Rabbit R1 Android-Powered A.I Personal Assistant Device  -  Review - video Dailymotion

Tom's Guide

A $199 square-shaped AI device that garnered a lot hype. In this Q&A, we do a Rabbit R1 camera test seeing if it can identify objects and generate AI images. We also try to order a Big Mac on Doordash and a ride on Uber...

Transcript

00:00I need both pickup and drop-off locations.

00:02Okay, so I gave both.

00:03It says that it's nearby, then it says it's loading the menu.

00:06Download it directly to your device.

00:08I don't think you can download it directly to the device.

00:11I asked you guys what you wanted to know about the Rabbit R1,

00:14which, spoiler, is one of the worst devices I've ever reviewed.

00:17You'll probably see why in my answers to your questions,

00:19and no, I didn't ask AI to answer them for me.

00:22Question one, what does it do?

00:25Answer, not much well.

00:27The Rabbit R1 is a handheld AI device powered by a so-called large action model

00:32that's supposed to be capable of everything from voice search

00:34and making AI-generated images to live translations,

00:37music playback, and voice recordings with summaries.

00:40It can also sync with some third-party apps like Uber and DoorDash

00:44to carry out demands on your behalf.

00:46That is, when it's working properly.

00:48Book me an Uber from 135 West 41st Street to Port Authority.

00:53I'm unable to request an Uber ride without your current location.

00:56Can you please provide it?

00:58The Rabbit can also identify objects with its camera vision feature,

01:01but your phone can do that faster.

01:03Which iPhone is this?

01:05Based on the image, this appears to be the latest model of the iPhone.

01:08Nope.

01:09Likely the iPhone 13 or 14.

01:12So the fact that this, the Rabbit R1, believes that the most recent iPhone,

01:17the newest model, is the iPhone 13 or the iPhone 14

01:20when the 15 has been out for months is a problem in and of itself.

01:25Next question.

01:25How much is that?

01:26It's $199, which actually seems like a good bargain

01:29compared to similar products out now like the Humane AI Pen.

01:32But it's just made of cheap plastic.

01:34If you ask me, this neon orange square design is reminiscent of an iPad Tamagotchi hybrid.

01:40Does it work with cell phone Bluetooth when not connected to Wi-Fi?

01:43The Rabbit R1 does sync to your phone via Bluetooth,

01:46but your phone needs to have Wi-Fi or LTE connectivity

01:50in order for the device to actually be able to answer your questions or look things up.

01:54That said, it does have a 4G LTE SIM card slot,

01:57so it's nice to know you can get connectivity without Wi-Fi.

02:00But you're likely just better off pairing this device with your phone

02:03in hotspot mode when you're on the go.

02:05Connecting to Wi-Fi is a bit of a chore the first time

02:08as you need to enter the password with a tiny keyboard,

02:10but at least the touchscreen works in this mode.

02:13Next up, is it a smartphone?

02:14Why would I carry another device around when my phone does it already?

02:18The R1 is not a phone, and when I set out to review it,

02:22I didn't expect it to be one.

02:24It can't make calls for me, it can't take photos, and it can't be used for messaging.

02:28Instead, it wants to be a companion device to your phone for completing certain tasks.

02:32And it wants to be able to do them faster,

02:34but that wasn't really the experience in my case.

02:37Generate an image of four golden retriever puppies

02:41playing at the beach and fetching a frisbee.

02:45Got it.

02:45Please be patient while I'm generating your image.

02:49One eternity later.

02:52Your images of four golden retriever puppies playing at the beach

02:55have been successfully generated.

02:57But it would be nice if this thing was able to at least email you things,

03:00like the mid-journey images you create.

03:02Ironically, it told me that it couldn't email me

03:05even though it has my email on file.

03:07Email that image to me.

03:09I'm unable to send emails or perform email-related tasks.

03:13If you'd like to save the image, you can download it directly to your device.

03:18I don't think you can download it directly to the device.

03:20Here's your next question.

03:21Is the AI able to have normal back-and-forth conversations?

03:25If so, does its personality evolve and adapt as it learns from the user?

03:30I'm not really sure who wants to sit and have a small talk with an AI device,

03:33but yes, it can continue on with topics

03:35without you needing to give it context every single time.

03:38So for example, I asked,

03:40who won the Yankees game last night?

03:42And I got the score.

03:43And when I asked, were there any home runs,

03:45Rabbit was smart enough to mention Volpe, Verdugo, and Stanton all going yard.

03:50The R1 hasn't really developed a personality in my time with it,

03:53but it certainly tries to be helpful and has a small sense of humor.

03:56Like it will say, taxi, when I'm trying to book an Uber.

04:00Can you get me an Uber to Port Authority?

04:02Taxi!

04:04Just to let me know.

04:06Here's the biggest question of all.

04:07How reliable is the action model?

04:09Can it order me a Big Mac?

04:11Can it get me an Uber without making mistakes?

04:13Let's try it out.

04:14Can you order me a Big Mac?

04:18Here are some food options for you.

04:20DoorDash may take a while to load on Rabbit OS

04:23and may not be available in all regions.

04:25And what's happening now is that it's trying to query DoorDash.

04:28There's not an official partnership between Rabbit and DoorDash in this case,

04:32but they've trained their AI on their interface.

04:35So they go out on your behalf using your credentials

04:37that you give them when signing up for the device,

04:40and they're trying to go through.

