Lego Spike Prime: the good, the bad, and the ugly

The GOOD

Value

The first thing I want to compare is the value: how much money do you actually need to spend for typical EV3 activities.

The EV3 has two versions, the “home” edition sells for $349, and the “edu” versions is listed at $439. Why the significant price difference? Apart from different sensors (infra vs ultrasonic), the main cause of this difference is the rechargeable battery that comes standard with the edu version.

If you have actually spent time with EV3 for more a few builds, then you know how unrealistic it is to ask kids to take the robot apart just for charging the battery. For any serious EV3 activity, a rechargeable battery is a must. However, if you have purchased the home edition of EV3, the battery alone could cost you around $100!

What about Spike Prime? It comes with a rechargeable battery! There is in fact no way to use AAA or AA batteries with the hub.

The SP set is currently priced at $329. And there is no education version of it.

And it has a similar configuration to the EDU version of EV3 with single color sensor (which means you need to buy another one). It also differs from its EV3 counterpart by including only ONE large motor but TWO medium motor. However, if you get the expansion set, which is set to $100, you get exactly what is needed: dual color sensors, large and medium motors.