Amazon is expanding its Bee line with two devices that listen to daily conversations and turn them into summaries, transcripts, insights and to-dos. The Bee Frontier is available now, while the phone-attaching Bee Eclipse is described as coming soon. The new products also arrive alongside a subscription that connects Bee’s conversation tools with Amazon shopping and Alexa Plus.
Two devices, two ways to carry Bee
The $74.99 Bee Frontier is an updated version of the original Bee device. It can be worn on the wrist like a Fitbit-style band or attached as a pin. Amazon has made its recording button more prominent, and the device is available in black, green and lavender.
The Frontier has dual microphones, a recording indicator light, roughly seven days of battery life on a single charge and an IP67 water resistance rating. Those features keep the product focused on wearable use, where users can carry it through the day and refer to conversation recaps later.
The $99.99 Bee Eclipse takes a different approach. It is credit-card-shaped and attaches magnetically to the back of a smartphone. Amazon presents it as a non-wearable option intended for more professional use cases. Its larger size allows a bigger battery, with 21 days of use on a single charge. It also has a recording indicator light.
Conversation notes and connected services
Both devices are designed to capture the substance of conversations so users can revisit what was discussed. Bee can produce summaries and transcripts, highlight insights, and create to-dos based on the day’s conversations. The idea is to let people stay engaged in the moment while the device keeps track of details they may want later.
Bee can connect with services including Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple HealthKit and photos. With those integrations, its AI can take actions such as drafting emails or sending calendar invites based on conversations. The devices can therefore work as more than listening tools: depending on the connected services and subscription, they can help turn something said into a follow-up.
Amazon says the devices can be used for free. The free tier includes conversation summaries, recaps and 14 days of memory. Bee Pro costs $11.99 a month and adds “unlimited” summaries, suggested to-dos, daily memories, a personal chat assistant, conversation templates, third-party app integrations and a desktop app.
Shopping and Alexa features are optional
The headline addition for Bee Pro is compatibility with Amazon and Alexa Plus. Amazon’s shopping integration is opt-in. If enabled, Bee can use a conversation to surface a shopping suggestion: for example, a request to buy cat litter could lead to a product card on the user’s Amazon homepage or an Amazon button in the Bee mobile app.
Alexa Plus integration is meant to provide hands-free access to Bee summaries and insights. Together, these connections make the subscription the route to using Bee conversations across Amazon’s services. People considering the devices will need to weigh those added conveniences against the ongoing monthly cost and their comfort with linking conversation-derived information to shopping.
Recording and privacy questions remain
Amazon told The Verge during a press briefing that Bee devices encrypt transcripts, summaries and to-dos through its “Private Compute” security architecture, and do not store audio recordings. Users can also program a device to stop recording automatically if it detects no sound after a certain period.
Speaker identification is limited. During setup, Bee’s AI is trained on the individual user’s voice. Other speakers are not identified automatically unless they also allow Bee’s AI to train on their voice. These details describe how the company says the system handles recordings and transcripts, but they may not resolve every user’s concerns about a device that listens to conversations.
The Bee Frontier is available now for $74.99. The Bee Eclipse is listed as “coming soon” for $99.99, in black, pink, yellow and silver. For both, the practical choice is between a wearable or phone-mounted form and between basic conversation recaps or a paid tier that adds integrations, shopping suggestions and Alexa Plus access.