Maono Wave T5 Review: Surprisingly Capable

Portable production power. The post Maono Wave T5 Review: Surprisingly Capable appeared first on Phandroid.

Apr 12, 2025 - 00:32

Maono’s varied lineup of wireless audio production solutions has featured some pretty impressive gear in the past, and the brand is looking to win over more users with the Wave T5 wireless lavalier microphones. For a price of around 120 bucks, what exactly are you getting with these microphones? Let’s take a look.

READ: BOYA Mini: Delightfully Compact and Affordable

What’s in the Box?

From the get-go, the Wave T5 comes equipped with a robust set of accessories, which makes for a complete user experience. Maono does sell a variety of different combo bundles depending on your needs, and our review sample featured a decked-out set which consists of a main receiver, a USB Type-C receiver, Lightning Port receiver (for you iOS folks out there), two transmitters, a pair of magnetic clips, and a couple of windscreens.

For connectivity, you also get a 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable, a USB Type-C to Type-A cable, and a Type-C to Type-C cable. Maono has also included a carrying case and pouch to pack all of this hardware in, and there’s a charging case which can provide you with a maximum of 30 hours of usage, with each transmitter lasting for around nine hours.

Hardware and Sound

For the main receiver, there’s a dial that can adjust your input gain, along with ports for both 3.5mm and USB-C connectivity and a mono/stereo toggle which come in handy if you need to connect it to a larger device such as a camera. For mobile phones, the included USB-C and Lightning receivers do come in handy, and all that’s left for you to do is clip the transmitters on your clothing. The magnets are also pretty strong, and you won’t have to worry about them falling out in most situations.

On paper, the transmitters have a range of up to 300 meters/1,000 feet which is rather impressive. In my experience though, you have to be mindful when using the Wave T5 especially in environments where there might be obstacles in the way, or when using the mic in different rooms, for example. I did find my recordings to be clear overall, and a major step-up especially when compared to just using the default microphone on your smartphone.

Maono App

Users can adjust their sound quality via the Maono Link app, which gives you easy-to-use onscreen controls to tweak gain, noise reduction, as well as mono and stereo sound. As with most wireless audio products nowadays, the app can also download firmware updates for the receiver and transmitter, which is another welcome feature and saves time when setting up the Wave T5 for recording sessions. The app even lets you add an AI-based filter to your voice, which I found to be more for fun than for more serious productions.

Final Thoughts

For its price, you’re getting a lot with the Maono Wave T5—the equipment feels robust and nicely built, and factors such as battery endurance and wireless range are nicely handled by the hardware. It’s also easy and fairly straightforward to use thanks to its plug-and-play nature, and the app’s built-in settings are easily customizable.

Perhaps one factor to consider is that the bundled kit that we featured in this review is not the default offering, as Maono sells the Wave T5 in different configurations (as mentioned earlier). We would have preferred a single all-in-one kit that covers all bases, but again this is just personal preference. All in all, the Maono Wave T5 is a great option for content creators who are after capable and portable production hardware.

The post Maono Wave T5 Review: Surprisingly Capable appeared first on Phandroid.