Living with Amazon's Astro Robot: A Unique Experience

One of the most unsettling aspects of having Astro, Amazon's new robot, in the house was its autonomous movement. It would suddenly appear over the couch or roll over the carpet onto the hardwood floor, sending a chill down my spine. I had to get used to seeing this big, glowing-eyed robot free-ranging around my home, which added an element of unpredictability to my daily routine.

While Astro's ability to move around was certainly impressive, it was not without its limitations. For instance, it couldn't navigate stairs, and a pair of decent headphones or Apple AirPlay were more convenient solutions for entertainment. My kids enjoyed some of the robot games, but they quickly lost interest. My husband liked the idea of Astro delivering him a beer, but the beer fridge is outside, where Astro can't go. The robot also had no hands, which was a major drawback.

The dog and cat, Gus and Smokey, were initially wary of Astro's presence, but once it started throwing them treats from the Furbo pet camera, they warmed up to it. However, Furbo worked perfectly fine on its own, without the need for Astro. The robot had limited facial expressions and rarely did more than just widen its eyes, which felt like a missed opportunity.

One of the most frustrating aspects of using Astro was that mostly Alexa responded when we spoke to it. It didn't have much beyond a small series of beeps and bloops as its voice. When we asked it questions or set timers, Alexa usually did the same thing it always did – respond normally with a hundred-dollar smart display.

Astro's range was also limited, and it only had a very short range when talking to it from my Ring Doorbell camera. However, once I taught Astro to recognize every member of our household, it became somewhat useful in tracking them down as long as they were on the right floor. But that was about it.

The one area where Astro excelled was as a smart home camera. Not for security purposes, but rather as a second pair of eyes to keep track of my kids, pets, and the home. If I heard the telltale sound of the kitchen snack cabinet opening before dinner while I was on a Zoom call in my office, I could open the Astro smartphone app and send it to peer over my daughter's shoulder with its camera, which would pop out of the top. This was especially useful when I needed to monitor her eating habits – she had a bit of an addiction to Nutella.

I could also send Astro to the bottom of the stairs and blare its siren at my son if he hadn't gotten out of bed yet. If I was out of the house and my kids were home alone, I could send Astro on patrol and alert me if it saw any unfamiliar teenage faces. It would also chase them around, which was mildly entertaining.

However, while Astro's ability to monitor my home was convenient, there are other solutions available – such as smart home cameras or smart speakers – that already offered these features without the need for a robot. But with Astro, I didn't need eight different cameras in my home, and it made it easy to see everywhere on one floor without having multiple cameras.

Despite its unique features, Astro is not the home robot of my dreams. It doesn't clean my house, which would be a major feature if it had the capability. And mostly, it's just a companion that serves as a smart home camera with limited utility. If I had to spend a thousand dollars on something else, I probably would.

