Testing Rabbit R1’s AI assistant skills

Back in January, startup Rabbit unveiled its first device at CES 2024. The R1 is an adorable, vibrant orange AI machine with a camera, scroll wheel, and ambitious demos. The device is now shipping to early adopters (and tech reviewers) and we have enough hands-on experience to help you out as we complete the full review.

It sure is cute, designed by Teenage Engineering, who have used their design talents at Playdate as well as Nothing’s latest phones as well as music gadgets. Like all of these things, it combines a retro-futuristic aesthetic with solid build quality, glossy surfaces, glass and metal accents.

On the other hand, the Humane AI Pin was also beautiful technology, but it was also… garbage. The Rabbit R1 is a different device. First, it costs $199 — less than a third of the AI ​​Pin’s $700. Humane also requires a monthly subscription fee of $24 to use this thing – you don’t need an R1 sub at all. Right away, that’s much better.

However, the category of AI assistant-oriented devices is very new. Rabbit’s device is different from Humane’s in both hardware and features, but we know the R1 hasn’t been released with all its features yet. A few oddly simple tools are missing, such as alarms and calendar support.

Be sure to check out our first impressions here. Incoming review!

— Matt Smith

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