S26 Ultra: How is the on-device only transcription for multi-speaker recordings?
Hi everyone,
I’m considering the S26 Ultra and am really interested in the "Process Data Only On-Device" feature. I need to record and transcribe long sessions (45–60 minutes) that involve multiple people talking.
Crucially, I’ll be recording audio coming out of a separate speaker (like a laptop), so it isn't a "direct" microphone-to-mouth recording.
For those who use the on-device only mode in the native Voice Recorder app:
Multi-Speaker Accuracy: How well does the local AI distinguish between different voices and label them (Speaker 1, Speaker 2, etc.)?
Audio Quality: Since the phone is recording "through the air" from another speaker, does the transcription hold up, or does it require a perfectly quiet room?
Local vs. Cloud: Is there a noticeable drop in accuracy when you switch from cloud processing to on-device only?
I’m trying to avoid sending any voice data to the cloud, so I’d love to know if the local NPU (Neural Processing Unit) is actually up to the task for longer, complex conversations. Thanks!