Important information about purchasing from the US.
If you see a price that looks too good to be true, it probably is! Beware of counterfeit goods. Check our website to make sure you’re purchasing from an authorized RØDE reseller. For quick reference NO FBA reseller (FULFILLMENT BY AMAZON) on Amazon is authorized. You can view a current list of unauthorized US dealers here.
The smartLav is a professional-grade wearable microphone designed for use in a wide range of film, television and broadcast scenarios, or wherever professional quality audio is required in a discreet, portable format without the complication and expense of additional wireless equipment.
With the smartLav the user simply mounts the microphone on the talent, connects it to a smartphone or tablet headset jack and records via the RØDE Rec app for iOS, or any other audio app of their choice.
By employing a high quality omni-directional condenser capsule the smartLav picks up sound equally from all around the microphone, allowing for versatility when mounting and ensuring a high degree of user-friendly operation.
A foam pop shield is supplied to minimise wind noise and vocal plosives (hard ‘b’, ‘t’ and ‘p’ sounds), as well as a durable mounting clip with in-built cable management.
The smartLav is compatible with any audio app that accepts input from the headset connection, however it has been designed to pair perfectly with RØDE’s RØDE Rec app for Apple iOS devices. RØDE Rec turns the user’s iOS device into a fully-featured field recorder, with a wide range of equalisation presets to suit various recording situations, in addition to professional editing functions and the ability to publish to SoundCloud and Dropbox direct from the app.
Acoustic Principle | Pressure Gradient |
Active Electronics | JFET |
Capsule | 0.10" |
Polar Pattern | ![]() |
Address Type | End |
Frequency Range | 20Hz - 20kHz |
Output Impedance | 0Ω |
Sensitivity | -32.0dB re 1 Volt/Pascal (25.50mV @ 94 dB SPL) +/- 2 dB @ 1kHz |
Weight | 6.00g |
Dimensions | 1180.00mmH x 4.50mmW x 4.50mmD |
Output | ![]() |
Warranty | 1 year |
For the price, the smartLav is an incredibly effective solution that delivers very good quality audio in place of a more expensive lapel mic or wireless system.
What it comes down to is if you ever need to capture audio for interviews or you think you may need to one day, my suggestion would be to pick up a RØDE SmarLav and have it in your bag at all times. If your option is the built in microphone or the SmarLav the difference is night and day, it’s a no brainer. The ability to capture professional sounding audio for as little as $60 could be the difference between getting the job or not.
I fully recommend this product based on its value, quality and ease of use.
We tested it outdoors and found the smartLav to do an excellent job of clearly picking up our voices while excluding the extraneous noises of wind and wildlife around us. Drop off was practically non-existent as we turned away from the mic and back again. The overall sound quality was very good.
Microphone of the Year 2013
To be clear, this is not a studio microphone. Rather, this is an inexpensive, totally convenient portable voice recording solution that’s great for recording one person speaking. If you’re giving a presentation and you want to record yourself, this is the best bargain I’ve seen for an unobtrusive, decent-sounding audio track.
Poor interview audio is really inexcusable these days – even for shooters on limited budgets. If you can’t afford a high quality wireless mic or need to mic up multiple people on set then here is an elegant and inexpensive solution from RØDE.
RØDE Rec offers a number of convenient export options including SoundCloud, DropBox, FTP, email and web browser, but possibly the most common method is be an export direct to computer via a wired connection. In RØDE Rec (and RØDE Rec LE) this is known as 'iTunes File Sharing' as it relies on Apple's iTunes program to retrieve the files from your device.
To download your files, just follow these easy steps:
Currently RØDE Rec does not support batch exporting of files, but we are working very hard to incorporate this feature.
If you have a question or a support enquiry about the smartLav head over to our contact page to get in touch or locate your local distributor here