04:41So you can see that McDonald's has popped up as one of the options

04:44so that's definitely a good start.

04:46So if I want to select that, it says that it's nearby.

04:49Then it says it's loading the menu.

04:52And this part really gets me because it shouldn't take that long

04:55to see what the menu is.

04:57On your phone, this would take much less time.

04:59In fact, I'd already have a bunch of stuff in my cart.

05:02So there's the fries.

05:03Not what I asked for.

05:04You can see that I am getting menu options now,

05:07and I can scroll through them.

05:09And, you know, one of them here, like I can order a Big Mac if I want.

05:12So if I select that, let's see if I'm actually able to order.

05:15So I've selected this.

05:16You see that the plus button has shown up,

05:19and then I keep scrolling down,

05:21and then I can go to my cart.

05:23I put two in there, so we'll see how that works.

05:26Loading my cart right now in the background.

05:28Again, this just takes way too long to make it useful.

05:32And...

05:34Okay.

05:35So I actually do have my total order with the ability to check out.

05:40I'm not gonna order it, but let's see what happens when I try.

05:44Calculating bill.

05:46Yeah, with this sort of delay, I just wouldn't even bother using this.

05:50But I could check out if I wanted to, and pay.

05:54So it works, but just not fast enough.

05:56So how about ordering an Uber?

05:58Can you get me an Uber to Port Authority?

06:01Taxi!

06:02So there's that sense of humor.

06:04Uber may take a while to load on RabbitOS.

06:06So we get another disclaimer.

06:08I'm unable to request an Uber ride without your current location.

06:12Can you please provide it?

06:14I can, but I shouldn't have to, because you should know where I am.

06:17135 West 41st Street.

06:20Arranging your ride now.

06:22Uber may take a while to load on RabbitOS.

06:25Just in case you didn't get it the first time.

06:27Apologies.

06:28I need both pickup and drop-off locations.

06:30Okay, so I gave both.

06:31Let me try again with the more specific instructions.

06:34Book me an Uber from 135 West 41st Street to Port Authority.

06:39Arranging your ride now.

06:41So now there's no excuse for not getting it right.

06:43Uber may take a while to load on RabbitOS, and may not be available in all regions.

06:48Okay, so we actually have an option here.

06:50Confirm pickup.

06:51It is the addressed, and I can continue just by selecting here.

06:55Confirm the drop-off.

06:56Yes, and...

06:57Apologies.

06:58There was an error with the Uber ride request.

07:01The service may be under maintenance.

07:03Which service?

07:04I don't think it's Uber.

07:04I think it's the Rabbit service that might be under maintenance.

07:07Now that you're suitably impressed, you might be wondering, doesn't Siri do this?

07:10To demonstrate Siri versus RabbitR1, I actually conducted a head-to-head face-off,

07:14asking both the same questions that you can see on our TikTok.

07:18But what I found is that Siri is faster, but can't answer follow-up questions very well,

07:23or execute actions with third-party apps like RabbitR1, at least not currently.

07:27We know that WWDC in June should bring a big update to Siri's AI abilities.

07:33So who knows?

07:34Siri might be able to do a lot of the things the R1 does before the end of the year.

07:38Talk about bad timing.

07:39Next question.

07:40Why is there a scrolling wheel?

07:42Like, didn't we invent swipe to scroll 20 years ago?

07:45That's a great question.

07:46The scrolling wheel is cute, but I feel like it's unnecessary.

07:48After all, this has a touchscreen, but I found that it only works in keyboard mode.

07:53Otherwise, there's a lot of scrolling up and down and backing out of menus.

07:57It's a throwback in a bad way.

07:59But at least the scrolling feels faster after a recent software update.

08:03Here's a quick one.

08:04Most anticipated gadget says who?

08:06This question is in response to a caption we used on a TikTok video.

08:09But yeah, in case you didn't know,

08:11these kinds of AI hardware products are really having a moment.

08:14The RabbitR1 became available right on the tail of the Humane AI Pen,

08:18which got terrible reviews with its hand-projection interface.

08:21It also cost $699, not including a subscription fee.

08:25There was hope that the R1 would be a functional device at a fraction of the cost.

08:30The CEO built up a big community on Discord,

08:32and they apparently had 100,000 pre-orders.

08:35I'm guessing a lot of them may be returned.

08:38How is it?

08:39Worth it?

08:40Now, this is probably the most important question.

08:42Part of me didn't even want to give my RabbitR1 review a rating

08:45because it feels so unfinished and broken.

08:48There are some pretty cool ideas behind the R1,

08:50but most of them are not executed well at all.

08:52And I ran into way too many bugs, errors, and inaccurate answers

08:56to recommend this AI gadget to anyone.

08:58Will the RabbitR1 get better over time?

08:59For sure.

09:00And Rabbit promises all sorts of future upgrades,

09:02like point-of-interest research, navigation, and a teach mode,

09:05so the R1 can learn more things.

09:07But I just don't see the R1 taking off

09:09because it's yet another device you need to carry around.

09:12So for most people, it's just not worth it.

09:15But let me know if you feel differently.

09:16I can also answer more of your questions in the comments.

09:19For my full RabbitR1 review, make sure you go to tomsguide.com

09:22and be sure to follow us on all of our socials.

09:25For Tom's Guide, this is Mark Spoonhauer.

Rabbit R1 Android-Powered A.I Personal Assistant Device - Review

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