While the image of a harried producer talking into a wireless headset on a film lot might be a cliche, there’s a good reason why these products exist. Saramonic’s WiTalk 9 series of headsets offer an affordable way to access professional quality wireless communication, ideal for productions, drone operations, or other content creation endeavors where hands-free communication is essential.
I had the opportunity to test out a 3-headset version of the WiTalk 9 from Saramonic — this is a wireless intercom headset system, with support for full-duplex communication even in noisy or inclement conditions. It’s worn over one ear, with a boom mic dropped in front of your mouth. When turned on and paired, everyone wearing a headset can easily speak to the other members across a range of up to 500m (or even over the internet via apps like Zoom and Teams).
Easy Setup and Use
If you’re a small team, like a duo photographing a wedding or a videographer and driver coordinating on a rolling car shoot, setup has to be easy, and with the WiTalk 9, it is. There’s no hub required, Saramonic sells kits as small as 2 headsets, and you can be out of the box and speaking in less than a minute.
For bigger productions, note that you can also easily scale up, with support for 9 members, or even 30 by cascading systems together.
Other features also made these headsets easy to use. Channel pairing didn’t require any special knowledge, with the headsets automatically pairing at the start. Active noise cancellation, which Saramonic has branded as ClearTalk, makes use of a 3-mic array to provide noise cancellation in all directions around the user.
While the single-ear design means these aren’t suitable for hearing protection, Saramonic goes as far as to rate the combination of ANC, gain control, and high volume output to enable communication at 130 dB. In practice, I didn’t have that challenging of an environment, but I simulated situations like a noisy dance floor or shooting near a busy road and had no problems hearing or being heard. Clubs, sporting events, or other noisy environments should pose no problems.
Battery life is another area where Saramonic didn’t make sacrifices. The WiTalk 9, unfortunately, uses a proprietary battery pack, but gets good life out of it, with the master headset capable of 10 hours of battery life and the remote units able to do nearly 15 hours. The headset can be charged via USB-C, but the included 6 or 10-slot charger makes it easy to keep hot spares on set.
Testing at Range
The dual-antenna setup of the WiTalk, which uses both a small external antenna and an internal antenna, delivers a solid connection at range. In open environments, I reached over 1400 feet away without issues, coming close to the 500m rated range. More complex environments, with both RF and physical obstacles, didn’t present an issue either.
While I didn’t have the opportunity to test the water resistance in the field, Saramonic does say the headsets are IPX5 water-resistant, which should leave them well-equipped to resist rain and splashes, but not submersion or high-pressure sprays, so avoid coordinating your SuperSoaker fights with these headsets.
The Saramonic app unlocks a lot more features within the headset system, and it’s genuinely worth using. You can control noise cancellation and gain control, while the in-app integration with location services lets it automatically hop to local legal frequencies to avoid interference. Alongside battery readouts, headset naming, announcements, and more, there’s the usual firmware update support which is nice to see handled wirelessly.
Speaking of frequencies, these headsets operate on the 1.9GHz band. Unlike the 2.4GHz bands you might be familiar with for WiFi or other tech, 1.9GHz has been reserved by the FCC exclusively for DECT 6.0 devices which actively avoid interference with each other using listen-before-transmit protocols. What this all means is fewer collisions and increased clarity, even in more crowded RF environments. Another hidden benefit is that 1.9GHz has better performance through objects compared to something on 2.4GHz. Overall, it’s a forward-thinking choice and a smart move for a communications product.
Comfort
Comfort is a crucial feature on this type of gear, but doesn’t always make it onto the spec sheet. I found the headset to be very easy to wear. The clamping pressure is very forgiving, with both the portion on your ear and head being well padded. Gel and foam ear cups let you prioritize between isolation and on or over-ear fit, and they’re easy to swap out.
The headsets are also quite lightweight, weighing about 8oz or 230g, with the battery. That low weight also means you won’t shake the headset off as easily if you’re panning a shot or quickly turning your head, even with that low clamping force.
The design isn’t going to be the most discrete, however. They look very professional, with crisp design language, constrained black materials like leather and brushed plastic, and subdued branding. Still, they do like an industrial or professional headset - if you need to draw minimal attention while still coordinating in the field, AirPods or other Bluetooth headsets will draw far fewer looks, but also lack many of the professional features.
Value
The Saramonic WiTalk 9 impressed me with the combination of excellent communication clarity, features, range, and comfort. I’ve used a few wireless headset systems in the past, and the WiTalk 9 matches or exceeds their functionality and comfort. Starting at a base price of $349 for a 2-headset system, these really are an accessible option for smaller crews, and bring the benefits of a 1.9GHz system to a new value bracket.
While not every content creator would need this in their bag, I can think of many shoots where this would come in handy. If you’re working with other photographers and videographers, coordinating with event production or a wedding planner, or just need to communicate with your team or talent, the easy-to-deploy nature of the headset should be worth considering.
The WiTalk 9 is available from B&H in kits ranging from 2 to 9 headsets, starting at $349.
What I Liked
- Excellent range and comfort
- Good feature mix, particularly for the price
- USB-C charging is always nice to see
- The app is useful both in the field and for management
What Could Be Improved
- Proprietary batteries, while understandable for the form-factor, are never a positive
- The headset can get LOUD - a volume limit switch would be nice to prevent loud sounds from user error or environmental conditions
