Tamagotchi Pix is the next generation of your favorite interactive virtual pet where you can nurture and raise your Tamagotchi character on a color screen. The touch-sensitive buttons are janky, with mine failing to respond to the press of a finger about one-third of the time. To make matters worse, many early users — myself included — have found that these buttons are misaligned with the shell of the device, meaning part of the pressable area that’s supposed to be exposed is actually covered by clear plastic, further diminishing their potential responsiveness. And the battery life is atrocious. My device arrived on a Friday, I set it up Saturday morning, and I had to change the batteries on Tuesday… yep, after just four days of use. I actually snort-laugh-shrieked, “What!?” when the screen telling me to change my batteries popped up.

Includes a camera to take photos with your character, cook, find new Tamagotchi friends and have your character go on playdates. If you haven’t been dissuaded, grab some rechargeable batteries (something Tamagotchi On owners probably already have) so you’ve got them at the ready when it dies, learn the spots where your buttons are most responsive so you aren’t fruitlessly pressing away, and you’re good to go. This one may be a hard sell for newcomers with all of its quirks, but after years without a proper upgrade to the playing experience, I think the real Tamagotchi heads are going to have a lot of fun with Pix. Touch buttons allow you to interact in a whole new way by customizing your items, bathing your character and petting your Tamagotchi character with a swipe of a finger! The new Tamagotchi Pix (right) side-by-side with last year’s Tamagotchi On Wonder Garden Cheyenne MacDonald / Input Play

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Before we get into why, there are some major caveats and it would be irresponsible of me not to mention them upfront. Tamagotchi Pix does come with QR capability, which can be used for “playdates” with other devices and to send gifts (items, food, etc), similar to how you would with Tamagotchi On/Meets. As far as I can tell, though, that doesn’t apply to pictures. To buy or not to buy?