SpyCentre Security Voice Recorder - Sound-Activated Long-Range - HD-Quality Audio

I purchased this item from spycentre through smile.amazon.com at the end of March 2018. It delivered everything as promised (I purchased a second one in April 2019).My only issue (which may have been my fault from when I was playing around testing access to the different device files) was quickly and satisfyingly resolved by great customer service. I had an issue with updating the date/time, and they got me the file I needed to copy it back on the device and run it to fix the date/time stamps to be back up to date.BATTERY LIFE: My experience is that the battery life is accurate as advertised. I haven't tested it recording 24 hours a day for a full 2 weeks straight, but I have tried going all month with it on voice-activated recording in my pocket and it lasts. I have also gone a few days in a row on 24 hour recording and the battery was still basically full.A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND IN CASE IT MATTERS TO YOUR NEEDS:FILE LIMITS: Each file has a 5hr limit, so if you just leave it recording a full 24 hours straight, it will end one recording at exactly 5 hours(140,626 KB give or take a KB), and seamlessly starts a new file to continue recording beyond 5 consecutive hours.VOICE ACTIVATED RECORDING: If you are using VAR(Voice activated recording), then when it is triggered to turn on, it will record until it goes for 59 seconds of not picking up any noise to record before it automatically turns back off.FILE MANAGEMENT: All files are stored as mp3's at a bitrate of 64kbps. File names begin at R-00001.MP3 and will increase the number by one each time it creates a new file (I am a little disappointed that it doesn't name the file using the date or time so that all files will always have a distinct name even after you remove a batch of them off). So it can store a maximum of 99,999 files, which is impossible, since each second uses roughly 7.888KB and 99,999 files even at 1 second each would take over 788MB, and the drive is only 16GB. So the most files you could ever have on there are 2,028 anyway.•Be aware that once you move the files off the recorder that the file names start back over at R-00001.MP3, so when you move them off, I would recommend moving them into a distinctly named folder like the year and month of the file, then when you move off the next batch of files, it won't try to overwrite the previous batch of files with the same name. You can always rename some of the files to make them distinct of course, and you can always use a batch file renamer program or batch-file to append a prefix or suffix to an entire batch of file names after you move them so that they will be distinct from the next batch you move over.DATE/TIME-STAMP: When you get the device, you need to first connect it to your cell phone or computer, and run the Date/Time-stamp program to make sure the date and time are current/correct.•It will put a date/time-stamp on the file properties for "Date created" (which is the date/time it started recording for that file), and "Date modified (which the date/time it terminated recording for that file.•Be aware that if you do a normal copy or move of that file to a new location that it will change the "Date created" to the date/time it was copied or moved to the new location. If you modify the file at all, it will also change the "Date modified" to that new date. I would strongly recommend that if it is important to you to preserve the date/time of when it started to record and when it stopped recording, that you use a method that will copy or move the file and preserve the original create and modify dates. I have used SafeCopyFree, and BulkFileChanger. I also tested using command prompt/DOS for the robocopy command and even making my own batch file to do it that way. I also saw it works with powershell. All of those methods will copy or move the files while preserving the original date/time-stamps if that is important to you. I don't believe the date/time-stamps are made to anywhere other than the Date created and Date modified file properties.USB FLASH DRIVE: Yes, you can use it as a USB drive and store ANY other files on there just like any other USB flash drive if it pleases you. It even comes with the cords for you to be able to hook it up to your cell phone to use it as a USB Drive for that too.BATTERY BACKUP: You can use it as a cellphone charger/second battery if your phone battery is running low, just plug it in through the USB port.RECORDING WHILE CHARGING: It will record while it is charging if it is plugged in to an outlet or something, but it won't record while it is currently plugged in and working as a USB flash drive (though it will also charge while working as a USB flash-drive). This only matters if you are trying to use it as something like an alibi type of device where it needs to record basically 24/7 all the time. If you are going to plug it into a computer to charge it, but want it to record while it is charging, then tell it to record first, then plug it in (but then it won't initialize or recognize it as a flash drive unless you stop recording first). If recording nearly every second is important to you, then you'll just have to minimize how often you transfer the files off it. It doesn't take