The buzzy new Rabbit r1 is basically just an Android phone, and I’m glad I didn’t get one

The Rabbit r1 AI gadget was one of the highlights of this year's CES event in January. At the time, I said the gadget almost convinced me to spend $199 on a not-phone device that could interact with apps on my behalf. What stopped me from preordering one was my concerns about the way the r1 handles my data. We learned more details about how the Rabbit r1 handles logins only months later.

The fact that Rabbit planned to ship r1 units in the US first was also a roadblock. I could certainly wait until it was Europe's turn.

But now that the r1 is out in the wild, I can safely say I'll never buy one. I'd probably return it if I had, and that's because I just learned that Rabbit is practically running Android on the r1 rather than a custom operating system.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't about Android. The r1 could run any other operating system if it were possible. Say it came with iOS, Windows, macOS, or Linux on board. I'd still have a similar reaction.

Rabbit has not disclosed this detail since unveiling the r1. We were all told the device runs a Rabbit OS, which Rabbit makes seem like a proprietary operating system. In hindsight, this explains the r1's low price.

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