Yes, I think your "glorified effects pedal" description is very accurate. As you wrote, it's a very good one so it can definitely be a great addition to any synth once you'll have one.
I can't comment on the Mini Play or Mini Lab to be honest, however, while Arturia stuff is sturdy (I have one of the first Drumbrutes as well as a Keystep) it can also be riddled with bugs which aren't always fixed with firmware updates. My Keystep is a pain to use (I think there must be problems with the keyboard itself), a friend of mine's acts weird as well, I tested a Matrixbrute when it came out and the LED matrix panel was acting all wrong, etc... My Drumbrute works perfectly well though, although there are things that could have been improved before it went on sale. Let's say they tend to rush the release of their products.