As you may recall, my toddler and I previously received the VTech InnoTab 2 for review purposes. We found it to be a great way to beat “summer brain drain”. It was her first tablet designed for kids and she loved it. So of course, when VTech contacted us to complete a VTech InnoTab 3s review, we jumped on board! I’m raising a techie and she (okay, we) always love to get our hands on the latest and greatest products.
But not everyone feels the same way. As with many items in the technology industry, when tablets designed specifically with kids in mind hit the scene, it exploded. Many of Maddilyn’s classmates and cousins have tablets, and a few of them even own the VTech InnoTab 2/2s. Just like their adult counterparts with cell phones, whenever we’re presented with an upgraded model, many kids feel they must. have. it. But parent’s are skeptical and for good reason. Why should we shell out money for an upgraded model?
I totally get it, but I feel in this case, the InnoTab 3S is worth upgrading to. For starters, it retained all of the awesome features of the InnoTab 2S and gave us a few more.
It Isn’t Just a Facelift
The VTech InnoTab 3S isn’t an upgrade for the sake of upgrade. With features like the addition of a D-Pad, it completely changed physical gameplay. I found the D-Pad not only made gameplay easier for my toddler, but that it also helps develop hand-eye coordination. The previous InnoTab was styled vertically, and by switching it horizontally I found it to be more user friendly while keeping the feel of a “real” tablet.
Get Connected
My daughter frequently watches me working, messaging and emailing from my tablet. With the InnoTab 3S, she can be just like mom. VTech Kid Connect (over WiFi) lets kids and parents connect through text messaging and sticker sending between the 3S and my smart phone. While she is a bit young to actually compose comprehensible messages, what’s important is that she feels like she is communicating with me. Unlike it’s predecessors, the InnoTab 3S also features kid-safe web browsing. Kids are able to visit pre-selected and parent-approved websites.
It’s In The Details
You didn’t really think I would upgrade for just three features right? Don’t get me wrong, the first two are pretty fantastic upgrades. But they also did a lot of little tweaking that make a big difference. For starters, they ditched the cumbersome batteries and opted for a rechargeable battery pack. Perfect for those long car rides. The 3S now comes with 2o apps instead of 15 and they bumped up onboard memory to 4 GB. This, thankfully, means less picking and choosing which Apps get to be downloaded to the tablet or deleted. The photo and movie features now offer even more than before with the ability to create stop motion videos, over 55 camera effects and more.
Overall the VTech InnoTab 3S feels like a total upgrade while retaining all the things we loved about the InnoTab 2S. And if you don’t believe us, here is a second opinion from TimeToPlayMag.com.
I like the video recorder.
4 GB memory should be great.