Subtle Releases Noise-Cancellation Earbuds Focused on Clear Voice Capture

Voice AI startup Subtle, which develops voice isolation models to help computers better understand speech in noisy environments, has introduced a new pair of wireless earbuds designed to improve call clarity and voice transcription accuracy.

The company unveiled the earbuds ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and said it plans to begin shipping them in the U.S. within the next few months. The earbuds are priced at $199 and include a one-year subscription to Subtle’s iOS and Mac app.

According to the company, the app allows users to take voice notes or interact with AI without pressing any keys. Subtle said it is using a custom chip that enables the earbuds to wake an iPhone even when the device is locked.

With the new product, Subtle is positioning itself against AI-powered voice dictation tools such as Wispr Flow, Willow, Monologue, and Superwhisper. The company said users will be able to dictate text in any app using the earbuds and claimed the product delivers five times fewer transcription errors than AirPods Pro 3 used with OpenAI’s transcription model.

In a demo, the earbuds captured clear audio in a noisy environment. They also successfully transcribed a voice note while Subtle co-founder and CEO Tyler Chen was whispering.

“We are seeing that there is a huge move towards voice as a new interface that a lot of folks are adopting,” Chen said in an interview with TechCrunch. “You can do much more with voice in a natural way than with a keyboard. However, voice is rarely used when others are around. By using our noise isolation model, we want to give consumers a way to experience a voice interface through our earbuds.”

Chen added that while companies such as Sandbar and Pebble announced upcoming note-taking rings last year, Subtle aims to combine multiple functions—dictation, AI chat, and voice notes—into a single product through its earbuds and companion app.

The earbuds are currently available for pre-order on the company’s website and will be offered in black and white.

Subtle has raised $6 million in funding to date and has worked with consumer technology companies, including Qualcomm and Nothing, to deploy its noise-isolation models.