Mikme's clever wireless microphone gets cheaper and more useful

Mikme's wireless microphone was one of the most unique devices we saw last year. It works as a standalone audio recorder, but most impressively, it can also connect to your phone and serve as a remote microphone when shooting video. The only problem was its high $500 launch price. Now Mikme is ready to make its device a lot more consumer friendly.

It's dropping the price of the original microphone, now known as the Mikme BlackGold, to $299. And it's introducing another model, the Mikme Silver, for $199. Even better, the company is also enabling USB microphone functionality, so you can finally plug the devices into your computer and use them while chatting on Skype.

The Mikme Silver is basically a scaled down version of the original. It has a silver 2/3-inch capsule, compared to the last model's 1-inch module, and it has enough storage to hold around 45 hours of recordings, instead of 360 hours. Additionally, it's limited only to compressed m4a recordings and maxes out at 24-bit/48kHz quality, instead of the higher-end 96 kHz. It's more targeted at consumers who might want a decent microphone for videos of their kids, instead of budding audio professionals.

Both Mikme models will be able to take advantage of the new USB microphone feature. You just have to plug them into your computer when they're already turned on -- no extra setup necessary. And not only will they be useful for in-home recording, but the Mikmes are also small enough to travel with easily. All of a sudden, Mikme's products are now a triple threat: A great portable audio recorder; a way to make your smartphone videos instantly sound better; and a portable sound studio.

In addition to redesigning its mobile app, Mikme also announced that it'll be launching premium features in the first quarter of 2019. That includes things like manual focus; video streaming from Mikme's app; watermark branding; and automatic intro/outro bumpers in your videos. The company plans to charge between $5 to $10 a month, or $49 to $99 a year for the premium capabilities. But of course, that model could change by the time they're ready to launch.

Now that it's cheaper and more capable, Mikme has transitioned from a niche product for early adopters to something that plenty of consumers could actually use. And it helps that there isn't much competition, at least when it comes to affordable wireless microphones.

You can pre-order the Mikme Silver on Indiegogo today, and it's expected to ship in November.