REVIEW – Many accessories are geared towards creators and casual videographers, but one accessory that many people think should be at the top of your list is a microphone to improve audio capture. I’ve been impressed (happy) with the audio capture capabilities of my iPhone 15 Pro Max and OnePlus 12, which are the phones that I typically use to capture video. Let’s find out if the SmallRig S60 wireless microphone can improve the audio of my videos.
What is it?
The SmallRig S60 is a wireless microphone set that comes with two microphones and one USB-C receiver, which makes it compatible with both Android and iPhones.
What’s included?
- SmallRig S60 charging case
- 2 microphones
- 1 USB-C transmitter
- 2 Magnetic clips
- 2 Magnetic neckholders
- 2 Dead cats (mice?)
- USB-C charging cable
- User manual
Tech specs
Click to expand Specs
High-Performance Signal Transmission: Equipped with LDS antenna for stable signal up to 300m / 984.2ft.
·Clear & Pure Audio: Customized highly directional microphone head for top-notch audio recording.
·Advanced Recording Capabilities: High-resolution DSP chip supporting 48 kHz / 24-bit recording with one-touch noise reduction.
·Extended Battery Life: 11-hour battery life, extendable to nearly 44 hours with the charging case.
Design and features
The SmallRig S60 wireless microphone comes in a handy storage case that doubles as a charger case with its built-in battery.
The case charges via USB-C and there’s a row of charging status LEDs on the front.
The SmallRig S60 comes with not one, but two quarter-sized wireless microphones.
Each microphone has a status LED on the face, and a speaker grill and a multi-function button on the side that powers on/off the microphones, enters pairing mode, enters DSP noise reduction mode, and toggles mute. Depending on the desired function, these actions are performed with single clicks, double clicks, or hold clicks. Blue is normal audio, Green is DSP noise reduction, and Red is muted.
The back of the microphone is magnetic and has a 3-pin contact for charging.
The USB-C receiver also has a button with different functions compared to the button on the microphones. With this button, a single clicks let you switch between three levels of volume and a long press enters pairing mode.
The other side of the receiver has a USB-C connector so that you can use it while charging if needed. Note that the receiver does not draw power from the device that it’s plugged into.
The SmallRig S60 comes with magnetic clips and magnetic necklaces. I prefer to use the clip.
The set also includes two dead cats, but they have ears that make them look like Mickey Mouse. I’m not sure if there’s some benefit to these little tabs (ears) or if they are just for fun.
Hear it in action
Like most clip-on microphones, the quality of the audio depends entirely on placement. You can hear in the first video when I bend my head down to press the multi-function button, that the audio gets considerably louder. That’s just something to be aware of.
Another thing that you need to be aware of is that it’s easy (at least it was for me) to accidentally double-click the multi-function button on the microphone and inadvertently put the mic in mute. I did this without knowing while recording some of the audio tests for this review, and when I went back to watch the videos, they were muted, which was super annoying because I had to go back and redo that work. The moral of that story is to pay attention to the status LED on the microphone. I didn’t. Blue is normal audio, Green is DSP noise reduction, and Red is mute.
Regarding the DSP feature, I do think that standard mode sounds better (in the video above), but DSP is useful when you’re in a really noisy environment.
What I like about the SmallRig S60 wireless microphone
- Charging case is nicely compact
- Good audio quality
- DSP feature is good but I like the standard mode better
What needs to be improved?
- Mute function on the microphone is annoying
- I wish the case held the magnetic clips too
- No black version (yet)
Final thoughts
I think the SmallRig S60 wireless microphone set is a good value when you compare it to other notable brands of small wireless microphones. It looks nice, has good audio quality and even offers a DSP noise reduction feature which you don’t often see in budget microphones. As long as you pay attention to the mute feature and don’t accidentally enable it, I think the S60 is a nice buy for the casual creator.
Price: $89.99
Where to buy: SmallRig and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by SmallRig. SmallRig did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
