Like many of you who read our articles, I am a big fan of LEGO. I have always had a deep fascination with how intentionally and meticulously The LEGO Group’s products are designed. Over the course of my life, I have spent so many hours watching interviews with designers, reading books and LEGO fan magazines, and talking to any designers I have been fortunate enough to meet, enough that the time could probably be equivalent to that of a college degree.

I have even made LEGO my career, as a Master Model Builder at LEGOLAND, a freelance LEGO commission artist, and a former employee of The LEGO Group at one of their many Brand Retail stores. Many fellow LEGO fans have called me a die-hard fanboy, as I love anything and everything that The LEGO Group does, no matter what it is. I cannot deny that statement—it holds a lot of truth.

But there have been things that I do not always love right out the gate; some things take time to grow on me. And there are others that I just have absolutely no interest in. And for Star Wars Day—a time when anything LEGO Star Wars tends to dominate the conversation, it feels like the right moment to talk about one of the theme’s newest and most debated additions. A recent example of something I have not loved right out the gate and am curious to see where it leads… is the new LEGO Smart Brick.

What’s the Word on the Street… or Galaxy?

The LEGO Smart Play System and the Smart Brick have been under intense scrutiny since their announcement on January 5th, 2026. The LEGO Group has enthusiastically marketed it as its biggest innovation since the original LEGO brick itself.

The online LEGO fan community, on the other hand, has been very vocal with their opinions on the Smart Brick. I think it is safe to say a very large majority of them are unimpressed and disinterested. But almost all of the online LEGO fan community is made up of adults/AFOLs, compared to the Smart Brick’s marketing which clearly targets children.

Mama and baby ducks, one of the only non-Star Wars uses of the smart bricks we saw at CES. Image via stuff.tv.

When I saw and read the announcement for the Smart Brick, I was intrigued and curious, not outright sold on it like I typically am with most LEGO sets. A part of me did an internal eye roll, thinking, “Oh boy, here’s another tech gimmick like LEGO Mario, VIDIYO, Hidden Side, Ultra Agents, Fusion, and Life of George. Let’s see how long this one lasts.” But it is safe to say that, at 24, I do not fall into Smart Play’s intended audience.

I kept watching as more and more information and play demos of the Smart Brick came out, and the more I saw, the more I wanted to try it myself. This also stemmed from the constant negativity I was hearing online about the Smart Brick and Smart Play sets. The more I hear people do not like something, the more I want to try it and form an opinion myself instead of just going by what is said online.

Smart Play sets on the shelf at LEGOLAND New York resort.

It is clear that with how hard LEGO is marketing the Smart Brick, they want this to stick around for a while, longer than its other attempts at integrating tech into playing with LEGO. So I really wanted to give it a try. If it is going to be around for a while, I want to form my own opinion.

What Exactly Is Everyone So Upset About?

From a consumer and LEGO fan perspective, outside of the Super Mario sets, most of these tech-infused LEGO products have died out very quickly due to a lack of support from The LEGO Group once they see that the general consumer has no interest—rather than refining, improving, and supporting the product to lead to long-term success.

I think it is safe to say The LEGO Group really wants the Smart Brick to have a longer lifespan, and their actions so far reflect that. They unveiled the Smart Brick at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, someplace they have never attended before, and even pulled off massive marketing stunts by having Smart Bricks play on the Las Vegas Sphere.

Demos of the Smart Brick are all over LEGO Brand Retail stores, LEGOLAND Parks, and other retail spaces across the countries where Smart Bricks are available. But a lot of this marketing is being pushed to adults… where are the kids, the intended consumer of this new toy?

Type “lego smart play” into YouTube and you’ll see something similar.

In doing research for writing this article, I spent hours watching and listening to what other LEGO fans and LEGO fan media outlets have been saying about Smart Bricks/Play. To be upfront and honest, it was discouraging hearing the overwhelming negativity surrounding it.

It also showed me, in my opinion, how many LEGO fans struggle to give a critical and respectful critique of a product. I saw a frustrating number of people get visually and verbally angry at the Smart Brick before it even launched here in the United States, and upon release, some went as far as throwing sets against walls or into trash cans, even encouraging kids to smash them with a hammer.

I do not believe this is a respectful or useful critique, especially from people who publicly call themselves “professional LEGO reviewers” or content creators. From my personal experience studying graphic and product design in college and working in the design field, I can say that critique is a huge part of the process, and a designer cannot do their best work without it. Critiques themselves are an art form, requiring a thoughtful balance of analysis and communication.

