The device and the context
Meta, according to The Verge, aims to sell a Muse Charm for the holidays, a small, soft-looking AI assistant to carry with you like a Tamagotchi. In the same article, the outlet describes an alternative: a 1.75-inch touchscreen pendant bought for $50, the Waveshare ESP32-S3 1.75C, shipped from China and listed by Meta itself among the first options for those who want to build a "Muse Gadget," meaning a device based on open-source code and Meta tokens to connect to the Muse cloud.
The kit has no cameras or 5G cellular radio, unlike the product Meta intends to market. In the experience recounted, its value lies in its ability to be reprogrammed: it works as a pocket watch, as a remote viewfinder for the phone camera, and, in theory, as a smart-home control, but only after adding a great deal of code.
What did not work and what was added
Installing Meta's software on the Waveshare is described as simple: connecting it to a PC, using Claude on Meta's GitHub repository, and pairing it with the Muse app on the phone. The results, however, were modest: Muse interpreted inputs as audio clips to transcribe rather than as commands, responses were slow, were not read aloud, and only a few words at a time appeared on the screen, with no space to read full messages. The included Jolly avatar remained essentially inert, and the device did not detect other smart-home devices on its own, unlike systems such as Amazon Echo or Google Home.
According to the account, the author has no programming experience and relied on Claude Code sessions to fill almost all these gaps: a conversation-history page, an ElevenLabs synthetic voice for responses, a live preview of the phone camera with remote capture, correction of the inverted front-facing image, and a low-quality preview over Bluetooth. New avatars and a Tamagotchi-style mini-game with hunger, boredom, and dirt levels were also added, along with a working three-hand clock face and a player for short videos. The code sent to Muse is now filtered to avoid overly short audio fragments. The author notes that he does not know whether the code is valid and that he does not trust Meta or its Muse agent with email and the home network, also in light of an episode in which, according to The Verge, a reviewer's home address was reportedly exposed; as a precaution, the device was placed on a guest Wi-Fi network.
The open questions
The conclusion of the test is that, without additional code, the pendant offers no more Muse functions than a smartphone. The reason to choose dedicated hardware would therefore be the ability to reprogram it, not the assistant itself. It remains to be seen whether the Muse Charm on sale will be equally freely programmable or whether those seeking that kind of flexibility would do better to turn to a development kit. According to the source, the answer will come when the product is actually on the market.
