THE USEFUL PART
- The Hoverboard is a $149 pre-order that works only with the $499 Reachy Mini Wireless; Pollen gives no ship date.
- The $35 NFC Accessory Pack fits both Wireless and Lite, and you fit its NFC module inside the head yourself.
- Since software version 1.13.0, released on 26 October, the robot sends anonymous usage events by default; one switch turns them off.
What Pollen launched on 29 October
Pollen Robotics, the Bordeaux-based robotics team at Hugging Face [8], launched three additions for its Reachy Mini desk robot on 29 October 2026 at 11:00 UTC, in a video on its YouTube channel: a Hoverboard base, a pack of NFC hats, and what it calls a new mobile app for Android and iOS, to set up and control the robot from a phone [2]. The Hoverboard is a $149 pre-order and works only with the $499 Reachy Mini Wireless, not the $399 Lite [1].
A quieter change came three days earlier. Version 1.13.0 of the Reachy Mini software, released on 26 October, sends anonymous usage events to Pollen by default [3][4]. One switch in the app turns it off.
What is new
Hoverboard, $149. Pollen calls it "a two-wheeled base you drive from your phone, seeing the room through its eyes" [1]. You set the robot on the base and lock it in, steer it from the app with live video from its camera, and it sits down when it stops or powers off. The base arrives assembled, with its own battery and electronics plus Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB-C [1]. Pollen gives no ship date: its page says only "Pre-order", and its store refused our reader twice on 29 October. The date is unknown.
NFC Accessory Pack, $35, for both Wireless and Lite [1]. It holds a chef hat, a crown with gems, a pirate hat with a feather, a small NFC module (board, mount, cable and screws) that you fit inside the head yourself, four NFC tags and eight magnets. Snap a hat on and the robot switches to that character; put a tag on anything you make and tie it to a new personality or your own code.
The app. Pollen says you can now set up and use Reachy Mini "entirely from your smartphone, without ever needing a computer" [1]. The iPhone app itself is older: the App Store lists versions back to 31 May, and version 0.11.2, on 20 October, added Wi-Fi setup over Bluetooth and a first wake-up wizard [7]. Both store listings are free, describe it as the app for Reachy Mini Wireless and ask you to sign in with a Hugging Face account; the App Store asks for iOS 15.0 or later, and Google Play shows an update on 26 October [6][7]. When we last checked our profile, in September, setup started in the Reachy Mini Control app.
What changed in the software
According to Pollen's release notes and documentation [3][4], the robot's background service now sends a handful of events to PostHog's EU cloud: its start, a daily heartbeat, app starts, stops, installs and removals, update results, and the kind of client that connects.
Each event carries a random robot id, the model, the software version and how it was installed, and the operating system and processor type. Pollen says it never sends IP addresses, location, Wi-Fi or robot names, Hugging Face accounts, hardware serials, logs, conversations, camera images or audio.
It is on by default. To turn it off, use the "Share anonymous usage data" switch in the desktop app's settings or under About & diagnostics in the mobile app, or set REACHY_MINI_TELEMETRY=0 [4]. Turning it off deletes the robot id and drops any events not yet sent.
The same release closes a certificate flaw that, Pollen says, could let an attacker pose as any secure website to the robot's software [3]. Robots get the fixed certificates with the next software update; existing installs need a separate update from Pollen's installation guide, but no reflash.
Key details
Prices are Pollen's US dollar list prices, read on 29 October 2026 [1]; app details come from the two store listings [6][7], software from GitHub [3][5].
| Item | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| Hoverboard | $149 pre-order; Reachy Mini Wireless only; arrives assembled; ship date unknown |
| NFC Accessory Pack | $35; Wireless and Lite; you install the NFC module |
| Mobile app | Free on Android and iOS (iOS 15.0 or later); Hugging Face sign-in; no computer needed, Pollen says |
| Reachy Mini Wireless | $499; Raspberry Pi CM4 and battery inside; a kit, about two and a half hours to build |
| Reachy Mini Lite | $399; runs from your Mac, PC or Linux machine over USB; no Hoverboard |
| Shipping and taxes | Prices exclude shipping, import duties and taxes; robots ship "within 90 days of purchase, often sooner" |
| Software | Apache-2.0 SDK on GitHub, 1,616 stars on 29 October; usage data on by default since v1.13.0 |
How it compares
Loona and EMO figures come from our profiles, dated as last checked. Of the three, only Reachy Mini is a kit you build and only it has a public SDK in the sources we checked.
| Question | Reachy Mini Wireless + Hoverboard | Loona Petbot | EMO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listed price | $648 before shipping and taxes (Pollen, 29 October) | $429 Premium on KEYi's US store (checked 27 October) | From $279; GO HOME $369 (checked 17 October) |
| Moves around the room | Yes, on the Hoverboard, driven from the app | Yes, a wheeled pet-like companion | No, a desktop companion; GO HOME returns to its Home Station |
| Programming | Public Python SDK and source code; JavaScript web apps | Consumer app; programming options not confirmed | No public owner SDK in the sources we checked |
| Setup | A kit you build; the base arrives assembled | Phone app, account and charging dock | App pairing and a charger |
What it means if you want one
Own a Lite? The hats work; the Hoverboard does not [1].
Want a Reachy Mini on wheels? Budget $648 before shipping, import duties and taxes, which Pollen's prices exclude, and expect two waits: up to 90 days for the robot, which Pollen says often ships sooner, and an unknown date for the base [1].
Privacy. The robot has a camera and four microphones [1]. Pollen says the new usage data never include logs, camera images or audio [4]; decide on the switch when you set the robot up, and read our privacy checklist, linked below, before pairing it.
Our take
In our view, wheels turn a robot that watches you from the desk into one that can roam the room, as Loona already does for less. Reachy Mini stays the one you can program: any NFC tag can trigger your own code. Pollen was open about usage data in its release notes and made it easy to switch off; we would rather it asked at first setup. Until Pollen names a ship date, treat the Hoverboard as a promise.
Watch and read
Our Reachy Mini Wireless profile, linked below, now lists Pollen's $499 price with its setup and programming notes. Our film Reachy Mini vs EMO: Do You Want a Pet or a Project? weighs it against a desktop pet; it and our Short are in the sources.