Best magnetic robot toy rated: building and pretend play
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A robot is fun to play with, but one you built yourself?!? Nothing better than that :)
The best overall is this Smartmax Roboflex, a set where you can be flexible magnetic pieces that can serve as arms and legs, or even a robot neck. Very nice to make crazy creations that are also reasonable to play with.
In this article, I've listed the 4 best magnetic robot building sets for you, plus what to look out for when buying one.
Here are the top picks in a quick overview. Then I'll take a closer look at each of these sets.
Best magnetic robot anywhere
The flexible tubes with magnets on the end make it an exceptional toy, rather than just fun.
Best cheap magnetic robots
This is a nice inexpensive set that is also ideal for travelling. No robots to play and fight with, but the creations you can make are awesome.
Best wooden magnetic robot
This is the most fun set to play with. The magnets stay firmly in place and the wood is also very sturdy.
Best magnetic building blocks to make robots
The blocks stick reasonably well, but the magnet is not strong enough to play with it vigorously. This is more about making fun creations.
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Magnetic robot toy buying guide
Building robots magnetic tiles (reviewed here) we have tried here, but that is very difficult.
Nice to try in itself, but playing with it was almost impossible.
That is why it is important to buy toys that are more or less made for it.
Age
The parts should not be too small because you certainly do not want your child to swallow a magnet. Therefore, pay close attention to the from age in the description. They don't do this for nothing.
A little younger is sometimes fine, but you always have to stick with it. Sets with smaller pieces are often only suitable for children from 4+.
In addition, it is important to see whether it is really fun for their level of development.
They are often ready a little earlier for magnetic building blocks such as the MagiCube than for blocks with different shapes such as Tegu.
Magnet
The magnet should be strong enough to hold the toy together while being played with.
With other magnetic toys, building is sometimes enough, for example a castle. But you don't pick up the castle to walk around with it.
Of course you want this with robots.
Replayability
I also considered the replayability of each set when reviewing. It remains fun to play with it, even after a few times.
With this type of toy, it is mainly about the amount of creations you can make with it. Can you come up with something new every time?
In addition, it must be fun to play with the robots, otherwise they will not come back.
Each set is rated on a scale of 1 to 5.
Sustainability
The toy should be able to last for a long time.
Some can last a lifetime, such as Tegu's wooden blocks. Others can last at least until childhood is over, such as Petit Collage's Robot Remix.
I have also assessed the sets on this.
Top 4 Magnetic Robot Toys Reviewed
smart max Roboflex Plus
- Flexible tubes make it exceptionally fun
- Many creations possible
- Magnets could have been a little stronger
The possibilities are endless with this set, especially when you combine it with other Smartmax bar sets.
That makes this the best magnetic robots set. You have a regular version and a plus version that is slightly larger.
You can get by with both, although most parents say they would have liked to go straight for the plus version because their child likes it so much.
The magnets are good, but maybe just not good enough. The construction aspect of this set is the most fun.
Playing with it is difficult because the parts can fall off quickly, especially with the craziest creations.
The flexible arms can be folded to make them bigger or smaller, giving kids endless possibilities to customize and experiment with their constructions.
This feature encourages children's creativity and problem-solving skills as they can come up with new ways to use the pieces.
Yet that often doesn't matter because then they just click it back on, and it has even become part of the game every now and then.
The flexible tubes with magnets on the end make it an exceptional toy, rather than just fun.
Petit collage robot remix
- 100 creations for endless fun
- Nice design and travel box
- Magnets are not very strong
- You cannot play with the robots
This is a nice inexpensive set that is also ideal for travelling. They are not robots to play and fight with, but the creations you can make are great.
They are 25 magnetic robot pieces in a tin box. The robots stick to the box so that you can make fun creations inside.
By combining the different pieces you can make 100 different robots! That's enough entertainment for a trip!
It's fun for kids from 3 to about 5. The parts are quite small so it's not recommended for younger kids.
Although it is a nice travel set, it is not the best for the plane or in the car. The pieces easily fall off the can with a little shaking. That will be a lot of searching in the airplane or car seat.
A whole lot of fun, but there's a reason it's so cheap.
We've also reviewed another Petit Collage set in our rating of best magnetic mix and match toys
Tegu magbot
- Very sturdy and durable wood
- Magnets stay put, even when playing robot
- Very pricey
- Not much to build with
Pricey, but it's a really good wooden toy. We have often mentioned Tegu in various top lists because of their sustainable approach with wood from Honduras.
With this 9-piece set you can build a robot in a few different ways. The possibilities are limited, but the blocks fit perfectly on other Tegu sets.
For example, the Iron Man-like circle on his chest is a wheel, which other sets use for theirs magnetic cars (reviewed here).
This is perhaps the most fun set to play with. The magnets stay firmly in place and the wood is also very sturdy.
Easier to play with than, for example, the Roboflex from Smartmax.
With only this set from Tegu it is less fun to build. Only a few creations are possible. And buying more Tegu becomes very expensive.
Geomag MagiCube 24 Piece Set
- Big blocks for small children
- Nice and light and handy
- 24 blocks is not much for creative designs
This block set in which creativity plays a greater role is the best from 3 years old, although they can build fun things with it earlier.
The rounded corners and light blocks mean that a child of any age could pick them up and try them out.
The blocks stick reasonably well, but the magnet is not strong enough to play with it vigorously. This is more about making fun creations.
A robot is made like this and you can make it in the shapes you want.
The blocks can still move quite a bit so that your arms can rotate, but really playing with them will be difficult. Then the Tegu Magbot is more suitable again.
You get quite a lot for your money with this set, but for really big creations like many of the places on the box and in the booklet you have to buy a lot more.
Conclusion
There are actually surprisingly few good magnetic robot sets for sale. There are a lot of cheap things, or mix and match robots that actually don't do very well or break down quickly.
But the robots in this list, even if they are just a few, are perfect for hours of fun!
Also read: this is the best magnetic toy, extensively researched and reviewed
Always something to do for the holidays or rainy day?
Play Choice now has the ultimate activity book collection, with over 60 pages of fun coloring pages and educational puzzles.
Joost Nusselder, the founder of Speelkeuze.nl is a content marketer, father and loves trying out new toys. As a child he came into contact with everything related to games when his mother started the Tinnen Soldaat in Ede. Now he and his team create helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with fun play ideas.