Honest Review: Our Experience with the Dex Language-Learning Camera

Thanks to Dex for sponsoring this post! Dex sent me a free device to review, however all opinions are 100% my own.

P.S. If you end up deciding to get a Dex, be sure to use discount code 10Ellen to get 10% off through August 31st!

We are really intentional about the tech that we use with our kids. We aren’t opposed to screen time, but we are intentional about the types of screen time that our kids have. There’s a difference between watching a video mindlessly versus building something in Minecraft with one of their siblings. Or mindlessly playing a game on the iPad versus one of my teens coding their own game on their computer.

With that kind of intentionality, we’re very careful about the types of devices that we bring into our home and let our kids use – while also making sure that they are experiencing lots of good things with tech and good things in the world. But it can be a challenge to find that kind of tech!

And that’s one of the beautiful things about the Dex. Dex is a language discovery camera for kids. It’s designed for ages approximately 3 to 8 years old (although I’ll have you know that even my teens were having a blast with it). It helps kids learn language, but in a very engaging, physical, and interactive way.

(You can scroll down to keep reading, or click here to jump down to my full video review!)

A child snaps a picture of something in the world – inside the house, can be out in nature, wherever –  and then the Dex teaches them not only that word in the language they’re learning, but gives them context for it. I’ll chat more about how it fully works in just a minute.

I feel like the Dex hits that sweet spot of allowing kids to interact with technology in an amazing way, while encouraging them to be active in the physical world. And all while they’re learning vocabulary and context in another language.

How it Works

So, here’s how Dex works:

Setup

Setting up the Dex was super easy! You turn on the device, scan the QR code, and it walks you through the setup. There’s even helpful tutorial videos that can walk you through if you prefer.

There’s an app for parents to download. This is how you personalize the device for your child and choose what language you want them to focus on.

It took me just a few minutes to install the app and get everything set up. And then it was time for my daughter to start exploring!

Exploring with Dex

One of the places my 5-year-old daughter was most excited to take the Dex was into our garden. We went out to the garden and looked around for things to take pictures of, and my 5-year-old noticed that one of our plants had a little strawberry growing. She snapped a picture of it with Dex.

Dex identified it as a strawberry, and said something like, “Oh, that’s so great! You found a strawberry!” Then it gave her the word in Spanish, and she repeated the word back to it. Then it gave her further context. It told her, “That strawberry is growing on a plant,” and then it told her the Spanish word for plant. And then kept going beyond that, “The plant looks like it’s in a green garden,” explains that there’s a green garden and how to say garden in Spanish.

It was just so cool to see her not only being able to very rapidly pick up some Spanish vocabulary, but doing it in a way where her eyes weren’t just glued to the screen. She was holding the strawberry, she was interacting, she was looking around and exploring, but the device was aiding her rather than kind of removing her from the beauty of that setting.

As she practiced the words Dex prompted her with, her strawberry sticker filled in.

When a child snaps a photo of something with the Dex, they get a little black and white sticker. As they practice saying the vocabulary correctly, the stickers start getting colored in. They can go back and see all the words that they’ve already learned and review the vocabulary. When they click on a sticker, it opens up all the context and the other words they’ve learned.

I really liked that they didn’t have to keep taking pictures over and over again if they forgot what a word was. Using the stickers, they could easily go back and review. They are a great visual representation of what they were learning.

Some stickers they’ve gathered! Yes, that’s a chicken. More about her in a minute…

We had so much fun exploring outside with the Dex. My kids gathered all sorts of items. They were snapping pictures and they were learning so much!

And so, with all of that experience, I want to tell you a few things that we’ve enjoyed.

What We Love about the Dex

It encourages interacting with the physical world

There are some language learning apps there that aren’t bad, but it feels like your kids’ eyes are glued to the screen. Using the Dex, it encourages them to look for physical things

I think that really helps kids’ brains. They’re connecting the language not just to a picture that they see on the screen, but to the item that’s in front of them.

The technology is impressive

When I first read up on the Dex, I have to admit, I was a little skeptical. You know how sometimes tech devices (especially those for kids) sound a little too good to be true, and you aren’t sure they are going to live up to the hype?

