BOYA BOYALINK 3 AI-Powered 2-Person Wireless Microphone System for Cameras and Mobile Devices (2.4 GHz)

Little things lower the rating

Overall, I enjoyed using the Boyalink 3. I gave it four stars rather than five, however, because of some minor issues. GOOD: I'm not a sound engineer, but I thought the voices through the two transmitters (TX) were full and clear. I tested the TXs about 15 feet from the receiver (RX) and at least 35 feet from the RX in a few rooms, so there were walls b/w us, and the sound was strong and clear. I'd buy them again, but see note below about lightning adapter. LESS GOOD: The biggest problem was that a lightning adapter apparently is not included in some Boya kits anymore. Make sure to check, if you need one. Also check that the adapter fits snugly into the phone's jack. Mine kept falling out. The charging cord doesn't do that. It caused me a lot of frustration and time trying to determine the problem. Thank heavens for B&H customer service. They knew that sometimes the adapter was missing a small rubber ring at the base of its metal piece that goes into the plug and helps it snap in. Sure enough, that was the problem. The charging cord plug had a ring. Boya never should have allowed their lightning adapters to be sold without that ring. B&H did not have any rings to sell, or maybe they're not something that is sold. I did a DIY approach with painter's tape where the ring should have been, and it worked. I didn't see a light on the RX to show that it was being charged, when outside the charging case. It would be nice to have an indicator. Buttons on RX are tiny tiny tiny. Icons to identify on/off and Noise Cancellation/gain buttons on RX are black on black – that's tough to see. The RX front has two lights. When changing the gain, those lights reflect the amount of gain: one quarter of the lights being lit is lowest, then half of the lights is next highest, etc. until all lights are on for the highest amount of gain. Once the gain amount is chosen, those lights do not remain set but instead revert to both lights on, making you think it's at the highest gain. The RX goes on a camera hot shoe only one way, meaning those lights face behind the camera. If you are facing the camera and want to know the gain/NC setting or change it, you'd have to walk around to the back. The NC has “low” and “high” settings. The lights should be on top of the RX so that you can see them regardless of where you are positioned. Of course, I guess that's all mute because the lights don't indicate what gain or NC level you set. When the 3.5mm cord is plugged into a camera and the RX, that leaves very little room to touch the RX settings button. Try approaching from the other side of where the cord is plugged into the RX. The RX setting for NC on low was hardly worth it, but the high did a great job of screening out a radio program in the background during my test video. Higher gain works, but probably is best at ¼ to half.