The Rabbit R1

Day 120 / 366

The 2 shiny new AI-powered are finally out. I wrote about how the humane AI pin was a huge flop. And now that the initial reviews of the Rabbit R1 are out, it looks like it will be having a similar fate.

Unlike the Humane AI pin, there are some nice positives about the Rabbit R1

Firstly, the price is just 199$, not 700$ like the AI pin. And there is no subscription needed. It achieves this by running an LLM locally on the device for all of its generative AI needs. Humane AI pin on the other hand, was using GPT APIs to power its device.

Secondly, unlike the AI pin, this one has a screen as well. So in addition to the voice, you can also interact with it using the screen. the AI pin had this as well with its laser projector, but it is so bad it's not ready for general usage right now.

But that is where the positives end. The biggest negative is the same as the AI pin — Do we even need this device?

It can play songs for you, book a cab, or act as an assistant. But it’s the same thing that you can do faster and easier with your phone. And using it is a bit tricky as well. It has a touchscreen, but it's disabled for most operations. They want the users to use their physical buttons and the scroll wheel.

For instance, to change the volume you have to hold on to the side button and then with your other hand turn the scroll wheel. Yes, you read that right, to change the volume on this device you need to use both hands.

All of this is forced so that they can justify this being a separate device and not just an app on an iPhone.

However, I would say that at 199$ this could be a nice new gadget to try out. And after all, it’s just the first version.