Good, but some caveats!

The Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Smart Learning Home is a very cool toy, regardless of some flaws that could use improvement. If you've read my reviews before, you know I can pick flaws in even the most perfect product (what can I say, it's a gift), but I don't do it to be annoying. I do it so that you're armed with the info you need to see if it's right for you and also so makers/producers can improve.

So overall, this toy is definitely worth it, but it's on the high side of the price range and there's definitely room for improvement. It's large, multi-lingual and has some real fun features, but it's also a little confusing in terms of age ranges and which stage goes with which age. For example, Stage 2 actually has almost less dialogue and more music...as opposed to other Smart Stages toys I've tried which seem to correlate more with age. Read on to see my detailed thoughts, or scroll to the bottom for a short summary of the review.

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Setup/Assembly and switches
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One thing that Fisher Price consistently gets right is assembly. As a frequent product reviewer and former QA tester, I'm of the opinion that things should be built for the person who is the worst at assembling. Everything should be clearly printed with easy to follow diagrams, spaced out and preferable with detailed, yet simple text instructions. This toy nails the assembly on the head. The set-up has clear diagrams with words when needed. They also supply a clear video for those folks who need a visual. You can access it using a QR reader app on your phone, just point it at the QR code (squiggly sci-fi looking thing on the front of the manual for you non-tech knowing people) and it will send you to the video.

Assembly is simple, but long and requires an able body. It recommends 45 minutes to assemble it and we did it in 30 mins, with one able-bodied person, a weak, sick person and one screwdriver (you must have a crosshead screwdriver) between us. All screws are supplied (one extra) and it's really very easy to follow. Once assembled it's extremely sturdy and durable. The stickers are pre-attached and you can add all the accessories at your leisure. Pop in four C batteries and you're ready to go.

One really cool feature is that this product is not only bi-lingual. It's multi-lingual. You can choose English, French, Spanish or Mandarin! Wow. Because it's on a switch, you also don't get that annoying effect where you must listen to the French and English one after each other, you pick the language you want via the switch and that's it. If you have a child prodigy maybe they can learn all four languages!

The sound also has two settings; Normal and Louder. The normal setting is actually on the quiet end, great for apartments, quiet times or parents who prefer a lower noise setting. The loud setting is loud enough to be clear, but not headache inducing and probably not effective enough for a child with a hearing disorder. In my opinion, the loud setting runs a little quiet and difficult to hear in a noisy household.

The last set of switches is for the Smart-Stages. Previously I have loved and praised the Smart Stage system, but here I had some problems with it. In other toys like this, even though they were labelled as explore/play etc, there was a clear age up in stages. Here, it's confusing what to set the stage at for what age. Here's how they are described:

1 - Explore - Baby enjoys fun sounds, music, first words, alphabet, etc.

2 - Encourage - Hear sounds, phrases, greetings and more.

3 - Pretend - Engaging songs and phrases for imaginative play.

Now, stage 1 is clearly for babies. It has the alphabet, relatively simple phrases and colours. However, it has a lot of dialogue.

Stage 2 and 3 is where it gets confusing. Stage 2 describes itself as being focused on sounds, phrases and greeting, but seems to have a lot of songs. I also expected Stage 3 to have more complex dialogue, but it feels a bit unfinished. For example the Thermostat on stage 1 says colours, on stage 2 it talks of temperature, on stage 3 it merely makes a sound...no further dialogue. Stage 2 and 3 replace dialogue with sounds or songs, instead of becoming more complex, like I'd expect from past Smart Stages experience. There's definitely an element of advancing slightly, but not enough that I'd be clear which stage to match to which age. I almost wish they'd included a guide for that.

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Features
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360 play/physical features ---- While the focus of this is the 'Smart' house, a clever and modern toy design, there are many physical and non-battery powered features all over the house. Some of these definitely have flaws, but they are charming and fun nonetheless. There's all sorts of things to pick up, put into place, push turn, drop through and sort, some of which have accompanying smart 'phrases' when they are done.

Even putting the sliding switches and sorting toys aside, baby or toddler can roleplay with this house and that works for ages 6m to around 3 years old. There's things at different heights and strengths that they will be able to do only when they are older, but plenty to keep younger babies busy too. Some of the switches or sliding parts are pretty stiff and younger ones can struggle to move them. The ball drop game also frequently bounces out of the 'trough', meaning you're liable to lose them. It'd be nice to see that improved. Our little testers really loved putting the mail in the mail box and hearing the associated phrases, one can play at mailman and the other house owner too!

