OpenAI O1 Review: Fast, Smart, but Surprisingly Reserved

I recently took the plunge and upgraded to OpenAI's O1 "unlimited" model at $200/month. The decision came after hitting limits with both the Pro tier and Anthropic's Claude during some intensive testing sessions. While O1 isn't yet available at the API level (even for tier-5 users), I wanted to share my experiences with this cutting-edge model.

Speed That Feels Supernatural

The first thing that hits you is the speed. While the Pro tier (using the same model) typically has 10-15 second latency, the $200 tier is blazingly fast. It's almost unsettling how quickly it processes and responds to complex queries. This isn't just about comfort—it fundamentally changes how you interact with the AI, making the conversation feel more natural and fluid.

Stronger but... Strangely Reserved

O1 demonstrated its superior capabilities by one-shotting a tricky game board rotation bug that had Claude 3.5 Sonnet stuck in one of those classic AI loops (you know the ones—where it confidently cycles between solutions A, B, and C). However, O1 has a peculiar personality quirk: it's surprisingly reluctant to write code.

Instead of diving into implementation, O1 prefers to reason about problems and explain concepts—like a principal engineer or architect who wants to ensure you understand the fundamentals. Even when explicitly asked for code, it often acts like a PhD mathematician teaching middle school algebra, insisting you work through the problem yourself. This contrasts sharply with Claude 3.5 Sonnet, which is generally happy to help with implementation details.

The Writing Powerhouse

Where O1 truly shines is in writing and comprehension. It grasps complex subjects with remarkable speed and depth, surpassing even Claude 3.5 Sonnet's impressive capabilities. The model shows a sophisticated understanding of nuance and context that makes it particularly valuable for content creation and analysis.

The Voice Feature: A Game-Changer for Professionals

At $200/month, the unlimited voice feature alone might justify the cost for professionals. Being able to brainstorm and develop ideas hands-free while driving or walking has been transformative for my workflow. While current voice technology (Whisper, Eleven Labs, Suno) tends to be expensive compared to text or image processing, I expect these costs will decrease significantly over the next year.

That said, I have mixed feelings about the race to zero in AI pricing. The industry needs sustainable margins throughout the stack to fund continued innovation and improvement.

My Development Stack Preference

For coding tasks, I've found the combination of Claude 3.5 Sonnet with Cursor's Agent mode to be more productive and enjoyable. While O1 might be fundamentally stronger, its dry personality and reluctance to engage in implementation make it less suitable for extended coding sessions.

Looking Forward

O1's future looks promising, with API access and vision support on the horizon. Once these features roll out, we'll be able to leverage its superior reasoning capabilities while customizing the interaction style to our preferences. This will likely trigger a competitive response from Anthropic, pushing the entire field forward.

The Verdict

O1 is an impressive leap forward in AI capabilities, particularly in terms of speed and reasoning strength. However, its reserved approach to code generation and somewhat dry personality make it feel more like a brilliant but stern professor than a collaborative coding partner. For now, I'll keep it in my toolkit for specific use cases—particularly for breaking through those frustrating AI reasoning loops—while sticking with Claude 3.5 Sonnet + Cursor.AI for my day-to-day development work.

The unlimited voice feature makes it a compelling option for professionals who need to think and work on the go, but the high price point means you'll want to be sure you'll make full use of these capabilities before committing to the subscription.