Before we got the Dex and started using it, I wasn’t sure how well it was actually going to work. Would it really recognize things? Would my kids have to take multiple photos for it to register?

I’m thrilled to say that the Dex exceeded my expectations far beyond what I thought possible.

99% of the time it not only accurately recognized the object my kids took a picture of, but it gave great context.

While we were out exploring, my older daughter took a picture of a log with some mushrooms growing on it. Not only did it recognize that there were mushrooms, but it gave her the vocabulary context – that the mushrooms were growing on a log, that the log is in a forest which was full of trees.

One of the most impressive things we experienced during our exploration was with our chickens. My daughter really wanted to take a picture of one of our chickens and see if the Dex would recognize it.

One of my sons grabbed his favorite hen from the coop.

My daughter took a picture of her using the Dex, and it told her that it was a hen, la gallina. When she repeated back the vocabulary, it continued with more context:

Dex: Cluck, cluck! That’s a hen! Did you know hens lay eggs? In Spanish, eggs are called los huevos. Yum for breakfast! Can you say los huevos?

My daughter: Los huevos.

Dex: Hens often live in a chicken coop called el corral.

We thought it was so neat that it recognized that it was a hen, rather than just a “chicken.” We wondered if it could identify a rooster.

My 5 year old has a favorite rooster. He’s one that we hatched ourselves, and she named him Cloud when he was little because he was a little white fluff ball.

So she went to take a picture of him.

Dex: Cluck, cluck! That’s a rooster, or un gallo. Did you know roosters are great at waking everyone up with their crowing? Can you say un gallo?

My daughter: Un gallo.

Dex: Roosters often live in el corral. It’s like their cozy little home with friends. Can you say el corral?

My daughter: El corral.

Dex: Corral.

My daughter: Corral.

All that to say, the technology behind it is pretty phenomenal! I have been beyond impressed and it really exceeded my expectations.

I also loved that the voice sounded very natural and engaging. It was cheerful and friendly, and it was easy for my daughter to hear the words to practice.

Language Learning & Beyond

While a Dex certainly isn’t going to make a child fluent in a language, it does help them learn vocabulary in a natural way with context.

And it isn’t just a vocabulary practice tool. There’s also story adventures where they practice speaking the language as they choose their own path.

There’s even scavenger hunts and flash card practice!

Durable & Kid-Friendly

The Dex was easy for my 5 year old daughter to hold as well as my older daughter. It feels very sturdy. It came with a really nice strap, which was especially great for our outdoor adventures.

Parent Involvement

There’s a parent app that lets you customize the device for your child. You put in your child’s name, so it will address your child by name while using it, which really helps them engage with learning the language. The app is also where you set the language your child is learning and how familiar they are with the language. The Dex tailors how it’s interacting with the child based on their age and how familiar they are with the language.

You can set limits using the app, and you can customize what parts of the Dex your child has access to.

But, there’s something that goes beyond just parental oversight.

And this here is what we loved most about the Dex:

The Whole family can be involved

A lot of tech can be very isolating. If a child is playing a game on an iPad (whether they’re practicing spelling, learning a language, etc.) it’s a very kind of solitary activity. They’re doing their own thing, focused on the screen, and often tuning out what’s going on around them. It’s not really easy for other people to interact with them.

But the Dex, when used correctly, is pretty much the opposite of that. It’s very conducive for being able to interact with others.

When I went out with my daughters to go find things to take pictures of, we had such a fun time together. We were searching around, finding things together, and then we were then able to practice the Spanish words together. If my daughter was struggling with a word, I was able to help her. We were having fun practicing together, asking, “Hey, what was the word for that?” It was a really fun experience that a lot of other tech devices aren’t going to give you.

The other really cool thing is that it’s great for siblings to be involved too. My oldest is in high school and is  taking Spanish. He was having fun playing around with my daughter, practicing with her, and asking her about what she had learned. They were able to have some very sweet moments together because of the Dex.

Things to Consider

The Dex is personalized

While you can use a single device for several kids (we are!) it’s definitely ideal if you use one device per kid. Not only are there personalization options, but the biggest thing is that since your child is collecting “stickers” (basically vocabulary nodes) in the language they’re learning, it makes the most sense that just one child is gathering the words. While they can go back and review vocabulary that a sibling may have gathered, my daughter was definitely remembering more the words that she had taken the picture of and learned the context for.

