Plaud Launches Note Pro: A New Era in AI-Powered Note-Taking Devices

Plaud launches a new AI hardware notetaker, the $179 Note Pro | TechCrunch

Hardware company Plaud.ai has released its new physical notetaker, the Plaud AI Pro, on Wednesday. The notetaker, priced at $179, comes two years after the original Plaud Note was released, and a year after the company released an AI Pin. For people who haven't seen one, the Plaud Note is a credit-card-sized hardware notetaker, which can stick on the back of your phone and help you take notes for calls or in-person meetings. The Note Pro looks similar to the original Note, but there's one major difference. The new device has a small 0.95-inch AMOLED screen, which shows information like a recording indicator and battery level. The Note Pro offers a 30-hour recording capacity for the standard range. But you can push the device to record for 50 hours with a shorter range of 9.8 feet (nearly 3 meters) on a single charge. The company said that the Note Pro has four MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) mics, compared with two on the last-gen device, to better capture audio. Because of this, the Note Pro can capture audio within the range of 16.4 feet (nearly 5 meters), resulting in a 2x jump in range from the original Note Pro. The startup said users will get better noise suppression and speaker detection with the new device, as well. While you had to manually switch between calls and in-person recording on the original Note, the Note Pro uses an auto-detection feature for this. Plaud.ai is also updating its companion app with new features. You can take notes in text on your phone -- just like Granola -- and add images, like slides. The app update also offers "multidimensional summaries," which allow you to extract insights in different formats, such as key insights or data items. The company built templates for summary generation, and the app can automatically suggest the right one based on your role. Plus, you can build your own templates. Another new feature, still in beta, allows you to query your notes. The Plaud Note Pro is priced at $179 / £169, and users can pre-order the device starting today, with shipping slated for October 2025. The company said people pre-ordering the device will get 600 complimentary transcription minutes along with a magnetic case. Users can get 300 minutes of monthly transcription for free, and if they want more, they would need to buy a paid monthly plan or a one-time top-up. Plaud is one of the companies that has been successfully chugging along when other AI device makers haven't had a lot of popularity. Exor-backed Bee got acquired by Amazon, and Friend just started shipping after a few delays. Plaud said that it has shipped over a million units of its AI hardware notetakers, with nearly 50% users upgrading to the Pro plan.

