Here is Plaud Note the credit card-sized AI recorder

So far, manufacturers of artificial intelligence hardware have failed to come up with a solution. Most attempts to design devices dedicated to developing the potential of the AI gen have not gone well. The Humane Pin was a flop, and the Rabbit R1 was a flop. It seems that AI is destined to remain an app to be downloaded on one's mobile phone or personal gadgets. Plaud Note is the first piece of hardware that belies these early signs. It is a voice recorder the size of a credit card. It fits everywhere, you can attach it to your smartphone with a magnet (included), and it's stylish too. It was made by Plaud AI, a technology start-up founded in late 2021, based in San Francisco (USA), which has over a million users. In addition to the Note, it has made a wearable device designed to record and synthesise on the move.

I tried the Plaud Note basically for remembering things and taking voice notes. And during a meeting. While recording we can continue to use the smartphone and this is a big advantage over other apps. Usually when you open an app that records or plays sounds, the recording of the smartphone stops.

Overall, both tests went very well. Plaud Note at the push of a button can use bone conduction technology to capture audio from the device, and is therefore also able to record phone calls. The quality is not always very high but it works.

The device promises 30 hours of recording time and the battery lasts between 40 and 60 days. I actually never had to recharge it. The 'dictation' went well. After a while you start to get used to writing by talking, and for someone who is a journalist by trade, that is not bad at all. I then recorded the meeting with Plaud Note and it provided me with an accurate transcript of everything that was discussed. Currently priced at EUR 169.90. There is a free starter plan, at no cost. The free Starter plan offers 300 minutes of transcription per month, support for 112 languages. You can also subscribe to an annual subscription plan (EUR 110.99 per year for the Pro one, EUR 249.99 for the unlimited one, but there are bundles to lower the cost).

What's wrong? Transcription is slow, native integration with Zoom, Teams or Google Meet is lacking, and the price is high. Overall, it is undoubtedly a very good digital recorder with artificial intelligence and, if you work with words, it is right for you. It was born as a working tool. In other cases there are the transcripts you can get with Apple Intelligence in the Cupertino devices, or the Google Recorder app on the Pixel, which works really well in both the Pixel phones and the Pixel Watch. You can also get similar functionality from many other apps. The question is therefore: who really needs a dedicated voice recorder?