NTT's 29-gram SonoVo Stick claims to pick a speaker's voice out of 100-decibel job-site noise, and it went on sale in Japan today

NTT subsidiary NTT Sonority said on Nov. 12 that SonoVo Stick, a wearable microphone, is available to order in Japan from that day, at 24,000 yen before tax. IT Home, citing coverage of the launch, put that at about 1,010 yuan at the then-prevailing exchange rate. The official press release was issued at 11:00 Japan time.

This is not a typical conference microphone. It is aimed at workplaces where voices do not carry. NTT Sonority says construction sites, factories, infrastructure inspections under elevated tracks, and amusement facilities often have noise above 100 decibels — roughly the level of a motorcycle revving nearby, or a jackhammer, where shouting is still hard to hear. The company says the Stick uses two MEMS microphones, which are tiny semiconductor mics, plus a patented technology called Magic Focus Voice, developed by NTT's Computer and Data Science Laboratory, to separate the speaker's voice from background noise and pass it through. That is the company's own technical claim; the release does not include independent third-party test data.

The hardware is small. Official figures put it at about 60.5 mm long, 27.6 mm wide and 25 mm thick, and about 29 grams, with a magnetic clip for a collar or chest. There are three pickup modes, switched in a companion app: a mouth-level mode that is the most directional and is meant for extremely loud settings; a chest-worn hands-free mode with a narrower pickup pattern for talking while moving; and a wide mode that also captures surrounding sounds, such as a site siren, for later review. A push-to-talk button is shaped so it can be pressed with gloves on, the company says. The rating is IP54, which offers some protection against dust and splashes. Battery life is listed at up to about 15 hours of talk time, with a USB-C charge of about 1.7 hours. It connects over Bluetooth 5.3.

Two points are easy to miss, and IT Home flagged both. First, SonoVo Stick is mainly a microphone, not a full headset. To hear the other person, you still need earphones. The company says it works with its own SonoVo GEAR earphones or with other brands; IT Home noted that a wired hookup uses a 3.5 mm jack. Second, you cannot simply buy it in an ordinary web checkout. Orders currently go through an official inquiry form. IT Home also noted that the product was first shown in June this year; Nov. 12 is the date it went on sale and became available to order in Japan.

NTT also frames the device as a way to turn speech into workplace data. Recorded audio can be sent into a system called SonoVo AI, which the company says can auto-draft morning-meeting notes, pull caution points from past accidents, or log and review service-desk conversations. Those are intended uses, not proven results. The Stick can also plug into communication apps already used in the field. The release names Gurukamu, BONX WORK and LINE WORKS Rajer, among others, so a site does not have to rip out its whole radio system first.

For everyday people, this is first of all a tool for noisy jobs in construction, factories, logistics and inspections, not a commute accessory. If you work in a very loud place and need both hands free, a small clip-on mic that claims to isolate a human voice may be more direct than buying another radio set. But it is only being offered in Japan, it is not a one-click online purchase, and the "clear at 100 decibels" figure is still the manufacturer's statement. For a normal office or video call, the noise-canceling earphones many people already own are usually enough.

Original sources published: NTT Sonority (PR Times), Nov 12, 2026, 10:00 Beijing time / Nov 11, 2026, 9:00 PM EST; IT之家 (IT Home), Nov 12, 2026, 21:38 Beijing time / 8:38 AM EST