Put Down Your Keyboard: Opt for This AI-Enhanced Microphone Instead.

How much do you despise typing? The rise of large language models has significantly advanced voice-to-text technology. Whether it’s Wispr Flow joining your meetings to summarize conversations or Google launching smarter on-device dictation in its latest Pixel smartphone, these tools do much more than simply transcribe: They intelligently eliminate filler words, refine unscripted thoughts in real time, and effortlessly facilitate multilingual dialogues.

Now, a new startup is making its entrance. Unlike its software-centric competitors, Relay is developing a portable microphone specifically designed for high-fidelity voice-to-text anywhere. Based in London, Relay was established by two former employees of Nothing: Cookie Xu, who served as Nothing’s head of AI and services, and Raymond Zhu, a hardware product manager. While the company is introducing its software today, the hardware—known as the Relay Q—won’t be available until early 2027.

Zhu mentions that during their tenure at Nothing, he and Xu utilized Wispr Flow’s transcription software to “type” most of their work messages. He states it greatly aided in brainstorming ideas, but they consistently faced a challenge: speaking at the appropriate volume in an office. “In the office, we never really could get the right volume for input,” Zhu tells WIRED. “If I whisper too quietly, the Mac wouldn’t be able to pick it up; too loud and my coworker next to me can hear. Sometimes I would actually pull out my earbud and go like this,” he says over a video call, holding an earbud in front of his mouth to demonstrate. “It calls for dedicated hardware.”

Courtesy of Relay Relay is launching exclusively for macOS, though the company intends to expand to Windows, iOS, and Android. They are starting with the desktop because Zhu believes conversations are more intricate there. Interactions with friends and family are straightforward on phones, but in a work setting in front of a computer, you are sharing ideas, brainstorming, and employing various tones and levels of formality.

Though the microphone is still months away from completion, I’ve been using a beta version of Relay’s macOS app, which functions with or without the dedicated microphone. During setup, you will need to select a hotkey that activates Relay in any text field—the default is Fn. Just press and hold the key while your cursor is in any text area, and Relay will activate and manage the voice dictation. The voice-to-text engine is powered by Google’s Gemini models.