Forget ChatGPT: This tiny voice recorder is my new favorite AI assistant. Here's why

If you read my coverage of smartwatches, then you’re likely familiar with past reviews of Mobvoi’s TicWatch models. The TicWatch series stands out from most other watches with dual-display technology that provides very long battery life and unique features. 

Breaking away from watches, Mobvoi just launched an all new product: the TicNote, a powerful, capable AI-powered voice recorder that attaches to your smartphone and uses AI-powered software to generate content based on your voice notes. 

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It’s a diminutive device weighing just 71 grams and about the size of three credit cards stacked on each other. It has a rather large 470 mAh battery providing up to 25 hours of use, and 64GB of storage that stores 434 hours of voice recordings. Here’s what it can do. 

After unboxing the TicNote, I first assumed this small, simple device wouldn’t be able to do much. There is a single switch to toggle between voice recordings and phone call recordings from the receiver, so Bluetooth calls are not supported. There is also a small OLED display showing the current status of the device and a power button that serves to start and stop recording sessions.

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As I was trying to figure out the button functions, my wife walked into my office and started talking about sinus infections and allergies. It turns out the TicNote was listening, and afterward we were both blown away by the results it delivered in the app. After recording a conversation, the device transfers the audio file via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, depending on the file size.

The TicNote’s three integrated MEMS microphones have a recording range of 10 meters, and it was rather stunning to hear the clear recordings from such a distance. To facilitate phone recordings and make it convenient to use, a MagSafe-compatible slipcase comes with the device so you can mount it on the back of your phone.

Recordings are captured by the TicNote hardware, and — as flawless as that experience has been — the real magic happens after you sync those recordings to your phone and open up the TicNote application. You can also start and stop recordings right from within the TicNote application, and if the TicNote AI recorder is off, tapping record on your phone will turn on the TicNote and start the recording.

Tap on one of the recordings shown in the list to see a summary of the recording, transcript (even showing different speakers), Aha moments, deep research, and a mindmap of the recording. The insightful summaries include overviews, details, and even a to-do list; all these elements have been amazingly accurate and useful. You can export audio, transcripts, summaries, and the mind map if you want to share your results. It would also be great to see export support for the task lists in the future.

While the results I have seen over the past several days have been very accurate, you can also edit the summary if there are inaccuracies. In addition, you can translate into another language and re-transcribe after you have made edits. All data the TicNote captures is stored on Mobvoi’s US-based cloud infrastructure.

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Aha moments provide insights into your transcribed voice recordings. For example, when my wife and I were talking about allergies and sinus infections, the Aha moment that appeared discussed the latest medical findings on the safety of Afrin and Benadryl. It was very useful information and even included source links to verify the information provided in TicNote.

There are several more functions included in the TicNote application, including managing your files into project folders, searching your recordings, using the Shadow AI agent, and more. Inside each project folder, you can add recordings, local files (PDF, text, and Word documents), random thoughts, and deep research reports.

The TicNote hardware is very capable, and the app provides very good information. That information may come with a price; to help you understand how many credits you’ll need, Mobvoi is offering early buyers three months of the Pro subscription for free. The Pro subscription includes 1,500 credits per month with a monthly fee of $12.99 or an annual subscription of $79.99. Most features are one credit per session or minute. If you do not subscribe to the Pro plan, you will still get 300 credits for free per month.

ZDNET’s buying advice

Based on conversation I had with my wife, we were blown away by TicNote’s ability to take audio from a conversation and develop meaningful content out of it. The Mobvoi TicNote AI-based voice recorder is a small, light accessory that can change how you capture meeting notes, great ideas, task lists, shopping lists, and research topics of interest. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a new AI-powered assistant that sees the power in voice notes. 

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