(Image credit: Future)

Budget or bust?

(Image credit: Future)

Andy Edser* is a man with a mission. It’s a mission he didn’t sign up for, or even want, but I’m his boss so he has to do what I say. And I’m making him test a ton of different cheap tech I might find on Amazon, AliExpress, TikTok Shop, or down the back of my sofa. Out of nowhere it will appear on his doorstep with no warning and he has no choice but to use whatever it is like his life depends on it. Because it does. *

Returning home one evening after a night of revelry, I discovered a mysterious Amazon box on my doorstep I had no memory of ordering. No, it wasn’t the whiskey playing tricks on me, it was instead another gift from my mischievous editor-in-chief. This time he’s sent me a $23 Amazon Basics USB condenser microphone to review. Goody.

I’ve had the privilege of working with some roadworthy audio equipment over the years, and the little Amazon Basics mic has the same sort of heft I’d usually associate with something gig-proof, like a Shure SM58 or SM57. It’s just in miniature, so you can easily integrate it into your desk setup.

The Basics mic also comes with an adorable little stand, which, for reasons I can’t quite fathom, tilts from the bottom of the pole, not the top. I have no idea why the little mic loves a Dutch angle so, but it makes me giggle slightly every time I see it cocked to one side. A slightly bizarre design choice, perhaps, but I suppose a tilt is a tilt—and it’s completely stable at a full drunken lean, regardless.

You also get a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, a brief quickstart leaflet and, err, nothing else. This is an Amazon Basics product after all, and realistically, this is about right for even some fairly high end desktop mics. A stand, a microphone to put on the stand, a cable to connect said microphone to your PC. All as it should be.

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(Image credit: Future)

The mic itself actually has a couple of hidden features worth shouting about, though. Firstly, it’s got an internal shockmount, which should help with table bumps and unwanted reverberation. And secondly, it has a tap to mute function, activated by… well, pressing a mute button on the front. I’m not sure that counts as a “tap”, but that’s how Amazon describes it, at least.

That’s actually a feature our current favourite budget gaming mic, the Razer Seiren Mini, lacks. Score one for the little Amazon cheapo-beepo unit then. Good stuff. The Basics unit records at up to a 48 kHz 16 bit sample rate, and has a frequency response of 50 Hz - 20,000 Hz. These are completely acceptable specs for any mic, and combine to create an audio quality that I’d say is surprisingly good.

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Again, I’d like to remind you this is a $23 mic. Sure, it doesn’t provide the shiny, golden clarity and richness you’d associate with some of the best gaming microphones. But I’m going to call it here: it sounds downright good. Not just for the cash, but in general. I’ve tested many, many budget microphones over the years, and this one stands tall over anything I can think of for under $50.

Which again, is all it really needs to do. What dear Dave has sent me here is a budget bit of audio gear that genuinely works, with good build quality, perfectly decent sound, and no software fuss.

Really, my only complaint here is that you don’t get any noise cancelling, which means this little condenser capsule is going to pick up noise from the room around you, and any of its inhabitants. Still, good luck finding a mic that provides comprehensive software features for anywhere near this price point, so I really can’t grouse too loudly given the minimal spend.

And I suppose you don’t get any RGB gamer flair, if that’s your jam. But really, this microphone sets out to do one task, which is to record your voice well from a desktop position for a very reasonable outlay, and it accomplishes that task with aplomb.

All of which has me wiping my brow in relief. After the horrors of the Bengoo G9000, it feels like ultra-budget audio gear needed something of a win, and the Amazon Basics USB condenser microphone has achieved just that. It’s weeny, it’s well-built, it sounds good, and it costs you around half the price of a modern AAA game. That’ll do nicely!

Andy built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 12, when IDE cables were a thing and high resolution wasn’t—and he hasn’t stopped since. Now working as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, Andy spends his time jumping around the world attending product launches and trade shows, all the while reviewing every bit of PC gaming hardware he can get his hands on. You name it, if it’s interesting hardware he’ll write words about it, with *opinions *and everything.

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