Amazon Basics USB condenser microphone review

There's a lot to be said for the simple things in life. For a start, they're often cheap—and hardware doesn't come much cheaper than this Amazon Basics USB condenser microphone. You can pick up one of these teeny-tiny little units for a mere $26/£23 at Amazon, although it must be said, that's the sort of price that makes me eye any piece of audio gear with suspicion.

Opening the packaging, however, reveals a surprisingly sturdy little microphone. While the chassis and stand might be plastic, it's of the thick, matte-textured variety that immediately makes me feel like I'm handling a well-built product. The grille is metal, the weight is reassuring, and the plastic ball joint in the base of the stand stays in position when you tilt it over.

Speaking of which, I find that design choice to be a little bizarre. Desktop microphones often tilt at the top of the pole, rather than the base, although I can't deny that the little Basics unit cocking its snoot at you from a jaunty angle makes for a cute addition to your desk. Still, even at its maximum angle, the Basics remains immune to falling over on a flat surface, despite the weight at the top of its frame.

Perhaps this explains the lower ball-joint dealio, and lends to the feeling that this mic has had much more thought put into its construction than you might expect for the price. Strap in here, folks: I think I sense a theme.

Being an Amazon Basics unit, you've probably deduced that you don't get many extras for your cash. Here you receive a microphone, a stand to screw it to, and a USB Type-C to Type-A cable that's ever so slightly too short—although for what it's worth, it did make it to the back of my desk-height PC.

If you keep your machine further away (or on the floor), you'll probably want to factor a longer cable into the equation to make it reach. This cable likes to kink, too, and isn't quite of the same quality as the rest of the setup.

The software features are… non-existent, actually. No software means no noise cancelling, and that always makes me raise an eyebrow when it comes to condenser microphones. Unlike dynamic mics, condenser models have a wider range of capture, which makes them prone to picking up a lot of unwanted noise. However, it also makes them well-suited to picking up vocals from a distance.

Image 1 of 3

Which the little Amazon mic does admirably. I was genuinely impressed when I performed my first audio test with this mic, and it's been impressing me in a similar fashion ever since. It picks up well from a desktop position, and the vocal tone it captures is surprisingly rounded and clear for such a cheap capsule. It's not too noise-prone either, although you can definitely hear an ever-so-slight hiss from my laptop fans in the background.

Above: The Amazon Basics USB condenser microphone recorded from a desktop position.

Sure, the audio doesn't have the golden, "studio-like" quality you might expect from a really good (and likely, quite expensive) unit from the likes of Shure, but then this really isn't the little Basic's market. This is a mic designed to capture clear, rounded vocals from your desktop for an absolutely minimal outlay, and it's brilliant at it. It records at a 48 kHz 16-bit sample rate, which is realistically all you need to capture good sound. Sure, 24-bit would be nice, but it's really unnecessary for most users—and the Basics proves that principle in one fell swoop.

Like most condenser mics, it's going to capture more richness from your tone the closer you bring it to your lips. The Basics facilitates this by going one step further and allowing you to screw it into any boom arm with a 5/8-inch thread, which is pretty much all of them.

That means you can get it close up for podcast-like audio, and while it does get a little plosive if you bring it really close (a foam pop-filter would work wonders here), I'd say you could absolutely use this as a budget streaming mic. As long as you were careful with your distancing, of course.

Above: The Amazon Basics USB condenser microphone recorded close up, attached to a boom arm.

Plus, it's got a mute button on the front, which is downright handy if you plan on livestreaming your vocal musings to the internet. You'd be surprised how many budget mics omit this feature from the specs sheet (like the otherwise brilliant Razer Seiren Mini), but it's a positive, clicky affair with a little LED to tell you when you're on and when you're muted. Everything it needs to be, nothing less. Like the rest of this microphone, now I come to think of it.

The rubber base of the stand means it's fairly shock resistant, too, and unless you give it a right ol' bashing, the mic itself doesn't do that horribly-cheap thing of letting its outer frame ring through the capsule if you accidentally give it a tap. It'll capture a bump, sure, but it shouldn't have your listeners throwing their gaming headsets off in disgust.

So, I ask myself, what more do you need in a microphone than this? Well, the aforementioned noise-cancelling features would be nice. Perhaps some RGB-lit design touches would make it look nicer on a stream, and while the audio capture is excellent for the money, a more expensive microphone will make your vocals sound, well, more expensive, for lack of a better term.

I don't think the Amazon Basics mic is going to get much use in professional recording studios, naturally, but on your desk? I can't think of anything better for the cash.

Or anywhere near it, if I'm honest. It's genuinely remarkable that this $26 mic performs as well as it does, and it's a great example of the "keep it simple, stupid" design philosophy of which I am so fond. It's as plug-and-play as you like, feels like it will last for years, and sounds good enough to use pretty much anywhere you'd like to capture your vocal tones for all to hear.

Which makes it my new favourite budget gaming microphone, too. So if you'll excuse me, I've got the best gaming microphone guide to update. Join me over there to see all your other options, won't you?

Best microphone for gaming 2025

👉Check out our full guide👈

1. Best overall:
Shure MV6 USB Gaming Microphone

2. Best budget:
Razer Seiren Mini

3. Best mid-range:
NZXT Capsule Elite

4. Best USB bundle:
Sennheiser Profile Streaming Set

5. Best looking:
HyperX Quadcast S

6. Best podcasting:
Shure MV7+

7. Best streaming:
SteelSeries Alias Pro

8, Best headset mic:
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xSTS StreamSet