too long to transfer, just plug it in, move the files off and then pull it back out.SOUND QUALITY: The sound quality of the microphone is pretty good. I was really surprised how clearly it recorded even from distances when it was in the open. Even in my pocket it is usually pretty clear. Of course there have been times when it was a little muffled in my pocket with the microphone against my leg, etc where other people's voices and sounds were a little distant and harder to hear, but that is not the fault of the product. Anything will muffle a little if you are covering up it's access to the sound by blocking the microphone (figurative "plugging it's ears"). Just make sure it has access to sound somehow and it will record pretty well and pretty clearly. It has never missed any important noises, and it hasn't been overly sensitive either. I've found it to be great.Overall I would rate this product (and from this company) a solid 5 out of 5 stars. I spent many hours of research over a few weeks trying to find a device that would meet my needs without being high maintenance with a bunch of upkeep (ie: I didn't want to have to transfer files often, or recharge it often). With this, I simply worry about moving files over about once per month. I can use a powershell script to put the file location, file name, Date created, Date Modified, and the length of file into a CSV, and import that into a database that cross references important events in my calendar, classes, or with my GPS locations, etc and using that info it can even tell me exactly which file recorded which lecture, or meetings, or whatever, and it can even say how far into the file a certain event can be found. Very cool stuff. This one is the best recorder I found. To protect your privacy they will even allow you to have the product shipped in a way that nobody can tell what type of product is in the package, or who the actual company shipping it to you is. For ME it shipped quickly. As I recall, I got mine in about 3 days ordering through the 3rd-party retailer here. I was expecting much longer.It is worth the price. Think of it as a good quality multi-tool extra battery backup for your cell-phone, flash drive, and recorder, all in one.UPDATE:I have basically had this with me, using the Voice Activated Recording, nearly 24/7 for over a year. It is incredible that a flash device like this can read/write nearly 24/7 for a year and still work (I copy everything to an external drive once a month and then delete everything off the device to make room for new recordings; sometimes I will upload certain recordings into Otter for an automatic transcription and that works amazingly well. I would highly recommend doing this so you don't have to listen through hours and hours of audio, you can get a rough transcription of certain dates/times and just listen to the important selected sections you are interested in).After a year of recording every sound around me for an entire year and including multiple times dropping this device (it's very durable), I noticed it started to have a long recording delay (sometimes up to 30 seconds) when I switched to the forced on recording (not voice activated), and the voice activated recording started to get a delay of up to 5 seconds. Customer service recommended I save the time program to my computer and try formatting the recorder then put the time program back on to clear everything out and it worked! Now it is back to the same as my brand new recorder (like four seconds and less than half a second).I bought a second device in Spring 2019, and these newer ones have a more advanced time and setup program than my first one did. The new ones have an option in them to select if you want to record in HQ or XHQ and if you want the SVOS Level to be -2 through +2 (0 is default; SVOS is the voice activation). These are great upgrades in the newer version that came out Spring 2019 (though I leave mine as default anyway). I copied the new version to my old recorder and it works on that one too!Lastly, I have to say that their customer service is awesome. I emailed them about a concern I had, and within just a couple of minutes I received a phone call from them with great resolution as I'd hoped, and even extra help. They are super respectful and really do believe in 100% satisfaction guarantee. Contact them if you ever have a concern or question.

It's really expensive and it should work better than it does. Not again. Battery life isn't as advertised, and it varies for unknown reasons.

The main problem with this product is that the directions are difficult to read. The printed directions of what is a, b, c... are unreadable. One can figure out what the parts of the unit are but the instruction sheet is weak. Otherwise it works well.

The magnet should be attached already. I need to figure out how to glue it on.

I have tried several other recorders and this one is a star. Amazing battery life, simple to use and great recording quality. If you need one, this is the one.

Wonderful quality and really has 15 days audio recording.

Perfect!

Depending upon the location it will pick up a ton of back ground noise. This can be corrected with placement. Simple to use and the battery life is at least 7 days or longer. Listening to the files are easy as well. Just plug it in!