I was so thrilled recently when Pebble Gear got in contact with me to ask if I’d be interested in receiving and reviewing one of their new Disney licensed and themed 7” tablets. I’d asked them a few questions before about what sorts of games etc were on the tablets and if they’d be fun for adults too, as I’m chronically ill and in constant chronic pain so I use gaming apps a lot as a distraction technique from that. I was therefore so touched when a few weeks later they asked to send me one to see if it helps and to review it for you all. Being asked to do reviews and things for reasons and perspectives like this is pretty rare, so I’m so touched that Pebble Gear reached out and gave me the opportunity to do this.
Anyway, let’s get on and show you the awesome item itself! It comes in a nice box with a slipcover with nice Toy Story themed graphics and telling you key details and features about the tablet. It’s presented so nicely which adds to the excitement when opening it. Inside the box you’ll find the tablet, a quick set up guide, and a charging cable and plugs.
It comes already charged and it was super quick and easy to set up! You’ll need your wi-fi password handy for the initial set up but going forward, it is completely useable and playable offline (though you’ll need a connection to download new games). The bumper case has the Toy Story 4 logo embossed on it too which is a nice touch, and once it’s all set up, each time you turn it on it shows a different random Toy Story image and welcome message which is super cute and adds to the excitement of turning it on and getting ready to play!
The parental control area is great. It’s password protected (you choose the password during set up) so kids can’t access it and change the settings. You can view usage stats in there to see how often it been used and how often individual apps are used etc. You can also set the duration and time for when the tablet is playable, and make them different for weekdays and weekends. You can also turn parental controls off completely if you wish, and it’s in there that you can delete apps too.
You can create more than one account if needed and you can choose different icons and background images to customise it.
It’s easy to navigate to find the different features. Learning apps are in the little graduation cap section, books are under the book symbol etc. I haven’t looked an awful lot at the learning app side of things myself, but if you are on Instagram and search the hashtag #TinyTesters, you’ll find some families that have also reviewed them as they may give more info on those. The Toy Story themed tablet (the tablets are currently available in either a Toy Story or Frozen theme, with Mickey & Friends and Cars versions coming soon) comes preloaded with various Pixar character themed books. Some of them play like videos and are narrated alongside the words being displayed so you can read along; and some are just readable with the words and pictures and you swipe to change the pages. They are all really cute, and again, I often listen to children’s audio books as a pain distraction technique (as they are distracting but also don’t require too much focus) so these are going to come in handy too.
Game apps are found under the controller icon and the Toy Story tablet comes pre-loaded with 3 Toy Story themed games. The first is Toy Story Search, which I am VERY happy about as I used to have a version of this on my phone and loved it but it stopped being updated so I’m so happy to have it again! It shows different scenes from the films, and you have to find certain objects in the scene before the timer runs out. It gets harder as it progresses and some parts are quite tricky! The next one is Toy Story Pop and in this one, you have to match chains of bubbles to pop them. It’s really fun and again, gets harder as you move through the levels. The final pre-loaded game is Toy Story Tap, and in this one it shows different scenes from the movie and characters pop up and objects fly across the screen and you have to tap as many of them as you can to catch them. Some of the objects are FAST so it’s surprisingly tricky haha!
The App Store is vast! There are over 500 games and learning apps available to download and so many great ones to choose from. When I first read about the tablets, I assumed they’d all be pretty easy pre-schooler type apps but there are plenty on there for older kids and adults too. You get a year’s free access to the game store with the tablet so you can download anything and there are absolutely no in app ads or purchases and no waiting for lives to regenerate etc. It’s brilliant! There are also some more book collections available to download too.
The tablet also has a safe web browser, which can be set to block out anything deemed unsafe for children so it’s super safe for kids to use. It also has a camera which was surprisingly decent quality too! Perfect for toy selfies! Another feature that I really appreciate is that it is anti-blue light so it doesn’t strain your eyes to look at it etc.
If you follow my on Instagram @lucysroomtoys, you can find an IGTV video on my account showing some of the info given above, as well as some clips showing the tablet actually in use.
I am really impressed with this product. It’s much better than I expected it to be and I know it’s going to really help me with my pain management, plus just generally provide a lot of fun and entertainment! My parents have even had a go and enjoyed it too, and I know my 8 year old niece is going to love it too when she can finally visit again (I’m writing this at the time of Covid-19 lockdown). The toy gang are pretty impressed with it too! 😉
Thank you so much again to Pebble Gear for sending it out to me, it really means so much to me and it was a real honour to be able to review.