Amazon Bee AI wearable: Bee Frontier costs $74.99, Bee Eclipse $99.99, plus what they record, the $11.99 Bee Pro plan and the consent question

Amazon's Bee AI wearable is back in a new form. On October 15, 2026, Amazon announced the Bee Frontier, a $74.99 wristband that also clips to clothing, and the Bee Eclipse, a phone attachment it says will be available soon from $99.99. Both use microphones to turn what you say and hear into AI transcripts, summaries and to-do lists, and a new Bee Pro plan costs $11.99 a month. The devices raise the same question every always-listening gadget does, from AI glasses to smart speakers: what happens to the voices of the people around you? Amazon says no audio is ever stored. Whether you can legally record a conversation in the first place depends on where you are.

This explainer is based on Amazon's October 15 launch post, Bee's website and its September 23, 2026 Bee Private Compute post, Amazon's page on Bee Private Compute, Washington's and Florida's recording statutes and the federal wiretap law on official government sites, and reporting by CBS News, The Next Web, TechRepublic and Cybernews, checked October 27, 2026.

The short version

• Prices: Bee Frontier $74.99, available at Amazon.com since October 15, 2026. Bee Eclipse "will be available soon, starting at $99.99," with no date. Bee Pro is $11.99 a month; Amazon says all new Bee customers get 30 days free.
• What it records: conversations picked up by the device's microphones, which Bee turns into transcripts, summaries, recaps and suggested to-dos. Recording starts and stops with a button, and a light shows when it's on.
• Audio: Amazon says "No audio is ever stored." It's processed in real time and deleted; transcripts and summaries are kept, encrypted, until you delete them.
• Where it's sold: Amazon's post names Amazon.com and no countries. The Next Web reported that the devices are sold only in the US and that neither is sold in Europe.
• Consent: the device asks the wearer, not the other people, to get permission. The statutes of "all-party consent" states such as Washington and Florida require everyone's consent to record a private conversation.

What are Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse?

They are two ways to carry the same service. Amazon describes the Bee Frontier as a wearable that goes on the wrist or clips to clothing, with dual microphones, IP67 water resistance, USB-C charging and "up to seven days" of battery life, in Sage, Lavender and Onyx. The Bee Eclipse is a magnetic attachment for the back of a phone, "about the size of a credit card," with what Amazon says is more than 21 days of battery life, in Silver, Midnight, Honey and Blush. Bee's website calls the Eclipse "coming soon" and describes it as "Ambient AI that processes both sides of every phone call and in-person conversation."

Last verified: October 27, 2026

Bee was a San Francisco startup whose first wristband sold for about $50 when Amazon agreed to buy the company in 2025, according to a wire report carried by The Globe and Mail. Bee's co-founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo wrote in an Amazon post on January 5, 2026 that Bee joined Amazon "last year." The older $49.99 Bee Pioneer is no longer sold, The Next Web reported on October 15. Bee's home page no longer lists it, and its Pioneer page was offline when checked on October 27, 2026.

What does Amazon Bee record?

It records conversations, but only after you switch it on. On the Frontier you press a microphone button, and an indicator light shows it's listening. Amazon says you can set it to turn itself off "if no sound is detected for a period (e.g., 5 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.)." The Eclipse also has one button and a light. From the recording, Bee builds transcripts, summaries, recaps and suggested to-dos, and it can connect to Gmail, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Apple HealthKit and photos, plus Alexa+ and Amazon.com.

Amazon told GeekWire that Bee is "a personal AI assistant, not a device designed to passively pick up audio throughout the day," as TechRepublic reported on October 21. The Amazon.com link is the part to notice: Amazon says that integration gives you personalized product recommendations.

Does Amazon Bee store audio?

Amazon says no. Its launch post says "No audio is ever stored": audio is turned into transcripts and insights in real time and then deleted. Bee's September 23, 2026 post says Bee "transcribes the audio in real time and discards it without saving," and that audio is "processed entirely in memory and immediately deleted."

What is kept is the text. Transcripts, summaries and insights are stored, encrypted with what Amazon calls "keys that only your device creates and controls." Amazon's post says "no one, including Amazon, can access your data" unless you choose to share it. These are Amazon's own claims. Bee's page links to a security review by the firm Trail of Bits and a technical white paper, but Amazon's pages don't summarize what the review found.

