No modern product lineup is complete without a ‘Pro’ edition product, and the new Plaud Note Pro is that product for the AI note-taking company. A successor to the Plaud Note, the only physical AI-powered gadget we’ve ever encountered that seems actually useful, the new version brings a couple of new functions to the table.
The major change is more advanced human interactions, letting users dictate to the various AI systems which parts of the meeting or phone call being recorded are particularly important. The interaction is simple — touch a button on the Plaud Note Pro and it’ll remember that whatever Billy from Procurement was saying is of special note.
Note Pro status
Other upgrades include the ability to make notes on in-progress recordings and have them contextually understood (at least, as far as GPT-5, Claude Sonnet 4, and Gemini 2.5 Pro are capable of understanding). Images can also be added, with these “resulting in more comprehensive summaries and a deeper understanding of every conversation.” Whatever that means.
Four MEMS microphones record conversations clearly over a distance of five metres, while an update to the credit card-sized gadget lets it immediately tell the difference between a phone call and an in-person meeting. Called Smart Dual Mode Recording, the Note Pro will eliminate the need to choose optimal recording settings, thereby shortening the time everyone has to grab coffee before the meeting starts.
Battery optimisation and a larger 500mAh battery mean the Note Pro handles fifty hours of recording on a charge. If you’re in fifty hours of meetings a week, it’s probably time to find a job that does something productive, but if that’s not an option, at least you’ll have a complete record of what was ‘decided’.
Other updates to Plaud Intelligence, the onboard AI that coordinates the other artificial intelligence platforms in the Plaud Note Pro, add “smart suggestions, search across all files, and the ability to save answers as notes with complete context.”
This, and other updates, are headed to other Plaud devices as part of a software update to the companion app, so you might not have to hand over R3,200 ($180), the current pre-order price for the Plaud Note Pro just yet. Not if you already have the previous version, at any rate. An official SA launch date is still up in the air, but according to local distributor, Ganelec, it’s expected to land sometime in November 2025.
