PLAUD NOTE review – ChatGPT empowered AI voice recorder

CROWDFUNDING REVIEW – Voice recorders aren’t the sexiest gadgets on the market, but that changes today with the PLAUD NOTE which is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.  This sleek recorder not only records phone calls and meetings, but it transcribes them into text and uses ChatGPT to summarize the notes. Let’s take it for a spin.

What is it?

PLAUD NOTE is a voice recorder for iPhones or Android phones that records calls, and meetings and then uses ChatGPT to summarize the transcribed recordings into text.

What’s in the box?

• PLAUD NOTE voice recorder
• MagSafe case
• Magnetic ring
• USB Charging and data transfer cable

Hardware specs

64GB of memory that can record up to 480 hours
2 Knowles Sisonic™️ mics
30hrs of recording per charge / 2 months standby / 2 hour charge time
Dimensions: 3.37 x 2.13 x 0.117 inches
Weight: 30g

Design and features

The PLAUD NOTE has a sleek design with a credit card-sized thin metal case and two control buttons at the top.

You can see the 2 microphones along the top edge of the recorder.

The back has a magnetic charging port at the bottom.

Included with the PLAUD NOTE is a MagSafe case that securely connects to the back of an iPhone.

If your phone doesn’t have MagSafe, you can use the included metal ring sticker on the back of your phone.

Before you can start recording calls and meetings, you have to charge the PLAUD NOTE. You can charge in or out of the MagSafe case which is really convenient. While it’s charging, a small LED glows pink and when the device is fully charged, it turns green.

Using the PLAUD NOTE is very easy. There is a switch that toggles between call recording mode and normal recording mode. The device features three microphones, two of which are air-conduction sensors that pick up surrounding sounds, while the third is a vibration-conduction sensor that picks up internal phone sounds when activated.

There’s also a button next to the switch that starts and stops recordings. You just long-press the button to start the recording and long-press again to stop recording. When you start a recording, the PLAUD NOTE vibrates once and when you stop the recording it vibrates twice.

The PLAUD NOTE app

To play back and transcribe the recordings, you will need to use the PLAUD NOTE app which connects to the device and automatically syncs any new recordings that have been made since you last launched the app. The app will also automatically transcribe to text and let you choose from several ChatGPT summary styles.

Hear it in action

Quick test of the normal recording mode:

Phone call recording test:

Then I decided to record the audio from my latest Gadgeteer video podcast while it played.

After the recording synced to my iPhone, it automatically was transcribed and it did an almost perfect job.

The ChatGPT summary options include a diary style summary, meeting notes summary, class note style summary, and a mind map. It’s annoying that for each of the summaries, it referred to the speaker as “he”.

Since I retired from my corporate IT job, I don’t have much of an opportunity to record meetings any longer, so I don’t know how much the ChatGPT features would benefit me personally, but I can see how they would be useful.

There is one gotcha with the PLAUD NOTE and that’s the fact that you have to pay for the transcription and AI features. They give you a break for the first year and will just charge $39. But after the first year, the price jumps to $9.90 a month. If you opt out of paying for the extra features, the app will still let you playback and store the audio files for free.

What I like

• Sleek design
• Easy to use interface
• Voice to text transcription
• ChatGPT summaries

What I’d change

• Include a full year of the AI membership with the purchase

Final thoughts

I have no problem saying that the PLAUD NOTE is the best voice recorder that I’ve ever reviewed. It’s simple to use and the voice transcription and ChatGPT summary features in the app are great. As long as you don’t mind paying for those extra features, this little recorder could become a great productivity tool.

Price: $89.00
Where to buy: Plaud
Source: The sample for this review was provided by iZYREC.