Forget Oura: This new AI-powered smart ring records your thoughts, not your steps

What you need to know

• The Stream Ring is designed to skip fitness tracking to focus purely on voice and AI.
• Preorders start at $249 for silver and $299 for gold, with the device activating only when you touch the built-in glass pad.
• Unlimited notes are free, but unlimited AI chats require the $10/month Stream Pro subscription.

Move over, step counters. A new smart ring brand has entered the wearable space, and it’s not interested in your heart rate. Called the Stream Ring, this device, launched by a team of former Meta employees, is built for one primary purpose: capturing your voice notes and interacting with AI, instantly.

The folks behind this new wearable are Mina Fahmi, a former product manager at CTRL-labs, and Kirak Hong, a former technical lead manager at Facebook Reality Labs. The two founded Sandbar, and they're pitching the Stream Ring as a “mouse for voice” because it’s designed around voice capture and AI interaction rather than tracking your every heartbeat, TechCrunch reports.

Fahmi and Hong recognized that while your phone is great, it’s not always fast enough to capture a fleeting thought. Their solution is a minimalist smart ring, currently available for preorder at $249 for the silver version and $299 for the gold colorway. Sandbar notes that the ring is not always eavesdropping, but always ready when you are.

Worn on your index finger on your dominant hand, Stream houses a mic and a touchpad on the flat surface. The mechanism is simple: hold the glass touchpad to activate the built-in microphone, and the ring uses haptic feedback to confirm the recording. Your verbal notes are then transcribed and sent via Bluetooth to the companion app.

AI chatbot is the core feature

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The main feature is the AI chatbot. You can ask it questions or have a conversation with it. There’s also an optional 'Inner Voice' mode that copies your speaking style. Unlimited voice notes are free, but if you want unlimited AI chats, the Stream Pro subscription costs $10 a month.

What sets the Stream Ring apart is its purpose. While the industry is dominated by products like the Oura Ring and various fitness trackers that treat your finger like a vital-sign monitoring station, Stream consciously rejects that path. It has no heart rate monitor and zero intention of counting your steps or analyzing your deep sleep stages.

While others count your pulse and sleep phases, the Stream Ring listens when you want to talk and captures what matters in the moment. That distinction alone may appeal to a certain crowd: creators, professionals, folks tired of being tracked every second.

Set to start shipping next summer, the Stream Ring is betting that accessibility and singular focus on immediate utility will win over users tired of health-tracking features.