Where is Bee data processed, and how do you delete it?

In Amazon's cloud, in an isolated system Amazon calls Bee Private Compute. Amazon and Bee say it's built on the AWS Nitro System and its NitroTPM security chip. Before sending anything, the device checks that the server is running approved software, and Bee says the environment is one "that no one, including Amazon and Bee, can access." Neither Amazon's page nor Bee's post names a country or AWS region where the processing happens.

On deletion, Amazon's launch post says: "You can delete your transcripts and summaries at any time." Bee's post adds that users can "delete data, revoke permissions, and maintain complete authority over encryption keys at any time." Neither page says how long deletion takes or what happens to data if you cancel Bee Pro. Signing in with an Amazon account, Bee says, "does not give Amazon access to your private Bee data."

How much is Bee Pro, and what do you get free?

Bee Pro costs $11.99 a month, and Amazon says new customers get 30 days free. Without it, every buyer gets conversation summaries, recaps and 14 days of memory. Bee Pro adds:

• unlimited recent conversation summaries;
• Amazon.com and Alexa+ integrations;
• third-party app integrations;
• suggested to-dos, daily memories and a personal chat assistant;
• conversation templates and the desktop app.

The Next Web reported that existing Bee customers keep their current features free. Amazon's announcement lists only the monthly price, and neither it nor Bee's website gives an annual Bee Pro price.

Last verified: October 27, 2026

Is Amazon Bee available outside the US?

Not as far as Amazon has said. The launch post sells the Frontier "at Amazon.com" and names no countries, and Bee's home page names none either. The Next Web reported on October 15 that the devices are sold only in the US and that neither is on sale in Europe, and noted that in Germany recording another person's private speech is a criminal offence.

Is it legal to record conversations with Amazon Bee?

It depends on the state's law, and Amazon's design leaves asking for consent to the wearer. Amazon says the Eclipse prompts users "to gain permission from call participants each time a recording is started." That is a reminder to you, not a request to the other people. Jeff Williams, a former senior principal security engineer at AWS, said "A prompt instructing the user to obtain permission is a liability allocation," as TechRepublic reported from GeekWire. TechRepublic added that employers may face exposure when workers bring personal AI recorders into meetings and client calls.

Here is what the laws say, from official texts. This isn't legal advice.

Last verified: October 27, 2026

Other states have their own consent rules, which this story doesn't cover. Washington's statute also treats a recorded announcement that the conversation is being recorded as consent.

What are the privacy concerns about Amazon Bee?

Three stand out in the coverage. First, bystanders: people near the wearer have no technical way to refuse, which is Williams's point. Second, visibility: The Next Web, citing Engadget, noted that the Eclipse may look like a battery pack, so its light may not clearly signal recording. Third, trust in Amazon's claims: the privacy design is described by Amazon itself, and the audit it links is the main outside check. Cybernews's October 16 story quoted Reddit users who doubted the devices are worth it, one writing, "Anyone who buys this is a fool."

Bee isn't the first assistant built around an on-device or isolated privacy design. Apple makes similar claims for the camera and microphone data on its HomeView, as our HomeView story describes, and Anthropic's Claude Duet is another assistant built to act before you ask. What's different about Bee is that it records people who never signed up for it.

What's confirmed, reported and uncertain

• Confirmed (Amazon and Bee): the October 15, 2026 announcement; Frontier at $74.99, available at Amazon.com; Eclipse "available soon" from $99.99; Bee Pro at $11.99 a month with 30 days free for new customers; free tier with 14-day memory; "No audio is ever stored"; Bee Private Compute on the AWS Nitro System; device-held encryption keys; deletion of transcripts and summaries at any time; the Eclipse's permission reminder.
• Confirmed (official legal texts): the federal one-party rule and the all-party rules in Washington and Florida.
• Reported: the devices are sold only in the US and neither is sold in Europe, and Pioneer is no longer sold (The Next Web); Williams's and Amazon's comments to GeekWire (via TechRepublic).
• Uncertain: the Eclipse's ship date; whether Amazon will sell Bee outside the US; whether there is an annual Bee Pro plan; which country or AWS region processes Bee data; how long deletion takes.