Standalone AI Devices Are Back, Baby. The Note-Taking Plaud Note Pro Proves It

Katie is a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand. There was a moment around 18 months ago when it felt like AI had unlocked an entirely new consumer technology category. The wearable Humane Pin and handheld Rabbit R1 were small, standalone devices that promised to be your AI personal assistants and threatened to be smartphone killers. But almost as soon as the hype around them peaked, it died down again. The devices that hit the market during that initial wave of excitement overpromised and underdelivered, and today we remain just as reliant on our phones as ever. Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source on Chrome. The tech industry hasn't completely discarded the idea of standalone AI devices, which combine the power of sensors and large language models. Former Apple design visionary Jony Ive and OpenAI are working on their own AI-centric "screenless phone" concept. Meanwhile, smaller tech companies are also building interesting devices of their own -- and making surprising successes of them. I was recently introduced to Plaud AI, which has already sold over a million AI note-taking devices, and just unveiled its latest product, the Note Pro. This credit card-sized slice of tech perches on the table next to you and slides into a slim case on the rear of your phone for easy transportation. Its five microphones can capture audio up to 5 meters away, and 2 hours of charging will give you 50 hours of continuous recording time. This third device from Plaud is an update to its original tabletop note-taking device (it also sells a wearable note taker) and comes with more powerful recording capabilities, along with a clutch of new features. First is the small AMOLED display along the top edge, which will display the recording status and battery life. The second notable adjustment is that the power button can also be pressed to highlight key parts of a conversation in real time. The Note Pro has 64GB of built-in storage, but the core of its intelligence is in the companion smartphone app, which parses all the material the device captures, hopefully into something genuinely useful, intelligible and actionable. Plaud Intelligence relies on LLMs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, and is multimodal -- meaning you can add in pictures and text, which it can analyze as a whole. As with Plaud's previous products, the Note Pro is designed for use in professional contexts and provides access to over 2,000 templates, including those designed for people working in specific fields -- medical or legal, for example. As a journalist, I need to record many of my conversations and meetings, so I'll be interested to see if Plaud can offer anything above and beyond Otter, which I usually rely on. That brings me to the big question hanging over the Note Pro, which is why would I carry a separate device to record my meetings when my phone is more than capable? It's a question I'll attempt to answer as I test the device out in the coming week. Plaud CEO Nathan Xu laid out his vision for the Note Pro in a briefing, explaining why he thinks people would want to carry one themselves. Xu said that he sees "lots of beauty in human intelligence," but that he wants to help humans overcome our shortcomings -- our limited memory span, tendency to get distracted and our inconsistent energy levels, are examples he gives. By applying the power of an LLM to our daily lives, AI can help pick up the slack, he said. Yes, you could use an app on your phone to record a meeting and run it through AI, or rely on the AI tools built into Google Meet or Zoom, but they're often captured in isolation. Instead, Plaud is with you all the time, filling in the gaps between those meetings, capturing nuggets from every conversation -- including the face-to-face ones, which are often overlooked - and understanding them in the context of your entire day. "Conversation is a form of intelligence -- it's where the ideas begin, the decisions are made and the meanings are shared," Xu said. "So we exist to help people to capture, extract and utilize intelligence." There are other questions I still have about the Note Pro, largely based around privacy. Xu says Plaud's privacy protections are "best in class," which it will need to be if it's capturing confidential and sensitive medical, legal or corporate discussions. Some doctors I've spoken to are already wary of using AI transcription services due to potential breaches of doctor-patient confidentiality, and many corporate environments may be resistant to people using these devices in the workplace. A lesser, but still significant concern is how long it will take for me to lose the proprietary charging cable. The Note Pro is slimmer than a USB-C connector, so it's clear why having its own charging connector is necessary, but it may prove tricky to keep tabs on. I'll be updating this piece with my impressions as I get to grips with using the Note Pro, but if you just can't wait for that, it is available for preorder now for $179 (£169 or roughly AU$350) and will ship at some point in October.

