Razer Seiren BT review

Sure, USB microphones are great, but they don’t have the portability or versatility to do on-the-floor coverage at a convention. Or maybe you’d rather a smaller option than a bulky USB mic. For those occasions, Razer has rolled out the $99 Razer Seiren BT microphone. A lapel mic, the Seiren BT is designed to clip onto your lapel or shirt collar and let you capture great audio if you’re on the go or while sitting in front of your computer. 

However, overactive noise suppression technology and lack of a camera connection ask might give some content creators pause. But the Raze Seiren BT is a great choice for people looking for an affordable option to capture audio on the go.

Razer Seiren BT design

The black all-metal Razer Seiren BT Bluetooth microphone is ellipse-shaped with the six-millimeter omnidirectional microphone sitting up top, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack snuggled up next to it so that you can monitor your audio. On the left side of the microphone is the power button with a USB Type-C port. At the bottom, we find a USB Type-C port for charging on the bottom. At the back of the unit, there’s a spring-loaded metal clip with the Razer logo. Although it’s extremely lightweight, the build quality feels rather sturdy for something so small.

I really like the Seiren BT’s straightforward design, which screams, “I’m not the star of this show, you are.” Plus, the simple all-black design allows the Seiren to blend in nicely with most clothing choices.

The Razer BT ships with a USB Type-C charging cable and two windscreens to prevent plosives and reduce wind noise when you’re out and about streaming live. The Razer Seiren BT weighs just 0.51 ounces and measures 2.4 x 0.5 x 0.5 inches, making it not only lightweight and comfortable to wear, but tiny enough to just stick in a pocket and go create.

Razer Seiren BT audio quality

Once it was fully charged, I sat down to test the audio quality by recording a YouTube live stream, a video call, and just plain audio to the voice recorder on my iPhone 11. With the AI noise suppression set to high, my audio was solid as the Seiren BT picked up my voice clearly. However, like with most noise suppression, it was a tiny bit choppy and digitized during playback. 

However, when I knocked on my desk loudly with a metal object from a foot away the mic didn’t pick up any feedback. The one time it did, it was barely audible.I asked my girlfriend to speak to me from five feet away and the mic picked her up clearly but didn’t pick up the sound of me still banging on my desk.

I then selected the low AI noise suppression and repeated the experiment with similar results. This time, although you could hear me banging the object on my desk, the Seiren focused on my voice, making it the focal point of my recording. It was a better recording, as far as overall quality goes, as the mic picked up the fuller tones of my voice. 

Lastly, I recorded with the AI turned off completely, and it recorded my voice extremely well. The Seiren BT caught all of the timbres in my voice, producing a very natural result that didn’t sound at all digitized. In my opinion, it is the most optimal recording option, but you need to be in a quiet space. Most streamers and content creators tend to be in a quiet space so the Seiren will do an excellent job under that circumstance.

I took the Seiren outside and, as if on cue, it was quite windy out so I popped on one of the windscreens and took a short walk to record with the AI noise suppression set to low Fortunately,I recorded some really solid audio with little to no background noise even though my street was filled with cars. That’s background noise that would normally ruin a recording, but the Razer Seiren did what it was made to do, and I recorded a nice video with good sound quality as the mic focused on my vocals with pinpoint accuracy. I also placed my phone down and was able to record audio, Livestream, and chatted at a distance of up to twenty feet without any disruption or loss of audio quality. 

To close out, I clipped it to my shirt collar and called my daughter on Google Meet to have a chat about how awesome a dad I am. It was a short conversation but she reported that I sounded good and there wasn’t much background noise either. And then she asked me to Venmo her some money because some things never change. I need to mention that the other enjoyable thing about using the Razer Seiren BT is that it acts as a passthrough and allows you to connect your high quality, over-ear headphones via its 3.5mm audio jack and use them via Bluetooth, so I could listen to music while on my short walk testing the Razer Seiren BT.

Razer Seiren BT software

The free Razer Streaming app is available to download for both Android and iOS is easy to use and allows you to fine-tune the performance of your Seiren BT mic.

You can adjust the mic gain, mute, choose your level of AI noise suppression, monitor the battery, adjust the headphone sidetone and turn its Low Latency mode on or off.

Razer Seiren BT battery life

The Seiren BT is rated at up to six hours of battery life with the AI noise reduction turned off and up to four hours with it enabled. However, it also depends on how high you have the gain set. During my testing, I got five straight hours out of it with the AI turned off and it still had 10% left. I used it for close to three hours with AI on and it was reading 15% when I checked. Under normal conditions, you will probably not run out of battery life, unless you’re taking part in a streaming marathon.

Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a solid option to just clip on and stream on the move, the Razer Seiren BT is a damn good option that won’t break your bank account at just $99. For the best recordings, try a semi-quiet spot and just go nuts, you will still get quality audio. If you’re in a noisy place and using the AI on high, just know you risk getting some slightly choppy audio with less vocal fullness.

Overall, the Razer Seiren BT is a good buy. It’s sturdy (although Razer has yet to state its IPX rating), records quality audio in multiple circumstances you may not normally capture good audio, lightweight, easy to use, and worth every penny.