Humane AI Pin Review Roundup: A half-baked flop that's way ahead of its time
The Humane AI Pin is a charming little device for gadget fans. In case you missed its unveiling in November 2023, it's a tiny wearable computer with a built-in AI assistant, camera, and a tiny projector that projects its UI into your hand. Unfortunately, according to the first internet reviews that have surfaced in the past few days, it's pretty terrible.
It is rare for technical reviews from both traditional media and YouTubers to be so unanimous in their criticism of a much-hyped product. Marques Brownlee concluded, “The worst product I have ever reviewed…”. Ouch. Meanwhile, Engadget dubbed it “a solution to just about any technology problem”, while The Verge simply said that the AI Pin was “not even close”.
Naturally, these sharp decisions add some extra charm about a $699 device that also requires a $24 per month subscription. Yet some reviews believe that AI Pin is completely useless. Many praise its hardware design, which is solid aluminum and sticks to your chest thanks to a magnetic 'battery booster' that goes inside your clothing. While it worked seamlessly on some occasions, it also gave critics a small glimpse of a refreshing screen-less future.
But beyond the specific features – many of which don't yet work reliably enough – the most interesting thing about these Humane AI Pin reviews are their broader conclusions about AI gadgets. In short, our phones aren't going anywhere for a long time, and, like bloomberg review Concluded, “The AI device revolution will not kill the smartphone”. We haven't reviewed the Rabbit R1 yet, but that'll probably remain true for some time yet.
That doesn't mean the Humane AI Pin isn't a fascinating (if deeply flawed) device today. Here are all the internet's thoughts on the boldest tech launch since the Apple Vision Pro…
Humanoid AI Pin: Top Reviews
Marquez Brownlee: “Worst product I've ever reviewed…”
Despite the sharp headline, Marques Brownlee's report on his time with AI Pin is generally fair and unbiased. Unfortunately, other than the design, they couldn't find many positives. “The construction of this thing is really impressive,” he says of the solid, aluminum gadget. Unfortunately, it's “bad at almost everything”.
That list includes answering your voice queries, where it's either very slow (most requests go to the cloud) or “wrong all the time”. Battery life was also strangely inconsistent, and the device would heat up for worryingly long periods of time. But the core issue, a theme in most reviews, is that everything the AI Pin does, a “modern smartphone does better and faster”. Without connecting to your smartphone or offering any apps, the AI Pin wanders awkwardly.
Good
- solid build quality
- Promise of translation facility
- impressive engineering
bad
- very slow to respond
- Poor, inconsistent battery life
- overheating problem
- wrong all the time
- no apps
Misterwhotheboss: “This is not good”
Tech YouTuber Arun Maini, aka MisterWhostheBoss, in his review clearly contrasted the “little flashes of something magical” that can be seen in the human AI pin and the impractical reality of its use. He concluded, “At the moment, the human pin is an incredibly poor proposition.”
As mentioned in other reviews, everything falls apart when you look at the hardware. The price (which works out to $1,700 over two years, when you take into account subscriptions, accessories, and taxes), slow response to voice requests, lack of integration with existing phone apps, and impractical projector interface were all black marks.
As Manny notes, a more sensible setup would definitely be to connect the AI Pin to your phone – like the best smartwatches – rather than acting as a standalone device. All this led him to conclude that he “couldn't see a single angle from which it would make any sense”.
Good
- The construction is top notch
- no wake up words needed
- visual comfort is satisfactory
bad
- too expensive
- Requests take too long
- Doesn't talk to existing apps
- Projector is not bright enough
CNET: “Futuristic but disappointing”
CNET's hands-on review of the AI pin includes a nice nod to the Star Trek communicator badge, making it appear to be a pin, but it's one of the few moments of levity in the review that warns you that “definitely” Don't consider buying it. Its present form.
The video is more of a whistlestop tour of the AI Pin's features — including a built-in camera for taking photos and 15-second videos — than a real in-depth dive into living with it. But there are plenty of useful real-world examples of how to use the wearable device, including its promising translation feature and revelations about how long it often takes to respond.
There are also some familiar findings; Overheating, the laser display not being bright enough in daylight, weak AI features, and the hand-tracking interface being disappointing and worse than VR headsets. In short, it's frustrating and CNET said the AI pin at times made it crazy.
Good
- sleek design
- well thought out accessories
- good battery life
bad
- overheating problem
- Too disappointing for everyday use
- Can't connect to your phone
- AI is incredible
The Verge: “Not even close”
Repeatedly eliciting hysterical laughter isn't usually a good sign for a tech review – and certainly, The Verge found that the AI pin's promise was tempered by its unreliability and its “single biggest problem – it's very, very slow”. Has become completely weak due to.
Wait 13 seconds for the misidentification of the Brooklyn Bridge and other unintentionally hilarious mistakes. The Verge is actually still “quite impressed” with the AI Pin's technology, including the fact that it doesn't require a wake-up word and promises a world where you can sometimes leave your phone at home. can leave.
It also concluded that Pin “may still be futuristic, or something like it”, with camera-based descriptions of real-world objects being “easily the most futuristic thing” about the device. But it's also a “$700 gamble” and the disastrous conclusion is that the cell-connected Apple Watch is a much more capable and functional device, even though it's much cheaper.
Good
- Strong and well built
- no wake word needed
bad
- Many features are not available yet
- very slow to respond
- doesn't always work
Bloomberg: “The design and interface are fatally flawed”
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman There's an Apple reporter who notes that Humane's co-founders are former Apple employees who worked on the iPhone and iPad, giving them an edge when it comes to investment. But despite its promising backstory, he concluded that AI Pin's “fundamental design and interface is fatally flawed”.
Gurman's conclusion is that bugs and slow response times are not the main problems with AI Pin. Instead, the voice controls and laser projection system make it “a nonstarter for most people.” He notes that smart speakers and voice assistants have fallen short because they are not “practical user interfaces”.
So while like most early reviews, Gurman concluded that Humane deserves credit for creating something new and creating a system that “aggregates data from multiple AI engines”, the concept is ultimately doomed to failure and is “never going to work”.
What's next for Humane AI Pin?
Obviously, Humane has defended its new gadget from a wave of scathing reviews. Ken Kocienda, the company's head of product engineering and inventor of the iPhone's autocorrect, posted a Long statement on X (formerly Twitter) About why he is a “happy AI PIN user” and why his “intuition tells me we're on the right track”.
Cosienda admits that AI PINs can be “frustrating at times”, but apparently no more than laptops or smartphones. This is not the conclusion of Internet first reviews from multiple sources, but Humane designers also blame the social media landscape for promoting “hot tech” and encouraging people to “jump on the skepticism bandwagon.”
So what's next for AI Pin? humanity is one Roadmap for new features, timers, gesture unlock, photo sharing via SMS and more are coming in software version 1.2, which is scheduled for “summer”. Other features like number sharing, visual shopping, and SDKs for apps are also in the pipeline, but there are no dates yet.
As it stands, the current consensus for the Humane AI pin is that it is too ambitious for its form factor and current technology – including the problem that the AI 'hallucines' or confidently gives wrong answers. For now, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and the Rabbit R1 seem to be more promising examples of AI gadgets, but we'll keep an eye on the AI pin to see if it can overcome its inauspicious start.
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