As I packed Astro up to ship it back to Amazon's warehouse in the sky, I felt a tinge of sadness. But then I remembered there are other things I'd rather spend my money on – like those fancy smart displays or maybe even Jibo, which seems to have more personality than Astro.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enastro do the robot dance a month ago i welcomed a new addition to my household now along with my husband my two kids one dog one cat one bunny rabbit and seven outdoor chickens i've been living with an astro amazon's first home robot and it's designed to be a helpful assistant for your everyday life it's essentially an autonomous alexa on some souped up wheels and when it goes on sale it will cost fourteen hundred and fifty dollars but right now you can ask to road test the robot in your own home for the bargain price of a thousand bucks as a very busy mom wife and full-time reviewer at the verge this robot has become that extra pair of eyes i've always wanted to help keep track of my brood but if only it could be an extra pair of hands as well astro is a small robot just under a foot and a half and it roams around your house largely at will tilting its face which is a 10 inch echo show style touchscreen up and down disarmingly and winking or smiling at you with its digital eyes which are two glowing circles that resemble the alexa ring on an echo smart speaker two large white wheels make up most of its robot body along with a small cargo area that yes can carry a beer like a regular echo speaker you can ask astro to play music through its two speakers set timers stream an episode of buffy lock the front door or call your mum for a video chat using a built-in camera what's different is it can do all of these things on the move as i'm roaming around the house picking up shoes making dinner feeding the dog astro could come with me keeping me constantly entertained well in most rooms of the house dismissive alexa on wheels comments aside this is an actual robot not a quasi-home robot like most robot vacuums are and unlike most alexa speakers astro does a lot of its data processing in its own little brain rather than using the cloud this helps it be a lot snappier and a smidge more private astro is packed with navigation and obstacle sensors that feed its visual simultaneous localization and mapping and obstacle avoidance systems which in english means that after it's mapped your home it can mosey around easily without backing into chairs tables or walls or falling down stairs and it can seriously move it's way faster than robotvac and while its top speed is only one meter per second that feels really fast in your living room it also never once got stuck unlike every robot vacuum i have ever tested ever and while a robot vacuum is the closest comparison i have to astro it uses similar mapping and navigation technology and i've spent a lot of time with robot vacuums astro is much much smarter first off it doesn't bang into my feet all the time instead it's able to follow me around without getting in my way it rarely gets stuck besides that one time it came face to face with my daughter's stand-up base and wisely sat motionless next to the 5 000 instrument until i came and rescued it it also maintains a respectable distance from dogs backpacks and any other stuff that happens to be lying on the floor in its path and just re-routes when it's got nothing to do it goes and finds a spot to hang out which used to be right in between my stove and fridge and while it supposedly learns where you don't want it to be it does appear to be something of a slow learner when no one is around it takes itself off to its charger to chill all this autonomous movement was actually the creepiest part of having astro in the house its big glowing eyes would just suddenly appear over the couch or i'd hear rumbling as it rolled over the carpet onto the hardwood floor it does take some getting used to having a robot free-ranging in your home so what's the point of astro that was the main question i had during my four weeks living with amazon's bot while i enjoyed my entertainment moving around with me i live in a three-story house and this robot can't do stairs a pair of decent headphones or apple airplay is a better cheaper solution my kids enjoyed a few of the robot games my husband loved the idea of astro delivering him a beer but the beer fridge is outside where astro can't go and this robot has no hands the dog and cat gus and smokey who were both deeply suspicious about astro's existence did warm up a bit once it started throwing them treats from the furbo pet camera we attached to astro's usb-c charging port but furbo works perfectly fine when it's not sitting in a thousand dollar robot astro definitely has more personality than alexa which is not hard but it's no jibo its facial expressions are limited and it rarely does more than just widen its eyes which really feels like a missed opportunity i also didn't like that mostly it was alexa that answered when we spoke to astro astro show my ring doorbell camera okay astra itself has a very limited range and no voice beyond a small series of bleeps and bloops when you talk to it eighty percent of the time alexa responds and does just normal alexa stuff that you can do with a hundred dollar smart display a few things share the name front door doorbell which one did you want the things astro does better than alexa are limited but they do exist when you set a timer or a reminder it will come and find you to deliver it to you and after we taught it to recognize every member of our household it was somewhat useful in tracking them down as long as they were on the right floor but here is where astro was most useful to me as a smart home camera not so much from a security perspective although that's a use case but really is a second pair of eyes to keep track of my kids the pets and the home if i hear the telltale creek of the kitchen snack cabinet opening before dinner while i'm on a zoom call in my office i can just open the astro smartphone app and send the robot to peer over my daughter's shoulder with its camera that pops out of the top and that can disrupt her ambition to eat five spoonfuls of nutella while i'm waiting in the school car line to drop my daughter off i can send astro to the bottom of the stairs and blare its siren at my son who still hasn't got out of bed if i'm out of the house and my kids are home alone astro can go on patrol and alert me if it sees any unfamiliar teenage faces it will also chase them around which is mildly entertaining if the family is out i can send astro to hang out with gus and play him some music maybe toss a treat or two a lot of these things can be done with existing smart home cameras or smart speakers but because astro can move it replaces all of them and means i don't need to have eight different cameras in my home which is not something i have ever wanted but there are always those times when you want to check in on something and that one camera you set up just doesn't quite show you what you need to see astro makes it easy to see everywhere on one floor without having multiple cameras but astro is not the home robot of my rosie the robot dreams despite the obvious association after all astro is the name of the jetson's dog for a start it doesn't clean your house although if it were also a vacuum it would get stuck a lot more often but mainly because it really doesn't do anything beyond being a companion of sorts and a very good mobile smart home camera if either of those features appeals to you you'll enjoy astro but if you are hoping for a robot with actual robot utility wait until they figure out how to add some arms or legs then astro would be an entirely different experience i will say though despite being somewhat dispensable when i pack astro up to ship it back to that amazon warehouse in the sky i will feel a tinge of sadness but then i'll remember there are other things i'd rather spend a thousand dollars on thanks so much for watching my first video for the verge the thing about astro is it's very much a