While 360-degree cameras haven’t exactly taken off the way Insta360 might have liked, the company has successfully pivoted their way to the action cam market. With their spot in that segment now pretty secure, the outfit is looking to expand once again to audio this time around in the form of the Insta360 Mic Air.
That’s right, the company that makes all those 360-degree cameras now has a wireless lapel mic in their lineup, too. And it’s looking like formidable competition to the offerings from DJI, Rode, and Shure, making for another interesting option in the ever-growing space.
The Insta360 Mic Air is being billed as “the first native mic” for Insta360 cams. What exactly does that mean? Apparently, the wireless mic can be used with compatible Insta360 cameras without the need for a receiver, allowing for a more streamlined setup if you’re staying within the Insta360 ecosystem. The catch is it only works with the outfit’s X5 camera for now, although they do promise it will be made available to other camera models with future software updates. For use with other cameras or smartphones, you’ll need the optional receiver, which plugs in to am open USB-C port on the device.
The transmitter is clad in a disc-shaped enclosure with physical buttons, so you can control operation without having to pull out a smartphone. According to the outfit, the tactile buttons will let you start/stop recording, activate noise canceling, and mute the mic, although physical volume controls are only available on the receiver. The transmitter comes with a clip, so you can attach it to collars and other parts of clothing like any lapel mic, although it also comes with a clip magnet and a magnetic pendant for alternate ways of mounting. It’s lightweight as well, tipping the scales at just 7.9 grams, so you can barely even feel it when the mic is clipped to your clothing.
The Insta360 Mic Air has a maximum range of 300 meters, so you can put some distance between the mic and the receiver (or the camera it’s paired with). As always, actual effective distance will depend on a lot on obstructions, so keep that in mind during your recordings. When used with a receiver, it boasts a battery life of around 10 hours between charges. If you connect directly via Bluetooth to a compatible camera (like the X5), though, that drops down to 7.5 hours. Range is also shorter without a receiver, maxing out anywhere between 30 to 50 meters.
The camera can capture 48 kHz/24-but audio with built-in noise reduction, so it should deliver much better sound recordings than what you can get from the tinny mics on small cameras and smartphones, with omnidirectional pickup, so it can capture the conversation going on in your immediate vicinity. There’s a removable windshield, too, so it can passively shut out plenty of environmental noises on its own. Our favorite part is that you don’t have to buy it as a set. Instead, you can buy just the transmitter for use with the compatible X5, with no need to spend extra money for the receiver if you don’t need it.
The Insta360 Mic Air is available now.
