Subtle releases ear buds with its noise cancelation models

Voice AI startup Subtle, which creates voice isolation models so computers can understand you better in loud environments, today launched a new pair of wireless earbuds that allow users to sound clear during calls and get clear transcription of notes.

The company unveiled these earbuds ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and said it plans to ship them to the US in the coming months. The earbuds cost $199 and come with a one-year subscription to the iOS and Mac app. The app allows users to take voice notes or chat with AI without pressing a key. The company said it uses a chip that allows it to wake up the iPhone while it is locked.

The startup is also trying to compete with AI-powered voice dictation apps like Wispr Flow, Willow, Monolouge and Superwhisper by letting users dictate in each app using the voice buttons. The company claimed that buttons would produce five times fewer errors than AirPods Pro 3 combined with OpenAI’s transcription model.

In a TechCrunch demo, the voice buttons were able to record audio over a noisy background. The buttons also managed to record the text for a voice note when Subtle co-founder and CEO Tyler Chen spoke in a whisper.

“We see that there is a huge movement toward voice as a new interface that many people are adopting. You can do much more with voice naturally than you can with a keyboard. However, we saw that voice is rarely an interface that people use when others are around. So using our noise isolation model, we will give consumers a way to experience a voice interface in the form of our earbuds,” Chen told TechCrunch during a call.

Last year, companies like Sandbar and Pebble launched note-taking rings. Chen said that with its buttons combined with an app, it aims to offer functionalities of various tools such as dictation, AI chat and voice notes in one package.

Users can pre-order these earbuds via the start-up site. The Voicebuds are available in black and white colorways.

Subtle has emerged To date, $6 million in funding has been made availableand has worked with consumer companies like Qualcomm and Nothing to deploy their models for noise isolation.