There is a method for evaluating work and providing constructive, respectful feedback on why something does or does not work. The goal is not to tear a designer down, but to help guide them toward their best work. Unfortunately, I saw many LEGO fans improperly critiquing the Smart Bricks, calling them “dumb,” “unimaginative,” and “garbage,” without ever explaining why or suggesting how they could be improved.

One part of the elaborate marketing for smart bricks, but are kids seeing this?

Many fans are blinded by nostalgia and their passion not only for LEGO, but for Star Wars, too. The most common criticism I saw in my research was about the sounds, which makes sense given how iconic and specific Star Wars audio design is. This is part of why The LEGO Group chose Star Wars as the launch theme for Smart Play—it is familiar, well-established, and easy for people to understand. However, that familiarity also sets expectations, and many people assumed they would hear movie-accurate sound effects and music.

When they discovered it was not a one-to-one replication, they quickly labeled it “lazy” or “inaccurate.” While that assumption is understandable, nowhere on the box or in the marketing does it explicitly promise movie-accurate audio, and it is worth remembering that most of the people critiquing it are not the intended audience.

Back of the box for 75423 SMART Play: Luke's Red Five X-Wing, is it misleading?

As much as I am defending The LEGO Group and Smart Bricks/Play, I do agree with one major sentiment from the community: how the product has been marketed. The LEGO Group has showcased the Smart Brick as producing voices and sound effects, but never clearly states whether those sounds are movie-accurate, and that lack of clarity has led to confusion and frustration.

Consumers see presentations—like those at CES—where LEGO representatives say things like “Listen to Luke Skywalker talk,” and assume they will hear actual lines from the films, not the stylized “wa wa woo” sounds it produces. The same applies to vehicles like Vader’s TIE fighter, which has a very distinct engine sound that fans expect to hear. In conversations I’ve had with other LEGO fans, the frustration is less about the sounds themselves and more about the lack of transparency in how they were presented.

Is this enough information for the average consumer to fully grasp everything it can and cannot do?

As stated earlier, The LEGO Group chose Star Wars as Smart Play’s launch theme because it is universally recognizable and easy to understand in terms of play. But that familiarity is also a double-edged sword, as it creates very specific expectations for how these sets should look and sound. When those expectations collide with unclear marketing, limited demonstrations, and a lack of clear explanation of what Smart Play actually does, it creates a perfect storm of confusion and frustration for consumers.

A Real Kid’s Opinions and Perspectives

With everything I had seen unfold since the announcement of the Smart Bricks, I made the decision to give them an honest try by buying a Smart Play set with my own money and forming my own opinion through direct experience, rather than relying on the heated and often poorly constructed critiques from the online fan community. (BrickNerd’s Editor in Chief argued that Smart Play sets should really be experienced in tandem, so they provided one other set.)

But in addition to my own perspective, I wanted to hear from a kid—specifically one who loves both LEGO and Star Wars. Hearing from the intended audience felt like the best way to get a genuine and honest take on the product. To help develop that perspective, I recruited my ten-year-old nephew, who, in my eyes—and according to the age on the box—is exactly who these sets are made for.

My nephew is my LEGO building buddy. Whenever I get to spend time with him, we build together. His room is a minefield of LEGO bricks, sets, and his own creations, and he has already started sorting pieces by color and type so he can more easily build his Clone Trooper bases.

Andrew was very excited to increase the empire’s might with the addition of a new TIE fighter.

He is, through and through, a LEGO kid. He is also a huge Star Wars fan—he has seen most of the movies and shows and spends hours listening to Star Wars lore videos on YouTube. On family trips, we even play a guessing game at dinner where we try to figure out which Star Wars character the other is thinking of, like “Guess Who?” but with way more niche answers.

So it was no surprise to me that he already had opinions on Smart Bricks/Play when I brought him 75421 Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter. Like me, he keeps up with the latest LEGO releases.

Before we opened the sets, he told me he didn’t really understand why Smart Bricks were needed when he could just make the sounds himself. I asked what he thought about other LEGO sets or toys that include sound, like 76429 Talking Sorting Hat, 10334 Retro Radio, or even other action figures and Transformers. His response was blunt: “That’s why I don’t have them. I’d rather use my own mouth and imagination for sounds.”

This was a conclusion he came to entirely on his own. I even asked if he had heard anything like that from YouTube, and he said no. He’s a smart and insightful kid, and that conversation immediately made me more curious to see how his opinion might evolve once we actually built and played with the sets.