Standalone AI Devices Are Back, Baby. The Note-Taking Plaud Note 3 Proves It

Katie is a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand. There was a moment around 18 months ago when it felt like AI had unlocked an entirely new consumer technology category. The wearable Humane Pin and handheld Rabbit R1 were small, standalone devices that promised to be your AI personal assistants and threatened to be smartphone killers. But almost as soon as the hype around them peaked, it died down again. The devices that hit the market during that initial wave of excitement overpromised and underdelivered, and today we remain just as reliant on our phones as ever. But the tech industry hasn't completely discarded the idea of standalone AI devices, which combine the power of sensors and large language models. Former Apple design visionary Jony Ive and OpenAI are working on their own AI-centric "screenless phone" concept. Meanwhile, smaller tech companies are also building interesting devices of their own -- and making surprising successes of them. I was recently introduced to Plaud AI, which has already sold over a million AI note-taking devices, and just unveiled its latest product, the Note Pro. This credit card-sized slice of tech perches on the table next to you and slides into a slim case on the rear of your phone for easy transportation. Its five microphones can capture audio up to 5 meters away, and 2 hours of charging will give you 50 hours of continuous recording time. This third device from Plaud is an update to its original tabletop note-taking device (it also sells a wearable note taker) and comes with more powerful recording capabilities, along with a clutch of new features. First is the small AMOLED display along the top edge, which will display the recording status and battery life. The second notable adjustment is that the power button can also be pressed to highlight key parts of a conversation in real time. The Note Pro has 64GB of built-in storage, but the core of its intelligence is in the companion smartphone app, which parses all the material the device captures, hopefully into something genuinely useful, intelligible and actionable. Plaud Intelligence relies on LLMs from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, and is multimodal -- meaning you can add in pictures and text, which it can analyze as a whole. As with Plaud's previous products, the Note Pro is designed for use in professional contexts and provides access to over 2,000 templates, including those designed for people working in specific fields -- medical or legal, for example. As a journalist, I need to record many of my conversations and meetings, so I'll be interested to see if Plaud can offer anything above and beyond Otter, which I usually rely on. That brings me to the big question hanging over the Note Pro, which is why would I carry a separate device to record my meetings when my phone is more than capable? It's a question I'll attempt to answer as I test the device out in the coming week. Plaud CEO Nathan Xu laid out his vision for the Note Pro in a briefing, explaining why he thinks people would want to carry one themselves. Xu said that he sees "lots of beauty in human intelligence," but that he wants to help humans overcome our shortcomings -- our limited memory span, tendency to get distracted and our inconsistent energy levels, are examples he gives. By applying the power of an LLM to our daily lives, AI can help pick up the slack, he said. Yes, you could use an app on your phone to record a meeting and run it through AI, or rely on the AI tools built into Google Meet or Zoom, but they're often captured in isolation. Instead, Plaud is with you all the time, filling in the gaps between those meetings, capturing nuggets from every conversation -- including the face-to-face ones, which are often overlooked - and understanding them in the context of your entire day. "Conversation is a form of intelligence -- it's where the ideas begin, the decisions are made and the meanings are shared," Xu said. "So we exist to help people to capture, extract and utilize intelligence." There are other questions I still have about the Note Pro, largely based around privacy. Xu says Plaud's privacy protections are "best in class," which it will need to be if it's capturing confidential and sensitive medical, legal or corporate discussions. Some doctors I've spoken to are already wary of using AI transcription services due to potential breaches of doctor-patient confidentiality, and many corporate environments may be resistant to people using these devices in the workplace. A lesser, but still significant concern is how long it will take for me to lose the proprietary charging cable. The Note Pro is slimmer than a USB-C connector, so it's clear why having its own charging connector is necessary, but it may prove tricky to keep tabs on. I'll be updating this piece with my impressions as I get to grips with using the Note Pro, but if you just can't wait for that, it is available for preorder now for $179 (£169 or roughly AU$350) and will ship at some point in October.

This AI note taker is the size of a credit card and can record for days

The Note Pro has an ultra-thin and lightweight design with aluminum wrapping. Plaud.ai has become well-known for its AI note-taking devices, which upgrade the classic voice recorder with a light form factor and AI to boost users' productivity. The company is now adding to its lineup with the Plaud Note Pro, which it calls its "most advanced and versatile" notetaker yet. ZDNET's Jack Wallen tested its predecessor, the Plaud Note, and found it useful in his daily life, even claiming he was "absolutely sold." Also: I retested GPT-5's coding skills using OpenAI's guidance - and now I trust it even less This type of omniscient AI assistant in hardware is becoming a more common trend in the industry. For example, the Bee Wearable is also equipped with mics and AI and meant to be worn at all times to provide helpful actions such as transcribing interactions and allowing you to conversationally search them. Brilliant Labs' Halo smart glasses can also remember your day's interactions with a 14-hour battery life. Here's what the Note Pro has to offer. The Note Pro maintains the same aesthetic as the Plaud Note, which is about the size of an aluminum credit card, making it easy to take with you everywhere you go. Hardware updates include two additional microphones with a 5-meter range to pick up more audio more accurately and Apple Find My compatibility. A magnetic case is also available to attach the Note Pro to the back of your phone. Ultimately, AI is only as helpful as its data. The more information it collects, the better it becomes at providing truly helpful personalized experiences. The Note Pro's appeal lies in the capabilities made possible by the Plaud App 3.0 software. In conjunction with the app, the Note Pro can listen to your surroundings and deliver actionable insights "faster and more accurately than ever before," according to Plaud.ai. Also: Google can translate your voice in real time now - try it free The Note Pro also sports a new InstantView interface that is meant to help users more easily navigate the experiences, from initiating a recording to exporting it. Users also get days of recording time, multimodal inputs, instant file transfer, and customizable views, according to the release. The company also claims the Plaud Intelligence Core was upgraded to better extract key insights, such as creating follow-ups, to-do lists, summarizing meetings, assigning tasks, and more. The idea is for the Note Pro to function as a companion that is with you at all times, going beyond creating transcripts and passively delivering helpful insights. The Plaud Note Pro is available for preorder at $179 starting Aug. 27 on the official Plaud website. Those who preorder and join the waitlist will receive 600 complimentary minutes and a magnetic case. Shipping begins in October, and the Plaud App 3.0 will be released then, too.

