Recently, we noticed Felo Search, a conversational AI search engine that leans toward a Japanese-style user experience — it seems Sparticle is indeed a Japanese company, but its main selling point is “breaking down language barriers so users can access global information in their native language.” Personally, while it’s hard to say whether the actual search experience and accuracy can surpass rivals like Perplexity, in terms of interface experience it’s already a standout in my view at this stage. Here, I’ll briefly share my experience with Felo Search for your reference. Continue reading the report: Felo Search Generative AI Search Engine Experience — the free version lets you use GPT-4o as much as you want, supports Perplexity-style conversational search, and offers features such as “mind maps” and “topic classification.”
Felo Search generative AI search engine user experience: the free version lets you ask GPT-4o as much as you want, supports Perplexity-style conversational search, and offers features like “mind maps” and “topic categorization.”
Ever since generative AI’s prominence and practicality took off at the same time, the first thing we saw was Google starting to worry that its leadership in search would be overturned by AI developments. In fact, although Google has held its ground when it comes to generative AI development, when it comes to innovating by applying the power of large language models to search services, I think everyone can sense that Google Search has indeed been quite hamstrung lately.
This is also why players such as Arc Search, Perplexity, and even ChatGPT—the center of attention right now—have all jumped in, hoping to leverage their expertise in how large language models “think” to create more practical search engines.
Recently, we noticed Felo Search, a conversational AI search engine with a Japanese-style user experience – it seems Sparticle is indeed a Japanese company, but its main selling point is “breaking language barriers to let users access global information in their native language.”
I briefly used it for a while. On one hand, I really like their user interface layout design, as well as the overall logic and features. On the other hand, the non-Pro Freeloader It’s surprising that the free version can directly use OpenAI’s GPT-4o (should be the mini, I guess) model, and the Pro version has other options available. That’s pretty good.
And it’s not just that they actually provide Traditional Chinese support (also in the Android and iOS apps)—their features even let you see an AI-generated mind map of your question by default, which is pretty cool. You can also see the AI’s thought process and progress right in the search interface.
Personally, I think it’s hard to say whether the actual search experience and accuracy can surpass other competitors like Perplexity. But in terms of interface experience, it’s already one of the best in my eyes right now. Here, I’d also like to briefly share my experience with Felo Search for your reference.
🔍 Web version:Felo Search
🔍 App Download:Google Play｜App Store
The differences between Felo and its competitors (GenSpark and Perplexity)
The officials have done a brief comparison, which we’ve compiled in this article. Let everyone grasp the key points quickly.
Of course, since it’s the official’s own compilation, it’s naturally going to be a bit biased. However, it’s clear that Felo Search does quite well in terms of native language support (especially Traditional Chinese), as well as its mind mapping and overall interface interactivity. As for the academic research and in-app creation capabilities mentioned, those will probably need more hands-on use before any clearer conclusions can be drawn. Here’s the official comparison:
1. 語言能力:
– Felo AI 搜尋：在跨語言搜尋和翻譯方面表現出色，使其對全球用戶可訪問，無論其母語為何。
– GenSpark 和 Perplexity：主要集中於英語內容，限制了其全球覆蓋範圍。
2. 學術研究:
– Felo AI 搜尋：提供專門的學術論文搜尋和自動翻譯，對全球研究人員和學生來說非常寶貴。
– GenSpark 和 Perplexity：雖然提供一般信息，但缺乏 Felo AI 搜尋的專門學術焦點。
3. 用戶互動:
– Felo AI 搜尋：允許用戶與其知識庫聊天並創建心智圖，增強信息組織和檢索。
– GenSpark：通過可編輯的 Sparkpages 提供用戶互動。
– Perplexity：提供對話界面以進行後續問題。
4. 內容創建:
– Felo AI 搜尋：具有 AI 生成的簡報功能，對專業人士和學生來說是一個多功能工具。
– GenSpark 和 Perplexity：提供內容總結，但缺乏專門的簡報創建功能。
My experience using Felo Search
Previously, we introducedTheir translation functionSo it’s not surprising that their other applications (even blog posts) can support multiple languages. However, when I first open the overall interface, I personally find it quite clear and easy to understand.
On the right, the main function bar lets you directly enter the question you want to search, while on the left are features such as “Topic Sets” and “History” that are available after logging in.
After simply logging in with a Google account, you can see your account name in the bottom-left corner. Beside it, there is a button to switch between light/dark mode, and you can also set the interface language.
I briefly looked through the settings, and there’s an “AI data retention” toggle that lets you choose not to have the service retain your data. The key thing is that this feature doesn’t affect the history records function at all. So if you’re worried about your data being used for learning or other purposes, you can just turn it off from the start.
Based on my testing, this setting is also carried over to the mobile version, so “theoretically” you don’t have to reconfigure it for each device.
In the settings, you can also specify a language model, but aside from GPT-4o, it’s basically the same as the “Deep Reasoning Mode experimental feature” — you need a Pro account to use it.
I tested it out, and you can actually use Felo Search without logging in. In the middle, the interface is very similar to that of other chatbots, but on the right side, there are plenty of sources and related information such as image displays.
I personally really like this interface. In the “Answer Complete” section on the screen, after you press Enter to search, it shows progress and the AI’s reasoning logic, as if it’s thinking.
It can support follow-up questions based on search results. Also, on the magnifying glass icon, you can choose to ask the large language model directly without accessing the internet.
The coolest part is that the response content also provides a “mind map” button.
Click in to see the AI’s mind map summary of this issue, and you can also download it for use.
Actually, I’d quite recommend applying for an account to use Felo Search. It lets you organize searches on related topics into a “topic set.” And when you go back into that topic thread, it proactively pulls up the previous material to use as an index, so you don’t have to start from zero every single time you search on a topic. The great thing is, you can later go into your history and sort previously searched content into the relevant topics.
You can also set Felo as your default search engine. Just go to your browser settings, and in the URL field, enter: “https://felo.ai/search?q=%s” and then set it as your default search engine.
Conclusion
Although the practicality of Felo Search still needs to be confirmed through long-term use — in fact, I’ve already encountered some incorrect answers during my brief time with it. But personally, I have a very good impression of this search engine’s experience, including both the web version and the app version.
Basically, for questions that I used to throw into Google Search, I’ve already shifted toward tossing them into Arc Search first to have it do some initial sorting, so I can quickly grasp the directions that might need further research. But for the actual deeper search work, I still have to rely on Perplexity.
After using Felo Search, I personally feel it’s like a combination of Arc’s awesome interface and Perplexity’s user experience. As for me, I’ve already installed the app and added this AI feature to my browser bookmarks. I hope it keeps getting better in the future and really puts pressure on Google.
Further Reading:
Google AI smart assistant’s next step is very “sci-fi,” it will automatically execute tasks for you.
Source: KOCPC Chinese