Ulanzi J12 Wireless Microphone Review – Can This Budget Lapel Mic Be Any Good?

I knew the brand already

I do have a lot of Ulanzi gear that I use in content creation. 

My LED RGB lights that I use in a lot of my photo shoots, some of the fill lights that I use in my videos, and a couple of different camera bits and bobs in my gear bag.

I’ve always found them to be a really good value for money and have never really let me down to date. So, it was this past purchase experience that probably led to the recommendation of the Ulanzi J12 to me.

Immediately, my first thought was, “Wow, that is really cheap for a wireless lapel mic kit.” 

It was less than $50, came with two lapel mics for any event that I might need to interview people, and the lightning adapter for my iPhone, although they do have two different models with two different connectors.

When you are constantly making content, you always feel like you need to have something in your bag just in case, and I figured that this was a really good investment just to throw in the car or in a bag while traveling so that in the event that I needed to quickly shoot a video or do a quick interview, that I’d have a microphone ready to go without needing the full camera set-up and belt pack.

Build Quality

Like all Ulanzi things, this is made well enough.

The plastic molding is okay. The materials are okay, and it is a very light case.

The design elements of the unit are everything you need and nothing you don’t, and the case itself is not too large.

In the box, you get the charging case. And inside the charging case are the lightning phone adapter and the two wireless lapel units.

There’s also a short USB-C charging cable that can charge all the units.

Things I liked.

There are some things that surprised me about the J12 Ulanzi microphone kit and one of those things was that not only does the case have charging capabilities and can therefore charge the wireless units in the case, but each of the lapel mics itself has a USB connector on the side which you can independently charge.

So, if you have any concerns about having battery anxiety while you’re using it, you know that there are multiple ways that you can get these things back up and running.

Connectivity.

The J12 was so easy to set up and get going. I literally plugged in the lightning adapter to the bottom of my iPhone, which I should add is a nice small, slim-looking unit, and press the power-up button on one of the lapel mics.

There is a nice LED light that shines from the lapel mic, not strong enough to pick up on camera, with green and red indicators to let you know what your connectivity status is, with red being, the record.

The lapel unit connected quickly and immediately I was recording with audio on the microphone. 

It probably all took all of 10 seconds to get sorted.

Range.

As the video that we’ve done to accompany this will show you, the range is estimated at around 20 meters. And the test that I did on the beach with incredibly loud waves in the background, proves that it definitely makes it at around 20 meters.

I probably made it further, but I had a good line of sight where I was, so I wouldn’t want to rely on anything more than the 20-meter mark.

Interview style.

A short interview with one of the kids showed that these work really well in interview mode.

We weren’t standing too close, but there was no spill from microphone to microphone, and I was probably speaking a little too loud, whereas he was speaking quieter and I think the audio on his mic came through a lot better.

I used this just in video mode, but you could also, I’m sure, use it for your voice notes. So, I’ll do a test on that and add that below so that you can hear what that sounds like.

Overall.

My overall thoughts and feelings on the Ulanzi J12 are that it is a really great little unit.

However, there are some concerns I had when I was using it at the beach with very loud background noise in that I felt like I was speaking a little loud to be heard and that the microphone was clipping a little bit.

In a quieter environment, that was not an issue. And if you are using it in a studio environment or anywhere indoors, then it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have this issue.

You could also mitigate this somewhat by moving the microphone a little bit lower down on your chest.

The range is as described and I have not managed to yet exhaust the battery on the unit.

Summing it up.

For 50 bucks or less, the Ulanzi J12 is an excellent budget option for a twin wireless lapel mic that is plug-and-play to your iPhone.

The sound quality is acceptable for anything that you want to do, and with the exception of very loud outdoor environments, it seems to cope well.

Check out the video and the accompanying audio in this post, of course, to hear the sound quality of the unit. And if you’ve got any questions, let me know.

I’m very happy with the unit.

The fact that it has a wireless charging case, that it is small enough to throw into anything I’m traveling with, and I’m sure that it’s gonna get some use in the future.

This post was last updated on 2025-03-20 / Some images from Amazon Product API & some links may be affiliate links which may earn us a commission from purchases.