Exclusive: ‘The point isn't that it never misunderstands; it's that the user stays in control’ — Plaud tells us why its new AI earbuds want to do more than record your meetings | Tech Radar
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Exclusive: ‘The point isn't that it never misunderstands; it's that the user stays in control’ — Plaud tells us why its new AI earbuds want to do more than record your meetings
We talk to Plaud about its new AI earbuds — and why recording your conversations is only the beginning
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Plaud One records and transcribes calls and conversations, but its broader agent capabilities will arrive in a future update
High-stakes actions require approval, while recording is manually triggered, and users are responsible for obtaining consent
It features built-in 4G connectivity at no additional cost
It’s certainly an interesting time for AI wearables, with smart glasses in particular attracting a lot of attention — and raising privacy concerns around the potential for users to video people without their permission.
Announced for pre-order today, Plaud One Explorer Edition is a new wearable AI device, primarily aimed at professionals, that's designed to capture your conversations, so that it can produce actions and reports based on the discussions you’re having during your working day
Worn as earbuds or used through its standalone case, Plaud One can capture calls and in-person conversations. Recordings are uploaded automatically for transcription and summarization as they happen, so (in theory at least) you’ll never need to write anything down again.
Plaud One also has agentic capabilities that Plaud says can take actions across tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion and Slack based on your conversations. However, when we quizzed Plaud about exactly what will be available at launch it told us: “Explorer Edition is the complete Plaud One hardware, but broader new Plaud Intelligence agent capabilities will be available in a future update.”
That caveat pushes the agentic features further into the future. So what agent abilities will work at launch, rather than arriving later in App 4.0? I spoke to the Plaud team to find out.
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They told me that, “At launch, users can press and hold the Agent Button and speak to the agent. Hands-free 'Hey Plaud' activation through the earbuds is coming in a future firmware update.”
Given the obvious privacy concerns, I asked the team if recording is manually triggered, and how other people know it is happening.
“Yes, recording is manually triggered with the press of a button,” they told me. The team didn’t mention any audible or visible indication that recording is taking place, instead placing responsibility on the wearer to inform the people around them: “Plaud encourages users to follow local laws and best practices for recording consent," they added. "Where consent is required, users should inform participants before recording.”
Plaud Agent uses the context of your conversations to identify possible actions, such as preparing a follow-up email after a client meeting or producing a finished report based on a discussion. But can it actually send an email, post to Slack or create a calendar event without confirmation from the user?
“It depends on what the action is”, said the Plaud team. “Anything that changes something or leaves your environment, the agent pauses and asks you first. For example, editing or deleting your files, sending an email on your behalf, pulling in outside data — those always need your approval. Reading and querying your own data inside Plaud is different. That's a closed, trusted environment, so the agent can do that on its own. That's what makes it actually useful. If it had to ask permission to look something up in your own notes, it wouldn't feel like an agent at all.”
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What happens when the agent misunderstands a decision?
“The design assumes a misunderstanding can happen, so it's built to be caught before it turns into a wrong action," the team told me. "All higher-stakes actions — changing or deleting internal files, sending an email externally, or calling external data — require the user to approve them manually. So if you spot something the Agent got wrong, you can fix it yourself before it goes anywhere, or ask the Agent to revise it. Nothing high-stakes acts on its own
"On top of that, the Agent's outputs are grounded, not guesswork — they're built from the context the user actually provides, the real transcripts and recordings, so they trace back to what was genuinely said and a misread is easy to spot.
"And as with any AI, we're clear that important outputs should be checked before they're used — the same principle behind the 'AI can make mistakes, please verify' note you see across these tools. The point isn't that it never misunderstands; it's that the user stays in control, and the work stays grounded, reviewable, and correctable.”
That approval system is only one part of how Plaud says the agent will work. To handle different kinds of tasks, Plaud Agent draws on a library of workflows known as Skills, alongside curated collections designed for particular professional roles called Plugins. As well as agentic actions, Plaud Agent can also generate finished work products, from emails to documents and presentations.
Interestingly, Plaud One is designed to work independently of your phone thanks to a built-in e SIM and 4G LTE connectivity. That immediately raises another question: will the e SIM require a separate subscription?
The Plaud team told me it will not: “No, Plaud One comes with a built-in e Sim, which is provided at no extra cost to the consumer.”
I also asked whether users can inspect, correct and delete the information Plaud retains about them, and the team told me: “Users retain full control over their data. Plaud processes user data to deliver core product functionality, and users can access, correct, export, and delete their data — and withdraw consent — at any time through the Plaud App.”
Finally, I asked if these are fully functional music and calling earbuds, or primarily recording devices, and the team explain that, “The earbuds are recording devices first, capturing what you hear and say, so they can be used for calls. The earbuds also have High-Res LDAC audio, however, Plaud One is first and foremost an AI notetaker.”
Plaud One is priced at
The team did not disclose the ongoing costs, but explained that, “credits are used for the new Agent capabilities across Plaud Intelligence: agent tasks, Routines, Skills and Plugins, and the Artefacts the Agent produces. Everything else about Plaud One works out of the box.”
Pre-orders are open now in the US and UK with shipping of the Explorer Edition expected in Q4 2026.
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Graham is the Senior Editor for AI at Tech Radar. With over 25 years of experience in both online and print journalism, Graham has worked for various market-leading tech brands including Computeractive, PC Pro, i More, Mac Format, Mac|Life, Maximum PC, and more. He specializes in reporting on everything to do with AI and has appeared on BBC TV shows like BBC One Breakfast and on Radio 4 commenting on the latest trends in tech. Graham has an honors degree in Computer Science and spends his spare time podcasting and blogging.
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