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A few days ago, I reviewed the impressive Plaud NotePin S, and I have also recently explored the Plaud Note Pro and the original Plaud Note.
Initially, I was skeptical about these new voice recorders with AI transcription, considering the transcription features built into most modern phones. It seemed redundant to invest in another device and potentially pay for a subscription.
However, my experience with the Plaud devices has been excellent. I have grown to appreciate them and use them regularly for meetings, product briefings, and any situation where I need to recall important information. As someone with ADHD, these devices have proven to be incredibly helpful in keeping track of things I need to remember for meetings.
Since the launch of Plaud, there has been an influx of competing products in the market. Many are similar clones from various brands found on Amazon. However, more prominent brands are also joining this trend, such as Anker Soundcore with their coin-sized AI Voice Recorder.
Boya is another company entering this market. Prior to this review, I was not familiar with them. Initially, the Boya Notra AI Note Taker appeared to be a replica of the Plaud Note. However, upon closer inspection, it offers additional functionality and a lower price point that could make it a more attractive alternative to the Plaud Note.
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Specifications
Recording Mode: Ambient / Phone Call / Bluetooth
Supported AI Models: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok
Storage: 64 GB local + unlimited cloud
File Transfer: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB-C
Microphones: 2 × MEMS + 1 × VPU
Pickup Range: Up to 10 m
Noise Cancellation: Yes, AI-powered (up to -30 dB)
App and Web Access: Yes
Text Editing: Yes
Audio Import: Yes
Magnetic Attachment: Yes (MagSafe-compatible)
Export File Formats: MP3, WAV, TXT, DOCX, PDF, Markdown, JPEG
Battery Life: Up to 24 hours recording, Up to 365 days standby
Charging: USB-C (full charge in approx. 2 hours)
Dimensions: 63 × 63 × 6.8 mm
Weight: 45 g
On paper, the Boya Notra matches and occasionally surpasses the specifications of the Plaud Note. The 10-metre pickup range is particularly impressive, being more than double the original Plaud Note’s 3-metre range and double the Plaud Note Pro’s 5-metre range. The three recording modes offer a genuine advantage over Plaud, which only provides ambient and phone call recording options.
The weight is slightly higher than Plaud’s 30g, but at 45g, it is still light enough that you will not notice it attached to your phone. The square form factor at 63 × 63mm is more compact than Plaud’s credit card shape (85.6 × 54.1mm). However, I found Plaud’s slimmer profile at 2.99mm versus Boya’s 6.8mm to feel more premium.
Boya Notra AI Subscription vs. Plaud
Just like Plaud, Boya utilizes AI models like ChatGPT and Claude for its various features. You get 300 minutes per month for free, but if you require more, you will need to subscribe.
Boya charges £17.99 per month or £99.00 (£8.33 per month) annually for 1500 minutes, 50GB of online storage, AI-powered recording summaries, and real-time translation.
Plaud charges £8.40 per month if billed annually, or £17.99 monthly for 1200 minutes, or £18.80 per month if billed annually, or £28.49 monthly for the unlimited plan.
Plaud now also benefits from a desktop app, allowing you to record online meetings without intrusive meeting bots.
The comparison between subscriptions is intriguing. Boya’s annual plan at £99 works out slightly cheaper than Plaud’s £101 annual basic plan while offering 300 more minutes per month (1500 vs. 1200). However, Plaud’s ecosystem is more mature, with better template options and the invaluable desktop app for recording online meetings. If you attend many virtual meetings, Plaud’s desktop app alone justifies the additional cost.
The free tier on both devices offers 300 minutes monthly, which I found adequate for my needs when excessive meetings were not being attended. However, working in IT with multiple briefings, product launches, and team meetings, I regularly exceeded this limit. The annual subscription quickly becomes worthwhile if you are recording more than a couple of hours each week.
One area where Boya falls short is the template selection. On the free plan, you only get access to one template – “meeting.” Plaud offers six templates on the free tier, providing much more flexibility in how your recordings are summarized. You can upgrade to access Boya’s full library of 60 templates, but this limitation on the free tier can be frustrating.
