iFLYTEK AI Recorder S6: AI dictation machine in practical test

The test of the iFLYTEK AI Recorder S6 was successful in many scenarios. However, the limitation to only ten languages severely restricts the usability of the device, although this could be supplemented by updates in the future. Only people who speak at least good English and frequently interact with business partners in the other nine languages are likely to be delighted. Anyone who frequently interviews people in one of the languages or studies in one of these national languages and doesn't want to miss a word even in noisy environments will belong to the AI recorder's narrow target group. The relatively heavy weight of 200 grams means that an additional device is required in addition to a smartphone etc. Private individuals and occasional users will not be happy with the AI dictation recorder and are better off with cheaper and much more compact devices such as those from Plaud. Those who very rarely use AI transcription and AI summarization will find a suitable solution with an app such as otter.ai, which, however, also incurs monthly costs for full usability. Overall, the iFLYTEK AI Recorder S6 is likely to remain a niche product for a manageable group in business, media and studies who value clearly understandable recordings.

The iFLYTEK AI recorder is available from the manufacturer's online store for $469 with free shipping (there are often promotions with a 15 percent discount). At AliExpress the AI recorder is available for $542,30 with free shipping. On Amazon, the iFLYTEK AI Recorder S6 is available for $399 with free shipping.

Only ten languages are currently available on the device for online use: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Chinese (Cantonese), Korean, Spanish, French, German, Thai and Russian. This narrows down the field of users, as the AI Recorder S6 should only be of interest to those who deal a lot with representatives of one of the countries of the languages offered. This includes journalists and foreign correspondents as well as employees in companies who use one or more of the languages included, as well as students and teachers.

The number of ready-made templates for AI functions is very limited with only 14 different templates, including summaries for interviews, learning courses or the most important points by e-mail and the creation of a business plan or training plan. A certain range of prompts is available, but it is not possible to change the default prompt or create your own. Here you have to transfer the file to your PC to make further summaries.

The packaging is stylishly designed, like current smartphones. In addition to the device itself, a small, bilingual manual, a SIM tray pin and a very short USB-A to USB-C cable for charging the AI recorder are included. Operation is similar to a smartphone: there is a power button, volume up and down and an additional button to start recording. The included operating system resembles a very rudimentary Android. Two directional microphones on the top and six additional omnidirectional microphones around the screen (three on each side) are included. According to the manufacturer, this allows recordings to be made at a distance of up to 20 meters, which is particularly suitable for large lecture halls. There are four presets for audio recording: Speech (for lecture halls), Interview (for small, more personal conversations), Meeting (for rooms with around ten people) and Original.

In principle, no additional devices or apps are required to use the gadget; all functions are included in the gadget itself. Three different subscriptions are offered, from the free Standard subscription to a Premium subscription for $70 per year to the Pro subscription for $239 per year. These differ primarily in the available cloud storage (0/5/10 GB), the number of minutes of translations (300/1,800/unlimited minutes/month) and the possible use of the AI assistant (5 per month with the standard subscription and unlimited with the other two subscription models). It is mandatory to set up a user account for transcription, and users are offered a five-year free Pro account shortly after setting it up. On the one hand, this puts the high purchase costs of the device into perspective, but on the other hand it detracts from the value of the subscription, as the user is given a value of $1,195 over five years.

The AI recorder is equipped with a camera and comes with OCR software. This makes it possible to photograph writing in one of four languages and have it translated into plain text. You can only choose between English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. My test in English was of very good quality. The texts corresponded clearly to the texts from the template. Unfortunately, it is not possible to translate the text into another language afterwards. Nevertheless, I photographed a German blurb of a book with the English language preset and this was correctly translated into German text, even the ISBN code and the pure use of capitals were taken into account, there is no special typography like umlauts (BOSE instead of BÖSE).

My tests of the live video translation via the integrated camera provided a rather negative picture. I filmed a speech by French President Macron and first switched on German and then English subtitles. Both did not even come close to providing a correct translation, but were rather characterized by a string of random words. Since the first sentence was mostly okay, but was displayed with a long delay, it seems as if the device was more or less overwhelmed.

The two devices differ significantly: the iFLYTEK AI Recorder S6 is a stand-alone device with a screen and modified Android operating system for use. In contrast to the Plaud Note Pro, it offers more microphones and a range of 20 meters. On the other hand, it is another device that weighs like a second smartphone in your pocket. Both devices have 64 GB memory for recordings.

The Plaud Note Pro has a compact size in the style of a business card, can be magnetically attached to many smartphones and can be operated with a button. However, it requires a smartphone or tablet to use the app that comes with the device. In terms of AI functions, the Plaud Note Pro offers significantly more templates for a broader target group of users and also a combination of different AI systems, while the iFLYTEK gadget relies purely on ChatGPT and a few templates. For many users, further manual editing of the file is likely to be necessary, which makes the idea of a dedicated device absurd.

There are also differences in price: while the Plaud Note Pro costs $189, the AI recorder from iFLYTEK costs around $400–500. Both gadgets offer different subscriptions for using the AI functions, with the Unlimited version costing $225 per year for the Plaud Note Pro and $239 per year for the iFLYTEK device, which is relatively comparable. As a five-year Pro subscription is included with the purchase of the iFLYTEK AI Recorder S6, it is still much cheaper over the first five years.