I love gadgets, and I think there’s a good chance anyone reading this loves gadgets too. My love of consumer electronics didn’t start out with smartphones — it began with single-purpose devices. Game Boys, iPods, even Kindles; there’s a sense of joy that sparks with toy-like devices meant to do one thing and do it well, and I think part of why people find smartphones so boring today is how poorly it fits into that box. Sure, your Pixel 8 Pro might be at the center of your life, but it comes dangerously close to a “jack of all trades” situation.
Perhaps that’s why devices like the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1 managed to capture so much attention in the run-up to their respective launches. From the projector built into Humane’s gadget to the Teenage Engineering-sourced design of the Rabbit that calls back to the Playdate, there’s a sense of freshness and fun radiating off both products. Or at least, there was, until this first round of AI-powered tools fell into the laps of reviewers everywhere.
I’m convinced AI won’t be replacing our smartphones anytime soon
How useful would your phone be without an interface? Just give it a thought
I’m not sure I need to summarize the critical reception of either of these products — if you’re reading Android Police, you’re dialed in enough to know neither landed well with the tech press at large. However, if you’ve been under a rock, here’s the short version. The Humane AI Pin wowed some reviewers with its overall design philosophy, but fell short of its “replace your phone” goals thanks to poor battery life, heat issues, and a projector-based UI that might as well not exist once you walk outside. At $700 plus a monthly fee, even the novelty of a voice-first gadget just couldn’t pass muster.
Somehow, the cheaper Rabbit R1 fared worse. Despite costing just $200 — and without any subscription fee — the R1 is even more underbaked than its wearable counterpart. Humane’s device lacks plenty of still-incoming features, but it nearly looks complete compared to what Rabbit can do. Even the R1’s day one featureset is effectively useless, as everything from Doordash to Spotify requests regularly fail right out the gate.
Although I’m not ready to call either product a scam — I’ll hold judgment for whenever my own Rabbit R1 shows up in the mail — it sure seems like both devices were released ahead of schedule to help fund further development through pre-orders. Even at $200, something as relatively cheap as the Rabbit just isn’t worth what Joe Maring at Digital Trends called “the worst gadget [he’s] ever reviewed.” And considering the work being done to get the core OS up and running on Android, it might not be long until you can demo the toolset for yourself.
I have a feeling even the most bullish of AI users are probably sticking to their smartphones for now. Between Gemini and ChatGPT, there are plenty of options for interacting with genAI on Android just through the Play Store alone. But if you did pick up an AI gadget, or you’re thinking about buying one, let us know in the poll below. (Also, yes, I accidentally generated the poll with the “yes” option being only for those who already bought one — if you’re planning on buying one in the near future, mark that answer as well.)