Design
The Boya Notra adopts a square design with rounded corners, measuring 63 × 63 × 6.8mm. It is noticeably chunkier than the Plaud Note at 6.8mm thick compared to Plaud’s impressively slim 2.99mm profile. This extra thickness is immediately noticeable when you have the device attached to your phone. While the Plaud Note Pro feels like a natural extension of your phone, the Boya Notra creates a more pronounced bump.
The device is available in four colors: black, silver, orange, and purple. The black model I tested has a refined microblasted aluminum alloy finish that looks professional, though it is not quite as sophisticated as the Plaud Note Pro’s rippled texture with its Corning Gorilla Glass AMOLED display.
A rubberized section on the bottom prevents the device from sliding around when placed on a desk. This is a thoughtful touch that the Plaud Note lacks, and I found it genuinely useful during meetings where I placed the recorder in the center of the table. The rubber grip kept it firmly in place rather than gradually sliding across the surface as people moved papers or bumped the table.
The magnetic attachment system works with MagSafe-compatible phones (iPhone 12 and later) or via the included magnetic ring for other devices. The magnets are strong – I shook my phone vigorously, and the Notra stayed firmly attached. This is comparable to Plaud’s magnetic system, which also holds securely.
However, I much prefer the USB-C charging on the Boya Notra compared to Plaud’s proprietary magnetic charging cable. Being able to use any USB-C cable means you are never caught out if you forget the dedicated charger. When traveling, this is a significant advantage – I can charge the Notra using my phone charger, laptop charger, or even my portable battery pack. With the Plaud Note, forgetting the magnetic charging cable means you cannot charge the device at all.
The lack of a display on the Notra is a step backward from the Plaud Note Pro. The Pro’s 0.95-inch AMOLED display is small but incredibly useful for confirming recording status, checking battery level, and seeing transfer modes. On the Notra, you rely on a red LED indicator to show recording status, which is functional but not as informative. Several times, I found myself unsure if a recording had started properly, something the Plaud Pro’s display eliminates.
Boya App & Set Up
The Boya Notra companion app is straightforward to use. Initial setup involves downloading the app, creating an account, and pairing the device via Bluetooth. The process took about five minutes and was reasonably intuitive, though the app could benefit from clearer onboarding instructions for first-time users.
The app interface is clean but lacks the polish of Plaud’s more mature ecosystem. Navigation works well enough, but I found myself missing some of Plaud’s refinements, such as the ability to type notes during recording that get time-synced with the audio. This feature in the Plaud app is brilliant for marking important moments during long meetings.
One area where Boya excels is AI model selection. You can choose between ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok for transcription and summarization. Plaud uses OpenAI’s Whisper and GPT models exclusively. Having the option to switch between different AI models is useful, though in practice, I found the differences in transcription quality to be minimal for English conversations in good acoustic conditions.
The app offers web access as well, which is useful if you want to review recordings on a larger screen. However, there does not appear to be a way to redo transcriptions with a different model once processed. With Plaud, you have more control over reprocessing recordings. Though you could export the audio from Boya and re-import it to try a different model, which is a bit of a workaround.
Meeting / Ambience Recording
The Boya Notra’s ambient recording mode is designed for face-to-face conversations, meetings, lectures, and any situation where you need to capture audio from the surrounding environment. Set the physical switch on the side to the far left position, press and hold the button, and the red LED indicates recording is in progress.
The claimed 10-metre pickup range is ambitious. In my testing at a team meeting, I placed the Notra in the center of the table and could clearly capture voices from about 5-6 meters away. Beyond that, audio quality degraded noticeably, though voices were still intelligible up to about 8 meters in a quiet room. In noisier environments, the effective range drops to perhaps 4-5 meters.
