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Despite mostly working from home for many years before the pandemic hit, I didn’t think too much about setting up my WFH before 2020. I went so far as to invest in one. solid screen, mainly because I’m sick of squinting in front of a 13-inch laptop screen for eight hours a day. It wasn’t really until earlier this year that I decided to upgrade my workspace in a meaningful way.
I’m excited for this to be someone who talks about myself often when buying stuff. I’m a fairly frugal person, but I have no problem buying things that I know will make a big impact on my day-to-day life. So I invested in a pair Headphones ANC when I can buy them for sale; one full size mechanical keyboard for a more comfortable (and more enjoyable) typing experience and Blue Yeti Nano Microphone for more and more frequent video calls.
I admit that the Yeti Nano is probably the lowest-priority of those 3, despite being a longtime favorite in the microphone space. However, it has proven to be a smart investment, mainly because I have more video meetings than ever before. In the pre-pandemic era, I probably had a video conference a week, and that was the busiest time. But now, for a variety of reasons, from the widespread acceptance of remote work and the growth of my own career, I usually have several video calls a day. And I believe in putting my best face (and voice) forward as much as possible: I strive to make Logitech Streamcam for almost every video call I make, and I want the quality of my voice to match the quality of my video feed.
Valentina Palladino / Engadget
The Yeti Nano microphone delivers on this in a great way. In the initial jumble after unboxing, I could immediately hear the difference in my sound when I recorded a few test samples in Audacity. My voice sounded clearer and stronger, and it lacked the fuzzy quality I usually hear when using my laptop’s microphone.
The Yeti Nano supports cardioid and omnidirectional polar patterns, but I usually keep mine as I’m the only one using it on a daily basis. However, I do like the fact that I have the option to start a roundtable podcast in the future without having to spend extra money on a better microphone. I also love that the Yeti Nano comes in handy a few times a year I’m a guest on Engadget podcast. In the past for those occasions I would use an external mic that I bought years ago, but it doesn’t come with a sturdy base like the Yeti Nano. It would be a struggle to get that mic in place on my desk for optimal podcast performance, and I didn’t anticipate a similar struggle with the Yeti Nano.
I already know how popular the blue microphone is with budding podcasts, game player, telecommuters and the like, so the brand is the first one I use when looking for an upgrade. Out of the many devices in the company’s lineup, I ultimately decided to buy the Yeti Nano in part because of its design. It’s just compact enough to fit on a desk adapter next to my monitor without obscuring the screen too much, and it’s still in a great spot for video calls. At first I was hesitating between Nano and Full size Yeti, but in the end I decided that a few additional bells and whistles that come with a second mode – namely stereo and two-way modes – were not necessary for my regular use. I was also able to buy the Yeti Nano while it was on sale at Amazon, so instead of spending $100, I just dropped $80 on it. That means I could spend a few extra bucks on the next piece of tech that I decided would make my desk setup more efficient.
