Joby Wavo Air verdict
Summary
The Joby Wavo Air is a very comprehensive wireless two-mic kit with optional plug-in lavalier mics thrown in for less obtrusive wearing for interviews and the like. The mics and receiver come already paired and come with clips and attachments for hotshoes, tripods legs, clothing and even a magnetic lanyard. But there’s no supplied carry case for all these mics, cables and gadgets and the instructions are very basic – and describe a power status display that I still can’t find. A typical price of $250/£220 means it’s no cheap option, either.
For
+Two wireless mics
+Two additional lav mics
+Range of attachment options
+Simple setup
Against
-Where is the power status display?
-No charging/carry case for all these bits
-Minimal documentation in the box or online
Introduction and context
If you are serious about video you will need a better microphone than the one built into your phone or camera, and for two reasons. One is that the sound quality won’t be very good, the other that these are almost always omnidirectional mics that capture sound from all around, not just from the subject you’re filming. They are also not protected from buffeting wind noise.
So for better audio there are two main options. You can use a shotgun mic on the camera which points at your subject and works like a kind of audio ‘zoom’. This is much better, but you’re still recording sound from the camera position, and the further away your subject gets, the fainter the sound and the more other sounds will impinge.
The other alternative is to attach a mic to your subject, so that you’re recording the sound where it actually comes from. You can do this with a ‘wired’ mic but you’ll be limited by the length of the cable, or you can do it with a ‘wireless’ mic that gives you less cable clutter and much longer range.
The Joby Wavo Air is a wireless mic set that includes a receiver that attaches to your phone or camera and not one but two wireless transmitter mics so that you can mic up two people separately for an interview, for example, or use only one of the mics if it’s just you.
Joby Wavo Air key features
Having two transmitter mics is only one part of the Joby Wavo Air kit’s appeal. Each mic comes with an optional wind muff which clips over the microphone grille to cut wind noise outside.
What’s more, there are two lavalier mics included which plug into the transmitter mics and can be used for less obtrusive speech recording. The transmitters can then be put in back pocket, out of sight.
The main mics do have clips for attaching to clothing, but the kit also includes a magnetic lanyard which can be used inside our outside your clothing, and a tripod leg clip. These attachments fix on to the back of the mics with a simple twist-bayonet action.
Finally, there are also three USB A – Type C charging cables for the two mics and the transmitter.
Handling and operation
There’s a lot in the Joby Wavo Air kit, including plenty of cables when you count the wired lav mics and charging cables. It all comes in a box that’s ideal for retail and display, but no help at all for daily use. There’s no charging case, carry pouch or anything else that can help you keep these things organized, so you’ll have to work that out for yourself.
The transmitters and receiver come ready-paired out of the box, so they should be ready to go straight away. There is a pairing reset pin and instructions on how to pair the devices manually, but you shouldn’t need to do that.
Blue pairing lights on the mics and receiver confirm that the devices are paired, but according to the instructions they should also show the power status and power remaining. I still haven’t figured out how that is supposed to work – all I get is the blue pairing confirmation.
The last time I went to use the mics on my camera, there was no audio. All the connections were fine, and it turned out to be because the receiver needed charging – that solved the problem. But with a working pairing light and no other power warning, that was just a lucky guess.
The documentation in the box is pretty thin and there appears to be no further help on the Joby website.
Otherwise, these mics work fine. The range is good, and while the sound will drop out if you get far enough away and turn your back, or if you move through different rooms, these are hardly normal filming situations.
Joby Wavo Air verdict
The Joby Wavo Air kits is certainly comprehensive. You get two remote mics, each with its own optional plug-in lavalier mic if you want a more discreet look, and a selection of different attachment gadgets. Everything is paired straight out of the box, so you’re ready to go.
However, you’ll need to get an adaptor for use with a smart device that doesn’t have a TRS or TRRS mic input. That mainly means Apple devices which only have Lightning ports – but adaptors are easily available online and aren’t that expensive.
The main issues with the Wavo Air are the very thin instructions that don’t explain why the power status isn’t displayed (or how to make it appear), a somewhat crude three-step audio level adjuster on each mic and the lack of any kind of carrying or organizing pouch for all these bits and pieces.