I appreciated the personalization in that it made it easier for my 5-year old to connect with what she was learning. It called her by name, and was tailored to her age.

Wifi connected, taking photos

We are very careful about tech devices our kids use. From what we’ve observed, Dex feels a lot safer than many other kid tech devices out there, and in my opinion, safer than letting our kids use an ipad or anything like that. Kids can’t browse online, and there are a lot of safeguards in place. I feel very comfortable with my kids using it – even my 5 year old.

Dex’s Privacy Policy states that one of their key principles is Zero Retention by default – that child voice and photos are discarded immediately after processing (though you can opt-in to help Dex improve by retaining voice clips).  They also state that they meet COPPA/FTC requirements. You can read Dex’s full privacy policy here.

Is the Dex worth it?

When we’re buying tech for our kids, we’re thinking through several things – budget, we’re thinking through, “Is this going to be helpful to my kid or is it going to be harmful? Is it worth getting?”

Obviously, you have to decide for yourself, for your family, and for your kids, but I want to end by sharing this kind of special moment that happened.

I wanted to end by sharing a really neat moment we had as a family.

We have a milk cow (her name is Jean), and my daughters really wanted to go take a picture of her with the Dex. As my daughters and I walked out to the pasture together, we were chatting – wondering what the Spanish word for cow was, wondering if the Dex would recognize that she’s a milk cow, and what else it would tell us.

We got out to Jean – who perked up when she saw us, but then went back to grazing pretty soon after. My older daughter snapped a picture of her.

Dex: “Oh, you found a cow! In Spanish, that’s una vaca. Look how it munches on the green grass! Can you say ‘una vaca’?”

My other daughter, who is five, was SO excited. She started talking to Jean, and told her that she’s a vaca. And then couldn’t wait to go back inside and go tell my husband that she learned the Spanish word for cow. As we started heading back to the house, my older daughter told me that she really wants to use the Dex on some milk when we get inside so she can learn the Spanish word for it. She told me she wanted to use some Spanish after my husband milks that night when she helps him write the amount in the milk log.

It was just such an amazing moment that sums up our experience with the Dex. Not only is it helping my kids learn a new language, but it’s given us some really neat moments together as a family.

The Dex might be a good fit for you if:

• You want your kids to to learn and practice vocabulary in another language
• You want to use tech with your kids that’s very intentional, and encourages them to interact with the physical world
• You want a device that can be both an independent learning device and a way to have special moments together as a family

Click here to learn more about Dex!

Watch my full video review:

Got some questions about Dex?

Does it really work?

Yes, for real. My kids put this thing through its paces (they were trying to stump it!), and we were genuinely impressed with how well it recognized objects and their context. And from our experience, it’s already helped my kids learn lots of Spanish words.

How many languages does it have?

Dex currently has 16 languages and over 30 dialects.

Is it just for little kids?

Not at all! The recommended age range is 3-8 years old (but like I said, even my older kids were learning a ton with it!). It adjusts how it responds to kids based on their age and their knowledge of the language (which you set in the parent app).

Is Dex going to make my child fluent in a language?

Dex isn’t designed to make kids fluent, but it is designed to help them to learn vocabulary in context and practice a language. 

Does the Dex work in a classroom or other educational setting?

Absolutely! You can reach out to Dex directly for information on purchasing for classroom or other educational setting use.

Is it safe for kids to use?

Dex’s Privacy Policy states that one of their key principles is Zero Retention by default – that child voice and photos are discarded immediately after processing (though you can opt-in to help Dex improve by retaining voice clips).  They also state that they meet COPPA/FTC requirements.

You can read Dex’s full privacy policy here.

I really appreciate their complete transparency. We are intentional about the kinds of tech our kids interact with, and we feel very comfortable with them using the Dex.

Do I have to have a subscription to use a Dex?

Nope! The base Dex includes 10 activities and unlimited camera usage. They do offer paid plans that have fresh content daily and custom activities!

Where can I get a Dex?

You can order a Dex here!