Everyone say thank you to my sister for taking pictures since i was too distracted building…

My nephew built 75421 Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter and I built 75423 Luke’s Red Five X-Wing so we would each have a ship and Smart Brick to experiment with. And yes, I deliberately gave him the harder build to help push his skills a bit.

He finished his set in just under two hours, running into a few small issues that he worked through on his own. I built the X-Wing in about an hour and a half, but unfortunately one of my bags had opened, parts were loose in the box, and I was missing around ten pieces for one of the wings. I wasn’t able to fully finish the set, but I reworked the wing enough so we could still play with it as intended.

Even with the missing pieces, I genuinely enjoyed building the X-Wing. It’s a simple construction, but I appreciated how basic elements were used to create a more complex function.

At the rear of the ship, a Technic spring element and a set of angled wedges work together so that pressing down causes the entire Smart Brick section to slide forward and activate. It’s simple, effective, and exactly the kind of design solution I personally enjoy.

I’ve seen other Smart Play reviews mention packaging issues—some have been missing a bag, others have gotten extra capes, and now I have an open bag and missing pieces. I think this is due to the extra items packaged with the Smart Play sets (a unique placement of the Smart Brick, a cord, and a wireless charger).

LEGO has included electronics in sets before, but not quite like this, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re still working through production kinks on the packaging side. Thankfully, LEGO Customer Service has always been reliable for replacements, but should I have to call them for missing pieces like this? Of course not.

Even though Andrew says he has a hard time building with Technic elements, he is very good at it.

As we built, my nephew started noticing how the functions were coming together, and his curiosity took over. I could tell he was eager to finish the set so he could try out the Smart Brick and see how it functioned. He kept testing the firing mechanism lever on his TIE fighter, eager to see how everything would work once the Smart Brick was added.

We made sure both Smart Bricks were charging during the build so they’d be ready to go. As soon as he finished, my nephew eagerly inserted the Smart Brick into Vader’s TIE—and his reaction said everything. His face lit up as the ship started screeching, and he immediately started swooshing it around the room. Not once, the entire night, did my Star Wars-obsessed nephew point out to me that the sounds of the engine did not match the TIE fighters in the movies.

Throughout the night, my sister and brother-in-law’s dining room was filled with the sounds of laser blasts, ship explosions, droid chirps, and silly minifigure screams, resulting in lots of laughter and plenty of smiles from my nephew. I could tell he was having a blast.

my sister’s cat wanted in on the fun too.

That excitement only grew when he discovered that Luke plays a Smart Play-style version of the classic “The Force” theme, along with Vader and his version of the “Imperial March.” His eyes widened and his jaw dropped—he was genuinely thrilled to hear something familiar, even if it wasn’t a one-to-one recreation.

It didn’t matter to him. What mattered was that his interaction with the Smart Brick and Smart Minifigures created sounds that felt fun and responsive. We even showed his mother, a fellow Star Wars fan, and she was just as excited to recognize the themes.

The two of us spent a lot of time experimenting and playing with the sets, seeing what we could get the Smart Brick to do. When we shot the ships at each other, they responded with “pew pew pew” and explosion sounds—and to a ten-year-old, that’s about as cool as it gets.

He especially loved using the hammer and refueling elements included in both sets. I could tell it was pulling him deeper into the play experience and making the interaction feel more immersive. The set and the Smart Brick respond directly to what he’s doing, which encourages him to keep experimenting and playing to trigger new reactions. Because of that, he was far more engaged with the LEGO set itself, rather than drifting toward a tablet or video game.

x-wing versus speederbike, who will win?

Me and my sister (my nephew’s mother) were both very happy that we could play with the Smart Bricks right out of the box, with no need for a smartphone or tablet to activate or play with them. Just charge and go. My sister likes to keep my nephew on limited screen time, especially during the school week, so being able to play right out of the box without a screen was a huge win for Smart Bricks.

How my nephew reacted and enjoyed playing with the Smart Brick is not how every kid will react to these Smart Play sets. And that’s ok. Smart Play isn't for everyone, and LEGO isn’t making it the only way to play with LEGO Bricks and the system. The LEGO Group has made it clear it’s not a replacement, but an addition to the LEGO system. It’s a new tool in the large LEGO toolbox to explore and interact with.

Earlier this year, my nephew celebrated his birthday and had asked for 75424 AT-ST Attack on Endor, as he wanted an AT-ST to play with and was also somewhat interested in the Smart Play sets. It led him to want to test it out for himself as well. This set did not come with the Smart Brick, and while he had a great time building it and enjoyed playing with it, he admitted he felt like he was missing something by not having the Smart Brick to get the full play experience the set offers when it is added.

