After months of endless waiting, a simple cardboard pack arrives, quite anonymous... or so we think, until we realize that, as we open the package, the snout of a rabbit appears and its ears go up, as if to tell us that it is awake and ready to play — we are increasingly in hype!
Inside the pack we find a beautiful light gray neoprene that only two “sick” of expanded materials like us can appreciate and that highlights the fluorescent orange of the device... it looks like a jewel!
But let's get to the strong point: we see the Rabbit inside its transparent case, very cool and very neat, with opaque rigid rubber inserts that have the function of protecting the “bunny” and acting as a background for the icons that indicate the instructions for use.
Once opened, the transparent case becomes a display for the device and recalls the tapes we listened to with the car radio in the 90s.
Finally we have the Rabbit in our hands, but we don't quite understand how to hold it: the dimensions are those of a block of post-it notes and it is not immediate to understand this form factor... although it is not much larger than an iPhone, it is natural to hold it with two hands.
The plastics seem very thin and looking closely at the edge you can see small depressions, depressions (called “suck”) along the entire side surface, especially around the holes for the various connections and around the only gray button. Usually in industrial design, opaque surfaces are created to hide these problems, typical of economic products and flat surfaces made of plastic, in this case they have opted for the glossy finish and the choice of such a bright color — very bright — that it helps to disguise imperfections. A nice lesson in product design that also aims to make the device very recognizable.
And then there's the wheel: an analog scroll that reminds us of the past, or an alternative future.
Back to analog: a call to buttons and the like is present in every product designed by Teenage Engineering. You arrived at the wheel of the Rabbit R1 passing through the Playdate crank and the ring of the CMF headphones. Physical interactions taken from the past that make products more interesting, ironic and sometimes extravagant in favor of an interaction that entertains. Today, bypassing touch reminds us how much we risk losing — and losing ourselves — in this digital world made of perfect and ultra-resistant glass, too difficult to break. It takes courage to do this.
Let's try to animate it but the battery is dead. We are used to MacBooks, iPhones, AirPods that arrive ready to use. Not bad, you might think... too bad a power cable is missing in the package! 🤨
Let's reuse the Playdate yellow USB-C cable — which we'll talk about later — and charge the Rabbit. After a few seconds, the little rabbit running on the wheel finally appears on the display, making us understand that it is recharging the battery. ❤️
After some time, our Rabbit R1 is ready to turn on. It immediately asks you to connect to Wi-Fi to download updates, but the update procedure is slow, very slow, too slow. We don't know if it's the fault of the device or the servers it connects to, but almost an hour passes from opening the pack to the beginning of the configuration procedure. If we add the four months to receive it, it seems that the wait is a constant!
To configure R1 we must create an account by accessing the rabbithole cloud hub from Mac — excellent naming, we must recognize it — but, as unfortunately we already know, there are very few services that can be activated:
Once the configuration is over, we start playing with our Rabbit and we realize that it still knows how to do very little: it can tell us the weather, set an alarm, take photos, make translations, save memos and play music through Spotify, but it hurts, slowly and with an often frustrating interaction.
Some examples:
The voice assistant is activated only by holding down the side button - while we are used to voice commands with “Hey Siri”, “Alexa” and “Ok Google” - and the only feedback to activate the listening modes is the rabbit's ears that go up. Yes, nice but definitely not visible. In addition, responses are slow compared to the responsiveness of any other voice assistant.
To the question: “Which language does Rabbit R1 support?” does not respond and automatically opens the instant translator. This happens every time we say the words' translation 'or 'languages' in the conversation. Not exactly what we expected.
It's hard to understand how to access the settings to adjust the volume of the voice assistant. We have to watch an online review — Spoiler: we need to shake the device.
The camera is activated with a double click of the side button, then you need a click to take the photo and another double click to return to the main view. Too bad that every time we try to go out, it accidentally takes another photo.
And there's no way to view the photos, not even asking the assistant. The only way is to access the rabbithole site.
We can't connect our rabbithole account. There seems to be a problem displaying the Uber login page so, after several attempts, we give up. We'll go on foot!
Unfortunately, even with Spotify the music doesn't change! The only way to start the reproduction is through voice commands, but the recognition is imprecise: the Rabbit R1 understands the names of the artists or songs only once out of three. When we manage to play the requested track, we run into the worst moment in our user experience: adjusting the volume. We would have expected to be able to use the wheel, but it behaves strangely:
The only solution to adjust the volume is to rely on voice commands, a method that is far from quick and precise. Just looking at an online review we discover that the volume can be adjusted even by holding down the side button and rotating the dial.
From our point of view, there are big problems of usability and interaction design here.
The most absurd thing, however, is that Spotify does not recognize the sharing of the account with the Rabbit. Three times we received notifications of abnormal access, which forced us to change the password every time we tried again.
After less than an hour of use, we are disappointed and frustrated. We join the conclusions of many other designers and tech specialists: at present, the Rabbit R1 is a beautiful device but totally useless.
What do we save?
The design of the product and also the mascot, which is nice and fun. The Rabbit transmits emotions and, as a personal assistant, is less boring than Siri, Alexa and nice company. It reminds us so much of a tamagotchi.
