Page 4 - Conclusion
The Maono GamerWave comes to us with a clear direction for gaming and it does deliver on this aspect. For one, we have a pretty diminutively sized microphone, which should fit into any setup. Its RGB LED lighting is nice with an even distribution of color. I also appreciate having quick access capacitive touch buttons for mute and lighting. Finally, the headphone output for zero latency monitoring is a good addition. The GamerWave's performance was adequate for gaming, including calls, some recording, and the occasional streaming session. However, it falls behind when you extend it past casual use. With its limited frequency response, any critical listening reveals captured audio was cut off on both the low and high-end, making the sound feel nasally and unnatural at times. This restricts it from being used with instruments or for producing podcasts. The electronic noise cancellation was also unimpressive, as it casted an artificial sound and its implementation was rather lacking. These items can be forgiven at the price point of the Maono GamerWave, but my primary issue is found in the build quality. This plastic build is solid enough, but because everything is made of plastic, the entire microphone is very light. Combined with hard foam at the bottom and the result is the GamerWave moves about too often, even during innocuous motions like gain volume adjustments. This also means vibrations are not absorbed well. Finally, the microphone gain knob was very light and could be moved easily on accident. Considering the current price of $33, the Maono GamerWave is a good entry for those looking at a dedicated microphone, especially as competition like the Creative Live! Mic M3 is double the price. However, I think it is worth saving up for a more refined experience. Maono is still a young company, so I hope to see how they continue to progress and improve their microphones in the future.
Maono provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
6/10 means A product with its advantages, but drawbacks should not be ignored before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 6.0/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The Maono GamerWave is a wallet-friendly, low-cost entrant into the dedicated microphone realm, but there are compromises made to get to this price point.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Recording Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