Now that he has one, he brought the AT-ST out from his room and added it to our menagerie of Smart Play sets we were playing with. Adding the Smart Brick gave him another level of play and the full experience that he felt was missing before. At the end of the night, I asked him if his opinion had changed from what he said at the start. He said he still felt the same, but now that he had actually played with the Smart Bricks, he really enjoyed it and would be open to getting more Smart Bricks and Smart Play sets in the future—even if they wouldn’t be his first choice when picking out a LEGO set.

A Big Kid’s Opinion and Perspective

But how do I feel? We spent $160 USD on two sets ($210 if you include his birthday set)—have I gotten what I wanted out of these as LEGO sets as well as a Smart Play experience? After having this fun experience with my nephew, I feel confident saying yes, I have… but I do have some critiques on where I think Smart Bricks and Smart Play sets can improve going forward.

The experience I had with the Smart Bricks was good, but it left me wanting a little more. Whether that is based on the high expectations from the years of leaks or LEGO’s own gigantic marketing efforts for Smart Play, I cannot say. Let’s cover my critiques here: my main points of friction with the Smart Brick sets are that there's limited interaction right now, the charging time and battery life aren't the best, and the cost is skewed by the already expensive Star Wars products.

Limited Amount of Types of Interaction

This problem stems from the timing of my writing this article. At this time, there are only eight Smart Play sets, all of which are Star Wars-themed. Each set only allows you to get the full Smart Play experience if you have a Smart Brick, Smart Minifigures, and Smart Tags. The more sets you have, the more interactions you can have, which is not too dissimilar from how more LEGO sets give you more to build.

But at least with a standard LEGO set, even if you only have one, you can take it apart and do whatever you want with your small palette of pieces. While you can still treat Smart Play sets like any other LEGO set and take them apart to make something new, there is a point where, without a Smart Brick, there are things you simply cannot do.

This little maintenance car has many Smart Play compatible features, but i want more.

Currently, you can only experience the Smart Brick through the world of Star Wars. What I really want is to experience Smart Play with themes beyond Star Wars. I want to make my Speed Champions and Icons cars rev their engines, hear my City trains chugging along the tracks, and have the many animal companions of LEGO Friends barking and making noise. There are so many exciting possibilities for the Smart Brick, but so far, very little has been shown or demonstrated. They might be (hopefully) coming with time but not soon enough, and the reputation of Smart Play is hurting in the meantime…

Charging Time/Battery Life

Thankfully, from my research into the Smart Brick, I knew that a common pain point of the product is the approximately two-hour charging time. When my nephew and I took the Smart Bricks out of the boxes, I knew to put them on the charger right away so that when the time came to play, we would be ready.

But not every consumer of Smart Brick products will know this. Yes, it says at the beginning of the instructions to charge the Smart Brick, but not everyone will have the foresight to do that ahead of time. The other half of the issue is that the Smart Brick only has an approximate 45-minute battery life of continuous use, and afterward, it does not seem to hold a charge that well.

I left my Smart Brick off the charger and came back two days later to play with it—and nothing. It was dead and needed a charge (or at least a wake-up from the charging pad). Let’s be real, this is a very first-world problem. Just put it back on the charger and play with your LEGO without it. The sets were still fun for my nephew to play with, even without the Smart Bricks, but not every kid will have the patience or wherewithal to do that. It is a little frustrating that the charge takes a decent amount of time and doesn’t last very long in a toy designed for kids, especially since kids typically have shorter attention spans.

I imagine this is done to preserve long-term battery life. Take your smartphone, for instance—over time, battery health decreases, and eventually you need to replace the device. I would hate for the Smart Brick to lose battery health over the next few years. Given the long research and development time LEGO invested in the Smart Brick, I expect this was considered and factored into the design. But we won’t really know for a few years. Still, I’d like to see improvements in this area.

Costs

To be blunt, yes, the Smart Play sets are on the more expensive side of products targeted to kids in The LEGO Group’s product portfolio. However, I do feel you get your money’s worth when purchasing a Smart Play set—if you know who you are purchasing it for.

Say you’re a parent with a kid who loves LEGO and enjoys toys that light up and make sounds. Maybe they are a huge Star Wars fan, or have a sibling or friend they play with often. If that description fits, a Smart Play set is going to be a great fit. I considered this when I got one for my nephew, and I knew he checked off a lot of those boxes. If you’re unsure whether your kid—or the person you’re gifting this to, or even yourself—will enjoy it, then a Smart Play set may not be the best choice.

similar-looking smart play demo tables like this one seen at Legoland New York can be found in lego brand retail stores all over the united states.

