The iFlytek Ai Note Air Pro is a 7.8-inch e-note device that seems to have been designed for the specific purpose of enhancing workplace efficiency. That said, there is no stopping using the device for the usual things that almost all e-note devices are capable of. That includes reading e-books, PDFs, or almost any digital content, listening to audiobooks, taking notes, and so on. However, where the Ai Note Air Pro seems to score over the rest is its ability to deliver as an office aid. Read on to find out more.
iFlytek Ai Note Air Pro specs
The Ai Note Air Pro is a handy little e-note device with a 7.8-inch E Ink display. It’s a 300ppi display having 1404 × 1872 resolution which makes the content looks sharp and bright. An array of 24 LED lights provides optimum screen illumination to allow for comfortable reading even in low light or dark conditions. The tablet also comes with a free stylus to make the most of the WACOM display.
Under the hood lies a quad-core 1.8Ghz processor that is coupled to 2 GB of memory and 64 GB of native storage. Power comes from a 2300 mAh battery which should be enough to keep the device in operation for several days at least, if not weeks. That said, some bit of more power here would have been always better. A USB C port allows for battery recharging as well as the transfer of content. The e-note runs Android 11 but does not allow side loading of apps, which is a big let-down, it must be said. There is a 5MP camera at the rear as well though that is more for scanning documents than clicking pictures.
Carved out of aluminium-magnesium alloy, the Ai Note Air boats of an exemplary build that can beat the best in the segment. It’s super thin too, measuring just 5mm, and tips the scales at 230 grams. The e-note also sports a unique design in that there is an elaborate speaker grill that stretches all the way along the top. This should allow for good quality sound output but makes the top bezel quite thick. The lower bezel is quite on the thicker side though the same along the sides are thinner in comparison. The e-note supports WIFI 4.2 wireless connectivity.
iFlytek Ai Note Air Pro office features
The iFlytek Ai Note Air Pro comes with a bunch of features that make it stand out from the several other e-notes already available. It offers an excellent 98 percent accuracy in speech recognition at up to 400 words per minute for a single speaker. This drops down slightly to 95 percent for multiple speakers. When it comes to speech recognition of mixed Chinese and English, the accuracy stands at 96 percent, which is still commendable.
The company said the advanced microphone array and radar map ensure one of the best accuracy rates in voice transcription that any of its peers. There is a background noise cancellation feature as well which helps in accurate speech recognition. Then there are 16 industry-specific thesauruses that the workers can fall back on for both online and offline usage. E-Book formats that the device supports include EPUB, PDF, MOBI TXT, and such. You can also sideload your own content and use the device as an e-reader.
iFlytek said the advanced speech recognition feature of the e-note comes with support for 23 Chinese dialects and 60 languages. It allows for editing, machine translation, and speech synthesis, all in real-time. There is an automatic meeting minutes generation tool on board too, as is the recording management technology. Then there is the Smart Notes feature as well that supports voice search and point-in-time playback capability.
Stylus
The Ai Note Air Pro comes bundled with a stylus that is good enough to warrant a separate mention. The pen is closely tied to the e-note so that it can only work with the Ai Note Air Pro while the e-note too won’t support any other stylus. It does not require a battery for its power. Rather, it happens to be an electromagnetic resonance pen that can draw the power it needs from the e-note itself.
A unique feature of the pen is its nibs which aren’t the standard WACOM type. With graphite blended into the plastic for the nib, the pen offers enough feedback to allow for a really cool writing experience. There is some bit of resistance introduced which makes it possible to actually hear a bit as you type, which perhaps is as close as it can get to offering the feel of writing on plain paper. But then there is some amount of gliding effect as well but not enough to mar the overall nice writing experience. Further adding to it is the ultra-low latency while the eraser too is among the best in its class.
Notes
The Notes section is the only one that can be of any real use with the otherwise brilliant Ai Note Air Pro. Of course, much of that has to do with the brilliant pen which is so inviting to write, scribble, draw or do whatever you like. The Calendar app is also a huge positive with the e-note as it allows you to select a date and also write something against that. Another cool feature of the Note app is that anything that is written on the top bar of the app becomes the title of the Note. Plus there are options to add images, titles, and texts, or scan an image or text using the rear cam. Then there are a couple of pre-designed formats to choose from as well.
Disadvantages with the Ai Note Air Pro
The Ai Note Air Pro is simply the best in its category. It’s extremely well built, comes with a premium leather case, has decent levels of processing power, comes with tons of software features that can be extremely handy in the office, and includes a brilliant stylus as well. Unfortunately, this applies to only those who understand the Chinese language and live in mainland China.
That’s because the device does not have any other language apart from Chinese. Most of the features that the device offers, which include the speaker, microphone, AI, and share options all remain locked out. That is not all as it also requires a Chinese phone number to which the company would be sending the one-time password that is needed to unlock the device. All of this rules out the use of the Ai Note Air Pro for all those who don’t understand Chinese and are not residing in the country as well.
Conclusion
So, with the Ai Note Air Pro, what you have is an e-note device that is both the best as well as the worst at the same time. If you have read this far, you should already have a nice idea why it comes with contrasting personalities. Curiously, while most other well known Chinese brands such as Hanvon, Hisense, Bigme, iReader and such have gone on to support the English language, iFlytek continues to remain stubborn on this aspect. No word either if they plan to offer English language support anytime soon, something that would have added to the e-note’s appeal immensely. Till that happens, if at all, the Ai Note Air Pro is going to be very unforgiving for anyone living outside of China.
iFlytek Ai Note Air Pro
$549.99Pros
- 98% speech recognition accuracy
- A solid E-Note
- 7.8-inch E Ink screen with 300ppi
- Background noise reduction for accurate speech recognition
- Ability to scan printed documents for sharing and markup
Cons
- Chinese Only
- You need a mainland Chinese phone number just to use
- No SD
- No Google Play
- Expensive
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.