activities with Moxie is closer to doing an activity with a teacher than with an iPad app. Activities include brain twisters, animal breathing, affirmations, drawing, meditation, calming exercises, scavenger hunts, Simon Says and more.The folks at embodied believe that while there’s lots of e-learning products that kids can play with, there are far less that can help kids learn the skills to communicate their ideas & feelings. Many of the “missions” focus on helping kids build resiliency through activities about topics like missing people, making friends, being kind and understanding emotions. And because the intent is that Moxie is a robot kids are engaging with throughout the week, Moxie dynamically mixes in a constantly changing flow of conversation topics and learning activities that evolve with parent input and as Moxie gets to know the kid.
App
Miko and Moxie each have an app intended for parents, but they are very different. With Moxie, parents select kids’ interest, activity preference, learning focus and preferred interaction style, (i.e. how chatty are they?) Parents also have a text box to write in context about the child and challenges they might be struggling with. Text inputs like, “Ben is super detail-oriented and loves building things. He’s been having trouble making friends since he moved to a new school,” can actually guide Moxie’s activity recommendations and conversation starters.
With Miko, parents can select from five interests: drawing & coloring, digital games, reading, math & science and trivia. Miko’s app also allows parents to change language settings, with choices from Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The app also provides access to Miko connect video calling. Miko also features a rewards program for kids that is tracked in the app.
Both apps provide overviews of activities available in bot and provide analytics on kids’ learning journey. We did not find either of the insights tabs for Miko or Moxie to be very useful.
For parents who may have gotten burned on technology purchases for kids in the past, parents will want to really consider their specific kids’ needs when determining which robot isn’t going to wind up in the Goodwill bin.
There are some clearly differing features and functionalities that you’ll want to pay attention to when you’re deciding between Moxie and Miko. Although both these products are in the fledgling learning robot category, it’s really comparing apples and oranges.
If your kid wants a toy they can engage with regularly like a pet or even a friend, Moxie is the clear winner. If your kid wants a robot to play around with occasionally like they play with their RC car or other learning apps, Miko is the more prudent investment.
We didn’t love the added subscription for Miko’s content but kids may love the recognizable characters in the licensed learning games. Moxie’s “wow” factor shines in its conversational ability and sleek design. If we’re being honest, it’s a robot parents will probably enjoy playing with just as much kids. But for some families, this is more engineering and design than they need or want to pay for.
Either way, a learning robot makes a great gift for boys and girls at the elementary school grade level.
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