Pebble presents disposable ring for voice memos

Samuel Buchmann

10.12.2025

Translation: machine translated

The Index 01 records audio notes and sends them to your smartphone. That's all it can do. The disposable battery lasts for 12 to 15 hours of recording. After that, you have to replace the ring, which costs 99 US dollars.

Pebble has introduced a ring for voice memos. The Index 01 is made of stainless steel and is worn on the index finger. It has a single button and a microphone. Recordings are only made as long as the button is pressed. The ring does not record any health data. It is therefore not «smart» like those from Oura.

The ring transmits the encrypted audio file via Bluetooth to the Pebble app on the smartphone, where it is converted into text offline and processed by a local LLM. The app creates notes on it, creates reminders or sets timers. The raw recording remains on the phone. The recognised text can also be displayed on Pebble smartwatches.

The Index 01 is designed for one-handed operation: The thumb activates the ring on the index finger. There is no speaker or haptic feedback and the Index 01 is only waterproof to a depth of one metre. If the smartphone is out of reach, you can store a maximum of five minutes of audio on it. According to the manufacturer, the app and the AI models are open source. An optional, chargeable cloud backup and cloud-based speech recognition with a better recognition rate are planned.

Disposable battery causes criticism

Pebble has taken an unusual approach to the battery: the ring contains a non-rechargeable and non-replaceable silver oxide battery. According to the manufacturer, its energy is sufficient for 12-15 hours of recording time. With 10-20 voice clips of 3-6 seconds each per day, this would correspond to around two years of use. Once the battery is empty, the ring must be completely replaced. Pebble claims that a rechargeable battery would have made the ring larger and more expensive. The second, rather strange reasoning: «You'd probably lose the charger before the battery ran out!»

Pebble announces a recycling programme. However, the single-use concept has been criticised. After all, it creates potential e-waste as well as the ongoing costs of purchasing new devices. In the EU, such devices contravene the Battery Regulation. It requires portable products with rechargeable batteries to have an easily removable battery that can be replaced by the end user. However, the regulation does not apply until 2027, and whether waterproof small devices count as exceptions is a matter of interpretation.

The Index 01 is now available on the manufacturer's website in silver, gold or matt black. The price for pre-orders is 75 US dollars, later the list price will be 99 US dollars. According to Pebble, delivery is scheduled for March.

Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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