New AI wearables and gadgets enter the consumer market
- A new wave of artificial intelligence-powered pendants, rings, wristbands, and pocket devices has entered the consumer market, offering users tools for productivity, journaling, and companionship.
- Bee launched as an affordable pendant priced at $49.99 that clips to clothing or functions like a fitness band, recording everyday audio to create reminders and notes.
- The market also includes emotional support hardware such as Friend, a $129 white pendant designed to recognize tone and mood for casual chats.
A new wave of artificial intelligence-powered pendants, rings, wristbands, and pocket devices has entered the consumer market, offering users tools for productivity, journaling, and companionship. Pricing across the current lineup ranges from $49.99 for entry-level pendants up to $299 for specialized smart rings, with several models requiring monthly subscription fees to unlock full transcription and AI features.
Bee Pendants and Amazon Expansion
Bee launched as an affordable pendant priced at $49.99 that clips to clothing or functions like a fitness band, recording everyday audio to create reminders and notes. Its companion app, available on iOS, requires a $19 monthly subscription for direct interaction, daily summaries, and transcripts. Amazon acquired the wearables startup in July 2025 and introduced two new iterations earlier in the month. The Bee Frontier costs $74.99 and attaches to the wrist or clothing, while the Bee Eclipse costs $99.99 as a credit-card-sized device that magnetically mounts to the back of a smartphone. Both new devices connect to Alexa while maintaining the core recording functions of the original hardware.
Personal Companions and Professional Recorders
The market also includes emotional support hardware such as Friend, a $129 white pendant designed to recognize tone and mood for casual chats. Friend faced public backlash in New York City over its subway advertising campaign, with critics vandalizing posters with messages reading surveillance capitalism. In response, the company introduced Friend 2.0, adding a built-in speaker and a more distinct voice personality. Meanwhile, Limitless offers a $99 conversation-recording pendant formerly known as Rewind, which transcribes meetings and calls into searchable knowledge for professionals and journalists. Its companion app provides ten free hours of AI features per month, with unlimited access priced at $29 monthly.
Specialized Hardware from Meta, Omi, and Plaud
Meta introduced its first AI wearable in September, featuring a pocket-sized design that houses a miniature display for a digital avatar named Jolly. Nirva, a startup founded by former Meta Reality Labs employees, developed a $249 pendant and bracelet focused on personal journaling and emotional patterns rather than productivity. Omi, priced at $89, routes conversations through ChatGPT to offer personalized advice and can attach to the side of the head using medical tape. Plaud markets the NotePin for $159, targeting lawyers and students with real-time voice recording, alongside a $179 ultra-thin note-taking device called the Plaud Note Pro available for preorder.
Handheld Gadgets and Smart Rings
The Rabbit R1 is a $199 retro-styled handheld device featuring a touchscreen and rotating camera designed to perform tasks like booking flights without a smartphone. Following software updates addressing initial performance issues, the device now includes a Creations feature for building custom tools. Sandbar plans to release the Stream ring in the summer for $299 in silver and gold finishes. The ring features a touch-sensitive panel that keeps its built-in microphone disabled by default until pressed by the user to capture notes, control music playback, and interact with an AI assistant via a mobile application.