A company called Friend has re-launched its AI wearable pendant at $249, adding a built-in speaker so the device can talk back to you, an always-on microphone, and updated AI software for generating responses. The device went on sale in late July 2026, with the announcement posted on X via the company's @friend account Engadget.

The original Friend pendant cost $129 and could only respond by sending push notifications to a companion app on your phone. The new version puts the voice directly on the device, so you no longer need to look at your phone to get a response. Both versions use an always-on microphone as their main way of listening Engadget.

You have to pay $10 a month if you want the pendant to remember things beyond 30 days. Without the subscription, it forgets your conversations and interaction history after one month. This memory limit was confirmed by both Engadget and Wired in their July 30 reporting Wired.

Friend's website, operated by Friend Global, Inc., describes the device as a "wearable companion" with a randomized personality and voice. That means each unit comes with its own distinct character rather than the same assistant identity for everyone. The homepage also features a "Buy Chat App" link, suggesting there is a software product alongside the hardware friend.com.

Avi Schiffmann, the founder of Friend, previously paid $1.8 million for the Friend.com domain Wired. The original pendant attracted criticism for its advertising campaign on the New York City subway, which The Verge noted in its coverage of the re-launch The Verge. TechCrunch, Wired, and The Verge all confirmed the late-July 2026 re-launch and that the device is available for purchase TechCrunch.

The price jump from $129 to $249 nearly doubles the entry cost. Add the $10 monthly subscription for long-term memory, and the effective first-year cost comes to $369. The new version adds a speaker, updated AI models, and on-device voice output as the main hardware reasons for the higher price.

The broader context here is privacy and social norms. An always-on microphone on a wearable pendant, combined with a randomized AI personality that can talk out loud in public spaces, raises questions that this type of product has not yet resolved. The original pendant's subway ad campaign already drew criticism, and a device that can speak aloud in shared environments makes those questions louder, not quieter. The randomized personality means you cannot predict the tone or demeanor of the companion you receive, which makes it hard to know what to expect in social settings.

The memory subscription is also worth noting as a business choice. Limiting free memory to 30 days means the device gradually loses its usefulness as a companion unless you keep paying. This is a common pattern in software pricing, but applying it to a wearable that already costs $249 sets a high total cost for a product whose first version already faced public pushback.

The wider backdrop is the AI-wearable category itself. Friend is one of several companies trying to build a hardware niche for ambient AI interaction, alongside devices like the Humane Ai Pin and Rabbit R1, both of which launched to mixed reception. These products have shared a pattern: ambitious concepts met with uneven execution on battery life, response speed, and practical usefulness. Friend's built-in speaker fixes one specific limitation of the original design, but the bigger question is whether consumers want a dedicated AI companion device at all, rather than using the voice assistants already built into their phones and watches.

What the new pendant does enable is a more complete, self-contained experience. With the speaker, updated models, and verbal responses, the pendant no longer needs a phone screen to do its main job. Whether that independence justifies the higher price and the subscription commitment is a question the market will answer over the coming months.