This new model is the smallest one yet in the history of the egg-shaped toy that lets you raise a digital pet.

Bandai’s hit digital pet device among millennial kids, the Tamagotchi, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. While the toy has had its ups and downs and has been reinvented many times over the years, it’s currently having a clear resurgence among today’s youth, even scoring its own dedicated shop in Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku neighborhood late last year.

The newest 39th version of the main Tamagotchi series is the Tamagotchi ring. It retains the classic Tamagotchi features–egg-shaped, LCD screen, three buttons–but in its smallest form yet at only 28 millimeters (1.1 inches) long. The band, which comes with an adjustable spacer, fits Japanese ring sizes 10 through 14 comfortably.

▼ Tamagotchi Ring

For reference, the unit mounted to the Tamagotchi ring is 56 percent the size of the original Tamagotchi. Its screen is only 14.2 millimeters tall but still has all of the functions and gameplay of a regular-sized model. In addition, it’s made up of the fewest number of component parts of any full-color LCD screen-equipped Tamagotchi since the Tamagotchi + Color model was first introduced in 2008 with only 64 parts (52 electronic and 12 plastic). Even the most recently released Tamagotchi Paradise (2025) has 116 parts.

▼ (Left to right) Tamagotchi Ring (2026), Original Tamagotchi (1996), Tamagotchi + Color (2008)

While the transformation into a ring is the model’s most striking new feature, another new first in Tamagotchi history is that it comes with a dedicated charging base. Finally, in a nod to the brand’s 30th anniversary, you can grow your pet into 30 classic Tamagotchi characters from over the past three decades–including some secret ones–depending on how you raise it. Since your pet will be always be (literally) near your fingertips, that should make caring for it and unlocking all of its forms the easiest it’s ever been.

▼ (Left to right) Ball chain-style keychain (1996), wristwatch-style (2021), ring-style (2026)

The new Tamagotchi Ring comes in three colors–pink & pearl white, light blue & metallic gold, black & metallic silver–costing 7,700 yen (US$48.10) each. Preorders can now be placed on Premium Bandai’s website through October 6 at 11 p.m. JST, with orders slated to ship over two rounds in February and April 2027.

Despite our excitement at the new transformation, we still have one question regarding the naming of the new toy. Since the word “Tamagotchi” is originally a portmanteau of the words for “egg” (tamago) and “watch” (uocchi in Japanese pronunciation), “Tamagotchi ring” should logically mean something like “egg watch ring.” Wouldn’t it make more sense then just to call it the “Tamaringu” based on the Japanese pronunciation for “ring”? It’s possible that the Tamagotchi name carries too much weight at this point, but in any case, we’ll stop overthinking and get back to keeping our own digital pets alive.

Source, images: PR Times
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