My Friend Cayla Interactive Doll Holds a Conversation!

Cars, homes, and TV’s aren’t the only things getting smarter, so are dolls!  The My Friend Cayla  doll is the first real talking interactive doll.  Yes, there are already dolls that talk, but Cayla actually answers you back.  You can ask Cayla any question and she will give you an answer.  Sometimes she knows the answer, sometimes not, but she’ll always answer you back.

My Friend Cayla – First Interactive Doll

Cayla knows millions of things.  How does she do it?  Though the innovative use of an app on your phone and the cloud.  Cayla connects to your phone via Bluetooth.  When the app is open, she can access a cloud-based encyclopedia to answer questions.  If she doesn’t know the answer, she will say “I don’t know” or “I’ll ask my teacher.”

To ensure My Friend Cayla is ready to listen to you, the heart on her necklace will glow.  Otherwise, she won’t respond to you.  The heart necklace also confirms that she is connected through Bluetooth to the phone that the My Friend Cayla app is on.

But Cayla is not just smart about the world, she is also very self-aware.  You can ask her over 1,000 questions about herself and she’ll answer.  Out of curiousity, I asked her who her mom is, thinking she would say me.  Instead, she described her mom, Sue, like a princess with long brown hair, brown eyes and she packs Cayla’s lunch and makes her breakfast for her everyday.

Cayla loves to help with homework too.  You can ask her to spell a word for you or even tell you simple math computations with her built-in calculator mind (in the cloud!).

Cayla is 18 inches, so she can easily be taken along in the car or for a walk in the park.  She is compatible with other 18″ dolls clothes.  Cayla comes with a hairbrush and a mirror.   Even when she’s not connected to the app, she can still talk and play games, share her photo album, and read bedtime stories on the app.  In fact, 80% of Cayla’s play capabilities can be used while she’s not connected to the cloud.

Want to slip in some Spanish teaching to your child?  You can change Cayla’s settings to Spanish and all of her conversations will be in Spanish.

Pros:

• Cayla has an answer for everything and if she doesn’t, she’ll tell you!
• Cayla works much like Siri – she speaks in a natural progression, not a prerecorded voice for answers
• Cayla’s hair is long and soft, good for braiding her hair
• Clothes from other 18″ dolls can be used on Cayla as well
• Cayla actually plays games like Tic Tac Toe, Memory Match, and Balloon Challenge on the app and she’s a good encourager, not a bad sport
• Cayla will begin talking even if you’re not talking with her.  She’ll tell about things she does with her family or begin asking you questions
• Works with Android or Apple devices

Cons:

• Although Cayla can have a conversation, she’s not perfect and will not always give you a relevant answer
• There is a delay between you saying something and her responding
• Cayla doesn’t always hear you and will say, “I can’t hear you” or “I don’t understand”
• Cayla is connected to your phone, which means she’ll act as a speaker phone for your calls and notifications too unless you turn off the app

My Friend Cayla is available at Walmart  for $59.93 and available with brown hair or as a African American Cayla.

A Mom’s Perspective

My Friend Cayla is a fun interactive doll, especially for 4-6 year old girls.  She’s a cute, talkative, interactive doll with a cute removable outfit and shoes, and is quite outgoing.  I love that you can have her turned to on and she’ll start up a conversation with you and even ask questions, even though you haven’t talked to her in a while.

There is a delay after Cayla says something and when you respond back.  You need to wait for the heart on her necklace lights up.  Young girls will get this and accept it.  Older girls would find it tiresome to wait each time to respond.

Cayla’s ability to play games, look at her photo album, and read books and interact with kids is a fantastic ability no other “talking” interactive doll can touch.  And I love that on the app you can adjust Cayla’s volume as well as how “talkative” she is.

One more thing, on the app you can even change her name, her mom’s name, her dad’s name, and the name of her favorite cuddly toy, making her more customizable to your family.