Best Voice Recorders Reviewed

Creative Zen V Plus (4 GB)
Creative Labs
Street Price: $130

Like Cowon, several of Creative Labs’ MP3 players offer both voice recording and line-in connectivity. We chose the Zen V Plus because it isn’t exorbitantly priced, and because it’s been on the market for quite a while – plenty of time for Creative to work out any bugs.

The Zen V Plus is aimed at the athletically oriented individual, and as such offers skip-free playback, exceedingly diminutive dimensions, and an optional armband. Again, we must caution that you’ll find more recording options and better sound from a dedicated voice recorder, but if you have the room and budget for just one hybrid unit, you could do much worse.

WS-210S
Olympus
Street Price: $50

Okay, so Olympus doesn’t official manufacture this particular model any longer. That’s okay – the company is B-I-G into voice recording and has a gaggle of other models ready to take its place. It’s also good news for you, because this is currently a discontinued item at a variety of shops and therefore can be had on the cheap.

Olympus recorders rank highly on virtually every survey, and to grab one at a substantial markdown is a very good thing. Granted, its 512MB worth of storage space is far from massive, so you’ll need to exercise caution after the first few dozen hours. Still, the unit features nifty amenities such as a voice filter to reduce unwanted noise, USB connectivity for easy transfer of files to your PC, and slow and fast playback. A reliable recorder at a snappy price point – what else does the average user need?

VN-6200PC
Olympus
Street Price: $50

If you look at this one on paper, it seems like an average voice recorder at a decent price. But when you use it and play with it for a bit, it’s easy to see why the new VN-6200PC and its immediate forefathers (including the immensely popular VN-5200PC) dominate the market as they do at e-tailers such as Amazon.

Slim, intuitive, and sporting all the essentials – including USB-to-PC connectivity, line-in and external mic recording, more than 70 hours recording time in high-quality (HQ) mode, and impressive audio output – it’s a solid package. Note that the VN-6200PC and the vast majority of digital voice recorders in this price range do not support dictation operations such as overwrite, though even the least expensive analog microcassette recorders generally do. And therein lies the only advantage of tape.

Pearlcorder S711
Olympus
Street Price: $25

The Pearlcorder S711 may be tape-based, but it’s nothing like those clunky cassette recorders from your youth – if, that is, your youth fell anywhere between 1970 and 2000.

A far thriftier solution than any other voice recorder in this overview, the handheld Pearlcorder S711 nevertheless delivers desirable features such as voice-activated operation, a fast play mode, and an external mic input. It sounds good too, and it’s available in both blue and gold color schemes. True bargain hunters may want to opt for the marginally cheaper Pearlcorder S701, which does away with voice-activation, yet both units are eminently affordable.

TP7
Olympus
Street Price: $20

With all the technical wizardry available today, you’d think someone would have developed a purely digital method for capturing landline telephone conversations. And they have – though most of the devices that plug into your phone line somewhere between the wall outlet and your handset don’t exactly boast the best reviews or track records. And we definitely don’t trust those too-good-to-be-true gizmos you can find online at those dubious spy-on-your-wife websites.

However, we can say with certainty that one such product does do exactly what it says it will do: the Olympus TP7 Telephone Pickup. The way cool thing is that it’s less expensive and far simpler than most of the alternatives. You merely plug one end to your voice recorder, position the other end (essentially a tiny microphone) in your ear, bring the handset to your skull, and hit “record.”

That’s all there is to it. Works like a charm…with one caveat. Recording telephone calls may be prohibited in your jurisdiction. Check first before you go all 007 on us.

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