The New Plaud Note Pro Wants to Take Notes for You

The rush to build AI-first products hasn't entirely panned out, but there are a few competitors left in the note-analyzing space. One of them is Plaud.ai, which has just revealed the Plaud Note Pro, a device that records your meetings or other conversations to create notes. The Note Pro is powered by the upgraded Plaud Intelligence Core and the new Plaud App 3.0. It's a tool that you can use across meetings, creative sessions, and research, with the ability to find the important information in any session. Plaud's AI also learns your key moments and understands your ideas, building context for your data to become even better at finding what matters. For example, it can summarize meetings from different angles, assign tasks to different team members, and even generate follow-ups and to-do lists without you having to do anything. That's a pretty great deal, and I have always wanted an AI that is more of an assistant or secretary than anything else. If you are willing to spend money on it, this could be a much better way to make sure your meeting gets its point across and tasks get delegated. This new device also features an all-new visual identity and an InstantView interface, which is designed for faster speed and better user control than previous devices. Apparently, every interaction, from starting a recording to exporting summaries, has been streamlined, which should make it faster to set up tasks. So you can go from starting a record to exporting summaries really quickly, which is good since that's the big selling point for this recording device. It also comes with some hardware upgrades, including two additional beam-forming microphones that can pick up voices from up to five meters away. It can also take days' worth of recording time, multimodal inputs, and is compatible with Apple Find My. If you need to transfer files, it can do that instantly, and the views are customizable to fit different professional environments. The Note Pro will start shipping in October, with "broader availability across the US, UK, and EU to follow," which is a bit confusing, but you should be able to order it without issues if you live in the United States. The Plaud App 3.0 will also be released globally in October through an update on both iOS and Android. If you're looking to get your hands on one, the Plaud Note Pro is priced at $179 and is available for pre-order right now on the official Plaud website. If you join the waitlist, you'll get 600 complimentary minutes and a magnetic case. Plaud Note Pro Brand Plaud The Plaud Note Pro is an ai note-taking device with a rippled aluminum design. It features an easy-to-use interface, wider voice pickup, and a more intelligent app than before. The Plaud App 3.0 provides powerful capabilities to capture, analyze, and transform spoken words into summaries. $179 at Plaud Expand Collapse Source: Plaud.ai

