VTech InnoTab Learning Tablet Review

With all the technology available, it’s no surprise that my three year old son knows how to navigate my phone better than I do.  I love that my children have the opportunity to use technology each and every day in ways that I didn’t when I was growing up.

We recently received the VTech InnoTab Learning Tablet for review and my children love having their own little tablet.  The InnoTab is designed for children ages 4 through 9 and like other tablets, it’s an all-in-one tablet that allows children to read, play, create and learn.

When we first received the InnoTab, I must admit that I was a little intimidated by it.  It looks similar to an iPad, just with a little more girth and protection from little hands and drops to the floor.  There are so many different activities to explore and discover, so it took me a little while to experience all the different aspects of the InnoTab.

Since I have multiple children, I like the capability of being able to personalize one profile for one my children.  When that particular child is playing, they simply touch their name and are taken to their personalized settings.  When someone else is playing, they can play as a guest.  Because I have three children, I would like to have the option of creating more than one personalized profile.

When you turn on the InnoTab, you end up on the home page.  On the home page, you will find all the different areas (icons) that you can explore on the InnoTab.  The InnoTab does feature a 5″ color touch screen, which makes it feel more “real” and not just a toy.  I did notice that sometimes the screen isn’t as sensitive as I think it should be, especially since it is designed for the little hands of children.  I’ve had better luck when using the stylus over using my fingers.

The VTech InnoTab comes with eight learning apps valued at $50.  It can act as an e-reader, calendar, calculator and much more, but it can also be a gaming device and a place for your child to explore their creative side by using the art studio and color & pop.  It comes preloaded with 12 applications but you can download other apps by connecting your InnoTab to the computer.

Like I mentioned earlier, the InnoTab is very similar to the iPad, which is very good for parents who want their iPads all to themselves.  But, since it is made for little children with clumsy hands, there are some differences.  The InnoTab is much thicker, a little heavier, and the little rubber bumpers help keep it safe from small falls.  But features like the home page, apps, touch screen and portrait and landscape viewing are what make my children feel like they are using something very similar to mommy’s.

The InnoTab also features a stand, headphone jack, ac adapter jack and a USB port.  Since you can also buy cartridges for the InnoTab, there is also a cartridge slot.  In addition to the on/off button and home page button, there is also a volume up button, volume down button and button that controls the brightness of the screen.

My one big complaint with the InnoTab is the batteries.  The tablet goes through batteries quicker than I would like and I’m incredibly disappointed that an adapter does not come with it.  You can purchase one separately, but when you really think about it, how often are your children playing that close to an outlet.  It does require 4AA batteries, so my suggestion is to purchase two sets of 4AA rechargeable batteries so that there is always a set available.

Overall, the VTech InnoTab has been a hit around here.  The children have pretty much come to terms with having to touch the screen a couple of times to get it to do what they want and I’ve come to terms with not having an adapter and having to purchase rechargeable batteries.  The children love having their own tablet and I like having mine — all to myself.

Buy:

You can purchase the VTech InnoTab for the suggested retail price of $79.99.

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owners. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I received media samples in order to facilitate this post.