Why it became my go-to at work, just one week in

[This is a sponsored article with viaim.]

On a typical workday, I’m usually juggling a few things at once: I have my laptop open, a client call starting in 20 minutes, yesterday’s interview transcript still waiting to be cleaned up, and a notes app full of half-sentences I’ll need to decode later.

The common thread running through my days as a writer is constant switching between listening, writing, recording and organising information. 

I jump between multiple apps: using my phone’s voice memos to record conversations, a separate transcription tool like Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai to turn them into text, and a notes app to pull everything together afterwards. 

Even then, the transcription isn’t always perfect, especially with background noise or multiple speakers, so I still end up spending time cleaning things up.

That’s why when viaim sent over the OpenNote—its open-ear AI earbuds with built-in recording, transcription, and note-taking—I wanted to know whether they could genuinely improve my productivity and make my workflow feel less fragmented.

After a week of wearing them through calls, here’s my verdict. 

First impressions

The viaim OpenNote retails at S$299. 

Unlike conventional in-ear earbuds, they sit around the ear without sealing the ear canal. 

I could leave them on for most of the workday without feeling like my ears were blocked off, while still hearing colleagues, traffic and announcements around me.

The battery life held up pretty well too. The earbuds offer up to 19 hours of use on their own, or up to 53 hours with the charging case, so I rarely had to think about charging them during the week. 

Whether I was sitting through a long keynote, jumping between client interviews or heading out for the day, the OpenNote had enough juice to keep up without me constantly reaching for a charger.

Putting the OpenNote’s features to work

Design is one thing. The real test was whether OpenNote’s features could actually make my workday easier.

Phone calls were the easiest place to notice the difference. Instead of putting my phone on speaker and juggling a recorder and a notes app, I could simply switch to Call Mode and let OpenNote record the conversation. 

That meant I could focus on the actual conversation, such as asking follow-up questions, listening for details, thinking about what might become a story, instead of frantically typing everything down.

Once the recording was done, I could easily sync it to the viaim app, where the transcript and AI-generated notes were waiting for me. 

Its AI chatbot, Vitana, pulls out key points, summaries and action items instead of leaving me to wade through a wall of text. 

Vitana also stores conversations in a dynamic database, making it easy to search and revisit information later, and it integrates with workplace tools like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Skype, which helps keep the workflow from being siloed across different apps. This is especially useful on client calls, where I need to track several requests or follow-ups without losing the thread of the conversation.

On the other hand, in-person meetings were a slightly different test. With multiple people talking, interruptions and background noise, I wasn’t sure Meeting Mode would keep up, but it handled the room reasonably well. 

The transcription wasn’t perfect, and I wouldn’t treat any AI-generated transcript as a final source without checking it, but it gave me a far more useful record to work from afterwards.

The device’s multilingual support was a bonus. viaim covers 78 languages and 145 accents and dialects, and I put that to the test to translate a workplace dialogue in Japanese to English. Compared with other transcription apps I’ve used, viaim handled the conversation quite accurately, particularly when it came to recognising different accents.

Then there’s FlashRecord, which turned out to be useful well beyond calls and meetings. 

I listen to quite a few industry podcasts on my commute, so I tried using the OpenNote to capture interesting statistics and points I wanted to revisit along the way. By the time I got to my desk, those snippets were already captured and organised on the viaim app, ready for me to refer back to later.

Beyond transcription

Inside the viaim app, Vitana goes beyond simply summarising recordings. 

You can prompt it to turn a conversation into something more immediately useful, or generate mind maps that organise a dense chunk of information into something easier to scan and revisit. You can also point Vitana to a captured recording and ask it to draft a follow-up email or action-item list, specifying the recipient, tone and key takeaways you want included.

The good news is that viaim’s core AI features don’t require a separate subscription. 

OpenNote comes with 600 free minutes (10 hours) of AI transcription per month using standard AI models. For heavier users, a Pro plan runs US$79.99/year (S$102.04/year) for 1,800 minutes a month, while an Unlimited plan is US$159.99/year (S$204.08/year).

For comparison, Otter.ai’s entry-level plan starts around US$8.33/month (S$10.66/month) for 1,200 minutes—about S$106.60 a year. Fireflies.ai starts at US$10/month (S$12.80/month) for 8,000 minutes, or roughly S$128 a year. Both of those, though, add another recurring subscription on top of whatever earbuds or recording device you’re already using.

Meanwhile, the viaim OpenNote takes a different approach. 

It is an upfront cost that bundles the earbuds, recording and AI transcription all into one device, with optional paid plans for anyone who needs more transcription time or more advanced AI models. 

So while the initial outlay is higher than simply subscribing to a transcription app, the value proposition shifts if you’re already in the market for earbuds and regularly need transcription for work.

Options for everyone

OpenNote worked for me because I wanted to stay aware of my surroundings while I worked.

But that won’t be everyone’s preference. If you work in a noisy café, an open office, or a shared workspace, you might actually want earbuds that block out the world rather than keep you connected to it.

That’s where the viaim RecDot comes in. Priced at S$279, it offers similar AI and software features—transcription, summaries, action items, and the same support for 78 languages and 145 accents and dialects. 

What sets it apart is a more conventional in-ear form factor, with 48dB active noise cancellation and a 36-hour battery built for deeper noise isolation in loud environments.

Both OpenNote and RecDot can also be paired with the NoteKit adapter, which brings viaim’s recording and transcription capabilities to a computer and is designed to improve transcription accuracy for desktop use.

Ultimately, the choice comes down to how you work: OpenNote is better if you want to stay connected to your surroundings, while RecDot makes more sense if you’d rather block out distractions and focus.

The verdict

A week isn’t long enough to declare any gadget indispensable, but it was long enough for me to notice a change in my routine—I stopped reaching for three different apps just to record, transcribe and organise a single conversation.

The bigger difference was the reduced mental load. That constant nagging thought of “I should really write that down” became less frequent, because I knew I could capture it and come back to it later.

Whether OpenNote is worth the investment ultimately depends on how much of your work involves meetings, calls, interviews and those half-baked ideas that show up at inconvenient times. 

For me, there were enough of those moments in a single work week to make the earbuds feel less like another gadget to manage, and more like one less thing I had to think about.

If you’re keen on getting the viaim OpenNote or RecDot, both are available through viaim’s online stores on Shopee, Lazada and TikTok. There are also bundle options that include the NoteKit adapter and annual AI plans, depending on how much transcription and AI functionality you need.

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Featured Image Credit: Vulcan Post