AI note-taking leader Plaud launches the refined, professional Note Pro

T-Mobile ordered to pay massive $92 million fine for failing to safeguard customer location data Plaud, the company behind popular AI-powered note-taking gadgets, has announced its latest flagship: the Plaud Note Pro. It takes the company's already capable recording hardware and pairs it with new software smarts designed to align human intent with machine summaries in real time. It's a tiny device with a focused design that reduces clutter and streamlines transcription and note-taking even better than today's advanced smartphone summarizing tools. What the Plaud Note Pro can do An impossibly small AI transcription and summary tool If the name sounds familiar, it's because Plaud has built a reputation with its compact Plaud Note and the clip-on Plaud NotePin. These AI-powered, distraction-free devices promise to free professionals from frantic typing by automatically recording, transcribing, and summarizing conversations. The Note Pro doubles down on that mission with an all-new feature called "press to highlight." Instead of hoping the LLM figures out which parts matter most, users can tap the device mid-meeting to signal importance, essentially training it on the fly. The company is billing it as the first real attempt at human-AI alignment in note-taking. On the hardware side, the Note Pro takes up little space -- it's the size of a credit card, under 3mm thick, and about 30g in weight -- but packs in four MEMS microphones with beamforming for clearer pickup up to five meters away. Battery life stretches to 50 hours of continuous recording, which should get most professionals through a week of meetings before needing a recharge. It also supports dual-mode recording and automatically detects whether you're on a phone call or in a room and adjusts accordingly. Software is where Plaud really pushes boundaries. Alongside the Pro, the company is rolling out Plaud App 3.0 on iOS and Android in October. The update includes multimodal input (audio, text, images, and highlights), multifaceted summaries that break down discussions from different angles, and an updated Ask Plaud tool. The latter lets users ask questions about their recordings and trace the answers directly back to the source audio. Design-wise, Plaud is giving the Pro a rippled aluminum finish that looks a little more premium than past models. There's also Apple Find My support, instant file transfer, and new customizable viewing modes to suit different work environments. Early buyers who pre-order will get a magnetic case and 600 minutes of free transcription. Plaud makes a convincing pitch. In a market full of AI-powered productivity apps, it wants to own the hardware-software combo. With over a million users already in its ecosystem and enterprise-ready compliance (including SOC2, HIPAA, and GDPR), the Note Pro is aimed squarely at professionals who don't just want transcripts, but also actionable insights. Of course, AI note-taking still has hurdles to clear before it goes fully mainstream. Plenty of professionals are wary of recording devices in sensitive meetings, and even the best transcription models can miss nuance or tone. Plaud's "press to highlight" might help bridge that trust gap. Still, only time will tell if workers want to adopt another dedicated gadget when their phones can already do much of the job. The Plaud Note Pro is available for pre-order now in the US, UK, and parts of Europe, with shipping set for October. Plaud NotePin 6.5 / 10 Storage 64GB Dimensions 51*21*11 mm Weight 25g Microphone 2 MEMS Plaud's portable, easy-to-use voice recorder - the NotePin - is a prime example of how a dedicated AI gadget can be useful day-to-day. Journalists, students, lawyers, and those needing to easily and intelligently record and summarize conversations should check out the NotePin $169 at Plaud Expand Collapse

Plaud's new Note Pro is a vessel for more powerful AI note taking

Plaud, the AI company behind the Note and Note Pin, is launching a new version of the card-like recorder. The new Note Pro model brings Plaud's hardware changes that facilitate some of the big software upgrades made through the app. Plaud's Note and Note Pin proved to be at the top of one of the new industries that surfaced at the break of more capable AI language models. The two devices essentially act as voice recorders with the purpose of recording meetings and any other conversation that needs to be transcribed. Where the magic lies is in Plaud's software, pulling that audio, transcribing it, and processing it based on custom and preset language models. For instance, finance meetings can be processed as such, and whichever LLM chosen by the user will pull relevant information and summarize with as little or as much detail as needed. Users are allowed custom processing modes, too, expanding the function to every imaginable profession and utility. The company today announced that a new device is launching, and the app is getting a serious upgrade as well. That upgrade brings multimodal AI that can utilize intelligence from digital and real-world sources. Users will be able to upload context to the app, such as images to improve processing for specific fields. The Plaud Note Pro itself is built as an improved Note, with the same card-like design that made the first device so appealing. The Note Pro has a small display that displays current modes and allows for small changes while recording. The button has a secondary function, beyond starting and stopping the recording. It can be used to highlight certain moments that need to stand out among long recordings. The Plaud Note Pro is launching at $179 and is available for pre-order starting today. That pricing does not include cost of a subscription or recording minutes. The company notes the device should start shipping with the new app build in October.

