Hey Pocket

Hey Pocket, by Open Vision Engineering (San Francisco, a Y Combinator W26 company; CEO Akshay Narisetti previously built Omi), is a screenless AI voice recorder and 'thought companion'. The 52-gram device works standalone and MagSafe-attaches to the back of a phone, with dual studio microphones plus a contact microphone for calls and on-device storage, running multi-model cloud AI (routing across GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini) for transcription in 120+ languages, summaries, mind maps, action items, and an Ask-Pocket Q&A feature. It sells for $99 at launch against a $199 regular price, with a free core and, distinctively, no subscription required (an optional Pocket Pro plan is $19.99 a month). DEPLOY records it at commercial maturity: a real, shipping product (live iOS and Android apps), not vaporware, and its AI substance is genuine. The editorial throughline is the no-subscription-core posture, a direct contrast to subscription-required rivals like Plaud.

Readiness

Hey Pocket is shipping now at $99-$199 (actual sale price), no capability claims are on file, the model has no verified field deployments in the registry, and no incidents are on record.

Availability

shipping-now

Shipping now.

see evidence →

Price honesty

actual-sale-price

One price on file: $99-$199 (actual sale price).

see evidence →

Capability honesty

no-claims

No reviewed capability claims on file for Hey Pocket.

see evidence →

Real-world use

commercial

Maturity: commercial. No verified deployments in the registry.

see evidence →

Safety record

no-incidents

No incidents on record. No verified deployments either.

What it claims to do

No reviewed capability claims on file.

Price

• $99-$199actual sale price · Open Vision Engineering (Hey Pocket) ↗ · as of 2026-01-01

Real-world use

No verified deployments on file for Hey Pocket.

Safety record

No incidents on record. No verified deployments either, so the absence is uninformative.

Privacy

No privacy practices disclosed or on file for Hey Pocket.

Specs

notes

[{"label":"Verdict: REAL (not vaporware)","value":"Hey Pocket surfaced in AlsoAsked 'Wearable AI' data; audit confirms it is a REAL, actively-marketed, shipping device - NOT vaporware. Legal entity: Open Vision Engineering, Inc. (San Francisco; founded 2024). Founders Akshay Narisetti (CEO) + Gabriel Dymowski (ex-CEO DoxyChain). YC W26; ~$500K seed (Jan 2026). maturity=commercial (shipping now, iOS+Android apps live)."},{"label":"Lineage cross-link","value":"CEO Akshay Narisetti PREVIOUSLY BUILT Omi (the open-source AI note-taker, in registry as model omi under based-hardware) before founding Pocket. Separate companies/products; worth a cross-link."},{"label":"AI-substance: genuine","value":"Cloud AI transcription (120+ languages), auto summaries, mind maps, action-item extraction, Ask-Pocket Q&A; multi-model routing (GPT-5/Claude/Gemini). Captive-vs-sale: hardware SALE + freemium SaaS; the no-subscription-core positioning is its differentiator vs Plaud/Compass."},{"label":"Claimed but NOT verified","value":"Exact unit sales/shipment volumes; 'world's first AI thought companion' superlative (marketing); real-world speaker-separation accuracy (not independently benchmarked in a tier-1 review yet)."}]

specs

Screenless AI voice recorder, 52g; standalone wearable that also MagSafe-attaches to the back of a phone; dual studio mics + contact mic (for phone calls); on-device storage + battery. $99 launch (reg $199); FREE core, NO subscription required; Pocket Pro $19.99/mo (speaker labels, 100+ summary styles, unlimited Ask Pocket). iOS + Android. Multi-model cloud AI ('powered by GPT-5, Claude, Gemini') transcription in 120+ languages, summaries, mind maps, action items, Ask-Pocket Q&A. Proprietary.

formFactor

wearable (screenless AI voice recorder / 'thought companion'; standalone + MagSafe phone-attach)

What's under the hood

No brain on file for Hey Pocket.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Hey Pocket actually available for purchase?

Yes, shipping now.Source: Hey Pocket: screenless AI voice recorder; $99; free core; multi-model (GPT-5/Claude/Gemini)

What does the Hey Pocket cost?

Hey Pocket costs $99-$199 one-time (actual sale price).Source: Open Vision Engineering (Hey Pocket)

Where is the Hey Pocket being used?

No verified field deployments on record.

Is the Hey Pocket safe?

No incidents on record, but with no verified field deployments either, the absence is uninformative.

How does the Hey Pocket handle privacy?

No privacy practices disclosed or on file for Hey Pocket.

Who makes the Hey Pocket?

Hey Pocket is made by Open Vision Engineering (Hey Pocket), based in San Francisco, California, USA.Source: Hey Pocket: screenless AI voice recorder; $99; free core; multi-model (GPT-5/Claude/Gemini)

Compared to

• AI Pinby Humane · wearable
• Xiaomi AI Glassesby Xiaomi · wearable
• Omiby Based Hardware · wearable

Sources

1. Hey Pocket: screenless AI voice recorder; $99; free core; multi-model (GPT-5/Claude/Gemini) · https://www.heypocket.com/ ↗
2. Pocket (YC W26); Open Vision Engineering; founders Akshay Narisetti + Gabriel Dymowski · https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pocket ↗
3. Open Vision Engineering Inc. (~$500K seed Jan 2026; YC W26) · https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/openvision-engineering ↗
4. Hey Pocket AI device transcribes your day (independent coverage) · https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/this-sleek-new-ai-device-will-transcribe-your-day ↗