Plaude Note is the best voice recorder on the market
The Plaud Note is a hard disk recorder that transcribes recorded conversations, meetings or presentations and summarises them using artificial intelligence. But how well does it work in everyday life?
A dictation machine that not only records conversations, but also transcribes and summarises everything? Sounds like a dream for anyone who wants to save themselves the trouble of taking notes. The Plaud Note AI recorder promises exactly that: meetings, interviews, lectures or even phone calls should automatically turn into readable transcripts.
But how good does it work in practice? Does the AI really recognise every speaker? And what happens when a conversation’s held in Swiss German?
AI Recorder – how does it work?
Plaud Note is the size of a credit card and only 0.3 centimetres thick – that’s about three credit cards on top of each other. The metal casing is reminiscent of a hard disk or a power bank. Despite this, the gadget weighs just 30 grammes.
Source: Lorenz Keller
The recorder has a 64 GB memory and built-in microphones. You can record by pressing a button and select the mode with the slider. You can either record calls and conversations made on your phone or the microphone can record the surroundings.
The battery should last about 30 hours. It’s charged via a plug that’s magnetically attached to the Plaud Note with four pins. A pity that the manufacturer relies on a proprietary solution, but this is probably due to the thin design.
Ideal for quick use
Because the device is so small, light and easy to use, it’s quick and uncomplicated to make recordings. If I press «Record», the entire environment is captured and speech is filtered out, regardless of whether it comes through a loudspeaker or someone is speaking directly in the room.
Calls can also be recorded on your own phone – whether iPhone or Android. You can also attach Plaud Note magnetically to your phone using the leather case supplied. With Apple, this works with MagSafe – the magnetic technology from Apple for the iPhone. You can now also get matching Magsafe covers for Android phones, or you can attach the magnetic metal ring (also included) to your phone or case.
Source: Lorenz Keller
Note, you don’t have to turn up your phone’s loudspeakers; the normal phone volume is sufficient. Plaud uses bone conduction technology: sound isn’t transmitted via the air, but via vibrations on the recording device itself. This basically works in tandem with all phones and all apps – regardless of whether you’re answering a call, making a call via WhatsApp or even listening to a podcast.
Another hack is to place the device on one ear under over-ear headphones. I used this, for example, to record the sound of video calls that I didn’t want to play over loudspeakers.
App, but not always a subscription
To analyse the recordings, you access them via the Plaud app on your phone after you’ve connected the device via Bluetooth. The data’s also uploaded directly to the cloud, where it’s transcribed. There are various options here. In addition to the automatic version, you can also help the AI model by specifying what kind of conversation was recorded – a meeting, discussion or an interview, for example. You can also create a summary at the touch of a button.
This all takes some time, about as long as the recording took. If you’ve recorded 30 minutes, the analysis will also take around 30 minutes.
300 minutes of transcription per month are included. If you need more, you have to sign up for a subscription. For 6.60 francs or euros per month or 80 francs or euros per year, you’ll have 1200 minutes per month. Another feature included is the AI-Powered Overview, which both summarises a conversation and highlights the most important points. Various templates for formatting transcripts are also available.
If you need even more time, you can buy unlimited access to the service for 20 francs or euros a month or 250 francs a year.
Source: Lorenz Keller
Here’s what Plaud delivers in the app
After processing, the basic subscription allows you to access the following in the app:
– Audio and transcription: you can listen to a recording and read the transcription of the content. It works in real time. In other words, you can always immediately see what’s been transcribed. It also recognises different speakers and lists them separately.
- Summary: A structured overview with subtitles created by the AI and the most important points for all areas. There’s also an area with tasks and measures that have been decided or are to be completed. You can tick these off step by step in the app. Last but not least, the artificial intelligence also suggests topics that haven’t been addressed and suggests questions that remain unanswered.
- Mind Map: The topics are also displayed graphically into a diagram.
You can edit all files except the mind map directly in the app. Plus, you can correct the names of the various speakers identified by the AI.
You have various options for exporting data and files – either as a link or each area separately as a file. For example, you can export the transcript in TXT, SRT, DOCX or PDF format.
Source: Lorenz Keller
Test 1: podcast over the phone
First, I record an NZZ-Akzent podcast about adolescent psychiatry directly over the phone. So I use the Plaud’s «Call» mode and attach the recorder magnetically to the back of my iPhone in the leather case supplied.
