With Marques Brownlee’s Humane AI Pin Review Making Rounds, We Take the Product with A Pinch of Salt

The Humane AI Pin is a wearable device launched with the aim to work as an AI assistant, and it costs $699. It has a touchpad, a laser projector, and a camera, and you have to wear it on your shirt high at the chest. The manufacturer thinks that you are more connected to your surroundings when you are interacting with an AI assistant and not always zooming in on your phone’s screen, but no, it’s not intended to replace your phone.

The recent controversy erupted when the YouTuber Marques Brownlee, famously known as MKBHD, released his review of the device, saying it was “the worst product” he had ever reviewed for now. MKBHD is quite an influential tech reviewer with a following of more than 18 million followers, and his video is a detailed review of what the product was supposed to do (as per the manufacturer) and how it performs in real life. 

Can a tech review destroy a new product?

Brownlee’s review stirred controversy in the tech community, with many pushing him for his negative review of the humane pin, but he is not alone here, many mega tech sites had their observations published before his video review. Cherlynn Low at Engadget wrote that it’s the solution to none of technology’s problems and that she can’t help but explain the AI Pin to her friends as she gets lost in explaining the problems the device has. 

On the same day, Chris Velazco shared his experience in the Washington Post, which was also not very positive, and he highlighted the frustration he had with the gesture modes of the pin and the heating issues when used continuously. 

So what’s different with the MKBHD’s review when there were every type of review but positive ones? You must have read or seen some of them, but if you think they were critical, you haven’t seen anything yet. Watch Brownlee’s review. Holy cow!

MKBHD said it was “the worst product I’ve ever reviewed,” and many slashed him for the clickbaity nature of the review title, but talking at Colin and Samir’s show on Youtube, Brownlee said that he is mostly accused of positive reviews by his followers and negative reviews are taken differently. He said,

“I am not trying to be extra nice or anything either, and I think we need to be honest about things, if they are nice or if they are bad.”

Source: Colin and Samir.

Can we let go of the humane AI Pin maker for a buggy product?

Brownlee said that whenever he reviews something, no matter what the product is, he knows that there are many smart people who worked on the product, and he knows that they are going to watch it, so they should know if it’s bad they can’t have it sugar coated, and back in their heads, they know it’s bad too.

Here is another catch, many companies will sell you an expensive product by creating hype around its performance while they know the product is still a work in progress. These companies take their customers as a part of their research and market analysis, which is not fair if we look at it from the customers’ perspective. So, we think posts like these are not helpful either.

Is this ethical?

What’s the line between review and defamation.

Marques Brownlee is massively influential, his reviews mean so much. pic.twitter.com/YYZXvk3TTY

— Stanley Ezinna, MBA. (@Stazingar) April 16, 2024

MKBHD bankrupted a company in 41 seconds

A slight criticism from a big Youtuber, let alone calling the product HORRENDOUS, is enough to make a company go bust

Creators are so much more powerful in 2024 than you think

This clip will be the gravestone for Humane pic.twitter.com/UbVtEHbN1g

— Alex Finn (@AlexFinnX) April 15, 2024

Humane AI Pin is also a $700 gadget, and when you spend such amounts of money, you at least expect a promising product, not something fiddly or glitchy. Here, we think MKBHD’s review is fair for his followers who rely on his trials of the products before they purchase them, and expecting a soft review would be more unethical. 

So the Humane AI Pin is a wearable square device that comes with a battery pack that heats up when used for a bit longer and disconnects, has a camera that cannot tolerate darker ambiance, has a projector that is unreadable in brighter daylight, and the icing on the cake is that it makes you frustrated for its gesture reading modes. Now who is to blame here? The company or the reviewer? Yes, we know that in this digital age, a guy with a camera can have a significant impact on a brand, let alone a startup, but usually, it’s an unpolished product.