I have been loosely tracking the Plaud.Ai products from a distance, and when the opportunity to try them out cross my desk, it was a no brainer. Plaud.Ai calls them AI note takers, but after using it in a live-fire situation, I think that is an understatement.
Plaud was kind enough to send me both the Plaud Note Pro and Plaud NotePin S.
Plaud Note Pro vs NotePin S: Which AI Recorder Is Right for You?
| Feature | NotePin S | Note Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | Wearable pin/clip/lanyard | Credit-card style recorder |
| Best for | In-person conversations, walking meetings, capturing ideas on the go | Meetings, interviews, conference rooms, desk work |
| Battery | ~20 hours recording | ~50 hours recording |
| Weight | ~17g | ~30g |
| Microphones | Compact wearable array | Larger multi-mic system for stronger room capture |
| Phone call recording | Not its primary purpose | Better suited for calls and formal recordings |
| Recording control | Physical button on device | Physical controls plus display/highlight features |
In simple terms, the NotePin S is like a personal recorder. The Note Pro, is better for a meeting with a committee. By committee I refer to any number over one.
Plaud Hardware Design and Daily Use
One thing I must point out is how comprehensive the Plaud hardware inclusions are.
The NotePin S serves as as personal microphone, but the size of a small river stone – with rounded edges and a minimalist design. There just a single button on the front that activates it.
Plaud has included numerous ways to wear the NotePin S. The core unit has a magnetic back, which allows it to be worn as a pin with a magnetic back. Alternatively, you can pair it with the included magnetic clip which can be attached to your clothes.
If that is not your style, you could wear it with the included lanyard. Or lastly, with a wristband in the style of a watch – also included in the packet.
My review unit is in a metallic mauve colourway, and it is actually quite gorgeous.
At roughly 17 grams, it isn’t really noticeable when worn. I wore it on a thinner shirt and it does not tug at the fabric.
The Note Pro, is quite literally credit card sized in height and width. The thickness is about the same as three credit cards stacked together.
Plaud includes a MagSafe compatible leathersque pouch to store it in. And if you case or phone does not support MagSafe, a magnetic ring is also included.
The Note Pro has a single button, when triggered gives you the battery remaining. During recordings, the button also functions to allow you to mark key moments for the AI to summarise later.
Real-World Testing: How Plaud Performed Under Pressure
It just so happened when the Plaud units landed on my desk, that I had the need to use them. A family emergency under time and medical pressure. The narratives were confusing, inconsistent, and changing over time.
That particular week I had about 17 hours of sleep in total. At least I had the presence of mind to record everything so I can go back and make sense of it. Decades working in business continuity made sure I march to a certain drum beat under pressure.
What does this have to do with Plaud?
Everything.
The Plaud hardware is just one piece of the equation. The other part is the Plaud app.
This meant with the situation I found myself in rapidly changing and evolving, I did not always have the opportunity to have my Plaud hardware in position. With the number of moving pieces, I did not have enough hardware to go around anyway.
We grab audio recordings of every conversation going on just so we have records to work with.
And this is where Plaud quietly became my most valuable ally in this ordeal.
The Plaud app is far more than just a companion recorder app. It is the conduit to an AI-powered workspace for turning recordings into searchable notes and action items.
Yes at the heart is a sound recorder. It syncs recordings from PLAUD devices – in my case the Note Pro and NotePin S.
It creates a searchable recording library, and provides the ability to organise recordings into folders or projects.
It then can perform speech-to-text transcription, with support for multiple languages. More usefully it can identify speakers, deliver time-stamped transcripts which can be editable for further use after.
Further, the app can automatically generate:
- summaries
- key takeaways
- action items
- to-do lists
- follow-up tasks
- executive summaries
- interview summaries
This made it absolutely indispensable for me in the days and weeks of pulling this situation apart, was the ability to upload recordings not captured by the Plaud hardware. That means conversations captured by other people, on different phones, can all be sent through to the Plaud app so I can get a helicopter view of disparate, contradictory information and work my way through the threads.
The important part was that I did not have to sift through hours of audio, searching back and forth for the snippets I remember, chasing the clue.
I could search the transcript, or more often, read the AI summaries to quickly wrap my head around a conversation that I wasn’t present for, or had not given the attention it required at the time.
Beyond that, I can ask questions, request analysis of the conversation and how it may have lead to a certain outcome or conflict.
The search works with
- Keywords
- Topics
- Names
- Projects
- Decisions
- Tasks
Additionally, you can interact with the recordings using natural language. I won’t reveal the questions I asked as it would give too much private details away. But it works with questions such as:
- “What decisions were made?”
- “What action items were assigned to me?”
- “How did Person 1’s interaction influence the trajectory?”
- “Summarise this into an execution summary.”
- “Create a draft summary email from this recording.”
In brief, the Plaud app provides a complete workflow.
- Record a meeting
- Recording syncs to the app.
- AI transcribes the conversation.
- AI generates:
- Summary
- Decisions
- Action items
- Follow-up tasks
- Search or chat with the transcript later.
And at the end, you can export:
- Transcript (TXT, DOCX, PDF)
- Summary
- Meeting notes
- Action-item lists
- Audio files
- Mindmaps
This is the really powerful part of the Plaud solution. The end to end, from the capturing of the raw data to the digestible action points and summaries.