The founder of Rabbit Inc., Jesse Lyu, presented the Rabbit R1 as a 'revolutionary mobile device', designed to be:
“the most intuitive computer ever, something that doesn't need to be learned.”
The Rabbit R1 should be a 'companion' who learns to know us and performs tasks for us. The idea is fascinating, but the reality is very different: As we have already seen, not all ideas that glitter are good. The goal of replacing app-based operating systems with a minimalist interface is far from being achieved.
Here the Video of the official presentation.
Unlike an LLM (Large Language Model) like ChatGPT, the LAM (Large Action Model) that powers RabbitOS has been designed not only for dialogue, but above all to carry out real actions, such as making a complete booking for a trip or a payment, interacting with various portals, software or apps.
The RabbitOS should do all this with a minimal interface that requires minimal interaction with the user: it is clear - even to us - that the Rabbit R1 is not yet able to keep this promise.
Will little Rabbit, perhaps in the coming months through the long-awaited updates, be able to achieve his goal? Or will it end up with so many forgotten and starving Tamagotchi?
In addition to the obvious technical gaps, there is another big problem: the company's credibility. The Rabbit R1, to work at its best, requires access to a vast amount of personal data: Uber accounts, Spotify, bank information, and so on.
A company like Apple can afford to ask for and use this information on behalf of its users because over the years it has gained their trust, working hard to guarantee privacy. But do we trust to share all this data with a start-up that, to date, cannot even ensure secure access to Spotify?!
It's one thing to spend $200 to test the gadget of the moment, another thing is to give consent to the use of your personal data, banking and usage habits to a start-up that has already disappointed its first customers.
As designers, we asked ourselves a crucial question: why create a physical device when all the promises — and the resulting disappointments — are linked to the software? Both the LAM model and RabbitOS, as they were conceived, could have been developed as an operating system or an independent app, installable on a smartphone or computer. This would have made the project much more commercially scalable. The need for a physical device seems to be dictated more by the need to sell a tangible product, despite the fact that the software is still in its infancy. It's a typical Kickstarter dynamic: taking advantage of an attractive design — created, not surprisingly, by Teenage Engineering, known for its iconic products — to raise funds, even if this has not been openly stated.
In our opinion, the physical product — however aesthetically beautiful and unique — makes little sense to exist.
We recently purchased the Playdate — if you don't know him, find out here. This device was also designed by Teenage Engineering and has many features similar to the Rabbit: compact size, a distinctive color, no touch screen and a side bezel. However, the experience offered by Playdate is completely different: it's simple but incredibly satisfying.
The project transforms the limitations of Playdate into strengths, enriched by well-kept UX details. It is a portable console similar to the Game Boy, with games developed by both the company and the community, designed specifically for the characteristics of the device. Many of these games focus on storytelling, making them intuitive and enjoyable. Two new games are released every week to keep the interest of users always alive and active.
I Ray-Ban Meta we haven't tested them personally yet, but at the moment the reviews are all positive. What makes them interesting is that they do not seek to replace the smartphone, but to extend its functionality, also integrating with Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook accounts. The glasses are part of an existing ecosystem and coexist without problems with other personal devices such as smartphones, smartwatches and headphones. Instead of replacing them, they take advantage of their particular position to improve the camera experience, making it faster, easier and more efficient to use.
Humane AI Pin It was launched almost at the same time as Rabbit with a similar objective, but it seems to us a more “honest” product. This device also aims to replace the smartphone through a voice assistant, but it tries to do it through a new type of product, which looks like a pin. Despite its obvious limitations, it is unique and original.
The Rabbit, on the other hand, has a product architecture similar to that of a smartphone, only with a different form factor. In practice, however, it is a smartphone “castrated” in all its main functions: camera, screen, touch, gesture and processor. It's hard to think that it can replace a smartphone: the latter are more effective and efficient in every area and, above all, they already know our habits and have gained our trust. When Apple or Google launch their own LAM, they will have access to all the data necessary to create a real companion or personal assistant, something that the Rabbit will hardly be able to do.
A final reflection: we highly value the projects carried out by Teenage Engineering because they manage to imprint their organic approach to the product and the interface, creating an always interesting and satisfying user experience — as in the case of Playdate.
With the Rabbit R1, on the other hand, while managing to leave its mark on an aesthetic level, the final experience is disappointing. We wonder how much the team was actually involved in the overall design of the product, especially with regard to user interaction, which, unfortunately, is full of usability errors. It almost seems that their contribution was limited to an exercise in style rather than a real design project.
In April 2024, it was announced that the collaboration between Rabbit and Teenage Engineering will continue (Here's the announcement). We are curious to see how this partnership will evolve.
The Rabbit R1 is an interesting case study: it has everything it takes to succeed — an attractive design, a nice mascot and aggressive marketing — but the user experience disappoints profoundly. Even if the quality elements are there, the final result leaves a lot to be desired.
We hope that in the next updates, Rabbit will finally learn to jump and not disappoint expectations. As the White Rabbit would say: “Soon it's too late!” , because fans might get tired of waiting.
In summary, here is our opinion:
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