Plaud One solves phone calls with hardware. Epocra solves them on your phone number. To record a call on earbuds with Plaud One you have to use Plaud’s own, not AirPods or any other pair, and the device has to be with you and charged. Epocra records every call on your number however you take it, with nothing extra to carry. Plaud One is $249.99, ships in late 2026, and its pre-order has closed.
Epocra records incoming and outgoing calls on your normal number, on any iPhone or Android. There is nothing to wear or charge: the recording happens on the call itself, from the first word, and the transcript and summary arrive after you hang up.
Disclosure: we make Epocra. Everything said about Plaud One comes from Plaud’s own product page and announcement plus launch coverage, checked on 16 October 2026. No hands-on review of its call recording exists yet.
See it in action
Every call, nothing to wear
An interactive demo, not a video. Answer a call and see the recording, transcript and follow-ups land in the app once it ends.
- Every call on your number: incoming and outgoing, from the first word
- AirPods, car or speaker: it records the line, not a microphone
- Summary and action items: written for you after every call
Side by side
 Plaud One |  Epocra | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI earbuds with a 4G charging case | A calling app for your normal number |
| Phone calls | Calls it can hear, in its earbuds or near the case | Every call on your number, in and out |
| AirPods or other earbuds | No, only Plaud’s own earbuds | Yes, any headset |
| Extra hardware | Yes, worn and charged | None, just your phone |
| Meetings in person | Yes, the case records the room | A voice note from the keypad; not built for meetings |
| Battery | About 3 hours of calls per charge | Nothing to charge |
| Price | $249.99, then 300 free minutes a month or a paid plan | Free trial, then $24.99 a month |
| Can you buy it? | Pre-order closed; ships Q4 2026 | Yes, iPhone and Android |
On a phone, swipe the table sideways.
How Plaud One records a call
Plaud’s earlier recorders, the Note and NotePin, sit against your phone or your clothes and listen. They cannot hear a call you take on earbuds, which is the gap Plaud One is designed to close. The call audio now goes through Plaud’s own earbuds, and, according to launch coverage of Plaud’s specs, a sensor in each earbud captures both sides of the call.
The charging case does the rest. It has four microphones for recording a meeting in the room and its own 4G eSIM, so recordings upload to Plaud even when your phone is not nearby. Plaud’s app then writes the transcript and summary, and its agent can act on them. The earbuds last about three hours of calls on a charge, with the case extending that to around 25 hours.
Two cautions. The call recording is Plaud’s claim for now: the first units ship in the fourth quarter of 2026, and no independent review has tested how a call sounds. And only the 2,000-unit Explorer Edition exists; its pre-order has closed, with a wider release reported for 2027. How Plaud’s current devices handle calls is in how Plaud records phone calls.
How Epocra records a call
Epocra does not listen through a microphone at all. Calls you make in Epocra go out over its own line, and calls to your normal number reach it through one carrier code, so the recording is made from the call itself. That means both voices are captured cleanly, on any iPhone or Android, however you happen to be listening: speaker, car, AirPods or the phone against your ear.
It starts on its own for every call, incoming and outgoing, from the first word. After you hang up you get the recording, the transcript with each speaker labelled, a summary, and the follow-ups as tasks, and you can ask questions across all your calls. People see your own number. By default the other person hears a short recording notice when the call connects, which you can switch off in Settings where the law for both of you allows it.
Which calls each one misses
Plaud One can only record a call it can hear. On speaker, the case picks it up like any conversation near it. On earbuds, it has to be Plaud’s: a call on your AirPods or a work headset plays where Plaud One cannot hear it. And if the case is left at home or the earbuds are flat, there is nothing to record with.
Plaud One fixes phone calls with hardware you carry and wear. Epocra fixes them on the line, with nothing extra.
Epocra is the opposite. It is built for phone calls. For a quick conversation in person you can tap the voice note button on the keypad, but if your day is in-person meetings, Plaud One is the better fit.
What they cost
Plaud One is $249.99 for the hardware, and that includes the free Starter Plan with 300 minutes of transcription a month plus $200 in Plaud credits for its agent features. Heavier use needs a paid Plaud plan, which TechCrunch reported starts at $8.33 a month billed annually. Epocra has no hardware: it starts with a free trial, then costs $24.99 a month. Over a year that comes to about $300 for Epocra, against $249.99 up front for Plaud One plus any plan.
Which one fits you
- Plaud One if your day is in-person meetings, with some calls, and you will wear the earbuds whenever the phone rings. It is also the only Plaud device that can hear a call through earbuds, as covered in Plaud vs Pocket.
- Epocra if your work happens on the phone: clients calling you back, calls on your own AirPods, and you want every one recorded without thinking about it or carrying anything extra.
Recording laws depend on where you and the other person are; they are listed in call recording laws by state. This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources: Plaud One product page · Plaud: meet Plaud One · TechCrunch · Engadget · Channel Insider. Checked 16 October 2026. Plaud and Plaud One are trademarks of their owner.
Frequently asked questions
A $249.99 pair of AI earbuds from Plaud with a 4G charging case. The earbuds record calls, the case records meetings in the room, and Plaud’s app writes the transcript and summary.
Plaud says yes, for calls you take in its earbuds, picking up both sides. It ships in the fourth quarter of 2026 and has not been independently tested yet.
No. Recording a call on earbuds needs Plaud’s own earbuds. A call on AirPods or another headset plays where Plaud One cannot hear it. On speaker, the case can pick it up like any conversation near it.
Not right now. Only a limited Explorer Edition of 2,000 units was made, its pre-order has closed, and Plaud has a waitlist. A wider release is reported for 2027.
$249.99, including the free Starter Plan with 300 minutes of transcription a month and $200 in Plaud credits. Paid Plaud plans add more minutes.
It can, with the voice note button on the keypad, which gives you the same transcript and summary. But Epocra is built for phone calls; for regular meetings in a room, a device like Plaud One is designed for that.
Epocra records every incoming and outgoing call on your normal number from the moment it connects, on any iPhone or Android, with nothing to wear or charge.
More in the Help Center: What gets recorded.
James Ritter
Founder of Epocra. Fifteen years in payments, now building call intelligence for people who run their business from their phone.
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