How we compare

Where the specs come from

Every spec on a product page (model number, form factor, ways to wear or carry it, size, weight, continuous recording per charge, standby, storage on the device, audio the device holds, microphones, how it records, shows when it is recording, records without the phone nearby, records phone calls, transcribes without uploading audio, transcription languages, connects by, water and dust rating, apps, has a camera, open source, as published, device sdk, developer api for your recordings, connects to, exports your audio files, free cloud transcription a month, needs a paid plan to work, cheapest plan for 20 hours a month, per year, cheapest plan with no monthly cap, per year, plans as the brand lists them, your recordings used to train ai, where recordings are stored, encryption the brand states, what happens to the audio, hipaa, as the brand states it, security certifications the brand states, owned by, app and cloud service, released, warranty, made for, accessory type) is a claim we recorded with its source: the page it was read from, how it was read, and the date. The product page shows the source next to each value, so you can check it in one click.

Sources rank in this order:

1. The brand's own material: its product page, spec sheet or product feed.
2. A store's listing of that exact model, when the brand doesn't publish the figure.
3. Anything else, such as a search result or a figure worked out from the source's own numbers. These values are marked with an asterisk.

Within a rank, a page read directly beats an archived copy of it. When a store blocks automated reading (several brand stores in this category do), we read the copy the Internet Archive keeps instead, and the source says "archived" with the date of that copy.

Every value is recorded together with the sentence it came from, and our tools refuse to record a value whose sentence is not on the page it cites. A value that says more than its sentence (a plan read as "unlimited" because no limit is listed, say) is rejected in review.

Of the 698 spec values shown on the site right now, 100% come from the brand, 0% from a store. Another 0% are carried over from the original catalogue and haven't been re-checked yet. Those are labelled not re-verified wherever they appear.

When sources disagree

The highest-ranked source wins, and among equals the newest reading wins. A value carried over from before we kept sources ranks below everything, so any checked reading replaces it.

When two good sources disagree by more than measuring noise (1 mm or 3% on a dimension, 5% on a weight), we look at both and mark the wrong one rejected, with the reason. Rejected claims are kept rather than deleted, so the next check doesn't pick the same wrong number up again. 33 claims have been rejected so far.

A few conventions make products comparable:

• Size and weight are millimetres and grams, as the brands publish them; US pages in inches and ounces are converted and the original figure is kept in the source note. Weight is the device alone, not a charging case.
• Recording battery is the brand's continuous-recording figure, not standby and not "with the case".
• Colours are one product; versions that differ in a spec (8 GB and 64 GB, 4G and Wi-Fi) are separate.

Confirmed, inferred, unconfirmed

Every product carries a confidence label. It's computed from its sources, never typed in by hand:

• confirmed (9 products): the model number and every shown figure were read from the brand's or a store's own page, spec sheet or feed, or an archived copy.
• inferred (30): read the same way, but at least one value rests on a search result or a figure worked out from the source's numbers, or the device has no model number to pin it to (common in this category).
• unconfirmed (0): at least one value hasn't been re-checked since the catalogue began. The product page says which.

Prices

Prices are re-checked every week. Each price shows the date it was seen and the store it was seen at. The headline price is the cheapest store that has the product in stock. If no store has a price, we show the brand's list price, labelled as such. A price we haven't been able to re-check reads "recorded <date>, not re-checked since", never as current.

Some stores refuse automated price checks. For those we show the brand's list price as published (labelled "list price"), from an archived copy if need be, until a sanctioned price feed is connected. Amazon listings are linked without a price, as Amazon's rules require. When we have nothing, the device shows no price rather than a guessed one.

Plans and the two-year cost

Most AI recorders need the maker's app and cloud to turn audio into text, and many sell that as a subscription. For every device we record, from the brand's own plan page: the free allowance, whether it works with no paid plan, the cheapest plan with no monthly cap, and the full plan list.

To compare running costs on equal terms we use one workload: 20 hours of recording a month (1,200 minutes, about an hour of meetings each working day). The plan for 20 hours a month is the yearly price of the cheapest plan whose allowance covers it, on yearly billing where offered, at the regular US price. It is free when the free tier already covers it, or transcription happens on the device or phone at no charge.

The two-year cost is the device price plus two years of that plan. It is an estimate from stated figures, not a bill: plans change, and some include fair-use limits. If either figure is missing, we show no two-year cost rather than estimate the gap. A plan that lists no limit is not treated as unlimited unless the brand says so.

What companies say about your recordings

For each device we record what its maker states about using your recordings to train AI, where they are stored, what happens to the audio, encryption, on-device transcription, HIPAA, and security certifications. These come from the company's privacy policy, trust page or help centre, and every value is shown with the sentence it came from.

They are the companies' claims. We don't test or audit them, and we don't turn them into a privacy score. Wording matters: "aligned with HIPAA requirements" is recorded as alignment, not compliance, and a statement about third parties is not read as a statement about the company itself. When a brand says nothing, we say "not stated".

