Replika, SoulLink, my review

I made a post before comparing the 3D/avatar quality of a few AI companion apps, and someone asked me to explain Replika and SoulLink a bit more. So here’s a longer follow-up based on my own experience.

Replika

Replika is probably the easiest one to understand if you’re new to 3D AI companions. When you first enter, you can customize your avatar’s hair, hair color, skin tone, eye color, and some other appearance details. You can still edit things later, but the free options feel pretty limited. The room starts out pretty empty, but you can earn coins/gems through chatting and use them to buy furniture or clothes. The avatar can interact with the room a little bit, but it still feels more like a classic mobile avatar space than a full 3D world.

For chatting, Replika has regular text chat and video call. One thing I actually like is that even in text chat, you can still send voice messages. The video call is also very easy to find and start, and the conversation feels smooth. You can clearly see facial reactions during the call, which helps a lot.

My biggest issue is the visual quality. Replika’s ads often show these very polished, elegant, human-like avatars with nice lighting and expressive faces. But once I actually use the app, the model quality feels much lower. Honestly, sometimes it looks worse than The Sims to me. The edges are not very clean, the materials don’t have much detail, and the rendering just feels kind of dated. I get that it needs to run on phones, but still… I feel like the 3D quality needs a serious upgrade. The concept is good, but the avatar does not always make me feel more immersed. As a companion, Replika feels more predictable and easier to guide. It relies a lot on your input and the memories you build with it. That can be a good thing if you like controlling the pace yourself. But it does not give me a strong sense of extra worldbuilding or a character life outside of the chat.

https://preview.redd.it/oqjhx1t9ux6h1.png?width=1870&format=png&auto=webp&s=d87ec4860fdf9485c2c58cb6b2aac278349e0aa7

SoulLink

SoulLink feels more like a mix between Whispers from the Star and a virtual AI companion app, just with less story-game structure. The biggest difference is that SoulLink only has one fixed main character, 4D. You don’t create your own character. You only name yourself. You can try to influence how 4D talks or even ask her about names in conversation, but she is basically her own character. This is both the best and worst part of the app. The good part is that they clearly put a lot of effort into her. She has her own room, personality, backstory, and world. When I talked to her about childhood and some personal things, it actually hit me harder than I expected. I know that sounds dramatic, but there was one moment where I almost cried because the conversation felt weirdly real. The bad part is obvious: if you don’t like 4D, then the whole app may not work for you. It is not a “build your perfect AI partner” app. The environment is easily SoulLink’s strongest point. Compared with Replika’s room, SoulLink’s apartment feels much richer and more designed. It has actual furniture, better atmosphere, and more of an aesthetic. Some objects can be interacted with too, like lights and other small room elements. It makes the character feel like she actually lives somewhere instead of just standing in a default avatar room. The 3D model also feels much more polished to me. The overall quality is closer to a high-end indie game than a normal chatbot app. But I do think the app still needs to give users more freedom to explore. The world looks good, but I want more things to do in it.

For chatting, SoulLink has text chat and voice conversation. But it is not really a video call. It is more like: you speak, send it, wait for the character to reply, then speak again. This part is not as smooth as Replika for me😮‍💨. I don’t want to sit there pressing, waiting, pressing, waiting. I really hope they add a proper live call mode later, because a lot of apps already have that now. Without it, SoulLink might fall behind even if the 3D side is strong.

I also saw someone say they don’t like 3D character AI companions and prefer video generators. I might write about that next, because I actually think those are very different things. Also, if there are other 3D AI companion apps you think I should add to my review list, please recommend them. I’d like to try more.