Okay, so I caved and got this for my 9yo's birthday after seeing it everywhere. Here's the real tea after watching him go nuts with it for two weeks straight!
First off - the 5-in-1 thing is LEGIT. We've built the bulldozer and robot so far. The transformation process feels like solving a cool puzzle together. Pro tip: set aside a whole afternoon for first build.
The app control surprised me - way more responsive than expected! My kid figured out the path programming mode faster than I did (slightly embarrassing). The gyro mode makes the robot do flips which = endless giggles.
Warning: pieces are SMALL. Our dog ate one wheel already (RIP). But the plastic quality feels sturdy - no broken pieces despite some...enthusiastic play. The instructions could use bigger pictures though - we squabbled over step 17 for 20 minutes.
Biggest win? It actually holds his attention! Most STEM toys get abandoned after day 3, but he keeps rebuilding different models. Worth every penny just for the break from Minecraft.