The AI process in my testing, was excellent at separating speakers and transcribing what was said. It was almost shockingly good at summaries and giving me an overview of every conversation, the key information, even for technical information that is not in the ordinary course of conversation.
Plaud AI Features and Templates Explained
Included in the Plaud ecosystem is a powerful tool – AI Templates.
Think of it as GPTs or Gems (depending which AI system you use), where you have painstakingly taught the GPTs how to process the information you have provided it. Such as what lens to view the information as – such as tech journalist, salesman, HR, Project Manager.
Plaud has some preset AI templates to handle that. So whilst the raw recording is the same, the outcome is weighted against your exact needs.
A generic summary might give you discussion topics, key point and action items.
The same conversation put through a sales lens can focus on budgets, customer pain points, objections and next steps.
A project manager’s lens can detail decisions made, risk profiles, resource assignments and outstanding questions.
PLAUD includes templates tailored for:
- Business meetings
- Sales calls
- Client consultations
- Interviews
- Brainstorming sessions
- Lectures/classes
- Medical consultations (where permitted)
- Personal voice memos
But Plaud doesn’t stop there. You can also create your own custom template to apply to future recordings, and depending on your level of subscription, you can publish and share your templates with the community.
You can also choose from a list of AI models that would best suit your needs.
Last but not least, photo to template is a clever inclusion. Plaud allows you to upload a photo of an existing meeting minutes format, or worksheet, or any other note structure to create a template for.
Plaud Subscription Plans and AI Usage Limits
Yes there is a subscription component, and understandably so.
Recording is unlimited on the Plaud hardware itself. So the subscription component does not apply to it.
With every Plaud device, they have included a Starter Plan which provides 300 minutes of AI transcription and summarisation per month.
So in actual use, you can record twenty hours of meetings, but only transcribe five hours which will max out the Starter Plan. You don’t lose your existing recordings, or ability to record more, just the ability to transcribe until the quota resets.
You can upgrade your plan from Start to Pro (1200 minutes per month), or Unlimited (subject to fair-use limits.)
Privacy, Security and Data Sovereignty Considerations
Readers of DRN would know this is a topic that is never far from my mind. The Plaud app does not do the AI transcript locally, it is sent into the cloud for that.
I reached out to Plaud to get some specific answers on where the information is processed, and also of storage of the information. All of this information is also made publicly available by Plaud. I will note that Plaud has obtained multiple internationally recognized data privacy and compliance reports and certifications, including: ISO 27001, ISO 27701, HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, and EN 18031.
Data is stored in multi-region cloud-based virtual space provided by AWS.
By default, recordings are only stored on the Plaud device and the associated Plaud APP. It is deleted from the device after transfer to mobile.
When transcribing and summarising, recordings is uploaded to servers for processing, with the entire transmission process is encrypted, and user information is anonymised. Once the transcription is complete, data is only retained if the Private Cloud Sync feature is enabled.
There is no biometrics profiles created for transcriptions, speakers are manually labelled by the users. If Cloud Sync is enabled, the service will attempt to label speakers across recordings after user confirms opt-in.
And Plaud has stated that they do not train on users’ data by default. There is an opt-in option available that users must enable for that to happen.
Does this meet your or your organisation’s security posture? Well I am not a lawyer and you should option legal advice on that.
I have included links above to the Plaud Privacy Security page from their UK website, and the Trust Center from the Australian website.
The reality is that Plaud AI is a cloud service, and to leverage all the best features will require your data to be transmitted to AWS.
Areas for Improvement
This is unlikely to affect the majority of people, but if you have multiple Plaud devices connected to your phone, make sure that the “right one” is connected in the app before you start recording.
I noticed this when I was testing the Note Pro whilst writing this review, and did not realise it was recording on the NotePin S, which I had put back in the box for safe keeping.
Plaud Note Pro and NotePin S Review: Final Verdict
It is a bit of a shame that I have to heavily redact results of the conversations that Plaud helped me process, but it was immensely helpful in crunching down hours of many conversations into something that I could quickly read and know exactly where I need to find more details.
The AI transcription and action summaries helped lay out clear action points across multiple people, based on actual conversations and discussions we had clearly.
Beyond that, the Plaud ecosystem is a powerful tool – as their tagline says, “Turn Conversations Into Intelligence.” After the impromptu deep dive I have had, it is less of a recorder and more of a personalised AI analyst. It has certainly saved me from days of work.
Can it be done outside of Plaud and the hardware? Yes. You can do it with some subscriptions or self hosted LLM and some instructions. The argument for self hosting is for privacy. But for everyone else, this is a powerful and convenient solution.
The Plaud Note Pro has RRP A$309 (Plaud website, Amazon), available in Black and Silver. The NotePin S has RRP A$299 (Plaud website, Amazon), available in Black, Silver and Purple.
Until 22 June 2026, there are EOFY deals to be had up to 25% off.
If your work life is dominated by work meetings (like mine is), the Plaud ecosystem something you should explore.
DRN would like to thank Plaud for providing the review units, and a taster of the unlimited subscription.
The Plaud ecosystem delivered substantial real-world value under pressure, and I am giving it a DRN Pulse Award. Congratulations Plaud!
