Beni robot by Microduck
Ranked 2 of 3 electronics kits by recommenders
People recommend Beni as sturdy, fun hardware that works well for play and is more practical than a plain toy.
People recommend Beni as sturdy, fun hardware that works well for play and is more practical than a plain toy.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun to work with
“working with Beni has been fun, mostly because in the AI era the feedback loop makes a lot of difference”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “Beni: A typed functional language for the browser, with no async/await” “looks like a super super fun toy”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Microduck” Sturdy and practical for play
“Beni is actually something you can use more than a toy.”
Comment from 29 Aug 2026 in “Microduck” “It's sturdy and more practical for careless fun.”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Microduck” Cool hardware, positive reviews
“looked to work pretty well and got a positive review”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Microduck” “Seems like really, really cool hardware.”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Microduck”
Other electronics kits people recommend
The two most recommended other electronics kits, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lego Mindstorms | 15 | 6 | 71% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Beni robot by MicroduckThis page | 7 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Snap Circuits by Elenco | 5 | 2 | 71% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“working with Beni has been fun, mostly because in the AI era the feedback loop makes a lot of difference”
“Beni is actually something you can use more than a toy.”
“Seems like really, really cool hardware.”
“It's sturdy and more practical for careless fun.”
“looked to work pretty well and got a positive review”
“looks like a super super fun toy”
“If it's literally just a toy, then the Beni robot is better because that's literally all it is.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.