I tested Rabbit R1 vs. Meta AI: The winning AI assistant will surprise you

Let’s do a Rabbit R1 vs. Meta AI (via Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses) face-off. I mean, why not, right? Both claim to offer the greatest on-the-go AI assistant, so let’s put them to the test.

The Rabbit R1 hit the scene with a lot of hype, particularly when it got showcased at CES 2024. Personally, I didn’t understand the hullabaloo over this electric-orange gadget — and I still don’t. But you may be surprised how its Perplexity-based AI stacks up against rivals.

And then we have the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, which feature Meta AI. The question is, which is better? To do this face-off justice, not only will I compare their AI capabilities, but I’ll dive into a comparative analysis on all aspects, including price, design, and more.

Rabbit R1 vs. Meta AI (Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses): price and specs

The Rabbit R1 costs $199, but if you place an order now, it won’t start shipping until June.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

It only comes in one configuration, featuring a loud, brash color called “Leuchtorange,” with the following specs:

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses I purchased sport the Wayfarer style and features matte-black frames and blue-violet light filter lenses.

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have a starting price of $299 at Ray-Ban’s official website, but keep in mind that the lenses cost me an additional $17, bringing the total to $316.

There’s also a configuration with “Amber” lenses available.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

It comes with the following specs:

Of course, one of these is the equivalent of a dumb Android phone running an app and the other is a pair of spectacles. Allow me to show you how they stack up in terms of design.

Winner: Rabbit R1

Rabbit R1 vs. Meta AI (Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses): design

The Rabbit R1 is one of the most conspicuous, eye-catching technological masterpieces that has hit the market this year, thanks to Teenage Engineering (a tech design company known for creating eye-catching gadgets).

The Rabbit R1 being used outside. The screen’s pretty dim, no?
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It’s not a color I would have picked for myself if there were other options (I prefer more muted hues), but the electric tangerine-esque color that emanates from the Rabbit R1’s chassis is pure visual candy.

With an undeniably cute bobbing bunny on the screen, it invigorated a sense of nostalgia, taking me back to my obsession with digital-pet pocket toys in the 90s, like my Tamagotchi or Digimon gadgets. Plus, it has a fidget toy vibe, too, with a scroll wheel that lets you navigate the UI, a shake-to-open-the-Settings-menu feature, and a functionality that brings up the virtual keyboard when you turn it to the side.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

The Rabbit R1’s touchscreen capabilities unlocks when you enable keyboard, but for other interactions, you’re limited to using the scroll wheel. Keep in mind that the scroll wheel lacks sensitivity. In other words, it takes several “rolls” to get from one option to another.

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, on the other hand, are, well, glasses. They’re designed to be worn on your face. (One thing the Rabbit R1 lacks is having something that lets you attach it to your clothes or bag, so you’re not carrying yet another gadget in your hands, but there are third-party cases that make this possible.)

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Despite being packed with a lot of tech, from a camera to dual speakers, the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are light and comfortable to wear. You’ll probably forget it’s even on your face.

Winner: Rabbit R1

Rabbit R1 vs. Meta AI (Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses): photos and video

A popular question I often get is, “Can the Rabbit R1 take photos and videos?” The answer is technically no. It does have an 8MP camera, but it’s not designed to take photos. Instead, the built-in shooter is for the Rabbit R1’s “Vision” feature (a perk where the AI can give you descriptions of things by “seeing” them).

The Rabbit R1’s “Vision feature” in action.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

You can see the photo captures you took during your Rabbit R1 Vision sessions by visiting the Rabbit Hole, a companion website, but again, they’re not meant for consumption. They’re just there to help you look back into your AI conversation history.

As for videos, forget it. The Rabbit R1 doesn’t take those at all.

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, on the other hand, are awesome for capturing photo-and-video capture. By tapping on the capture button on the right frame, you can take hands-free 12MP photos. (The downside, though, is that there’s no viewfinder, so it’s difficult to tell whether your subject is in frame.)

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It can record 1080p videos for up to 60 seconds at a time after you long-press the capture button. (You can also use your voice to capture photos and videos by invoking Meta AI).

You can livestream, too, but only with Meta property like Instagram and Facebook. You can find all of your content in the Meta View app when you’re done.

No, the photos and footage won’t be anywhere as good as what you can capture with the iPhone 15 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, but the advantage is that you can shoot things without even needing to use your hands.

Winner: Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses

Rabbit R1 vs. Meta AI (Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses): text and calling

Rabbit R1 cannot connect to your phone. As of this writing, the Rabbit R1 is not capable of texting and calling on your behalf. I did speak to a Rabbit rep about whether this feature is coming in the near future. They told me that this plan is in the works, but they don’t have a timeline.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, on the other hand, can, indeed, make calls and send texts for you. I can say, for example, “Hey Meta, call Jason on WhatsApp.” In response, Meta AI will say, “On WhatsApp, call Jason, right?” And in response to “Yup,” WhatsApp calls my significant other.

I can ask it to send texts for me, too. For example, with the prompt, “Tell my mom I said ‘Hi.'” In response, Meta AI will say, “Message to Mom on WhatsApp that says ‘Hi,’ right?” I say “Yes,” and soon enough, it fires off a message to my mother.

