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Microphones for Zoom calls

If you’re working from home, your laptop microphone is making you sound bad. The fix is the cheapest, most reliable upgrade in audio.

Best under $100Samson Q2U

Best mid-rangeBlue Yeti Nano

Best premiumShure MV7+

The short answer

For most people, a $70–$130 USB mic is the right answer

If you’re working from home and Zoom is most of your workday, your laptop’s built-in microphone is what your colleagues hear. It’s probably making you sound like you’re calling from a tin can. The fix is the cheapest, most reliable upgrade in audio: a USB microphone.

The picks

Blue Yeti Nano — $100. Small, USB, sits on the desk. The simplest serious upgrade.
Samson Q2U — $70. USB and XLR — gives you a future upgrade path.
Shure MV7+ — $280. Overkill for Zoom, but you’ll never replace it. Built-in headphone jack for monitoring yourself.
Tula Mic — $230. Pocket-sized, recharges over USB-C, retro-cool.
Apple AirPods Pro 2. Sometimes the answer to “Zoom mic” is “the headphones I already own.” AirPods don’t sound great, but they’re predictable.

A real Zoom-call upgrade trick

The single biggest jump in Zoom call quality isn’t even the mic — it’s where you put it. Get the mic within six inches of your mouth, off-axis (so you’re not breathing into it directly). Even a Yeti at six inches sounds much, much better than the same Yeti two feet away. The mic on your laptop screen is a foot and a half from your mouth, so anything closer is already an improvement.