Easiest Voice Recorder to Use? The Micro-Speak From Talking Products

My four-year-old told me she’d dreamed of sipping hot chocolate from a coconut while riding a unicorn. That was my cue to start recording her stories.

She already loved the Yoto, a screen-free audio player, so I knew she would enjoy making her own. My old Zoom H5 was out because it had too many fiddly controls, but I wanted to give her something she could use.

A quick search turned up a few “kid recorders,” but most only allowed minutes of audio. Then I found the Micro-Speak Plus, a handheld recorder from Talking Products: bright colours, simple buttons, and built like a classic Zoom or Tascam model. She picked it up in seconds, and now I have hours of her psychedelic monologues and Frozen renditions saved in crisp audio.

Who Would Use the Micro-Speak Plus?

Apart from four-year-old storytellers, I could see this recorder being perfect for:

• Blind and low-vision individuals
• People with cognitive challenges, dementia, or additional memory needs
• Complete beginners who want pure simplicity

There's more to the Micro-Speak Plus than how it looks, so let's dive into its features:

How Does the Micro-Speak Plus Work?

The design is clean with big, clear buttons for recording, playing, pausing and skipping. There's a small screen on the front, too. Admittedly, this is less clear and may limit a few small features for those unable to see it. I'll get back to that shortly.

Recording

Recording is as straightforward as it gets. Slide the power switch on, press record, and you’re away. The device gives helpful beeps and voice prompts so you always know if you are recording, paused or saving, which takes away any second-guessing.

Each file is automatically given a unique name and stored neatly on the included microSD card. With the 1GB card, you get about 15 hours of space, but you can upgrade to as much as 16GB if you plan on narrating The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Playback

You can listen back to your recording straight away via the built-in speaker, or plug some earbuds into the 3.5mm port on the side. Playback volume is controlled by tactile plus and minus buttons, too.

On the subject of playback, a tap on play lets you hear your recording. You can skip through files with the next and previous buttons, or hold them down to fast forward and rewind. The screen shows file names and timings, but that only helps if you can see it, so it's less useful for blind or low-vision users.

Controls

You can delete unwanted recordings directly on the device, with clear spoken prompts guiding you through a yes or no choice. You can also connect to a computer or Mac with the provided USB cable. It'll show up like any other storage device, and you can drag recordings over for editing on a platform like Alitu.

The battery lasts about three hours and charges via USB. It announces when it is charging and shuts down if left idle, so you are less likely to lose power by mistake.

Micro-Speak Plus Audio & Sound Quality

Audio is recorded in:

• MP3 format
• 32kHz
• Mono
• 128kbps

Whilst most audio-savvy creators would prefer a WAV file of at least 44.1kHz, that clearly isn't the primary target audience here. I still think the audio sounds really good, and I'd much rather my daughter have extra storage space than extra samples per second.

In my sound sample, you'll hear the Micro-Speak Plus cope pretty well with my daughter's booming delivery at one point, and excessive handling noise at another. I'm not going to go all audio engineer on her at the expense of her spontaneity and creativity.

Talking Products markets the built-in mic as 360°, which essentially means it picks up sound equally from all around it. This could cause some confusion, though, as the mic is only present on the front of the recorder. It's 360° if you lie it flat on a table, but not if you hold it upright and try to talk into the rear side.

You can't actively monitor your recordings, which means you can't use your headphones to hear what's being recorded as you're recording. Again, though, experienced podcasters aren't the target market here, so I don't think this is a big issue.

Micro-Speak Plus Costs

You can buy the Micro-Speak Plus brand new on Amazon for $75, or on Amazon UK for £60. Our link is an affiliate, meaning we'd earn a small commission should you choose to buy through it - never at any extra cost to you.

I saw one reviewer on Amazon suggest this was expensive for a "limited" voice recorder. I disagree.

Granted, for $40-$50 extra, you could get a Zoom H1 or something similar, but this isn't about paying for more; it's about investing in streamlined simplicity and accessibility.

My daughter is recording her stream of consciousness musings into the Micro-Speak regularly and unprompted. To me, that's priceless. I don't think she'd feel as confident or compelled to do the same with a pro-level recorder like the H1 or H5.

Summary

The Micro-Speak Plus really stands out in its accessibility. The spoken prompts, clear layout and fuss-free design make it ideal for blind and low-vision users as well as for complete beginners who just want something that works without layers of menus or settings. It’s designed to be simple, and it does that really well.

And as for drinking hot chocolate from a coconut while riding a unicorn, I've never been lucky enough to have that dream. But at least now, I can experience it secondhand any time I like.

If you’d rather use software instead of physical gear, or want to pair your Micro-Speak Plus with an easy all-in-one audio tool, check out Alitu. From solo and call recording to text-based editing and automatic cleanup, levelling, and EQ, Alitu covers everything. You can even publish straight to Apple Podcasts and Spotify from its dashboard. It’s built to take the hassle out of podcasting so you can focus purely on creating!