The folks at Plaud sent us the Plaud Note and Plaud NotePin for a quick hands-on review—and after testing both, we’re pretty impressed. These compact recorders are designed to capture meetings, interviews, and personal notes with crisp, clear audio, and they automatically transcribe everything for you.
We recently used the Plaud NotePin during an AGM for our kids’ local baseball team, and it turned out to be a lifesaver for taking minutes at our table. You simply press and hold to record, get a little haptic feedback, and a red LED confirms it’s rolling. The audio came through crystal clear, and the transcription was pretty accurate (you also have your audio as a backup to listen again of course). It was nice to be able to name speakers and then we could send out the transcription after and also send an AI generated summary.
The Plaud Note itself looks sleek and includes a MagSafe-compatible leather case, so you can stick it to the back of your iPhone—handy when recording calls or meetings on the go. It’s especially handy if you want to record your call with your doctor to have an accurate record.
The leather case has cutouts for the proprietary wireless charging cable (so don’t lose it). Inside, it packs a dual recording system that handles both ambient sound and direct phone audio. When attached to the back of your iPhone, it can hear and record your calls even when it’s not on speakerphone.
After recording, you transfer files to the Plaud smartphone app or connect to the Plaud Wi-Fi network for faster uploads. From there, you can transcribe, label speakers, and even generate AI summaries—powered by the latest AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-5, Claude 4.0, and Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro. It supports 112 languages and can automatically create meeting minutes, summaries, and to-do lists. There’s also a web interface if you prefer to manage recordings on your computer, which we preferred.
Privacy is taken seriously, with local encryption and cloud files processed only with your authorization. Every user gets 300 free transcription minutes per month, with paid upgrades available for heavier use. So that’s where the extra money is made on subscriptions for paid upgrades.
The Plaud Note Pin is Wearable and Discreet
As for the Plaud NotePin, it offers the same recording and AI features but in a smaller, more discreet form factor. You can clip it to your shirt or wear it using the included magnetic pin or necklace option. It’s incredibly light (just 0.59 oz), records for up to 20 hours, and even works with Apple Find My—which is incredibly helpful since this thing is pretty tiny and easy to lose like AirPods.
Both devices offer 64 GB of storage, crystal-clear MEMS mics, and decent battery life. The Plaud Note runs about 30 hours per charge, while the NotePin lasts around 20 hours.
Each sells for $219 CAD, which is definitely on the high side for personal use, but businesses may jump on these to make taking meeting notes more efficient. You could also use voice memos from your iPhone, but the Plaud interface adds convenience for afterwards with your recordings. Nobody wants to see an iPhone shoved in front of their face at a meeting. If you’re constantly in meetings for work or school, interviews, or brainstorming sessions, the Plaud Note and NotePin can seriously cut down your note taking time—and you’ll never miss a detail again.
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