Plaud.ai on Wednesday launched the Plaud Note Pro, a new version of its popular credit-card-sized AI voice recorder that adds a small screen, improved microphones, and longer battery life. The $179 device, a successor to the original Plaud Note, is available for preorder today and is slated to begin shipping in October. The launch comes as Plaud cements its position as a rare profitable hardware startup in the competitive AI device market, having already sold over one million units.
The most notable hardware upgrade is a 0.95-inch AMOLED display for viewing battery life and recording status, a feature absent from its minimalist predecessor. According to a report from TechCrunch, the Note Pro doubles its microphone count to four, which extends its audio capture range to 16.4 feet and improves noise suppression. The device also boasts a longer recording capacity, offering up to 30 hours on a single charge or 50 hours in a shorter-range mode. Alongside the hardware, Plaud is updating its companion app with new features like “multidimensional summaries,” custom templates, and the ability to add images to notes.
Plaud appears to be finding success by focusing on a specific professional use case while competitors in the ambient AI hardware space have struggled. A recent Forbes profile noted the company is on track for $250 million in annualized revenue, a significant achievement for a bootstrapped startup. This contrasts with the broader AI gadget landscape, which has seen products like the Humane Ai Pin falter while others like Bee were acquired by Amazon.
The launch enters a rapidly evolving field for AI-powered productivity tools. On the software side, Google recently enhanced its NotebookLM research assistant with new “Debate” and “Critique” audio summary formats, showing a push toward more nuanced AI analysis. Meanwhile, in the digital note-taking hardware space, reMarkable just released the Paper Pro Move, a more pocketable $449 E Ink tablet focused on handwriting rather than audio transcription. Plaud is betting that a dedicated, polished device for recording and summarizing conversations is a niche that will continue to grow.