Compared to the Plaud Note’s 3-meter range, this is a genuine advantage. In larger meeting rooms or when recording lectures, the extended range means you can place the recorder further from speakers and still capture clear audio. However, it does not quite match the Plaud Note Pro’s performance with its four-MEMS microphone array and AI-Beamforming technology.
The two MEMS microphones combined with AI noise cancellation (up to -30dB) do a reasonable job of isolating voices from background noise. In a typical office environment with air conditioning hum and distant conversations, the Notra captured the primary conversation clearly. However, in more challenging acoustic environments – echoey rooms, multiple concurrent conversations, or outdoor settings with wind noise – the Plaud Note Pro’s more sophisticated microphone array produced noticeably better results.
The Notra can also pair with earphones, allowing you to monitor what is being recorded in real-time. The microphone on the earphones captures your voice and records it to the device. This is handy for ensuring audio quality is acceptable before committing to a long recording session.
Call Recording
Recording phone calls is one of the standout features of the Boya Notra. Attach the device magnetically to the back of your phone, set the physical switch to the right position (marked with a phone icon), and make or receive a call. The built-in bone-conduction sensor (VPU) captures the conversation clearly without any alerts or notifications for the other party.
Before discussing performance, it is worth noting the legal implications. In the UK, it is legal to record a call without informing the other party when the recording is for personal use. You cannot share the call recording with third parties without the other party’s consent. Germany requires two-party consent, though private citizens may be allowed to record in cases of self-defense. In the USA, many states including California, Delaware, and Florida are two-party consent jurisdictions. Always verify the law in your specific jurisdiction before recording calls.
Call recording quality was good. Both sides of the conversation came through clearly, with reasonable balance between the person holding the phone and the caller.
Compared to the Plaud Note, call recording performance was similar. Both devices produce clear, usable recordings of phone conversations. The Plaud Note Pro edges ahead slightly with its more sophisticated microphone array, but for most use cases, the Notra is perfectly adequate.
The magnetic attachment is secure enough that I never worried about the device falling off during calls. The 45g weight is light enough that it does not make the phone feel unbalanced or cumbersome during extended conversations.
Bluetooth Recording
This is where the Boya Notra distinguishes itself from Plaud. The middle position on the physical switch enables Bluetooth recording mode, allowing you to record audio from Bluetooth earbuds or headphones. This is genuinely useful for recording private conversations, virtual meetings through earbuds, or online classes without having your phone on speakerphone.
To use Bluetooth mode, switch to the middle position (marked with an earphone icon), connect the Notra to your chosen earbuds via the app, and press and hold the recording button. The app confirms that recording is in progress. The Notra captures audio from the earbuds’ microphone and processes it for transcription.
I tested this feature during several virtual meetings on my phone. Using my usual Bluetooth earbuds, I could participate in the call naturally while the Notra recorded everything. Audio quality was comparable to recording in ambient mode – clear enough for accurate transcription, though not studio quality.
This is a genuine differentiator from Plaud. While Plaud has the NotePin designed for wearable recording, the basic Plaud Note does not offer Bluetooth recording. If you frequently take calls via Bluetooth earbuds or participate in online meetings on your phone, this feature alone might justify choosing the Boya Notra over the Plaud Note.
The only limitation I found was battery life. Recording via Bluetooth seems to drain the Notra’s battery faster than ambient or phone call recording. During a two-hour virtual meeting, the battery dropped from 80% to about 45%, whereas ambient recording typically uses about 10-15% per hour.
File Transfer
The Boya Notra offers three methods for transferring recording files: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and USB-C. This flexibility is welcome, as different situations call for different transfer methods.
Bluetooth transfer is convenient for sending individual recordings to your phone. Select the recording in the app, and it transfers in the background. Transfer speed is reasonable for short recordings (under 10 minutes), but longer recordings can take a while. A 30-minute recording took about 3-4 minutes to transfer via Bluetooth.
Wi-Fi transfer is significantly faster. Connect both the Notra and your phone to the same Wi-Fi network, and recordings transfer much more quickly. The same 30-minute recording transferred in under a minute via
