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The Pocket is the latest standalone AI-powered gadget to be revealed.
For $79, it promises to record, transcribe, and organize conversations.

The hype around AI-powered hardware at the beginning of the year has mostly faded as customers seemed reluctant to pay for the Humane AI Pin, Plaud.AI NotePin, or Rabbit R1, regardless of their many AI abilities. A new device called Pocket is approaching the market from a different angle, though, with a compact design and a far lower price point.

Created by Open Vision Engineering, Pocket promises to record, transcribe, and organize conversations as an affordable companion for professionals and or those who want to document their day. The $79 (about £79) device can be ordered now, with shipments expected in early 2025, and it links with a companion app for Android and iOS.

The device itself can magnetically attach to the back of smartphones and is activated with a button to capture both live conversations and phone calls and encrypt the recordings. Once recorded, Pocket transcribes the conversations and distinguishes between multiple speakers in the document.

The AI also analyzes the interactions with its Conversation Map feature. This tool breaks down the flow of discussion, helping you see how ideas developed, who contributed, and where the conversation went off on that inevitable tangent. Pair this with the thousands of customizable templates and you have a flexible way of organizing your thoughts.

Pocket price plan

Pocket comes with 200 free minutes of recording per month and then requires users to purchase credits. Even so, it comes off as far more budget-friendly than its competitors. The Plaud NotePin, which clips to your clothes, is $169 and provides only 100 more minutes a month compared to Pocket, though there’s a yearly $79 Pro Plan with 1,200 minutes per month and other features.

Then there’s the Rabbit R1, whose bright orange box comes at $199 and is also designed for web searches and app controls. Last, the $699 Humane AI Pin comes with voice commands and projects information onto your hand. These devices all bring different flavors of AI assistance and a lot of extra power, but that may not be what people want from AI hardware.

Pocket keeps things simple by comparison. Instead of trying to be a wearable wonder or a flashy lifestyle gadget, Pocket focuses purely on recording, transcribing, and organizing conversations. Whether this simplicity will help Pocket carve out a niche or get lost in the shuffle remains to be seen, but for those who just need a no-fuss way to keep track of conversations, Pocket might be the perfect fit.