Transcription
You can't ignore the explosion of AI products and features coming out in the market today. It seems like almost every product has AI in it, and almost every product is promising to be useful or change your life in some meaningful way—whether it's actually useful or not. I've tried a lot of these dedicated AI gadgets, but I've never made a video on them because, despite my excitement around new tech categories, I haven't found any of them actually helpful until now. This is the PlaNote, and while it may look like a credit card, it's actually the world's number one AI voice recorder.
The first thing to note here—yes, pun intended—is that the PlaNote is just an amazing, sleek piece of hardware. As soon as I opened up the box, I really liked this minimalistic, premium aluminum design. But what really wowed me was just how small and thin this product is. It's only—get this—0.117 inches in thickness. I can't even compare that to the size of my phone; I have to compare it to the size of my credit card, where it's only slightly thicker and about the same dimensions. Don't forget this thing still has a microphone in it, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 64 GB of storage, and a battery that can last as long as 60 days of standby time—all in an impressively small device. On the back, you'll see four pins for charging because the PlaNote is literally too thin to have even a USB-C port on it. On the front, you get a single button to press record, and then there's also a switch here to put the PlaNote into two recording modes. One is optimized for just regular recording, while switching to the orange setting optimizes for voice pickup during and recording phone calls. The box even includes a MagSafe wallet attachment for your iPhone, so you can stick this directly onto the back, making voice calls easy.
However, I already know what you're thinking because I had the same exact thought: Even though this voice recorder has a pretty sleek design, does it really do anything different than what you can already use your phone for? Do you really need a standalone voice recorder? Well, even though the hardware on the PlaNote is just as futuristic as you can get, it really is the AI features and software that set this device apart and what makes it a worthy companion that works with your phone to create a unique experience. Not only does the AI give you a really accurate transcript that you can read through, but the real power of the PlaNote is the ability to use AI to generate a summary of these conversations. The PlaNote does this by using a combination of the latest and most advanced AI features, empowered by ChatGPT 4.0 and Claude 3.5, to create a detailed summary of these recordings. Furthermore, you can get even more out of these summaries by tailor-making them with helpful templates, so you can choose from things like a simple discussion, key points, consulting, a Q&A, a class lecture, a job interview, and so on. Basically, any type of conversation you might have, there's probably a template that can help you summarize these recordings for you in a more helpful and meaningful manner.
Some of the templates that I have been using are dictation notes, where it gives a very detailed breakdown that is great for finding inspiration later on, or recording a diary or journal, or meeting notes, which not only summarizes the key points of the meeting but also breaks down each subject discussed into easy-to-follow topics and gives you a helpful conclusion at the end of your summary and follow-up actions that you may want to take before scheduling your next meeting. And it is really detailed. You can add speaker labels; it can break down each discussion into topics; it adds checklists automatically or even adds next steps and key discussion points. What I really like is that at the bottom of these discussions that involve a set of problems, you'll often get an AI suggestion overview of topics that you may need to follow up on or resolutions that you might want to take in future meetings. And yes, all of these features make these recordings so much better than even Apple's intelligence voice-recorded features built directly into your phone, which doesn't provide as detailed of a transcription as the PlaNote and lacks the advanced category breakdown, subject topics, advanced templates, and summaries that really make the PlaNote so effective—not only at summarizing these recordings but also helping you focus on the important details and take action on them. I mean, here's the side-by-side recording that I recorded with the default iPhone recording tool, and here's the PlaNote recording. I'll let you be the judge of which one is more advanced.
Now, when I first started using the PlaNote, and while I was impressed by the transcription technology, I have to be honest, I wasn't sure how helpful all of these advanced transcripts would be in my daily use. Even though I run my own business, I don't exactly have a large team with multiple people working on advanced projects all the time. I mean, come on, everyone get into frame; there's no one here; it's just me in a studio alone talking to you. Which is why I thought this would, you know, really be useful for having like a team and having like a bunch of meetings, transcribing those meetings, and creating meeting notes. Like I get that that would be really useful. No, but what really surprised me was just the general utility of this device outside of just a business tool, but as a way for logging daily events. I have been using this thing all the time. I've been using it to record conversations with friends and family, conversations at the dinner table, conversations during drives, during walks. I love to walk with people; I love to have a conversation while I'm walking; it really does jog my mind. But when you're walking, you can't exactly bring out a notebook and jot down ideas, so bringing the PlaNote along, recording the conversation, and then reviewing the transcription and key points really helped me later on take away deeper meaning and constructive criticism during these conversations. It made these conversations a lot less throwaway and more substantial, where throughout a conversation, ideas may flow out of your brain, or you may miss something important someone said, or maybe not just be able to reflect on it in the moment until you're in a different headspace.
I also like the flexibility that the PlaNote offers. While this is great hardware and a great tool, you don't also have to use it all the time; you can import your own audio. And that's great because I was a little panicked recently when I went on a walk and I forgot this, so I remembered that you could import audio. I sent my Apple Watch to record the conversation, and when I imported it later, I was able to get all the same AI transcription features in the app. Even though I preferred using the dedicated recorder to record my notes, it's great to know that you can use a backup tool as well. And the real power of this device comes from that AI software and transcription features. And listen, it's a new year for 2025; my goal recently has been to be more reflective and more mindful, and I've been trying to actively journal and reflect on my day. However, a lot of times I try and do these journals at the end of the day, and to be honest, sometimes I just don't have the mental energy to sit down and write, especially after a stressful day. So again, I've been using the PlaNote as a way to take a voice journal—almost like a Captain's Log from Star Trek. I create like a 2- to 5-minute recording going over what I did in the day and reflecting on some things I want to improve upon. So while I still get that full voice recording, the great thing is I still get that full transcription, which I can then copy and paste into my journal app, and then I still have all the summaries so I can analyze and reflect on core themes or just core ideas during my little journal talks to myself.
I've also been using the PlaNote in some more unorthodox ways. I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks, but one of the problems that I always have is I'm usually working on a secondary task when I'm listening to those things. Even though I can retain a lot of the information and ideas, admittedly some of the information just goes in one ear and out of the other. But having the PlaNote record these podcasts or audiobooks and then give me a super detailed breakdown of each show, the categories, the topics being discussed, the overarching themes, and then give me a deeper analytical breakdown of these shows to reflect on later also makes it easier to pull quotes or conversations or ideas I may have missed, and then I can discuss them later with my friends. After doing that, I've actually been using this a lot in those more unorthodox ways recently. I've been even recording dialogue to TV shows and movies and then seeing how having a detailed breakdown of these topics can help me learn more about what I just watched. It's also really helpful because you can ask the AI direct questions about the content you were just watching or listening to and then get an analytical take on all of that information. Using the PlaNote in these more unorthodox ways really showed me how powerful information is as a tool, even for more passive tasks that you wouldn't normally categorize as important to take notes on. And it made me realize that this tool goes beyond just its amazing capabilities for work; it's also a great device to use just as a tool for a more organized life, and that is my main goal in 2025. And yes, when you get a PlaNote, you also get 300 minutes a month free to use for these types of features on a recording, which is a pretty good amount for daily use, but you can also upgrade to a Pro Plan for even more recording time.
So yeah, the idea of a supercharged AI voice recorder sounds like it might help you structure your meeting or lecture notes better, or if you just want to do a little bit more self-improvement this new year, this is a great device that you should really check out. Of course, if you want to get one or just learn more about it, you can click my link in the description below. All right, everyone, if you like this video, give me a like, subscribe for more, and I will catch you all in the next one.