NotePin: A Practical Approach to AI Wearables, or Just a "Sidekick" for Smartphones?

NotePin: A Practical Approach to AI Wearables, or Just a "Sidekick" for Smartphones?So far, no AI wearable product has achieved significant success. Earlier this year, AIPin, which made a splash at MWC24, saw its "AI miracle" crumble soon after review units were sent out, leading to large-scale returns within months

NotePin: A Practical Approach to AI Wearables, or Just a "Sidekick" for Smartphones?

So far, no AI wearable product has achieved significant success. Earlier this year, AIPin, which made a splash at MWC24, saw its "AI miracle" crumble soon after review units were sent out, leading to large-scale returns within months. The similarly well-received RabbitR1, while initially selling out, also faced criticism for being an "Android clone" after large-scale deliveries. Now, another company has entered the AI wearable arena. Tech media outlet TheVerge published a blog post yesterday, announcing Plaud, an AI startup, has introduced a product called NotePin. Unlike AIFriend, which remains in the "pie in the sky" stage, NotePin is open for pre-orders and is expected to start shipping in November.

This brings the total number of AI hardware "new species" to four: AIPin, RabbitR1, AIFriend, and NotePin, all of which have been covered or reviewed by Lei Technology. While AIPin and RabbitR1 claimed to disrupt or even replace smartphones, their actual impact fell short. The market response to AIFriend, which positions itself as a personal AI companion, remains unknown. The newly launched NotePin, however, has taken a more realistic approach: being a sidekick to smartphones.

NotePin: A Xiaomi Mi Band 1-like AI Voice Recorder?

Plaud has not yet revealed any technical specifications for NotePin. We can only glean information from official introductions and website promotional videos. Positioned as an AI wearable designed to help wearers remember, NotePin can be worn via necklace, wristband, clip, or magnetic attachment. Once activated, it can record real-time conversations, summarizes audio content using large language models, and works in conjunction with the Plaud app to transcribe meeting content or generate summaries. Users can ask NotePin natural language questions about specific time points in recordings, and the AI will automatically generate summaries.

Battery life is an advantage of this product. Plaud claims NotePin can last up to 40 days on standby and supports 20 hours of continuous recording. In comparison, AIPin's battery life is only a few hours, making NotePin a "winner" in this regard. However, this impressive battery life comes at a cost: recording is not always active, requiring users to manually activate the device to start recording.

In terms of interaction, NotePin features physical buttons on its surface, likely touch-sensitive judging by the promotional video. Users can activate NotePin's recording mode by tapping these buttons, and its built-in microphone will start picking up sound. Neither the video nor the website description mentions NotePin having a built-in speaker, suggesting that sending information to users via the mobile app is its sole audio output method.

Upon first glance at NotePin, Lei Technology immediately thought of the original Xiaomi Mi Band, released in 2014, especially its wristband mode, which bears a striking 90% resemblance. It's unclear if Plaud took inspiration from this mysterious Eastern force when designing the product.

Will NotePin Become the First Popular AI Hardware?

NotePin's product positioning differs from the other AI devices like AIPin, RabbitR1, and AIFriend. AIPin and RabbitR1 attempt to achieve the ultimate goal of "replacing smartphones" by piling on features, while AIFriend aims to be users' "electronic friend." NotePin, on the other hand, leans towards being a productivity device with limited functionality, focusing on practicality over entertainment. Plaud's promotional video showcases NotePin's utility in various professional scenarios like meeting recordings, brainstorming, and capturing spontaneous creative ideas. This aligns perfectly with its official positioning: "transcribing and summarizing everything happening in life and extracting actionable items from that."

Plaud's press release describes NotePin as capable of proactive activation: "Over time, it learns and understands its user to automatically activate itself before important meetings or events." Lei Technology is still unsure how this is implemented, but users currently still need to activate the device manually.

