iFLYTEK AI Recorder S6 Review

The iFLYTEK AI Recorder S6 aims to take the utility of a voice recorder and greatly enhance its convenience factor with the use of AI. Those who record a lot of meetings, interviews, or private voice notes will know the pain of sorting through potentially hours of recordings to find the relevant part you want. Yes, some devices allow for smart transcriptions that make finding keywords easier, but they can be inaccurate and ultimately have limits when it comes to detecting context. AI could be the next step in improving this. Here is my review.

Hear me speak

When it comes to the actual voice recording, the S6 is more than capable. It has eight microphones in total, with two focused directional microphones and six omnidirectional microphones. The microphone system is designed to pick up voices from up to 20 meters away, which makes it viable for large meeting rooms.

With the device turned on, users select a recording mode. This gives the S6 some context for microphone usage, as well as how to approach and process the incoming voices. If different people are talking, the S6 recognizes this.

AI magic

Once the voices are recorded, the S6 can deliver formatted summaries and highlights. Following a meeting simulation, I was able to create a to-do list of tasks that I had been asked to do.

Additional features include offline transcription in different languages, video subtitles, and other helpful tools. Security is also worth highlighting, with password protection and file encryption.

The best thing about the S6 is how focused it is on its singular task. I feel like so many AI devices are trying to do everything and ultimately fail to be truly useful. With the S6, it’s all about capturing high-quality voice recordings and using AI to format them into super convenient summaries.

The current AI issue

The main problem with the S6 is something that plagues a lot of the AI devices popping up, and that is inconsistent AI results. While the summaries are useful and accurate 80-90% of the time, there are those instances where the S6 kind of loses its mind.

As with most AI tools, the S6 is best used by experts in their field who want convenience but are clued-up enough to spot an inaccuracy when it inevitably crops up.

Of course, the software could well see massive improvements in the coming years, and it’s good to see iFLYTEK offering five years of Pro membership with each purchase. When that runs out, the subscription does get a bit pricey, so it’s worth bearing that in mind, but five years is a good chunk of time.

Disclosure: Review sample provided by iFLYTEK.