Recording other people can be regulated: some US states require everyone in a conversation to agree. We don't give legal advice; the Reporters Committee's recording guide summarises the state laws.

Developer access

Whether you can build on a device is also about lock-in: a device you can program, or export your recordings from, outlives its maker's app. We record whether the company publishes a device SDK (and whether it is open source, public, or on request), an API for your own recordings, which parts are open source, the integrations it lists (including MCP servers for AI assistants), and whether the original audio can be exported. Each from the brand's developer documentation or repository.

Discontinued products

Devices a brand no longer sells new stay in the catalogue, because people still own them and need to know whether the app and cloud still work and who owns the company now. They're kept out of every comparison and listed under legacy & discontinued. A device is marked discontinued only when its maker says sales ended, and its service as ended or ending only when the maker says so. 2 products are listed there now.

How the site makes money

Some "buy" links are affiliate links: if you buy through one, the store pays RecorderCompare a commission at no cost to you. Those links say so right next to the button. Affiliate status never decides what we list, the order things appear in, or which store a price comes from. The headline price is the cheapest in-stock store, whether or not we earn from it. No brand or store pays for placement.

What we don't do

• No scores or "best" picks. A single score hides whose priorities set the weights. We show the numbers and the sources, and you decide.
• No hands-on testing. Specs are the brand's or store's published figures. Battery hours and plan allowances are the brand's figures, not something we measured.
• US market only. Prices, plans and availability are for the US.
• No privacy verdicts or legal advice. We quote what companies say.
• No guessing. A value nobody has published is left blank, not estimated.

What the terms mean

Form factor

Pendant: worn on a cord. Clip: a small pin or clip. Card: credit-card size, often on the back of a phone. Plug-in: plugs into the phone. Desk: sits on a table.

Size (L×W×H)

Length × width × thickness in millimetres, as the brand publishes it.

Continuous recording per charge

Hours of continuous recording on one charge, as the brand states it; not standby, and not counting a charging case.

How it records

Press to record: it records only when you start it. Always listening: it records whenever it hears speech. Both: either, by setting.

Shows when it is recording

How the device tells you, and the people near you, that it is recording, as the brand describes it.

Records phone calls

The brand says it can record both sides of a phone call (by a vibration sensor on the phone, Bluetooth, or a call mode).

Transcribes without uploading audio

The brand says speech can be turned into text on the device or the phone, without sending the audio to its servers.

Water and dust rating

An IP code from the IEC 60529 standard. The first digit is dust (X means not rated, 5 dust-protected, 6 dust-tight); the second is water (4 splashing, 5 jets, 7 brief submersion, 8 longer submersion). Where a brand publishes no rating we show none: that is not a claim it is not water-resistant.

Open source, as published

Which parts the company publishes under an open-source licence: the phone app, the device firmware, the hardware design. Linked to the repository.

Device SDK (write your own app for the hardware)

Whether the company lets developers talk to the device directly (Bluetooth protocol, firmware, an SDK) so you can build your own app on it. Published means public docs anyone can use.

Developer API for your recordings

Whether the company offers an API to read your recordings, transcripts and summaries from your own code, and on what terms.

Connects to

Integrations the brand lists itself. MCP server: lets AI assistants such as Claude or ChatGPT read your recordings.

Exports your audio files

The brand says you can download the original audio, not only the transcript: the way out if the service changes.

Free cloud transcription a month

Minutes of cloud transcription a month with no paid plan, as the brand states it today.

Needs a paid plan to work

Yes when the device's main job (transcripts or summaries) stops without a paid plan.

Cheapest plan for 20 hours a month, per year

Our standard workload for comparing running costs: 20 hours (1,200 minutes) of recording a month, about an hour of meetings each working day. The figure is the yearly price of the cheapest plan whose monthly allowance covers it, on yearly billing where the brand offers it, at the brand's regular US price (not an introductory offer). It is 0 when the free tier already covers 1,200 minutes, or transcription happens on the device at no charge. The two-year cost on each page is the device price plus two years of this plan.

Cheapest plan with no monthly cap, per year

The lowest yearly price of a plan with no monthly minute cap, paid yearly where the brand offers it. Fair-use limits may still apply.

Your recordings used to train AI

What the company's own policy says about using your recordings or transcripts to train AI models. "Not used for shared models": the policy rules out general models but personalises from your data. Quoted on the product page.

Where recordings are stored

HIPAA, as the brand states it

HIPAA has no official certification. A clinic that records patients needs a business associate agreement (BAA) with the vendor. We record which of three things the brand says: that its program is aligned with HIPAA requirements, that it is HIPAA compliant, or that it signs a BAA. Blank means the brand says none of them. We do not test or judge compliance.

Security certifications the brand states

Audits the brand says it has passed. We record the claim; we do not hold the report.

App and cloud service

Whether the company's app and cloud service still work for owners. Running is today's state, not a promise.

Confirmed, inferred, unconfirmed

How a product's data was sourced; see above.