In Lei Technology's view, NotePin is essentially a portable voice recorder with AI capabilities, similar in positioning to the LimitlessPendant released in May, which also focuses on work scenarios. The difference: LimitlessPendant costs $99, while NotePin costs $169. At first glance, NotePin seems overpriced. However, a closer examination reveals it's not: AI hardware generally employs a "hardware + subscription" pricing model. While NotePin is more expensive than LimitlessPendant, its monthly subscription fee for full AI functionality is only about $6, compared to $19 for LimitlessPendant. Considering the monthly subscription cost for AI features, NotePin is more affordable than LimitlessPendant, with its value increasing over time.

When analyzing AI devices, we don't typically see them as mere hardware products, but as gateways to various services. NotePin currently focuses solely on work scenarios, avoiding prioritizing science fiction and reflecting Plaud's more pragmatic development strategy.

Furthermore, for a product like NotePin that focuses on office scenarios, the challenge lies not only in the device's functionality but also in the data privacy processing behind it.

Privacy has always been a challenge for AI devices. For example, RabbitR1 has been exposed for having API security vulnerabilities, posing a risk of user data leaks. NotePin's AI processing also relies heavily on the cloud. Transcription is handled using OpenAIWhisper, while summarization and other advanced tasks are processed through cloud computing using LLMs like GPT-4o or Claude3.5Sonnet. To alleviate user concerns, Plaud promises "industry-leading encryption," leveraging its own PLAUDPrivacyCloud (PPC) to ensure secure data handling and protect user privacy. However, this is just an official statement; the actual protection of user privacy remains to be seen.

NotePin's "ambition" in focusing on work scenarios is clearly not as grand as that of AIPin, RabbitR1, and other general-purpose AI devices. Essentially, it's a NotePin all-in-one recorder and transcriber. However, Lei Technology believes that focusing on niche scenarios and solving real-world problems is a more practical approach than aiming to "replace smartphones" with grand ambitions. With the product positioning in place, its popularity will ultimately depend on product strength and marketing capabilities. Lei Technology believes that NotePin has the potential to become a bestseller, and Chinese AI giants, especially those with deep expertise in voice AI, are likely to follow suit, launching similar "memory capsule" AI hardware. iFlytek, with its strong presence in AI voice hardware, is particularly positioned as a powerful player in this category.

Why Replacing Smartphones with AI Hardware Is a False Premise

Prior to this, Plaud had already released the PLAUDNOTE AI recording device, sharing almost identical functionality with NotePin and requiring smartphone integration, but with a different form factor. Compared to PLAUDNOTE, which attaches to the back of a smartphone, NotePin has a more natural form and can even serve as a decorative accessory.

The positioning philosophy of PLAUDNOTE and NotePin is similar: they lack the ambition to replace smartphones and aim to be an extension of smartphone AI interaction. Lei Technology believes this is the right approach. After integrating with large language models, AI devices can achieve capabilities that smartphones possess; however, conversely, what smartphones can achieve, AI devices may not be able to, such as AIPin and RabbitR1. Their screens are "basic" or even non-existent, and their imaging capabilities are negligible. Wanting to replace smartphones with this? Perhaps their product managers are still too much in an engineering mindset and haven't truly considered the value of smartphones.

Of course, AI wearables have their advantages. Their most defining feature is wearability, which sets them apart from smartphones and is a key reason for consumers to purchase them. NotePin does heavily rely on smartphone interaction, but at least it's designed to be lightweight and wearable. If it had a built-in speaker, it could even handle voice interaction directly. In certain specific scenarios like driving, running, or cooking, it's indeed more practical than a smartphone.

In conclusion, Lei Technology believes that AI hardware should not view smartphones as "direct competitors," similar to smartwatches. Apple's AppleWatchUltra, while capable of independent use, typically requires integration with an iPhone for the best experience. Currently, smartphones remain indispensable tools in our daily lives due to their comprehensive functionality and rich app ecosystems. AI devices are not yet able to completely replace them.