LEGO Star Wars sets are already on the more expensive side of the portfolio, and adding Smart Play tech and research and development costs only increases that price further. I would like to see a Smart Brick included in a cheaper set, maybe something along the lines of a basic LEGO City car, as bare-bones as it gets, so there is a lower entry point into Smart Bricks/Smart Play. Perhaps a Creator Smart Brick Battle Pack with a brick and tags for cars, trains, animals, planes and more could be developed to flesh out the whole Smart Play ecosystem and increase access and playability.

At the end of the day, value is subjective. It comes down to the individual consumer to decide whether they feel they are getting what they paid for. I feel I did, but I cannot wholeheartedly say for sure whether you will feel the same way.

What the Smart Brick Gets Right

Now that I have established what is not working with the Smart Bricks and Smart Play sets, what is working? I think there is actually quite a bit that the Smart Brick is doing right.

The spaceship sounds and “combat” are a lot of fun—my nephew and I could have played around with just this for hours. It adds a new level to play with LEGO bricks that could not be done without the Smart Bricks. I also think the sets themselves are well-designed and constructed, knowing they will be played with a little bit harder.

Yes, I did notice that gaping Smart Brick-sized hole, but I don’t dwell on it, and my nephew certainly did not either. I, along with many others online, have said that the design for set 75422 Yoda’s Hut and Jedi Training is one of, if not the best, version we’ve gotten in brick form.

So what if there are Smart Play-compatible elements, extensions, or holes in the set?

LEGO Star Wars has not changed—smart play sets are an addition to the already large lego star wars catalogue, not a replacement.

LEGO is meant to be played with and to encourage creativity—use that imagination to give those elements a purpose, or modify the set to your liking. That is the very purpose of the LEGO system of play. And if it really bothers you that much, there’s the newly released 75460 New Republic X-Wing, the secondhand market, or the option to build one yourself.

From experiencing it myself, through my nephew, and through hours of research, I have seen that people find some enjoyment from the Smart Brick. I have spent hours listening to the online LEGO community’s thoughts and feelings on Smart Bricks and Smart Play sets, and taking all of that into account along with my own experience, I have formed my own opinion.

Ultimately, I think Smart Bricks are a cool and unique addition (not replacement) to the LEGO system of play, allowing kids and adults to add sounds and new interactions to their LEGO sets. Unlike The LEGO Group’s previous ventures into tech, the sets without the Smart Brick are not compromised products and can still be fully enjoyed on their own.

However, it is subtly encouraged that you use one to get the full experience, and I would like to see more unique uses of the Smart Brick/Smart Play system outside of LEGO Star Wars. This would hopefully allow for a more affordable entry point into Smart Play. There is a lot of potential here, and I hope we get to see the Smart Brick at its fullest potential.

one of Andrew’s favorite parts of the smart brick was making the minifigures talk and playing the Imperial March and the Force themes.

As I discussed earlier, I agree with the online community in their frustration with how the Smart Brick has been promoted and marketed. Myself and others believe that LEGO should have taken a more open, transparent, and kid-focused approach, rather than relying on corporate speeches, the Consumer Electronics Show, and over-explained executive presentations of what the Smart Brick does.

The marketing should have been centered around how kids actually play with Smart Bricks and presented by the set designers and the designers behind the Smart Play tech. That also comes down to better wording—saying “it makes spaceship noises” instead of “it makes TIE Fighter noises.”

LEGO fans and consumers feel led astray when a corporate executive blandly presents how the Smart Brick works, while a designer who is excited and proud of their work can pass that enthusiasm along and build confidence in the product. Additionally, sharing what is coming next helps reinforce that LEGO is confident in the product and has future plans for it, rather than leaving customers in limbo about investing in the new system.

Some of the smart brick / smart play marketing found around Legoland New York. is this appealing enough for kids?

I hope this look at the Smart Bricks—from both a hardcore LEGO fan and a kid’s perspective—has provided you with a new way of thinking about them, especially on Star Wars Day.

I have been fascinated by the Smart Bricks since their announcement, and I was happy to purchase the sets, experience them firsthand, and write about them here. I care deeply about LEGO—the sets, the hobby, and the community—and I hope this article has provided a more factual, honest, and ultimately more useful perspective on The LEGO Group’s newest “Smart” venture.

LEGO Smart Play Star Wars sets are now available for around $40 - $160 USD in select countries, including the US | UK | EU | and AU.

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