RØDE is a company best known for the wide range of audio products that they manufacture, such as headphones and microphones. While mics like the RØDE Wireless Pro are aimed at professional video makers who want a reliable and great-sounding quality wireless mic for their DSLR or mirrorless camera, the new (and cheaper) RØDE Wireless Micro is aimed at the smartphone filmmaker who needs a simple, affordable but equally reliable way to capture a strong and drop-out-free sound recording when talking to camera or conducting an interview.
If you own an iPhone 16 then you’ll already be impressed by the new Audio Mix tools that enable you to capture better-sounding audio while keeping background noise at bay. However, these post-production tools (and the iPhone 16’s four built-in mics) are only effective when you’re in close proximity to your iPhone. When you step a few meters away from your iPhone’s mics, the audio quality drops dramatically and your voice is more likely to be drowned out by ambient background sound sources such as passing cars.
By wearing a wireless transmitter mic such as the RØDE Wireless Micro your voice will always be in close proximity to the mic clipped to your shirt. Your voice can then be transmitted wirelessly to the transmitter plugged into your iPhone and it will still sound as good at 100 meters away as it does at 1 meter!
RØDE Wireless Micro: Specifications
RØDE Wireless Micro: Design & Handling
The RØDE Wireless Micro is similar to many other wireless kits that I’ve tested - with a charging/carry case that contains two smooth plastic wireless transmitter mics and a wireless receiver that slots straight into your smartphone. What sets it apart from many other kits is the small size and weight of its mics and the receiver. The receiver itself is tiny (only 44mm in length) and it slots straight into your iPhone via a USB-C plug. It’s comparable in dimensions to the tiny receiver in the Godox Cube-SC though the RØDE receiver is a negligible 1 gram heavier than its Godox equivalent.
The RØDE Wireless Micro kit that we tested had a USB-C connector on the receiver for iPhone 15 models and newer. You can also purchase a Lighting connector version for older iPhones. We tested a black color kit but the Wireless Micro is also available in white - which will complement a white iPhone 16 nicely.
As it’s aimed at the smartphone user the RØDE Wireless Micro is designed to minimize the need for post-production tweaks such as level adjustments. The RØDE Capture smartphone app enables you to manually control the sound levels of each wireless transmitter using sliders, or boost gain in a few taps. However, if you have no background in audio recording then the mics’ Intelligent Gain Assist feature is designed to automatically adjust audio levels on the fly for an optimum quality sound recording (regardless of which application you are recording in). This should make the RØDE Wireless Micro an attractive purchase if it’s your first wireless smartphone mic kit.
The two wireless transmitters and the receiver fit nicely into the compact carry/charging case that prolongs their battery life during a shoot. However, the transmitters’ two supplied furry windshields are stored in the cardboard box that the kits ship in, so there is a danger of heading off to a shoot with the kit in the carry case while leaving the windshields behind (which is indeed what happened to me on my first test shoot!)
RØDE Wireless Micro: Performance
When testing a wireless mic kit I start with a distance test (as you’ll see if you watch this review’s supporting video). I headed to a quiet country road, popped the iPhone 16 Pro on a tripod, and plugged the receiver into the iPhone. I used the transmitter mic’s supplied clip to attach the mic to my shirt (though there is an alternative attachment option thanks to the magnet attached to the clip.)
I tend to find that magnets can cause a mic to become detached so I will always use a clip option when available. When the receiver is getting a signal from a mic one of its two flashing green lights will turn solid, so you can tell that both transmitter and receiver are connected wirelessly (two green lights on the receiver will turn solid if you’re recording an interview using two mics).
The RØDE Capture app gives you a clear display of the mic levels and you can manually adjust them with a slide of your finger (or tap to go from a Low to High gain setting). You can also use the app to merge a single mic's audio so that the sound fills both channels. Alternatively, you can place two mics onto separate left and right channels for an interview. There is a little buzz/crackle when you change a gain or channel setting but this doesn’t occur during interviews etc.
I must point out that I had to do the distance test twice. On my first attempt, my iPhone 16 Pro was inside a Moment case. The case’s thick edge meant that the RØDE Wireless Micro’s short USB-C receiver plug wasn’t as securely connected as it could be to the iPhone, resulting in poor-quality audio. Once I realized that the case was a problem I returned to the location to perform the distance test sans case. I also brought the supplied furry windshield which fits securely around the omnidirectional transmitter mic that I clipped to my shirt.
I set the RØDE Capture app on my iPhone to record and started walking away from the iPhone while talking. The sound was rich and clear as you’d expect for a RØDE mic. When I faced the iPhone (and the mic transmitter had a line of sight with the receiver on the iPhone 16) then the sound was sound and clear - even from 100 meters away. If you turn your back at 100 meters then the signal will drop out and the sound will become intermittent, but at that distance, you’re barely visible in the camera. Plus in most locations, you’ll be unlikely to leave your iPhone 16 Pro 100 meters away from you! Have a look at our test video to hear the RØDE Wireless Micro mic in action.
I then popped into town to do the obligatory noise test. I was intrigued to see (or hear) how the RØDE Wireless Micro would deal with noisy background traffic, especially as it has no built-in noise reduction feature like most other wireless mics. Thanks to the Intelligent Gain Assist feature the sound quality of my voice was good, though I could hear the noise of passing traffic too. However, this lack of built-in noise reduction isn’t a big issue as most post-production video editing apps (including the free iMovie) have a software noise reduction feature that will do a better job than the software noise reduction feature found in most wireless mics.
RØDE Wireless Micro: Verdict
The RØDE Wireless Micro is the perfect entry-level wireless mic kit for smartphone users. Its omnidirectional transmitter mics will replace mediocre audio captured by your smartphone with professional-quality sound, even when you’re speaking at a distance of 100 meters away from your smartphone (as long as you’re facing the camera). Thanks to its Intelligent Gain feature you can simply plug the receiver into your smartphone, clip on the transmitter, and start recording in your smartphone’s native camera app without worrying about manually setting sound levels. The lack of built-in noise reduction might be a concern to some, but you’ll get a better noise-reduction result using most non-linear video editing apps. Before testing the RØDE Wireless Micro I regularly used the Godox Cube-SC to record smartphone audio due to its compact size. Now I have a RØDE equivalent I think that will become my go-to smartphone wireless mic kit for future jobs.
✅ Buy it...
- You’re a smartphone videographer
- You need a compact wireless mic system
- You want to ‘plug and play’
🚫 Don't buy it...
- You have a thick smartphone cage or case
- You need a transmitter with built-in noise reduction
