It wasn’t that long ago that I shared a review with you about a J!GMO digital voice recorder. But when I find a great product, I can’t keep it all to myself.

The newest J!GMO JVR-31 comes in a nice sturdy box pressed into form-fitting foam to keep the unit from getting damaged in shipment. It comes with a charging wire, a set of earphones, the Warranty Registration card and a very nicely printed user manual. It’s printed in a nice clear font with plenty of spacing between lines so your eyes won’t be line-jumping like when information is printed too tightly. It would be wise to read the book before plugging in, turning on or off and recording as some of these need to be done in a proper sequence to save information correctly.

As stated in previous reviews I highly recommend completing the Warranty Registration. You may never need it, but if you ever do, you will be glad you have it. Their customer support is amazing for answering any questions outside of the content in the booklet.

Upon plugin on a computer, there is a video file that explains some basic functions meaning you can store video clips on the unit also. This version has a jazzy mirror finish. The key functions and ports icons are holographic which is fantastic for catching the light and “illuminating” them. I love that!

This 8 gig capacity allows you to record or install music and other audio files for listening on the go. (Perfect timing as my MP3 unit is fried.) The menu key lets you choose to listen to recently recorded files or music. The “play” key is small an unobtrusive and when touched a little window illuminates, about half the size of a stamp, which cannot be seen under the mirror finish until that button is pressed. You can check your battery life, the time length of the file and how far you are into it.
Very clear font easy to read, and the backlight shuts off after about 10 seconds allowing you to save power. If that isn’t long enough, you can also adjust that setting. Normal charging time is 5 hours and provides between 13 and 16 hours of recording time.

At 3.5 inches long, it’s very lightweight and compact. The microphone captures voices as far away as 10 feet in an auditorium and father still if one speaks through a mic. Despite its small size and very sleek look, the unit contains a very impressive playback speaker that did not buzz even at full volume. It maintained astounding clarity. I might not use that to listen to music but I could. It sounded much better than another extremely popular national brand MP3 player I used to use. You would probably be surprised how much sound comes out of such a tiny unit. (I expect they’ll come out with armbands and various ways to wear these while working out, running or walking.) With a scrolling menu, it’s a pretty sweet listening device.

For replaying and reviewing recently recorded lectures, interviews or notes to self, it’s just amazingly sensitive. You can adjust this sensitivity by choosing different “recording scenes” from a short list: Common Scene, Train Scene, Meeting Scene, Long Distance Scene and Disable Noise Cancellation. I’m going to play around with those because I sometimes meet in noisy restaurants and hear all the clatter of dishes and other conversations. While recording there is no indicator light, but with a tap of the play button, the screen illuminates and you can read the word “recording” so you know it’s working. You save by sliding the button from recording to save, and the word Saved! Pops up on the screen. Nice touch. Additional features include bookmarking, monitoring as you record and voice activated recording. These aren’t settings I normally use, but I’m glad to know they’re included if I need them.

I do not get kickbacks from these wonderful folks and I’m not part of an affiliate program. But as one who likes products that consistently work well, I feel I need to share those discoveries with you. I like that this company really listens to what customers say about their products and then they try to fill a gap. I truly loved the recorder I reviewed (see review here) and have several different ones because they can be used for different situations.Super nice recorder to carry anywhere anytime.

And the price is still incredible: Under $35! Be sure to check it out here.