solution in search of a problem so i would love to know what you think you might use astro for in your home leave us some ideas in the comments i'd love to hear themastro do the robot dance a month ago i welcomed a new addition to my household now along with my husband my two kids one dog one cat one bunny rabbit and seven outdoor chickens i've been living with an astro amazon's first home robot and it's designed to be a helpful assistant for your everyday life it's essentially an autonomous alexa on some souped up wheels and when it goes on sale it will cost fourteen hundred and fifty dollars but right now you can ask to road test the robot in your own home for the bargain price of a thousand bucks as a very busy mom wife and full-time reviewer at the verge this robot has become that extra pair of eyes i've always wanted to help keep track of my brood but if only it could be an extra pair of hands as well astro is a small robot just under a foot and a half and it roams around your house largely at will tilting its face which is a 10 inch echo show style touchscreen up and down disarmingly and winking or smiling at you with its digital eyes which are two glowing circles that resemble the alexa ring on an echo smart speaker two large white wheels make up most of its robot body along with a small cargo area that yes can carry a beer like a regular echo speaker you can ask astro to play music through its two speakers set timers stream an episode of buffy lock the front door or call your mum for a video chat using a built-in camera what's different is it can do all of these things on the move as i'm roaming around the house picking up shoes making dinner feeding the dog astro could come with me keeping me constantly entertained well in most rooms of the house dismissive alexa on wheels comments aside this is an actual robot not a quasi-home robot like most robot vacuums are and unlike most alexa speakers astro does a lot of its data processing in its own little brain rather than using the cloud this helps it be a lot snappier and a smidge more private astro is packed with navigation and obstacle sensors that feed its visual simultaneous localization and mapping and obstacle avoidance systems which in english means that after it's mapped your home it can mosey around easily without backing into chairs tables or walls or falling down stairs and it can seriously move it's way faster than robotvac and while its top speed is only one meter per second that feels really fast in your living room it also never once got stuck unlike every robot vacuum i have ever tested ever and while a robot vacuum is the closest comparison i have to astro it uses similar mapping and navigation technology and i've spent a lot of time with robot vacuums astro is much much smarter first off it doesn't bang into my feet all the time instead it's able to follow me around without getting in my way it rarely gets stuck besides that one time it came face to face with my daughter's stand-up base and wisely sat motionless next to the 5 000 instrument until i came and rescued it it also maintains a respectable distance from dogs backpacks and any other stuff that happens to be lying on the floor in its path and just re-routes when it's got nothing to do it goes and finds a spot to hang out which used to be right in between my stove and fridge and while it supposedly learns where you don't want it to be it does appear to be something of a slow learner when no one is around it takes itself off to its charger to chill all this autonomous movement was actually the creepiest part of having astro in the house its big glowing eyes would just suddenly appear over the couch or i'd hear rumbling as it rolled over the carpet onto the hardwood floor it does take some getting used to having a robot free-ranging in your home so what's the point of astro that was the main question i had during my four weeks living with amazon's bot while i enjoyed my entertainment moving around with me i live in a three-story house and this robot can't do stairs a pair of decent headphones or apple airplay is a better cheaper solution my kids enjoyed a few of the robot games my husband loved the idea of astro delivering him a beer but the beer fridge is outside where astro can't go and this robot has no hands the dog and cat gus and smokey who were both deeply suspicious about astro's existence did warm up a bit once it started throwing them treats from the furbo pet camera we attached to astro's usb-c charging port but furbo works perfectly fine when it's not sitting in a thousand dollar robot astro definitely has more personality than alexa which is not hard but it's no jibo its facial expressions are limited and it rarely does more than just widen its eyes which really feels like a missed opportunity i also didn't like that mostly it was alexa that answered when we spoke to astro astro show my ring doorbell camera okay astra itself has a very limited range and no voice beyond a small series of bleeps and bloops when you talk to it eighty percent of the time alexa responds and does just normal alexa stuff that you can do with a hundred dollar smart display a few things share the name front door doorbell which one did you want the things astro does better than alexa are limited but they do exist when you set a timer or a reminder it will come and find you to deliver it to you and after we taught it to recognize every member of our household it was somewhat useful in tracking them down as long as they were on the right floor but here is where astro was most useful to me as a smart home camera not so much from a security perspective although that's a use case but really is a second pair of eyes to keep track of my kids the pets and the home if i hear the telltale creek of the kitchen snack cabinet opening before dinner while i'm on a zoom call in my office i can just open the astro smartphone app and send the robot to peer over my daughter's shoulder with its camera that pops out of the top and that can disrupt her ambition to eat five spoonfuls of nutella while i'm waiting in the school car line to drop my daughter off i can send astro to the bottom of the stairs and blare its siren at my son who still hasn't got out of bed if i'm out of the house and my kids are home alone astro can go on patrol and alert me if it sees any unfamiliar teenage faces it will also chase them around which is mildly entertaining if the family is out i can send astro to hang out with gus and play him some music maybe toss a treat or two a lot of these things can be done with existing smart home cameras or smart speakers but because astro can move it replaces all of them and means i don't need to have eight different cameras in my home which is not something i have ever wanted but there are always those times when you want to check in on something and that one camera you set up just doesn't quite show you what you need to see astro makes it easy to see everywhere on one floor without having multiple cameras but astro is not the home robot of my rosie the robot dreams despite the obvious association after all astro is the name of the jetson's dog for a start it doesn't clean your house although if it were also a vacuum it would get stuck a lot more often but mainly because it really doesn't do anything beyond being a companion of sorts and a very good mobile smart home camera if either of those features appeals to you you'll enjoy astro but if you are hoping for a robot with actual robot utility wait until they figure out how to add some arms or legs then astro would be an entirely different experience i will say though despite being somewhat dispensable when i pack astro up to ship it back to that amazon warehouse in the sky i will feel a tinge of sadness but then i'll remember there are other things i'd rather spend a thousand dollars on thanks so much for watching my first video for the verge the thing about astro is it's very much a solution in search of a problem so i would love to know what you think you might use astro for in your home leave us some ideas in the comments i'd love to hear them\n"