“Hmm, this is a lot wider than I expected,” I said when I held the Rabbit R1 in my hand for the first time. The bright orange case lay flat on my hand, exceeding the span of my palm.
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
No, with its unyielding flat edges it’s not particularly comfortable to hold, but it’s not unwieldy either. The buttons, including the scroll wheel and push-to-talk button, are strategically placed so my fingers can easily navigate the Rabbit R1.
When people raved about the Rabbit R1 and called it a “beautiful device,” I didn’t understand it – until I saw it with my own eyes. “This bright orange chassis is a sight to behold,” I thought. “What’s the big deal?” But now I get it. It’s the nostalgia.
With the cute black and white rabbit icon bouncing up and down on the screen surrounded by a “loud” color, it reminded me of my childhood obsession with 90s pocket toys like Tamagotchi or Digimon (hand-held virtual pets).
Many thanks to Teenage Engineering for developing this AI device. The Rabbit R1 makes me feel like a kid again.
Photo credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
While the Rabbit R1 brings back memories of the past, I can’t help but be a little skeptical about the device. Why? I’ll go into more detail on this, but first my first impressions.
The gestures are addictive
There’s something very fidget spinner toy-like about the Rabbit R1 in that the features work differently, be it a scroll wheel or a clicky side button.
To my surprise, the scroll wheel is very smooth. In other words, it doesn’t have that “staccato” feel, if that makes sense, where the wheel jerks and starts (for the Apple’s Digital Crown allows you to pause as you choose.
Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
Instead, you have to turn the wheel down until your desired word is highlighted in orange. Honestly, I don’t Love the scroll wheel. It takes too many “dices” to get to the word I want to select.
On the bright side, you can shake the device to bring up the settings menu. I’m telling you – it’s like a Bop It toy.
It has a 2.88-inch screen, but no, it can’t surf the internet
I thought the Rabbit R1 had a touchscreen, but it turns out I was wrong. You must use the scroll wheel to navigate the menu options. You can select using the side button.
Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
You may be wondering, “Can I surf the Internet with this thing?” The answer is no. If you dreamed of using this as some kind of mini reader, I have no choice but to destroy it. Plus, you don’t want that – the screen is too dark for that.
No, no text messages will be sent or calls will be made
The Rabbit R1 can do a lot of things, but sending text messages and making calls isn’t one of them. Admittedly, that was a bit disappointing. Before I grabbed this device, I had fantasies of dictating texts to friends without lifting a finger.
Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
However, I quickly realized that the Rabbit R1 wouldn’t connect to my phone. Buuuuh!
Faster responses than expected
From questions about the local weather (it’s 59 degrees in my city today, by the way) to questions about the Premiere League, the Rabbit R1 took about two seconds to respond.
Destructible speed of light
Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
However, when it came to using the camera and basing her reactions on what she “sees,” it took a little longer. After being asked a question about a painting, it would take him two to three seconds to say, “Look at it now,” before responding within a second with the description.
But some answers were wrong
I once asked the Rabbit R1: “Which Premiere League team has won the most titles?” The answer was correctly “Manchester United”. However, it went on to say that it had won 13 titles, which I don’t think is true.
It can “see” and describe things
The Rabbit R1 has some cool functionality, thanks to an auto-rotating camera that you can bring up by double-tapping the right action button, which lets you point at any object – and lets you know about it. It’s very Google Lens. Heck, even my iPhone can do this feature.
In the video below you can see how it successfully describes the masterpiece in my living room.
The tweet may have been deleted
However, I tried to test whether it could translate a foreign language into English, for example. I thought this show and describe feature would be helpful when traveling to countries to help break down language barriers (especially when ordering at a restaurant with a menu in a different language). Unfortunately, I discovered that this feature does not exist.
The best use case I’ve found for this so far is that it lets me tell what dishes I can make when I get stuck.
The tweet may have been deleted
The speakers are a bit quiet
Based on the reactions, I found the speakers to be too quiet – even at maximum volume.
Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
Keep in mind that it can play music and podcasts from a paid Spotify account, but I haven’t tested it yet.
Yes, you can connect Bluetooth headphones
Luckily there is a solution to the quiet speakers by pairing them with my trusty Sony XM4 headphones. I simply shook the Rabbit R1 to bring up the settings menu, turned on Bluetooth, and paired my headphones with ease.
The connection is via 4G LTE and WiFi
As it turns out, the Rabbit R1 has a SIM card slot so you can stay connected at all times (e.g. 4G LTE). If you don’t want to get a SIM card for this AI assistant, you can also use WiFi.
The battery life is okay
Strangely, when I unboxed my Rabbit R1, it wasn’t charged. Therefore, I couldn’t even use it at the Rabbit R1 launch party where I received it.
Photo credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable
When I got home, I charged it to about 50% (no, the Rabbit R1 doesn’t come with a charging cable). Seventeen hours later, battery life is around 15%.
But don’t worry. In my full review, I’ll give you a better overview of battery life on a full charge.
But something is questionable about the Rabbit R1
As the old saying goes, “If something is too good to be true, it probably is.” Rabbit R1 CEO Jesse Lyu keeps bragging that the Rabbit R1 only costs $199 and no Subscription costs. However, there is no option to use the subscription for free for a long time.
When the hype dies down and nerds like me clean the shelves, what’s next? In short: How does Rabbit R1 plan to make money?
That has to be something in the pipeline where Rabbit tends to squeeze money out of its user base, right?
Additionally, I’m still not entirely sure whether the Rabbit R1 addresses all consumer privacy concerns.
Final thoughts
Someone on Twitter saw a video where I asked the Rabbit R1 to describe what it was seeing. He paraphrased his answer and said something like, “Google Lens can do that. Why would it make sense to get that?”
Rabbit’s mission here is to develop this all-in-one AI device. Yes, it can do what Google Lens can do, but it can also do what Spotify, ChatGPT, DoorDash and Uber can do one device – and only with your voice.
There’s still so much to test, including ordering DoorDash to my door, but I’ll definitely come back with a detailed review.
subjects
Artificial intelligence