For creating 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 have previously reported on smartphone cameras on the blog. Besides the image, good sound quality is also important – and you achieve this best with an external microphone.

Basically, we recommend the RODE smartlav+ from our blink.it kit. The downside: It is 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 with a headset microphone as well?

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

For the test, 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 echo suppressed? How natural does the voice sound in the recording? And how good is the overall impression?

The 4 test microphones in comparison (left to right): 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 rating:
rather poor
average
rather good
very good

	RODE smartlav+	AUKEY In-Ear without ANC	AUKEY In-Ear with ANC	1MORE Piston Classic
Usage as a headset	no	yes	yes	yes
Price at the time of testing	approx. 45€	approx. 10€	approx. 30€	approx. 20€
Attachment to the body
Recording volume
Noise suppression
Natural voice sound
OVERALL IMPRESSION

Our Recommendation

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