{"id":337801,"date":"2025-12-10T23:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T23:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/337801\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T23:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T23:25:09","slug":"pebble-is-releasing-the-index-01-ring-but-its-not-an-oura-competitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/337801\/","title":{"rendered":"Pebble Is Releasing the Index 01 Ring, but It\u2019s Not an Oura Competitor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n We may earn a commission from links on this page.\n <\/p>\n

When I hear that a smartwatch company is launching a ring, I assume it\u2019s going to be a smart ring. But Pebble went a different direction, instead creating what\u2019s basically a remote microphone that can work with your phone and other devices.\u00a0It’s available for pre-order for $75<\/a>, and will sell for $99 after launch.<\/p>\n

Pebble\u2019s new ring is called the Index 01<\/a>. It\u2019s got a button you can click and hold, and a microphone that will listen to what you\u2019re saying as you hold the button. The recording is then sent to your phone, where it\u2019s processed on-device.\u00a0That’s it\u2014no heart rate sensor, and no charging dock.<\/p>\n

The Index 01’s specs and functionality<\/p>\n

Eric Migicovsky, Pebble\u2019s founder, describes<\/a> using the Index to capture short messages and send instructions to his Pebble watch via his phone. The idea is that you wear the Index on your index finger (get it?) and press the button with your thumb. The ring comes in three colors: matte black with a black button, polished gold with a blue button, and silver with a white button.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is no battery to charge, just a built-in battery that lasts a total of 12 to 15 hours. Migicovsky writes: \u201cOn average, I use it 10-20 times per day to record 3-6 second thoughts. That\u2019s up to 2 years of usage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ring doesn\u2019t have a speaker and can\u2019t vibrate for notifications; it\u2019s just for input. Communication between the ring and your phone is encrypted, and the voice recordings are processed into text on your phone, without requiring an internet connection. The ring doesn\u2019t talk directly to a Pebble watch, but it can talk to your phone and your phone can then display any output to the watch\u2014for example, displaying the text of a reminder that you set.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Who should buy an Index 01 ring?<\/p>\n

So far, Pebble users don\u2019t seem to be nearly as excited about this product as Migicovsky is. A Reddit thread discussing the announcement has comments like \u201cCool idea, weird product,\u201d and \u201cWhy would I want this if I already have a Pebble that has all the capability to take voice notes?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

What do you think so far?<\/p>\n

Migicovsky explains in the company\u2019s blog post that his goal was for the button to be operated with one hand, and gestures on the Pebble weren\u2019t reliable enough. He also emphasizes the fact you don\u2019t need to charge it, while some of the users seem to be more concerned that a device that can’t be charged is basically disposable\u2014”manufactured e-waste.” <\/p>\n

After about two years of use (or less, if you make longer recordings), the app will ask if you\u2019d like to order another ring. The ring will cost $75 to pre-order, and $99 at its regular price. There hasn\u2019t been any mention of a discounted rate for a replacement; it sounds like you\u2019re supposed to buy a new $99 ring every two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ring\u2019s functionality could be extended in the future. A double click-and-hold could signal the Pebble app to process the data in a different way (perhaps sending it to ChatGPT, Migicovsky suggests) and developers could connect the voice processing in the app to other services like calendar and weather apps.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We may earn a commission from links on this page. When I hear that a smartwatch company is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[49,48,195,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-337801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-gadgets","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}