Rode SmartLav+ Lavalier Microphone

Better off using your phone mic

If I could give it zero stars I would. I've heard for years how incredible Rode is as a brand, how affordable it can be, and the quality along with it.

Yeah, that was a lie apparently. This is by far the worst sounding microphone I've ever used in my life. Somehow it's worse than the internal microphone in my phone. It's unreal just how blown out and unclear it sounds.

If you're thinking about buying this product, kicking a dumbbell as hard as you can barefoot would be a more productive use of your money and time.

Vagif

March 2, 2024

👍👍👍

Not compatible with wireless mics or smartphone

I bought this lav so I didn't have to wear the wireless go II on my shirt. Well it's not compatible. And then seeing that it says for smartphone, we'll that's not the case either. There's not a single smartphone that's up to date with a headphone jack in it. $60 for a mic that you need to buy another jack for it to work for anything.

Also, I have gotten rode products over the years, and when I started to ope the box, it doesn't seem like it's a real rode product. The box is very low quality like it's from a 3rd party. Just something to think about. But I'm returning this asap.

An AMAZING microphone 🎤 for the valid price

One on my hobbies is singing, I have a good bass-baritone and a well professionally trained voice. I also have very good musical ears sufficient to distinguish a difference between Shure SM58 and Shure86 as well as other mics. This small lapel Rode is an amazing mic for its size and price delivering great quality. Don't speak directly to it, give 4-5 inch distance between your mouth and the mic and it will transmit the beauty of your voice the best possible way. This is not the first RODE mic in my collection (in additioon to two Shure SM86), I also have a small cannon mic purchased around 5 years ago, and I am very much happy with that one as well. Good things do cost money, and with Rode you get what you pay for.

Used products

Lav mics are notoriously fragile. My Deity lav broke after just one use. I already have the road wireless go II and wanted a wired lav mic. Well, this seller made zero attempt to disguise the fact that the “new” mic I just paid for had actually been used. Oh, and their SC15 adapter has been out of stock everywhere for an entire year. Disappointed by Rode.

Works great for your smart phone!

Clear audio, easy to use, value for your money. I bought the Samsung USB-C headset jack adapter since I have a Samsung Note 20. Otherwise, older model smartphones may have the audio jack without needing to buy the attachment. I would recommend this microphone!

Cole

September 2, 2021

Rode: Hype is a Neat Word

You can plug it directly into most smartphones with a 3.5 jack (and computers too) and you will be all set. iPhone users, you will need the Lightning to 3.5 Jack adapter of course.

The sound quality, "ehhh", at this price point and the Rode name, it's usable. Editing software is recommended to improve quality. *shrug*

THIS WILL NOT WORK WITH THE RODE WIRELESS GO devices! You want the "Rode Lavalier GO Professional-Grade Mic".

It does seem silly that they couldn't have made one work for both, but using the TRRS/TRS defense, perhaps its excusable.

**OH, make sure you get one of those handy mic clips, mine was missing from the box. As you can see from the picture, the options for attachment include what you see and straight up tape.

I did reach out to Rode, but as of this review, I have heard nothing. I am sure they love me, it must have gotten lost...it is probably WITH the missing clip. :)

Ms. Jossie

March 29, 2021

Cheap materials

Luckily it came broke so I could return it within 30 days. Looks like if it didn't come broken it would've broke soon.

Kiervek

January 29, 2021

Great sound, great quality

Amazing sound! I didn't have time to research hundreds of cheap mics. I wanted a name and quality I know would work well and I wasn't disappointed. Captures local sound very well, and hides far distant clutter noises well. The cord is around 45 inches long, perfect for the back pocket, but if you need to have it on a boom mic, get a TRSS (3 ring jack) extension.

Micrófono bueno , el vendedor no tanto

El micrófono parece de muy buena calidad , sin embargo el vendedor es el segundo que me envía así , maltratado y pues me quedo insatisfecho, aunque me quedaré con el mic , pero parece un micrófono restaurado, no nuevo

If it is an open box

This package was open, and I paid for a new item. I never bought used electronics. The seller should check this matter more carefully. I don't know if this was a returned or an used product. I am going to test the michrophone througfully, and hope it works as it is posted. Then, if needed, I will not hesitate to write a honest review, and return it.

nailton galdino de oliveira

February 3, 2020

Best cost-efcitviness-benefit

Perfect.

Scam?

I pay for new but this is what I get

The product is well known and it was suggested to me by a friend.

I like the product so for. I need more time to use it and review.

The wire is thin and sensitive.

Unfortunately, I found the mic's package open as it appears in the photos.

(Video Review) Blocks out ambient noise very well

Although this mic is slightly expensive, it is worth the cost for a high quality Lav mic. In outdoor noisy environments it does a good job picking up just the voice of the subject. To my surprise, it also is very resistant to picking up noise from my clothes whenever I move around.

I did a video review where I compared my pixel 2 mic vs. the smart lav+ in a few different scenarios with background music, wind (fan), and just generic talking.

3:29

Dan

May 23, 2018

Great product and they stand by it 100%

I purchased the Rode mic after a few friends recommended it to me. It was my first lavalier mic so I didn't know what to expect but the sound quality was great and the app is simple but handy. It's surprising how much quality you can get out of such a tiny device.

Fast forward over a year and well past its warranty, my Rode mic caught on my collar when I went to take it off and I tugged too hard on the cord which caused it to separate from the microphone itself and pretty much destroy the mic. I was bummed and immediately thought "There goes $79 bucks". But I emailed Rode and explained the situation and they responded within 24 hours and offered to send me a brand new mic free of charge. I now have my new mic, and I'll get back to recording and be a little more careful with my mic.

