DJI Mic 2

We didn't mince words when we reviewed the DJI Mic last year. While the Red Wireless Go II remains the standard for anyone who wants to record better audio in the field, DJI's solution was in every way more dexterous, user-friendly and just better made.

We gave it a 10 and said that it was hard to find a single key point of criticism. These are big words, and that makes it all the more serious when it comes to what is known in other industries as "the hard two". DJI is ready with "Mic 2", and these are some pretty significant changes.

Make no mistake, the DJI Mic 2 is still among the most expensive portable microphone kits you can find. You're looking at something like £300 for a kit consisting of a case, various connectors and, of course, two microphones. It's all connected with magnets again, and works brilliantly - there's a central status LED battery indicator on the front, and connectors for both USB-C and Lightning. Now, DJI may not have known that Apple would drop Lightning altogether from iPhone 15 onwards, but at least it means that legacy iPhones can still use the DJI Mic 2 on an equal footing, which isn't exactly a bad thing.

There are small differences here and there - there's a small pouch in the same style as the one you get with the Osmo Pocket 3, which only further creates a coherent design language between DJI's various product categories, something I've been clamouring for for years, but which finally seems to be catching on. Furthermore, the receiver itself has been redesigned and is now flatter and wider. This time there is also a volume slider on the top, which makes it infinitely easier to make small corrections to the gain level of the connected microphones in a more tactile way.

Among other things, DJI has improved battery life to give us six hours of use per microphone, and the case adds another 18 hours. In addition, charging time has been reduced to two hours and 40 minutes before it's all ready to go again, but if it's just the receivers, they only take 70 minutes.

There are more improvements than that. The range is a whopping 250 metres, and even at the edge of this extreme, DJI offers a full suite of features, from 32-bit internal recording with active noise reduction, Vocal Improvement software and wind isolation. Again, you get windscreens in the package if extra sound insulation is needed to combat the wind, but the combination of internal structure and software is already quite effective.

It's striking how versatile a set of microphones DJI Mic 2 really is, and they can be used in a cold shoe on a larger DSLR camera, or on a smartphone without any real set-up, and where everything can be set up via receiver devices, i.e. without an app. It's all very analogue and seems decidedly seamless.

However, it's still a shame that you don't get more out of investing extra in DJI's ecosystem. Even with this new design, you have to disassemble your DJI Osmo Action camera to get the receiver dangling on it, it's not a good solution, and you'd think the two devices would fit together like a glove, but no.

But that's about the only real complaint, and it probably won't suit the majority of potential customers who want to use a smartphone cage or tripod and film using either the USB-C or Lightning connector. DJI has once again got the long end of the stick, and especially compared to its key competitor Røde, it's clear how much they've gone for broke with the Mic and Mic 2.