Rabbit R1
There’s barely anything worth testing on the R1 for now.
It’s a half-baked gadget that needs way more work.
Sadly, I quickly ran out of things to do on it.
Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo
It barely offers anything worth testing at the moment.
The R1 currently supports Spotify, Uber, DoorDash, and Midjourney.
Instead, it wants the R1 to act like an automated personal agent of sorts.
Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo
)with simple voice commands.
An idea that has promise.
He also guaranteed and demoed context awarenessmeaning users could ask follow-up questions on a topic.
Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo
That all sounded interesting on paper.
The general reaction from users online seems split on how they feel about the bright orange, though.
Some are praising it, while others say it hurts their eyes.
Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo
I agree its way brighter than it looked on screen, but Im not complaining.
Im bored of tech being black, white, or silver.
In terms of the build, the R1 offers exactly what youre paying for.
Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo
Even though its all plastic, the body is well-made and feels pretty robust.
Its sized perfectly well, too, and fits in my small jeans pocket easily.
But dont forget, your phone isnt going away when youre carrying this thing around.
However, you’re able to tap on the screen while typing on the R1s keyboard.
For anything else, the display does not accept touch input.
I also appreciate how minimal and easily navigable the controls are.
The R1 responds with sound effects and haptic feedback when activating its Vision feature or typing on its keyboard.
Both of these outputs played their part in making the UX smooth and seamless.
UI-wise, the R1 is almost there but falls short in one crucial area.
As soon as youre done talking, its ears go back down.
Apart from its aesthetic qualities, this gadget has little to appreciate.
All the features and functionality are promised for later this year.
All that it currently offers is extremely bare-bones and nothing we cant do on our phones.
It struggles with even the handful of services its offering at the moment.
It often misunderstood my requests, acknowledged them but didnt execute them, or ignored them.
Spotify was a complete mess.
Doordash did work, but the R1 is the last rig I would use for that app.
My food ordering process is rarely as simple as a single voice command.
I need to browse through tons of options and prefer the six-inch screen on my phone for that.
The inclusion of Midjourney on this gadget doesnt make a lot of sense to me.
The Vision feature was nothing special, either.
When it didnt get my query completely wrong, it described it so vaguely that it wasnt very useful.
On top of all this, it features a surprisingly short battery life.
It has alreadyunderwhelmed many users, and the company needs to work fast to deliver what they paid for.
Im being generous with the two stars here.
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