Rabbit R1 vs. Meta (Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses): AI features

Both the Rabbit R1 and the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses can “identify” objects and make conjectures about them. However, the former does a better job at this via the Vision feature.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Object identification

Behind a window, I pointed the Rabbit R1 at the Empire State Building in the distance while standing inside Mashable’s office building.

To test its knowledge, I asked, “Can you tell me what you see?” It offered an elaborate response:

I can see the iconic Empire State Building in the background of the image. The skyline of the city is dominated by tall skyscrapers, with the Empire State Building standing out prominently against the clear blue sky.

Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Using the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses to identify objects was trickier. Of course, spectacles don’t have a viewfinder, so it’s difficult to see whether your target object is in frame. Still, when I asked it, “Can you tell me what you see?”, it accurately pointed out a “cityscape.” To test it even further, I said, “Do you see that light-brown skyscraper in the background? It’s the tallest of them all. Tell me which building this is.”

To my surprise, Meta AI said, “That’s the Empire State Building.” But unlike the Rabbit R1, offered no superfluous details.

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses can identify the Empire State Building.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It’s worth noting that Rabbit R1 snaps a photo before saving it to The Rabbit Hole, allowing you to look back at your conversation history (but only for the Vision feature.) Meta AI snaps a photo, too, but I haven’t seen any photos nor conversations saved in the Meta View app.

Menu translation

As a frequent traveler, having a device that can, for example, translate a Spanish menu into English is a godsend. I tested both AI gadgets to see which can do a better job at this, and again, the Rabbit R1’s viewfinder gave it an edge.

Watch below as I pulled up an online Spanish menu:

Tweet may have been deleted

The downside of the Rabbit R1 is that I needed to use a specific prompt for it to “understand” my request. The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, on the other hand, understood my initial prompt, but some words were cut off from its “view,” because, well, again, it’s difficult to “see” what the spectacles are looking at.

At the end, though, both managed to give me an accurate Spanish-to-English translation based on the menu in front of them.

Recipe suggestions

I placed potatoes, a plantain, tumeric powder, and salt on a table. Next, I asked Rabbit R1 to suggest recipes for me based on what it “sees.”

Rabbit R1 identifying food on the table.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

As you can see from its response (sent to the Rabbit Hole), it correctly identified the food items and delved into recipe suggestions that made sense based on the snapshot.

Rabbit R1’s recipe suggestions based on potatoes, a plantain, tumeric powder, sand salt.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The Rabbit R1 was always pretty good at this. Watch me testing it a few weeks ago with similar ingredients:

Tweet may have been deleted

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, however, was disappointing. With those same ingredients, it thought it was looking at eggs — not potatoes. Plus, it oddly spotted some pasta and cheese, which were not in the picture.

In response to asking for recipe suggestions, Meta AI said the following:

“I see eggs, cheese and pasta. Suggesting a simple, yet satisfying spaghetti carbonara recipe.”

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Rabbit R1 is the winner here.

Asking questions

Keep in mind that the greatest way to test AI devices is to ask both gadgets the same sizable swath of queries to determine which is most accurate. However, for the sake of time, I asked one:

I asked, “When is the next solar eclipse in New York City?”

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Both answers were somewhat inaccurate.

“The next solar eclipse visible in New York City will occur on April 8, 2024 around 3:25 p.m. with the moon covering up to 90% of the sun,” Rabbit R1 said. “The partial eclipse will begin around 2:04 p.m. And skies will start to darken around 2:51 p.m., with lightening starting again by 3:58 p.m.”

If I were to hop into a time machine and ask this question before April 8, this response would have been correct, but it looks like the Rabbit R1’s knowledge base is slightly outdated because it’s not tapping into au courant information.

Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable

Meta AI, on the other hand, said the following: “The next solar eclipse visible in New York City will be a partial solar eclipse, and it will run 0 hours and 0 minutes, beginning at 0 a.m. and ending at 0 p.m.”

Either Meta AI is taunting me, telling me that “never” is the answer —or there’s simply a glitch in Meta AI’s system.

Winner: Rabbit R1

Rabbit R1 vs. Meta AI (Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses): battery life

When I tested the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, they dropped to 16 percent when I came home from work at 7:30 p.m. Kicking my day off at about 10 a.m., I played music during my subway commute, asked Meta AI to launch two 15-minute calls, took several photos and videos, and more.

As such, you should still have some battery left at the end of the day, but not enough to last into the next day.

The Rabbit R1, on the other hand, had its battery life improve significantly after a major update. With light-to-medium usage, you could get two days out of the gadget. However, if you plan on playing a lot of music and using the Vision feature, you’ll only get one day.

Surprisingly, Rabbit R1 has an edge when it comes to battery life.

Winner: Rabbit R1

The winner:

When it comes to the basics that every AI assistant should have, like texting and calling on your behalf, Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have an edge over Rabbit R1. It can also take photos and record videos, whether you’re using the capture button or your voice.

Finally, the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have a more convenient design — it’s like wearing ChatGPT on your face.

However, when it comes to AI, the Rabbit R1 surprisingly shined. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting that. Its object identification definitely has the edge over Meta AI. Still, both devices don’t seem to be up to snuff yet. Neither one could answer the solar eclipse question.

To sum it up, neither Meta AI nor Rabbit R1 are ready for primetime, but if I had to choose a winner (for AI assistance only), the Rabbit R1 is victorious by a hair.