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This train is a battery-eating machine

4/2/2022

Translation: Megan Cornish

Unfortunately, the Brio Smart Tech Sound toy train isn’t as smart as its name suggests – at least when it comes to the battery.

Choo choo! The train wheels roll slowly but surely through a tunnel underneath a waterfall. You can hear the sound of the water. The spirit of adventure is in the air. Where will the train take us next? I feel a bit like I’m Lukas, the train driver, and my son is Jim. OK, the Emma train is driven by steam, whereas the Brio smart train at our house is electric, but there’s still some adventure to be had on the wooden tracks in my cosy living room. And that’s all thanks to the Brio Smart Tech Sound train.

Brio Smart Tech Sound Lok with recording function

Wooden train sets

EUR38,67

Brio Smart Tech Sound Lok with recording function

Smart isn’t really a description that suits Brio – it’s a wooden train set. However, the Smart Tech Sound train is a toy that communicates with other Brio devices via radio frequency identification (RFID). This includes plastic stickers that cause the train to sound the horn, stop or do something else. There’s also a washing station, the aforementioned waterfall and a number of other things. Plus you can record a new horn sound and control the train via Bluetooth. It’s actually great. My four-year-old has loved the train ever since he received it for Christmas. But I haven’t enjoyed it as much.

Excessive battery consumption

Communication via RFID is smooth, but only down to around 80 per cent of charge. If the charge level drops below that, the train stops reacting via RFID. Instead of stopping in the washing station, it just runs straight through it. Instead of playing the «I here» message my son recorded, nothing happens. The surprising thing is that I can still speak to the train via Bluetooth and give it commands.

If the battery’s weak, the train goes straight through the washing station.

As soon as I replace the batteries, everything starts working again. It’s annoying. Particularly as it’s a pointless endeavour trying to explain to a four-year-old that I need to replace the batteries before the train will work again, which usually takes a number of hours. He doesn’t understand. He wants to play with it straight away. So I end up with a grouchy child who doesn’t want to play with the toy anymore. Either the train disappears into a corner somewhere or he lets it run around the house until the battery runs out.

It is what it is

The train would be great if it were always fully functioning. To find out whether I’ve ended up with a lemon or whether the manufacturer knows about the issue, I got in touch with Brio’s customer service department:

Brio’s Product Development team told us that the sound function is heavily dependent on the batteries you use.

So the batteries should make a difference. So far, I’ve always used Varta Longlife Power batteries, so I tried some Verbatim ones. Unfortunately, the problem was still there. Brio Support responded:

The Smart Tech Sound train offers a battery display feature, for example a flashing red LED headlight that signals low battery. This means that not all sound and light effects are still working.

Brio’s response in short: certain functions are not available for the whole battery life. Namely those that work via RFID. The reply goes on to say:

However, the train’s basic functions are still available, so the child can still have lots of fun with the set …

OK, but how do I explain that to my stroppy four-year-old? Unfortunately, Brio doesn’t have the answer. I shrug it off and accept that it’ll teach him to deal with frustration. This also applies to playtime.

What now?

Despite the friendly answer, I'm disappointed by the Brio train. The fact that RFID stops working once you’ve used a certain percentage of the battery, while Bluetooth doesn’t, still surprises me. I assume RFID uses more juice than the Bluetooth standard. The train is programmed to switch off RFID automatically to keep it running for longer.

In future, I’m going to replace disposable batteries with rechargeable ones.

I’m going to switch to rechargeable batteries. Then I won’t feel guilty when I still have to virtually completely replace them. So the train will eat its way through the rechargeable battery rather than disposable ones.

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Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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