Sound features ----- As well as the physical features, there are many parts that can be interacted with that also trigger sounds. For example, opening the door, mail, flicking the light switch or turning the clock or changing the thermostat, all produce phrases or sounds depending on the 'stage' they are set to. On the front, there are numbered buttons and a doorbell. There are also a series of colorful buttons which can be pressed to talk about various things (Home office; music/to do list etc) depending, again, on the stage. Another small problem is that the white icons can be a little hard to see on many of the bright colours. For kids just learning to associate shapes, I kind of wish these were darker and clearer.

Stage 2 also features something described as 'wait for a fun prompt and an encouraging reward.' This was very confusing for us. We couldn't figure out how to activate it every time. Waiting sometimes caused it to ask, but it only ever asked to move the clock. I was hoping for more commands, like the cheaper toy I previously tried. Considering the price and the brag of over 200+ sounds and phrases, I was expecting a lot more. I have to wonder if the 200 number includes all four languages, or if it's just for english, my gut says it means over all of them. Many of the sounds and phrases were repeated or simple, or some music.

This is probably my biggest complaint about the toy, is I expected way more dialogue and interaction that I got. I feel like play here is very driven by the kids, rather than prompted by the toy. Considering the higher price, I was a little shocked, as I've previously played with a smaller/cheaper make-believe toy from Fisher-Price that did all of this, but seemed far more driven by sound and to have more fun dialogue that wasn't just sounds or brief phrases. It's still great, but the product description sounded far more exciting than the reality. The latter stages seem to repeat much faster in phrases, or replace words with sounds and songs.

We did really like the 'light show' that combines phrases and songs with the house lights doing different colours.

Imagination/play ----- When it comes to pretend, this house really does have it all. It's crammed with a kitchen, entryway, home office and some food and kitchen based toys too. There are so many imagination play scenarios kids can act out, that even without the batteries, kids will have a great time.

Extra ---- if you have the accompanying smart car, you can do more, but I haven't tested that and can't speak to how good (or bad) it might be!

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Visual Design
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Another thing that Fisher Price really seems to excel at is the visual design of their products and this one is no different. It feels really cohesive, with a lot of colours that are different, bright and yet make a design that doesn't clash. There's also a lot of cute, added elements, like the numbers molded on the doorstop, that kids will notice as they age, so they can always discover new things.

I'm particularly fond of the beautiful 'hood' of this toy, which is really colourful, with a fun motif, as well as the door (which opens, of course). As kids grow and stand up they will access new thing on the toy and discover more, so it's really well done in that regard.

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Conclusion
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Overall, this toy is definitely well-made and is a big hit with kids. It has a great age range of 6 months to 3 years, lots of different things to day and can be set in four different languages. All of this is really impressive in it's own right, but the price gives me pause. If I hadn't tried a cheaper Fisher Price play set with a similar theme, that in my opinion did amazingly well and even surpassed this...I'd be tempted to give this five stars. However, I feel like they have enough room for improvement that I'm settling at four stars.

The stages are implemented confusingly, feel unfinished and short of dialogue at times and there's very little prompting of interaction from the toy. It does have songs that encourage children to move (which is great), but doesn't prompt or react to their actions with the toy. Given the price point, I expected these and while it's a great, fun toy that works with sound can be used physically and great for imaginative play, I do think it's a little overpriced. Still, definitely worth a buy and by reading my thoughts and watching the video, you can decide if those things will bother you, or if you disagree!

Pros
+ MULTI-LINGUAL; 4 languages featured - English, French, Spanish and Mandarin. Each has their own switch.
+ Two audio settings for loudness.
+ Very large playset, with a lot to do.
+ Smart Stages (3 stages) allows different style of play to change as your child ages.
+ Physical (moveable) features and switches, as well as sound that can be activated by buttons or movement of certain things.
+ Different heights and complexity, means it works for many ages. (6M to 36 Months) As they stand more can be seen and done.
+ Beautiful design, full of cute stickers, accessories and bright colours.
+ Easy to assemble, clear instructions and a video for those who need help.
+ Great for imaginative play.
+ Light show, really captivates kids.

Cons
- Batteries not included (4 x C batteries)
- Smart Stages are difficult to match to age, and later stages seem lacking in dialogue.
- Loudest audio setting is pretty quiet.
- Assembly is long and requires a screwdriver.
- Stage 2 has a special 'ask' prompt that happens if you wait, but only one so it feels a little unfinished. Wish they'd added more things that the playset would 'ask' for.
- Balls bounce out of trough when dropped, roughly fifty percent of the time and will get lost.

Recommended: Yes. However, I feel the price is a little high. I'd recommend looking at similar Fisher Price toys and deciding which one works best for you and your child, to find a price point and style of toy that's best for you.