I start the podcast at the lowest volume and place the iPhone on the table. For comparison, I hold the phone directly to my ear as if I were making a phone call. This doesn’t make a difference to the recording quality – both times it’s miserable. The problem is also that every touch of the device, slight movement on the table and even ambient conversations are recorded.
Surprisingly, the transcription is pretty accurate. The speaker and the narrator, both in High German with a slight Swiss accent, are well differentiated. Despite rustling and background noise, the transcription is around 90 per cent accurate. But I also sometimes discover some funny mistakes: instead of «Schulzimmer» (classroom) it says «Schuhzimmer» (shoe room). Sometimes, for no reason, it misses half sentences although they’re actually easy to understand.
Source: Lorenz Keller
I take a look at the summary – and am surprised at how good it is. The most important points such as the function of the acute ward, the role of therapists and psychologists, but also the two case studies are noted with brief descriptions. The structure and overview are much better than in the podcast itself.
Test 2: Keynote in Italian
Plaud Note had to overcome two challenges in the next test. I recorded the keynote for the launch of the Realme GT 7 Pro. I simply put the recorder in my shirt pocket and let it run. The additional challenge (for me too) was that the presentation was in Italian.
Despite the large room with 150 journalists and influencers, the recording quality is surprisingly good. It’s important to set the correct language before transcription. The audio quality produces impressive results – as far as I can judge with my limited knowledge of Italian.
It’s a pity that Plaud understands 112 languages but doesn’t support translation into other languages, although the AI model used by Chat-GPT could easily do this. So, I export the text and then let Chat-GPT translate it. That way I can understand all the details.
Source: Lorenz Keller
If you’re not satisfied, you can restart the transcription at any time, for example with a different template setting. However, this will use up your minutes again.
I used it here because the AI assigned the audio recording to a lecture and then the summary was too strongly focused on theses and background information. Switching to the «Speech Note» template makes the summary much more useful because more facts and figures are compiled – for example, all the technical data of the smartphone.
Source: Lorenz Keller
Test 3: triple difficulty
In the final attempt, I give Plaud Note three obstacles to overcome. The first is that I’m recording a wild discussion, second it’s in Swiss German, and third I have to somehow connect the recorder to Teams on my computer.
The third challenge I’m able to solve on a practical level. I’d only be able to record directly from the computer if I were to play the entire call over the loudspeaker. Alternatively, I could record the audio directly via the MacBook and import it into the app afterwards or upload it via the interface in the web browser.
Instead, I decide to simply clip the recorder under the right ear cup of my over-ear headphones. It’s not even uncomfortable and the recording is excellent. Plaud doesn’t have any problems coping with the different volumes – as soon as it’s my turn to speak, the recording is naturally much louder.
Swiss German isn’t officially supported. But with the German language setting, the transcription is actually able to follow without any issues. In the details, however, I find many errors: «Ratgeber» pronounced in Basel German becomes «Rotgeber» in the transcription, for example, and «Sammelartikel» becomes «Sammelabwickler». In addition, the AI can hardly distinguish between individual speakers.
I also have mixed feelings about the summary. The AI recognises some of the topics correctly, others not at all. For example, we discussed whether we wanted to report on an iPhone update – but Plaud interprets this to mean that we’re discussing the need for updates in general. If I was using it for note-taking, I’d have to thoroughly revise the summary.
In a nutshell
Outstanding, but also has its limits
The Plaud Note AI recorder is a modern dictation machine: it records spoken language, transcribes it and even provides a summary. A huge advantage is how uncomplicated and easy it works – also because the recording device and app harmonise perfectly with each other.
Recordings and transcriptions are of good quality, even in difficult cases. In my tests, the summary only provided useful results in two out of three cases. It’s important to always keep in mind that it uses normal microphones to make the recordings, which can be disturbed by background noise or when handling the recorder.
If 300 minutes of transcription per month is enough for you, you can get by without any additional costs. Otherwise you’ll have to pay for a subscription, which isn’t cheap.
Pro
- Stylish recording device
- Perfect integration of app and recorder
- Good transcription quality
- Simple operation, neat app
- Many export options
Contra
- No integrated translation into other languages
- Subscription required if recording more than 300 minutes
- Premium price
Header image: Lorenz Keller
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Lorenz Keller
Senior Editor
Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.chGadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.
