The Rabbit R1 and the Humane Ai pin are two AI-focused devices that have intrigued many tech enthusiasts, but after influencers and reviewers got a hold of these gadgets, the critical reception was disastrous.
Journalists with early access to the Humane Ai pin dragged it to hell and back for its disappointing performance, with YouTuber MKBHD’s scathing critique arguably putting the final nail in its coffin. And the Rabbit R1, released to some members of the press and early adopters at a recent pick-up party, didn’t fare any better.
I reviewed the Rabbit R1 myself, and as the headline says, “I can’t believe I paid money for this bunny.”
These AI gadgets haven’t proven to be very useful to consumers so far, so why not pop open the hood, so to speak, and check out what’s inside? That’s exactly what iFixit did in a new teardown video.
Rabbit R1 teardown
Starting with the teardown of the Rabbit R1, iFixit called its internals “charming,” pointing out an oversized motor that is very steampunk-esque.
Some notable points based on the Rabbit R1’s exposed guts:
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It has a 3.85 watt-hour battery. Reviewers have commented that the battery drain was unbearable, but it’s worth noting that after a battery update, the Rabbit R1’s power efficiency has improved. (I can confirm that the battery life is definitely better.)
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The scroll wheel is really just a single metal shaft that can easily slide out with tweezers.
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There are no on-device internals that run AI computations. The LLM that powers R1 is cloud-based, which Rabbit has always disclosed. This prompted iFixit to ask the oft-asked question, “Couldn’t this have just been an app on a phone?”
Humane Ai pin teardown
The Humane Ai pin was next to get pried open, allowing us to see the projector that beams green virtual artifacts to one’s palm, as well as other sensors that power the AI device.
Here are some highlights:
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iFixit commented that the Humane Ai pin’s internals looks similar to the Apple Watch. This makes sense, considering that Humane’s cofounders are former Apple employees.
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The backplate says “Made with … trust, truth + joy.”
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It has a 1.1 watt-hour battery.
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Its wireless-charging capability could be behind its reported overheating issues.
For both devices, iFixit noticed a common issue: Accessing the battery was difficult. “A lithium-based battery is generally good for about 400 charge cycles. And you’re going to go through an awful lot of cycles very quickly with these devices, which makes the difficulty of getting to the batteries in each respective device that much more perplexing,” the iFixit host said.
Both gadgets really have no business being packaged as hardware; both could have been an app, the iFixit video concluded. The host hypothesized that Rabbit and Humane may have ditched the app pathway to escape Google and App Store restrictions.