Thanks, Rode!

mfgonz

May 6, 2018

Great quality for the price

very good quality microphone! has highly improved the quality of my videos without investing over 300$ on pro lav systems, this plugged to a zoom recorder will do the job very well. Would not recommend using it with the native rode app as it lags and crashes a lot, I lost some audios at the beginning so i decided to use this as a lav system with a recorder (you gotta buy the adapter and it only works with zoom recorders from what i see, it didnt work with my tascam). Overall good addition to your gear kit!

One Star

I have received different mic - Audiotechnica ATR3350 instead of Rode. It's more than two times cheaper!

Four Stars

Mic is good but came to with a broken seal

TURN OFF AGC!

I originally rated this mic two stars to no fault of it's own! Most smartphone apps have something called "Automatic Gain Control" or AGC that you ABSOLUTELY have to turn off to get good quality!

I'll do a video showing the difference soon, but in the meantime, it's not a bad microphone like I originally thought.

If you're using an Android phone, I personally use the RecForge II app pro version for like $3.20 - that's the only one I've found where you can disable AGC.

2:03

Mark J Draper

June 29, 2016

Great mic

I purchased this to help improve my audio for some YouTube videos, I found the camera I use did OK audio but didn't support an external mic, this seemed like a good option.

It plugs into your mobile headphone socket and you can then record using an app. On iPhones Rode have a dedicated app, this isn't available on Android but there are lots of alternatives available, the one I'm currently using is just a free one that so far has worked fine.

I think the sound quality is much better than the camera mic sound quality and using PowerDirector 14 I can easily sync the mic sound up with the video footage.

Comes with a little case and instructions on how to set this up to ensure the wire is protected and you position the mic for great results.

1:24

Tech Heat

June 23, 2016

It’s small, it’s powerfull, It’s easy to use, it’s productive ! Simply Perfect

The Rode SmartLav+ is a wearable microphone also known as a Lavalier mic it is a Broadcast Quality Professional Grade Lavalier Mic or at least that’s what it”s called, it comes with a TRRS jack which is compatible with most smartphones and the reason behind that is because the smartlav+ is mainly made for usage which motivated RODE to make an app for all the iOS users out there to benefit the most from its feautures, however if you are planning on pluging it to your DSLR or your camera don’t get your hopes too high since your camera needs a TRS jack while the SmartLav+ offers a TRRS one ! but on the other hand RODE did find a way around it by making the RODE SC3 Adapter a TRRS to TRS adapter so you can plug this directly to your camera that will cost you 15$ !

+ Now lets talk about the mic itself ! It comes in a omnidirectional condeser mic capsule and inside of it is the discrete 4.5mm miniature microphone, the cable is a 116cm Kevlar reinforced cable so don’t worry about the microphone stretching or snaping in normal usage but I would recommand the Rode SC1 TRRS Extansion cable for an extra 580cm !

+The package also includes a foam windshield which feels pretty premium and will help you avoid all the t,b and p harsh sounds and will reduce the breathing noise it also comes together with a durable mounting clip so you can attach to your shirt ! Or anything you want and a cool locking letherate bag to take it with you if you are on the GO

+ Now I'll talk about some problems, first of all and the most annoying thing, is that whenever I plug it to my PC or even DSLR, the Clip keeps tazing me whenever it contacts my skin, which makes it harder on me ta concetrate on the content I am creating, 2nd things, is the cable, I beleive that it is tooo short for a lavalier mic, but what I did, is plug the smartLav+ to my smartphone and then put it back into my pocket ( which doesn't taze me lol) and then recor on both the msartphone and DSLR, and then later on I sync it in Premiere Pro, which makes it a lot easier and efficient

to work with but those are not some serioues problems, and most of them can be fixed by using some commen sense

So overall the microphone does an amazing job for it’s 79$ pricetag, and if I had to choose between this or even the seneheiser ME-2 which costs 70$ more I would easily pick this all day long so if you are considering buying both the SC3 and the SC1 Adapter then this whole setup will cost you around 120$ which is a nobrainer for the quality you are getting from this kit 😊

Expensive, but probably worth it

The sound pickup is extremely sensitive, which is great. The only flaw I can find is that the clip has a "cable management" slot, but this slot was way too tight. With such a flimsy and thin cable, I feared I was going to end up ripping the cable in half trying to get it in. Be very careful when handling!

Very fragile build of clip attachment. Not worth the higher price.

I have used this mic for just over 1 month (arrived Jan 17, 2016) an the metal clip where the actual mic "fits" into already broke off (see pics).

Have been happy with the sound quality and ease of use, but now it is useless since the mic will no longer attach to the clip.

For such a high price I expected better craftsmanship and durability of this product, especially after being very pleased with the sound quality. It is of no use without the ability to attach to the clip.

Terribly disappointed with product.

They sound great so far I can't wait to shoot a video ...

I ordered 2 with the invisilav and they just came in today earlier then expected. They sound great so far I can't wait to shoot a video with them. I'm very happy rode did very good job with this one.

Mediahound 🎧

March 8, 2015

Okay lav mic for the money but some negatives

This is a fairly nice sounding lav mic for the price however I cannot give it a good review based upon some glaring negatives.

-It does not work with the industry-standard Zoom H4N or Zoom H6 audio recorders (with the Rode SC3 adapter). Useless.

-The smartphone app is $6.00 additional (although there is a limited free version). This gives a feeling that Røde is trying to nickel and dime customers.

- The Rode SC3 TRRS to TRS adapter, which is not included is another $15.

- This mic sounds just okay, not great.

I also found this mic sounds a lot better with the wind screen off so I recommend you only use that if you have to. The windscreen made my voice sound quite thin.

For a mic going into your iPhone I guess it's fine, but for anything else, look elsewhere.

UPDATE: I much prefer the . It even works with the iPhone with . It sounds way better than the SmartLav+ !

6:04