RØDE VideoMic Me Smartphone Microphone

RØDE VideoMic Me Smartphone Microphone

The RØDE VideoMic Me is a compact directional microphone built for smartphones, designed to give phone video the kind of focused, intelligible sound that a built-in phone microphone cannot deliver. It connects directly to the phone through its 3.5mm TRRS plug, draws plug-in power from the device and needs no battery, no charging and no separate recorder. Point the phone at the subject and the microphone concentrates on what is in front of it, reducing the room echo, traffic and background chatter that make phone audio sound distant and amateur.

This is the original VideoMic Me with the analogue TRRS connection. It is not the USB-C VideoMic Me-C and not the Lightning VideoMic Me-L: those are separate models for devices without a 3.5mm headset socket. On a phone or tablet with a TRRS headset socket the VideoMic Me simply plugs in and is recognised as the audio input by the camera and recording apps, so the improvement is available in the apps the user already shoots with.

Key features

• Directional cardioid pickup focused on the subject in front of the phone
• Direct 3.5mm TRRS connection to the smartphone headset socket
• No battery required, powered by plug-in power from the device
• 3.5mm headphone output on the rear for playback and monitoring where the app supports it
• Flexible mounting bracket that fits a wide range of phones, including many cased phones
• Can be fitted facing forward for the main camera or reversed for front-camera recording
• Deluxe furry windshield included for outdoor and adverse-weather shooting
• Lightweight aluminium body at just 34 g

Directional pickup for clearer speech

The VideoMic Me uses a pressure gradient electret condenser capsule with a cardioid polar pattern and end-address design. A cardioid capsule is most sensitive to sound arriving from the front and progressively less sensitive to sound from the sides and rear, which is exactly the behaviour wanted for dialogue, interviews and pieces to camera: the voice stays forward while off-axis noise is pushed down. Its frequency range of 100Hz to 20kHz covers the full span of speech and the detail in everyday sounds, and the capsule handles up to 140dB SPL, so loud environments and close, energetic delivery are captured without the capsule being overwhelmed. Sensitivity is rated at -33dB re 1 Volt per Pascal, with a low equivalent noise level of 20dB-A keeping quiet recordings clean.

Mounting, monitoring and everyday use

The flexible mounting bracket grips the phone and holds the microphone securely in line with the camera. Because the bracket accommodates different phone thicknesses, the microphone can be mounted for filming with the rear camera in the usual way, or turned around so it points at the user when recording with the front camera for vlogs and video messages. The 3.5mm headphone socket on the rear of the microphone lets the user listen back to recordings without unplugging the microphone, and supports play-through monitoring while recording where the recording app provides it. At 80mm deep, 38mm high and 21mm wide, the microphone adds very little bulk, so the phone remains a phone: it can still be handheld, mounted on a small grip or used on a mini tripod.

Working outdoors

Wind is the most common reason outdoor phone footage is unusable, and the included deluxe furry windshield is the countermeasure. Fitted over the capsule, it breaks up the airflow that causes low-frequency rumble and buffeting, keeping speech intelligible on location, at events and while walking and talking. The aluminium body also provides a high level of RF rejection, helping to keep interference from the phone itself out of the recording. For best results the subject should still be kept reasonably close to the phone, since no microphone can fully overcome distance, but the combination of directional pickup and the windshield gives the VideoMic Me a clear advantage over the phone microphone in the same position.

For vloggers, mobile journalists, teachers, social media creators and anyone whose camera is their phone, the VideoMic Me is the simplest meaningful upgrade available: one small microphone, plugged straight in, that makes voices clearer, backgrounds quieter and videos noticeably more professional.