Using Your iPhone with External Microphones

I encouraged you to try a few different microphones on your video and computer audio-based meetings in the not so recent past to make sure you can be heard and understood. If you missed that, check it out here.

As I mentioned back then, if your audio is muddied or difficult to hear or understand, people will tune out and stop listening. So echo, background noise or just horrible crackly sound are a big problem if you work towards good effective communication.

As we move back to travel, going to the office, and out in the world, we have the same challenges of clear audio when shifting from meetings on our computers to meetings on our phones. I encourage you to try a few different microphones, including your native cell phone microphone, to see which gives you the best performance.

It would be best to try these in a few different environments to see how you perform in crowded, loud areas and quiet rooms while driving. Keep in mind that hands-free is still a legal requirement in most locations where you might chat while driving.

In this quick review, I wanted to show you the difference between the native iPhone 11 speaker, my favorite Bluetooth headset, the Aeroplex bone conduction headset, and a stand-alone microphone, the Zoom iQ7.

I recorded a quick snippet of each so you can hear the difference. They are all more than acceptable in clarity and understandability. Of course, the external microphones make my voice sound a little differently from the native microphone, but there is no real distortion or echo, or noise pickup.

There are many other microphones out there that you might be using - and I would love to hear what your thoughts are, but here are my reasons for using these:

1. Native iPhone - it is easy, clean audio, and requires me to bring nothing special with me. This is always an easy option unless I am driving, require both hands, or am recording a video where the built-inA microphone might not be the best option.
2. Aeroplex by Aftershokz - a personal favorite Bluetooth headset that can connect to multiple phones or phones and computers. The audio quality is great - and the listening quality (music, audiobooks, phone calls) is pretty good unless you are in a loud area. I have also reviewed this on the computer as a listening and audio device there.
3. The iQ7 microphone for the iPhone is fantastic if you are recording an interview and need to use your iPhone as a microphone moving back and forth or sitting between different people. It is also great if you are recording video and need to tweak the directionality. The quality is quite good, and the microphone actually comes with a foam windscreen to help with external noise.

A little more in the iQ7 - Built with a rotating capsule design, the iQ7 mic can align with your camera to capture audio while recording video or better suit an audio-only recording. It can also record audio for horizontal or vertical video, delivering perfect left-to-right stereo orientation in the resultant recording. When recording audio without video, rotate the mic to the audio position and point your phone like a mic to the sound you want to record.

You can adjust your input level with a large front-facing MIC gain knob and LED level meters. In addition, there is a headphone jack for monitoring your audio before, during, and after recording. There is also a Zoom Handy App - a free recording app with a great feature set of its own.

Honestly - if you need something a little more than your basic iPhone - to get the best video you can with crisp audio- this little microphone is stupidly easy to plug in and use - and is well worth taking that extra second to do so!

What microphones do you use? Do you use anything external with your iPhone or another phone? Pro's, con's, and thoughts welcome!