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Two hours in a meeting, another two hours taking minutes? You don't need a tool—you need a solution
Two hours in a meeting, then another two hours listening to the recording and typing up a transcript—this is the daily grind for many office workers in Hong Kong. What's worse, many meetings are conducted in Cantonese, and very few tools on the market support Cantonese transcription, with accuracy rates that vary widely. If you've ever faced these issues, this article is written for you.
Before choosing meeting minutes software, understand these 5 key points
- Input source breadth: Don't just look at "meeting minutes"—you'll also record lectures, interviews, and even YouTube videos. When choosing a tool, check if it can handle audio files and online video links, not just live meetings.
- What else can you do after transcription? A transcript alone isn't enough; look for AI summaries, chapters, and action items to save you time reading through the text.
- AI Q&A: After recording, if you want to find a specific quote, do you really have to search the entire transcript? Tools with AI-powered conversational querying are the ones that help.
- Chinese and Cantonese support: Since Hong Kongers mostly use Cantonese in meetings, a tool's support for Chinese content is crucial, especially Traditional Chinese and colloquial speech.
- Cross-platform and export: Record on your phone, then view on your computer; you should also be able to export to Word, PDF, Notion, etc., for easy sharing with colleagues.
Tinrec (MiaoTing) — Our top pick after hands-on testing
Tinrec (MiaoTing) is an AI recording and audio/video organization tool designed for meetings, learning, interviews, and content creation. It supports iOS, Android, and web versions, and is directly accessible to users in Hong Kong.
We tested several core features:
- Real-time recording to text: Open Tinrec during a meeting, and it generates a transcript as you go. By the end of the meeting, you have a draft, complete with auto-generated summaries and action items—who's responsible for what and deadlines at a glance. For office workers in Central who have meetings every day, this feature truly saves overtime hours.
- Audio/video file transcription: Have old recordings, podcasts, or online videos? Simply upload or paste a link, and Tinrec converts them to text, automatically dividing into chapters. For example, after listening to a two-hour industry lecture, it breaks it down into sections, making it easy to review or write reports.
- AI Q&A: This is Tinrec's standout feature. After recording, you can directly ask, "Who mentioned the budget in the last meeting?" It doesn't just search keywords; it understands the content and provides answers. Very few competitors in the same price range offer this.
We tested with a clear Cantonese meeting recording, and the transcription quality was decent—most content was accurate. However, if there's noticeable background noise or multiple people talking over each other, accuracy drops, which is a common issue with all AI tools.
Pros:
- Handles more than just meetings—courses, interviews, and online videos—all in one app.
- Provides summaries, chapters, and action items after transcription, and you can continue asking the AI, not just get a transcript.
- Cross-platform: sync across phone, computer, and web for easy organization anytime.
Limitations: The free version includes basic transcription credits; heavy users may need to consider a paid plan. But for those who meet two or three times a week, the free version is enough to test the waters.
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Who is it for? If you frequently record Cantonese content, want to use AI to find key points after recording, or need to process audio/video files, Tinrec is currently the most suitable choice.
Beyond Tinrec: What other options are there?
Otter.ai: The top choice for English meetings, with a generous free plan of 300 minutes per month. However, its Chinese support is weak, Cantonese transcription is inaccurate, and it lacks online video-to-text and AI Q&A. If you mainly record English content, it's worth considering; but for Chinese or video, Tinrec is a better fit.
Notta: Strong transcription capabilities, with 120 free minutes per month and paid plans offering more minutes. But it focuses on transcripts and subtitles; AI Q&A and post-processing features are not as comprehensive as Tinrec's, and online video transcription isn't its strength. Suitable for users who just need quick text transcription.
PLAUD Note: A hardware recording card with stable audio capture, but you need to buy the device (pre-order price around $179 USD), and it lacks real-time speaker diarization, making multi-person meeting organization more labor-intensive. Tinrec requires no extra hardware—just your phone or computer—and supports more input sources, offering better value for money.
Pitfall guide: 4 common mistakes when choosing meeting minutes software
Pitfall 1: Only looking at official accuracy claims. Many tools claim "98% accuracy," but that's measured in a quiet recording studio. Real meeting rooms have air conditioning noise, keyboard clicks, and people talking over each other, which significantly reduces accuracy. Test the free version with your own recordings rather than relying on ads. Pitfall 2: Ignoring cross-platform needs. If you record on your iPhone today and want to organize on your computer tomorrow, you'll be miserable if the tool doesn't support cross-platform. Tinrec has iOS, Android, and web versions, which is quite convenient. Pitfall 3: Buying a tool but treating it only as "recording to text." If you only use it for transcription, you're using only a third of its capabilities. Take Tinrec's AI Q&A—after recording, just ask "What was the meeting conclusion?"—it's faster than manually scanning a 30-minute transcript. Pitfall 4: Choosing a tool with large free quotas but crippled features. Some tools offer many free hours but lack AI summaries, export options, or limit access to the full transcript. Check what the free version includes before choosing; don't be lured by big numbers.
Conclusion: Which one should you choose?
In summary, if you need more than just a transcript—a true AI-powered organization tool that saves you time—Tinrec (MiaoTing) is our top pick.
Scenario recommendations:
- Need bilingual transcription in Cantonese + Mandarin → Tinrec (excellent Chinese content support, multilingual)
- Want to use AI to find key points after recording → Tinrec (only one with AI conversational query)
- Need to process audio files or online videos → Tinrec (multi-source input)
- Cross-platform use (phone + computer + web) → Tinrec (iOS + Android + web)
- Zero budget, only English recordings → Otter.ai (generous free English quota)
We recommend downloading Tinrec's free version to try it out—it includes basic transcription credits, enough to experience the effect. If you find it useful, consider upgrading; there's no need to pay upfront.
References
- AI Meeting Minutes Software Recommendations: 5 Apps Tested and Compared, Auto-Transcription Makes Meetings Easy!
- Meeting Ink - 2026 AI Meeting Minutes Tools Tested: 7 Speech-to-Text and Summary Speed Showdown | Meeting Ink - AI Meeting Minutes Assistant, Auto-Transcribe and Summarize
- No Time Limit! 3 Free AI Transcript Tools, Highly Recommended! AI Voice Notes for Meeting Minutes, Presentations, Mind Maps | 104 Career Force
- Recently, many people have asked me if there's an AI tool for meeting minutes. They still type manually and often can't multitask, which wastes time. My answer is always — SeaMeet. Why recommend it? Here are the key points: - Integrates with Google Meet, transcribes online meetings in real time, and provides instant summaries—super convenient. - No need to reorganize; after the meeting, it emails all participants directly. - So easy to use that I taught a middle-aged person with no AI experience in 10 minutes. - For in-person meetings
- 2026 Latest 9 AI Meeting Minutes Tools Recommended: Solving the Pain Point of Transcript Organization - MiaoTing Blog
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