The Rabbit R1 Flops, Nokia Gets Back to Basics, and More

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Image: Beats / Apple, Rabbit, Gizmodo Staff, Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo, POM POM (Shutterstock), Kyle Barr / Gizmodo, Dua Rashid / Gizmodo, Kyle Barr / Gizmodo, Sherri L. Smith, Florence Ion / Gizmodo

If you thought the less-than-stellar launch of the highly anticipated Rabbit R1 AI device was all that happened in gadget news this week, we understand. Everyone in the tech industry was talking about this thing and no one particularly likes it. Our full review is still forthcoming, but our first impressions were very underwhelming.

Still, there were some good gadgets this week including a high-quality, if fiddly new controller from SCUF and a beast of a laptop from Alienware. We also have a good impression of what's coming from Samsung's wearables later in the year and we're all getting ready for Apple's big iPad event next week. Click through the slides on desktop or just keep scrolling on mobile to see the rest of the week's product news.

Image: Beats / Apple

Apple announced two new offerings to its Beats line of headphones and earbuds. The Beats Solo Buds are a pair of true wireless earphones that promise up to 18 hours of battery life, while the Beats Solo 4 is an upgrade for those looking to swap their current over-the-ear cans for something new. Both devices are more affordable than the three tiers of AirPods. They're lighter and smaller, as well. - Florence Ion Read More

Image: Rabbit

Rabbit R1, the bright orange AI gadget that became the talk of the town during CES 2024, was launched and demoed at a private event in New York last week. The "pick-up party" as the company called it was exclusively for the first few hundred buyers and now we're seeing some early hands-on impressions. Scouring all the stories on the device, it looks like everyone had more or less similar thoughts on it. We've rounded up some of the most common praise and complaints from around the web into one place to help you figure out if the R1 is right for you. - Dua Rashid Read More

Image: Gizmodo Staff

We hope you like TVs because that's what April had to deliver in 2024. Samsung showed off its latest Neo QLED 4K TV, while Sony refreshed its entire QLED-based Bravia lineup. - Florence Ion Read More

Rabbit has already put out a patch that should fix battery issues, though the bigger question with the Rabbit R1 is if the Rabbit would work the same if it were merely an app.Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo

The Rabbit R1 doesn't have a lot of capabilities that your phone already has. It doesn't send emails for you. It can't set calendar reminders or alarms. It can't connect to any apps outside a select four that includes Spotify, Uber, DoorDash, and Midjourney. All those features may be coming in the future, if you're wondering why it's not simply another AI app, a few tech bloggers managed to turn it into one by taking a leaked version of the Rabbit APK and running it on Android with relatively little effort. Now Rabbit's CEO Jesse Lyu has come out to defend his $200 AI doohickey's "bespoke" code that requires Rabbit's own hardware. - Kyle Barr Read More

The rebooted Nokia 3210 will likely have a far bigger, IPS QVGA screen compared to the old monochrome display. It will also sport a rear-facing camera and a USB-C port.Photo: POM POM (Shutterstock)

If you were born early enough to come into semi-adulthood in 1999, you used to have a Nokia 3210. OK, maybe you didn't, but your friend or a family member had one, or they had a slightly later model. Maybe you forgot about it completely because, for hell's sake, it's been 25 years. But you'd recognize the silhouette, the thick body, the thumbnail-sized monochromatic screen. New reports show that the HMD-owned Nokia is working to worm its way to that core of nostalgia by releasing its old 3210, and it could be here within a week's time. - Kyle Barr Read More

The Envision Pro certainly won't improve my Rocket League career, but it does at least feel nice in the hand.Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

SCUF's Envision Pro controller feels so good, so clicky, so responsive, it makes me hate it. I know it's not the controller, it's my dumb thumbs, and yet SCUF's $180 device feels like a memento mori for all the years I spent trying and failing in online multiplayer. The Envision Pro is packing so many extra paddles and bumpers I inevitably squeeze the controller too hard and click on one I didn't intend. I die. I fail. I curse my screen, my game, my controller. Inevitably, I realize it's none of those things. It's me. I suck. - Kyle Barr Read More

Photo: Dua Rashid / Gizmodo

I've spent a day with the Rabbit R1, and to say that I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. In fact, I was surprised at how little it offers at the moment, and even from what it offers, what a poor job it does at that. According to the CEO Jesse Lyu, the R1 is "the worst this technology will ever be," which is kind of the nature of technology but not a great selling point—especially when you're charging 200 bucks for it. If I were to streamline my thoughts on this device, these are the 10 things that left me considerably unimpressed. - Dua Rashid Read More

Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

Photo: Sherri L. Smith

What's next for Samsung's Galaxy Watch? Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo

Samsung teased the Galaxy Ring earlier this year when it introduced the Galaxy S24 series of smartphones. Naturally, this sparked a flurry of rumors about what's to come and what the wearable could be like. But Samsung is still making smartwatches, too. Based on the hearsay, 2024 may be the year the company pulls out all the stops for its wearable offerings. - Florence Ion Read More