I Tried Amazon’s Zoox. It’s Unlike Any Robotaxi Out There.

Of all the robotaxis I’ve tried, Amazon’s Zoox feels different.

Zoox — founded in 2014 and acquired by Amazon four years later — is a robotaxi company that has limited operations in Las Vegas and San Francisco with about 50 vehicles between the two major cities. The company has said Austin and Miami are next on the map.

The service is considerably smaller than its competitor, Waymo, and that limitation was acutely felt in my experience hailing a Zoox on a Thursday night in Las Vegas during the Consumer Electronics Show.

However, the rider experience itself felt more akin to an amusement-park-ride-slash-party-bus than an average ride-hail service in an everyday car, which makes Zoox a true differentiator against the emerging players in the robotaxi race.

Let me explain.

The good: Zoox is not a car in the traditional sense

Zoox is not your average car.

The company doesn’t bulk order vehicles from automakers to retrofit them with sensors the same way Waymo or Uber does. Instead, Zoox designed a vehicle solely for robotaxi operations and builds the cars out of a factory in Hayward, California.

The robotaxi doesn’t have a steering wheel or brake pedal — only seats inside the vehicle. The car is also bi-directional, meaning the Zoox’s “front” goes both ways.

This helps the vehicle navigate tight spaces and avoid the need to execute U-turns or three-point turns.

However, riders will mainly feel the difference once they step inside the Zoox.

A chime plays as the robotaxi’s doors slide open — almost like a grand entrance to the Zoox experience.

The interior reminded me of one of those immersive Disneyland rides or even a party-themed Gondola lift.

Inside, there are four seats — two on each side of the car, facing each other. I found that it encourages a social experience if you’re bringing along multiple riders.

The headliner — or the roof — of the robotaxi has starlights which reminded me of the inside a Rolls-Royce or limousine. That touch felt especially appropriate for the Vegas scene, but it also seemed to add to the overall social experience Zoox is going for. It feels like a party inside the car.

Surprisingly, the seats were comfortable. The photos and videos I’ve seen of the Zoox made me think the seats would feel like a bus or subway seat, but they have a plush touch to them.

I don’t see myself falling asleep inside the vehicle, simply because you’re forced to sit upright and can’t lie back in the seats, but they’re comfortable enough for a 30- to 45-minute ride.

Another surprise: There’s plenty of leg room that provides enough space between you and another rider in front of you. I went on a Zoox ride with a company spokesperson facing me, and space was not an issue.

I tried a Zoox facing forward and backward inside the car.

There have been some reports of riders feeling nauseous when they face backward. I didn’t experience that, but that could just be unique to me.

The Zoox app tells riders which way to face if they are prone to motion sickness.

Outside the flashy headliner, there’s little else inside the car. There are four wireless phone chargers, two small armrests, and four touchscreens by each of the seats, which allow riders to control the cabin temperature, change the music, and call for rider support.

What’s not there yet: The service is incomplete

Zoox is in a pilot stage of its operation in Las Vegas, working with fewer than 50 robotaxis inside the city. The service is free for now and limited to a handful of preset destinations.

I hailed a Zoox from one of the stops, the Luxor Hotel, and was given a 25-minute wait time. The real wait-time was 37 minutes.

Those two factors alone — limited destinations and long wait times — make Zoox less of a serious choice for day-to-day travel and more like a novelty experience to try once.

The rider experience also has room for improvement.

For all the effort Zoox put into creating a social in-car experience, the company has yet to provide riders with the option to connect to their Spotify or Apple Music. For now, passengers hear a curated music service from Stingray Music — similar to an iHeartRadio program.

The ride itself was mostly smooth. There was one moment that stuck out while the Zoox was going down the Strip.

Traffic was heavy at night, and the Zoox attempted to make a lane change while it was stopped behind a line of cars waiting at a red light.

The robotaxi began to move into the right lane, possibly to navigate around the traffic and transition to a less-congested lane. As it began to enter the right lane, with the body of the car now at a diagonal, the Zoox suddenly stopped. The car hesitated, lurched a little bit forward, and paused again. About 10 seconds later, the car straightened out and remained in the current lane.

Zoox did not respond to a request for comment.

After a nearly 35-minute ride, I was dropped off at AREA15, a Vegas entertainment hub that was one of the closest stops to my hotel.

A couple who had just taken a ride before me was trying to hail another Zoox to get back to their hotel at Excalibur.

The outside temperature was around 40 degrees.

We both resorted to calling an Uber.