Best AI Note-Taking Devices in 2026: Pendants, Pins, and Recorders Compared
This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up through our links, we may earn a commission — at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we'd actually use.
The AI wearable space had a brutal 2025. The Limitless Pendant was discontinued after Meta acquired the company in December 2025. The Rewind app — the software half of the original Limitless proposition — was sunset. Humane AI Pin was acquihired by HP for $116M in February 2025, an 86% haircut from its $1.1B valuation. Rabbit R1 commercially flopped. Friend AI is pivoting.
What's left in early 2026 is a smaller, more realistic market. Three products are worth your attention: Plaud NotePin S (launched at CES 2026), Omi (open-source, growing on Limitless refugees), and Bee (acquired by Amazon, shown at CES 2026 as a clip-on). Everything else is either dead or rebooting under new ownership.
Here's what's actually worth buying.
Quick picks
- Best overall Plaud NotePin S — $179 device, polished hardware, best app quality
- Best open source Omi — $89, HIPAA-compliant option, community-driven, runs on your own API keys
- Ecosystem bet Bee (Amazon) — unproven but Amazon backing makes it interesting to watch
- Budget entry Plaud Note (original) — cheaper than NotePin S, still capable
- Skip entirely Humane AI Pin, Limitless Pendant, Rabbit R1 — discontinued or commercially dead
Side-by-side comparison
| Device | Price | Form factor | Subscription | Open source | Still sold? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plaud NotePin S | $179 | Wearable clip/badge | Free 300 min/mo · Pro $17.99/mo | No | Yes |
| Omi | ~$89 | Wearable pendant | Free 1,200 min/mo · $19/mo unlimited | Yes | Yes |
| Bee (Amazon) | TBA | Clip-on | TBA | No | Pre-launch |
| Plaud Note | ~$99 | Card-shaped recorder | Free 300 min/mo · Pro $17.99/mo | No | Yes |
| Limitless Pendant | — | Pendant | — | No | Discontinued |
| Humane AI Pin | — | Chest pin | — | No | Dead |
Plaud NotePin S — the market leader by default
Launched at CES 2026, the NotePin S is the upgrade to the original NotePin with one standout addition: a physical Highlight button. Press it during a conversation and it marks that moment in the transcript for instant retrieval. It sounds simple, but it changes how you use the device — instead of reviewing everything later, you surface what mattered in real-time.
The hardware is polished. It clips to clothing or sits as a badge. Battery lasts a full workday. The Mac and PC apps are the best Plaud has shipped. The AI summaries are clean and structured, and the integration with Notion, Obsidian, and other notes apps works reliably.
The subscription model is where it gets uncomfortable. The free tier gives you 300 transcription minutes per month — roughly 5 hours. That covers casual use. If you record throughout the day, you'll need the Pro plan at $17.99/month, which brings the total cost of ownership to roughly $394 in year one ($179 device + $215 subscription). That's a real commitment for a productivity device.
Omi — best open-source option
Omi picked up a lot of Limitless Pendant refugees after Meta's acquisition, and for good reason. It's open source, HIPAA-compliant, and takes a different philosophy to AI wearables: process locally on your phone where possible, use your own API keys if you want full control over where your audio goes.
The hardware is smaller and cheaper than Plaud — a pendant that connects to your phone via Bluetooth. It's less polished but functional. The community has built plugins for various note-taking workflows, and because it's open source, you can extend or self-host if you have the technical capacity.
The free tier is genuinely generous: 1,200 cloud transcription minutes per month — four times Plaud's free allowance. If you're in a medical, legal, or enterprise context where data sovereignty matters, Omi is the only wearable that lets you keep everything in-house.
Bee (Amazon) — ecosystem bet
Bee was acquired by Amazon and shown at CES 2026 as a clip-on wearable. The device records ambient audio throughout the day and uses AI to summarize conversations, track topics you mentioned meaning to follow up on, and build a personal memory layer.
Amazon's backing matters. The distribution and infrastructure they bring could make Bee the mainstream consumer option if they get the pricing right. But it hasn't shipped to consumers yet, and Amazon's track record with hardware is uneven — Fire Phone, Echo Show, Amazon Halo, all struggled.
Don't buy into this yet. Watch for pricing announcement and early reviews. If Amazon integrates it deeply with Alexa and Echo, it could become interesting for users already in the Amazon ecosystem.
Plaud Note — the cheaper entry point
The original Plaud Note is still sold, still capable, and meaningfully cheaper than the NotePin S. It's a card-shaped recorder — roughly credit card dimensions — that you hold or place on a table during a meeting. No wearable form factor.
It shares the same backend AI and subscription plans as the NotePin S. The main things you give up: the Highlight button, the wearable form factor, and the newer hardware improvements in the S model.
If you want to test Plaud's ecosystem before committing $179, the Note is the right entry point. The subscription pricing is identical, so if you upgrade to the NotePin S later, you won't lose your subscription continuity.
The devices that didn't make it
Limitless Pendant — discontinued December 2025
Meta acquired Limitless and shut down both the pendant hardware and the Rewind app. Existing users were given a migration window but the product is gone. If you bought one: you need to find an alternative. Omi is the closest philosophical replacement.
Humane AI Pin — acquihired by HP, February 2025
HP paid $116M for Humane's patents and team — an 86% haircut from the $1.1B valuation. The pin hardware is dead, the app no longer functions. The failure was primarily poor battery life (2–4 hours) and trying to replace a smartphone with a $699 pin. Don't buy secondhand units.
Rabbit R1 — commercially flopped
Never quite worked as advertised. The "Large Action Model" that was supposed to control apps on your behalf mostly didn't. Rabbit is still technically operating but the R1 has no meaningful user base and the product roadmap is stalled.
Should you buy a device or just use an app?
Honest answer: most people don't need hardware
For laptop meetings, Granola or Jamie on your desktop is better, cheaper, and more capable than any wearable. You get richer AI summaries, better editing tools, and no subscription on top of a device purchase.
Devices make sense in specific situations: in-person meetings where opening a laptop would be awkward, medical or legal contexts requiring hands-free recording, and people who want to record throughout the day — conversations in the hallway, phone calls, brainstorming sessions that don't happen at a desk.
The Plaud NotePin S is the right choice if you've decided hardware is what you need. Omi is the right choice if you need HIPAA compliance or want open-source control. Neither is a replacement for Granola or Jamie if your meetings are primarily video calls.
Ready to buy?
Both devices below ship with a free tier — test before committing to a subscription.
We earn a commission if you purchase through our links — at no extra cost to you.