Plaud Note Pro : Next Level AI Note-Taking In Your Pocket $179

What if your notes could think for you? Imagine a compact device that doesn't just record what you say but understands it, an AI-powered assistant that captures every detail, highlights what matters most, and delivers actionable insights in real time. Bold claim? Perhaps. But the Plaud Note Pro is redefining how professionals engage with information, offering a seamless blend of innovative technology and intuitive design. In a world where every second counts, this tool promises to transform the way we work, collaborate, and make decisions. It's not just about taking notes, it's about unlocking the full potential of your ideas. In this deep exploration of the Plaud Note Pro, you'll discover how its real-time human-AI alignment, multimodal input, and multidimensional summaries create a productivity experience unlike any other. From its ability to prioritize key moments during a meeting to its compact, credit-card-sized design, this device is engineered to meet the demands of modern professionals. But how does it bridge the gap between human intuition and machine precision? And what makes it more than just another gadget in a crowded market? Let's unravel the layers of innovation behind this innovative tool and see how it's reshaping the future of productivity. A defining feature of the Plaud Note Pro is its ability to align AI capabilities with your real-time interactions. The innovative "Press to Highlight" function allows you to mark key moments during conversations, making sure the AI prioritizes actionable insights. This feature bridges the gap between human intuition and machine processing, delivering contextually relevant summaries and tailored recommendations. Whether you're participating in a high-stakes meeting, conducting an in-depth interview, or brainstorming with a team, this tool ensures that no critical detail is overlooked. By combining precision with contextual awareness, the Plaud Note Pro enables professionals to focus on decision-making rather than manual note-taking. The Plaud Note Pro transcends traditional note-taking by integrating multimodal input, capturing audio, text, and images to create richer, more nuanced records of your discussions. Its multidimensional summaries analyze conversations across themes, decisions, and action items, offering deeper insights that go beyond surface-level information. The "Ask Plaud" feature further enhances its utility by providing traceable, AI-powered answers, allowing you to retrieve critical information quickly and confidently. This functionality is particularly valuable for professionals who require reliable, on-demand data to make informed decisions. By synthesizing multiple inputs into cohesive insights, the Plaud Note Pro ensures you have a complete understanding of every interaction. Enhance your knowledge on AI-powered note-taking by exploring a selection of articles and guides on the subject. The Plaud Note Pro is designed to meet the needs of demanding professional environments. It features studio-quality audio capture enhanced by AI beamforming technology, making sure crystal-clear recordings even from a distance of up to 16.4 feet. Despite its advanced capabilities, the device is remarkably compact, with a credit-card-sized design that weighs just 1.05 ounces, making it highly portable without compromising functionality. The Smart Dual Mode Recording feature automatically adjusts to different scenarios, whether you're on a phone call or in a face-to-face meeting, making sure optimal performance in any setting. Additionally, its extended battery life of up to 50 hours ensures the device can keep pace with even the busiest schedules, offering reliability and convenience for professionals on the go. The Plaud Note Pro integrates seamlessly with leading large language models (LLMs) from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, delivering tailored insights and actionable recommendations. With access to over 2,000 customizable templates, it adapts to a wide range of professional contexts, from project management to client communications. The redesigned Plaud App 3.0 further enhances usability, offering intuitive navigation and support for multimodal inputs. This ensures a seamless experience across devices, allowing professionals to transition effortlessly between tasks while maintaining productivity. By using the power of advanced AI, the Plaud Note Pro provides a robust platform for managing complex workflows with ease. The Plaud Note Pro is priced at $179 and is currently available for pre-order in select regions, including the US, UK, and parts of Europe. Shipping is set to begin in October, allowing early adopters to experience its capabilities soon. The Plaud App 3.0 update, compatible with both iOS and Android, will roll out globally in early October, providing enhanced functionality for all users. This combination of innovative hardware and software ensures that the Plaud Note Pro delivers exceptional value for professionals seeking to optimize their productivity. The Plaud Note Pro represents a leap forward in the realm of AI-powered productivity tools. By combining real-time human-AI alignment, multimodal input, and multidimensional summaries with state-of-the-art hardware and software, it offers a comprehensive solution tailored to the needs of modern professionals. Whether you're managing complex projects, capturing critical insights during meetings, or navigating fast-paced environments, this device equips you with the tools to stay ahead. The Plaud Note Pro is not just a note-taking device, it is a powerful ally in achieving clarity, efficiency, and success in an increasingly dynamic world.