Review: Nearstream AWM20T wireless microphone

Review unit provided by NearStream

I've received yet another wireless mic to review and this time it's from NearStream, a company that makes audio equipment.

The Nearstream AWM20T is a dual channel wireless microphone that can work with mirrorless cameras, phones, tablets and computers. The price is USD 129 at the time of review.

Bottom line: This is a reasonably priced wireless mic that records decent audio quality. It comes with all the cables and adapters for use with various recording devices. There are two transmitters so it's great for interviews. The mics are compact, lightweight and portable. There are just two downsides. Noise canceling works quite well but it distorts voice slightly which should not be that noticeable. The other downside is the windshield can detach quite easily unless you can find some way to hold/tie it down.

Specs

• Wireless transmission: 2.4GHz Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH)
• Transmission range: 200m or 50m (reverse direction)
• Polar pattern: Omni-directional
• Frequency range: 20Hz- 20KHz
• Maximum SPL: 112db SPL
• Input dynamic range: 87dB
• Battery life: Transmitter 7 hours, receiver 6 hours, charging case provides 2x charge
• Battery capacity: Transmitter 140 mAh, receiver 220 mAh, charging case 1300mAh
• Charging time: Transmitter and receiver 1.5 hours, charging case 2 hours
• Weight: Transmitter 14.8g, receiver 22.4g, charging case 98.7g

Things included

• Receiver
• 2x transmitters
• Charging case
• 2x windshield
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• 3.5mm TRRS to TRS cable
• 3.5mm TRS to TRS cable
• USB-C to lightning adapter
• USB-A to USB-C charging cable
• Carrying zip case

For USD 129, you get everything that's needed to work with any recording device.

The fabric zipped hard case is quite well made, and can hold the charging case and all the cables.

The TRRS to TRS cable is for recording audio to digital devices, e.g. phone, tablet, computer with the 3.5mm audio jack.

The TRS to TRS cable is for recording to mirrorless cameras.

If your phone, tablet or computer has USB-C port, the USB-C to USB-C cable can be used for recording.

Charging case

The charging case will conveniently store the two transmitters and receiver for charging. There are four light indicators outside which will show the battery life and charging activity.

The charging case is compact and weighs only 98.7g, or a total of 150.8g with the contents.

Transmitter

These are the two transmitters which are just slightly larger than the SD card. The weight is 14.8g which is considered lightweight, but still heavy enough to pull down the round neckline so you'll probably want to clip the mic with the clip facing out.

There are two lights on the transmitter. When recording, the light will be blue, or green with noise cancelling enabled. The other light will show red when mute is enabled.

Having two transmitters is great for interviews since you can have a mic on yourself and the interviewee.

Top of the transmitter has the omni-directional mic and a 3.5mm audio jack which you can attached to a wired lavalier, or even a shotgun mic.

The side of the transmitter has the power/noise cancelling button, and the pairing/mute button.

The transmitters and receiver are already paired in the factory.

The bottom of the transmitter has a USB-C port for charging, and connectors for charging in the case.

Receiver

The receiver is compact and weighs 22.4g.

The display on the receiver shows connection strength, battery life and status for noise cancelling and mute. The display will power off automatically after a few minutes and you can wake it by pressing the volume buttons.

The side of the receiver has the volume and power buttons. Volume only has low, mid and high.

Top of the receiver has the 3.5mm out to your recording device, and a 3.5mm jack for monitoring audio.

The bottom of the receiver has charging connectors, and USB-C port for charging and recording to digital devices.

Battery life for the receiver is rated for 6 hours, and for the transmitter it's 7 hours. Based on my testing, there's enough power to record for a whole morning, and I could put the transmitter and receivers while having lunch, and there will be enough power to record past evening time. In other words, battery life is good.

The length of a single recording session will be 6 hours since it's limited by the receiver's battery life.

There are two transmitters so even if one runs out of battery, you can use the other as backup.

The clip can attach to the hotshoe of cameras. For some reason, the clip is too big (can't fit) for one of my coldshoe accessory, and too small (loose) for another coldshoe accessory (phone clamp). Anyway, the hotshoe of cameras is standard size so the receiver will definitely fit.

The receiver is so lightweight it barely adds more weight to the camera.

You can also attach the receiver with USB-C cable to a computer, phone or tablet for recording.

Operating the transmitters and receiver is pretty straightforward.

You take them out of the charging case and they will power on automatically ready for use. Light will turn blue which means connection is strong.

Put them back into the charging case and they will power off automatically.

Audio quality

Indoor (quiet): Voice is clean but there's slight electronic static which is audible when listening with earphones.

Outdoors with omni-direction mic without ANC: Voice isn't too overpowered by background noise which is still audible of course. Audio quality is obviously better than recording with built-in mic of a phone.

Outdoors with omni-direction mic with ANC: Background voice is made dull and less sharp. Voice stands out but there's slight distortion to voice due to noise cancelling, which is quite common with wireless mics that have ANC.

Outdoors with lavalier mic without ANC: The lavalier mic I have did not noticeably improve the audio quality noticeably or noise filtering. There isn't much advantage to using a lavalier mic unless you want to hide the mic.

Outdoors with lavalier mic with ANC: Same as the results from recording with omni-directional mic with ANC.

Conclusion

The NearStream AWM20T isn't suitable for recording in a quiet environment due to the slight electronic static that's audible. I have recorded to phone and camera, and also switched cables and result is the same. In other words, this mic is not ideal for making Youtube videos at home.

For outdoor recording, the audio quality is quite decent, good enough for creating vlogs. The omni-directional mic can filter background noise quite well even without ANC. I prefer to use the mic without ANC to get some background noise in to provide context, e.g. some traffic noise is alright. However, if the background noise is too noisy then ANC is needed.

ANC works quite effectively and can cancel out noise to the extent that you won't know what's making the background noise. There will be slight distortion to voice which isn't too distraction.

Watch the video below from 08:04 mark to hear the sound tests.

For USD 129, the pricing is quite competitive to other wireless mics I've tested. This mic is good for beginners thanks to the affordable price point. If you need more features or even better audio quality, there are better mics out there but those are also more expensive.

Pros and cons at a glance
+ Lightweight and compact
+ Decent build quality
+ Good audio quality, decent filter for background noise without ANC
+ Has cables and adapters for recording to cameras, phones, tablets, computers
+ Sturdy carrying zipped case included
+ Auto power on and off
+ Dual channel recording ideal for interviews
+ Two transmitters included means one can be used as backup
+ Receiver has 3.5mm audio OUT for use with other recording devices, e.g. lavalier, shotgun mic
+ 6 hours battery life for single session recording is decent
+ Noise cancelling works quite effectively
+ Has display that shows battery life and other info
+ Pricing quite reasonable
- Windshield can drop off easily
- Noise cancelling distorts voice slightly
- Slight electronic static can be heard when recording in quiet environment

Where to buy

You can find this wireless mic on NearStream online store