Honestly, freshman year in London is gonna be a whirlwind so dont stress too much about the tech. I used Otter.ai Otter Basic Plan all through my history modules and it honestly saved my skin during those two-hour morning lectures. It records and transcribes everything in real-time so you can actually focus on what the prof is saying rather than scribbling like a madman.

• Use the free tier of Notion Personal Pro Plan to organize your summaries afterwards since it syncs across your phone and laptop.
• Record audio with your phone using a simple external Rode VideoMic Me-L Directional Microphone if the lecture hall acoustics are trash. Just keep it simple. You really dont need to pay for fancy subscriptions when the basic tiers handle the heavy lifting perfectly well. Youll be fine.

Check out Microsoft OneNote 2024 for free audio syncing or Google NotebookLM AI-powered research assistant to upload lecture transcripts. Both are free, reliable, and handle data storage offline effectively.

^ This. Also, honestly had issues with sync errors on most free tools lately. Not sure but maybe try Obsidian with local plugins? It kinda requires some patience tho.

Had a moment to think about this more while commuting. Since you are in London and need to keep costs down, you really should look into AudioNote LITE App for basic voice recording synced to text. It is free and handles lecture audio without needing a subscription.

• Use Samsung Galaxy A54 5G 128GB if you need a reliable phone for recording; it picks up audio clearly enough for these apps without needing extra gear.
• Avoid cloud-only services if you can.
• Keep local backups of your notes on a SanDisk Ultra 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive because campus Wi-Fi can be a nightmare during finals week. Basically, just keep it simple and dont overcomplicate your setup before the first lecture. You dont want tech issues distracting you from the actual class content.