For shooting your own learning and explanatory videos, you only need a smartphone – and good sound! We tested and compared 4 external microphones: Which one is the best?

Modern smartphones already offer surprisingly good image quality. We've already reported on smartphone cameras in the blog. But along with the image, good sound quality is also important – and you achieve this best with an external microphone.

In principle, we recommend the RODE smartlav+ from our blink.it kit. The downside: it's a pure microphone without headphones, so it cannot be used for calls on the go, for example. Since we place great value on flexibility, we wanted to know:

Do you get good recording quality even with a headset microphone?

Our blink.it video expert Konstantin tested three headset microphones and compared them with the RODE microphone. The test smartphone was the model “Google Pixel 2”.

• Comparison device: RODE smartlav+

• Headset 1: AUKEY In-Ear without Active Noise Cancelling

• Headset 2: AUKEY In-Ear with Active Noise Cancelling

• Headset 3: 1MORE Piston Classic

You can watch (and listen to) the video of the test here 😉:

The microphones in comparison

The microphones were compared based on five criteria: How easy is it to attach the microphone to the body? How loud is the recording? How well is noise and reverberation suppressed? How natural does the voice sound in the recording? And how good is the overall impression?

The 4 test microphones in comparison (l.t.r.): AUKEY In-Ear without ANC, 1MORE Piston Classic, AUKEY In-EAR with ANC, RODE smartlav+

Note: The sound quality of the in-ear headphones was not considered in this test.

Our evaluation:

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.png)rather poor

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.png)moderate

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.png)rather good

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.png)very good

| | RODE smartlav+ | AUKEY In-Ear without ANC | AUKEY In-Ear with ANC | 1MORE Piston Classic | || ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ || Usage as headset | no | yes | yes | yes || Price at test time | approx. €45 | approx. €10 | approx. €30 | approx. €20 || Attachment to body |

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.png) || Volume of the recording |

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.png) || Noise suppression |

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.png) || Natural voice sound |

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.png) || OVERALL IMPRESSION |

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Our Recommendation

For video recording on a smartphone, the approximately €20 1MORE Piston Classic was the most convincing in overall impression: The recording is loud and clear, and it also has a clip for attaching the microphone to the body. Therefore, the 1MORE Piston Classic is a good all-round headset for on-the-go that will allow you to achieve good sound recordings for your videos.

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Purchase recommendation for video shooting on smartphone

A microphone, a tripod, a light: you don't need much more to shoot professional videos affordably. Get the complete list of the blink.it kit – our purchase recommendations for shooting on smartphone!

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Do you have questions about blink.it or this article?

Feel free to write to us if you have questions about the product or specifically about this article. Our marketing team is available via email or will forward your request to a suitable Blinkie 😊