Listening Devices

How to choose a listening device

Recorder or live

A recorder captures audio to its own memory for you to play back later: a meeting, an interview, a call you are on, a lecture. Voice activation turns hours of battery into weeks of standby. A live listening device stores nothing: it carries a SIM, and when you call it or it detects sound you hear the space it is sitting in, in real time.

What live listening is for

A place you own that has nobody in it: a shed, a boat, a holiday home, a workshop, a parked vehicle. You get a sound alert and can listen to confirm what it is. It is not for other people's conversations. The moment someone else is talking in that space you are no longer a party to what you hear, and that is where surveillance devices laws draw the line.

Compare the types

	Pocket recorders	Pen and USB recorders	Live 4G units	GPS trackers with audio
Stores audio	Yes	Yes	No, live only	Some models
Needs a SIM	No	No	Yes, any Australian 4G SIM	Yes
Battery	Days, weeks on voice activation	Hours to days	Weeks on standby	Weeks to months, or hardwired
Suits	Meetings, interviews, notes	The same, in a shirt pocket	Your own empty premises or vehicle	Your own vehicle or equipment
Range	Voice recorders	Voice recorders	This page	GPS trackers

Older 2G and 3G devices

Australia no longer has a 2G or 3G network, so an older GSM or 3G listening device no longer connects anywhere in the country. Everything on this page that uses a mobile network is 4G, and works on a Telstra, Optus or Vodafone SIM.

Buying guides

• Voice Recorder Buying Guide AustraliaStandby is the number that matters
• GPS Tracker Buying Guide AustraliaHow it gets power decides everything
• Counter-Surveillance Buying Guide AustraliaIf you think a device has been left somewhere it should not be

Related

Voice recorders GPS trackers Listening device detectors Microphone blockers

Common questions