Plaud NotePin S – a wearable AI voice recorder that takes your meeting notes
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In meetings, most of us are either listening or taking notes. Never both. The notes from a one-hour call end up saying “ask about budget??” and nothing else.
The Plaud NotePin S is a wearable AI voice recorder that tries to fix that. It’s a little pill you wear on your shirt, around your neck or on your wrist. It records the conversation, and the Plaud app turns it into a transcript and a summary. You get to actually listen.
What is the Plaud NotePin S?
Plaud made a name for itself with the Plaud Note, a card-shaped AI recorder. In 2024 came the NotePin, a wearable version. The NotePin S was announced in January 2026, just before CES, at 179 dollars.
The big change is a physical button. TechCrunch reported that you press it to start and stop recording, and tap it during a recording to highlight a moment. Reviewers like that the click takes the guesswork out of whether it’s actually recording. The S also works with Apple’s Find My, so you can track it down when it falls behind the couch.
On paper, from Plaud:
- 51 x 21 x 11 mm, 17.4 grams
- Two MEMS microphones with a pickup range of about 3 meters (9.8 feet)
- Up to 20 hours of continuous recording, 40 days on standby
- 64 GB of storage, so it records without a phone or internet
- Wear it four ways: magnetic pin, clip, lanyard or wristband (all in the box)
- Transcription in 112 languages, with speaker labels and custom vocabulary
How does it work?
Long-press the button and it starts recording. When you’re done, the audio syncs to the Plaud app on your phone (there’s also a web version, and a Mac app for online meetings). The app writes a transcript, labels who said what, and makes a summary. Plaud says there are over 10,000 summary templates, so a sales call and a lecture don’t get the same treatment.
Every user gets 300 transcription minutes a month for free. Need more? Plaud sells a Pro plan with 1,200 minutes a month and an Unlimited plan.
The good and the not-so-good
What I like:
- The button. A recorder you can’t be sure is recording is useless.
- It’s tiny and wearable, so you don’t put a recorder on the table and make everyone nervous.
- 300 free minutes a month is five hours of recordings, about one hour-long meeting a week, without paying a cent.
- James Smythe at Mighty Gadget gave it 90% and found the transcription strong.
What could be better:
- The same review notes it can’t record phone calls. The Plaud Note Pro can, and it has more microphones.
- Mighty Gadget also calls it a fairly small upgrade over the original NotePin.
- Heavy users will end up paying for a subscription on top of the 179 bucks.
- Recording people has rules. In some US states you need everyone’s consent, so tell the room before you press the button.
Who is the Plaud NotePin S for?
People whose day is one conversation after another: consultants, sales reps, doctors, journalists, students in long lectures. It’s also a smart gift for the friend who always says “wait, what did they say about the deadline?”
Skip it if most of your meetings are on the phone. Then the Plaud Note Pro makes more sense. And if you mostly need help talking across languages, the Timekettle X1 interpreter hub is built for exactly that. Want more gadgets that sit on your body? The Oura smart ring and the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 are worth a look too.
Where can I buy the Plaud NotePin S?
Plaud sells the NotePin S on its own site and on Amazon, in black, silver and purple. The list price is 179 dollars.
Listen in the meeting. Let the pin do the homework.