Koolertron 3.5mm Plug Phone Call Recorder Conversation Recording with 512M Memory

When I bought this device, I didn't expect much, but it's worked out much better than I hoped.I've had it for about 8 months, and used it probably 12 or 15 times. It's a very small device with wires coming out of both ends. A single wire connects to the phone, and two wires from the other end connect earbuds. I expected these wires to become loose and damage pretty quickly and start making noise in the recordings. This has NOT happened. The wires have held up and the whole thing functions reliably.Sound Quality: If you adjust the sound level properly, the sound quality is decent, as good as most phone calls. You may need to turn the sound level down, as the recording level of both ends of the conversation is very sensitive, and easy to get it overloaded and full of distortion. But when turned down to an undistorted level, it's good sound for a phone call. The mic is very sensitive, too. Clipping the module to your shirt pocket seems to locate it a good distance from your mouth, and keep all the wires in comfortable positions.I use it with an iPhone XS that has no 3.5mm plug. I use the standard 3.5mm-to-lightning adapter, and it works just fine.The plastic lapel clip that came attached to the wires broke after about 3 uses. I have used a jumbo paperclip ever since.Battery life: I've recorded conversations about 1 hour long. Once, I accidentally left it on Record after the conversation, and ended up with a 3-1/2 hour recording, suggesting that the battery life is at least that long. It charges up quickly; I haven't timed it, but I'd estimate less than 45 minutes.Memory: 40 minutes of recording takes just about 19 MB of storage. The total memory is .5 GB (500 MB). The only way to tell how much memory is available is to connect it to a computer, where it appears as a USB memory device.In order to get the thing to to put accurate dates and time son the recording files, you have to make a little text file on your computer and copy it to the device. Once that's done, it seems to stay accurate.Overall, I'm pleased with this device (in spite of a few problems, see below). It does the job well, and it's reliable once you learn to operate the interface correctly. Good sound, reasonable capacity, battery life, etc.Gripes and Wishes:You don't hear yourself in the earbuds, just the other person. This can be disconcerting, and may affect how loudly you think you need to speak.The only way to adjust the sound level is by trial and error. There is no recording level indicator of any kind. You can try to turn the level up or down during conversation, to a level where the other person sounds good, then stop, play it back, make further adjustments by guesswork. On the plus side, once you do this, it stays at the same level the next time you use the device.The lapel clip was garbage. It ought to include a reasonably durable clip, and a replacement for it.I wish it used a micro-SD card instead of internal memory.The method for setting correct date and time stamping is cumbersome, but you only have to do it once.

This has an old connector and will not work with iPhone 7. The Q&A makes it sound like it will but it won’t. The instructions make no sense. PLEASE watch the video so you can see how bad the instructions are. They are basically in Chinese. I wanted to add a picture of the connector or plug but it looks like there’s no longer that option. Well it appeared after I clicked submit so here is what the connector looks like. This will not go in my iPhone.

I get pretty good results from this, after some work. To get it to record the proper date time, create a file in Notepad called tm.txt and enter the date and time in this format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS. Note that the year is in 4-digits, not two - this is an error in the user manual. Now place it in the root of the device. When you eject the device it will read from the file and then delete it. From this point on your files will bear the correct date and time as part of their NAME. This does NOT cause the device to actually assign the correct date and time to the file date/time itself, which will continue to read 2012. As other viewers have mentioned, it picks up ALL the noise in your surroundings, so record in a quiet place. I have not been able to get it to balance the loudness at both ends of the call using the volume buttons, so I usually clean up the results in Audacity to make it usable. If yo're willing to go through this, it can be a useful device.

I have an iPhone 6 plus and have been dealing with a bad child custody situation. I have the need to document every conversation and exchange between myself and the parent of my child. At first, I was limited to using an app on my phone to record conversations. This proved to be less than ideal, however, because all of the apps in the App Store that record are limited to using 3-way calling to achieve this. There is an obvious lag as you have to stop and merge the calls in order to begin the recording process. This proved to be a less than discrete way to get the job done. I was desperately searching for an alternative. This little device seemed to be the answer. It does exactly what it claims to do and it is very easy to use. There was also an update released for the device that gives each file a time and date stamp which can be setup by editing a notepad document and saving it on the device using the format suggested in the manual. This worked perfectly. The only con I've seen so far is the fact that it does also pick up background noice very well, so if you are trying to record a conversation in a noisy environment, this may not be ideal. On the plus side, if you want to use it as a regular voice recording device, it can also work well for that purpose too. Playback can occur on the device itself as well and it has enough space to record more than few conversations. I think it was worth every penny. I will re-visit this review in a few months to comment on how well the device holds up.

After three-1/2 months, the cable started to short out and I would disconnect people or they would be unable to hear me well if I moved the 3.5mm end the wrong way. This accessory shouldn't have such as short lifespan.

A little complicated to get set up and working, as instructions aren't the clearest. But all in all, it does what it says it will.

the item cannot work after being used for one month. another issue is no time stamp on each file. it is hard to find file.

Followed instruction, and there was no way to set up internal clock.