Whether you need to make a quick memo, record a lecture, or just want to listen back on your band practice, there are plenty of reasons to record audio on your phone. But you shouldn’t have to sort through a sea of apps creatively named “voice recorder” to find the best one for you.

Thankfully, there’s no shortage of (well-named) powerful sound recording apps available right now. Some even have features like sound enhancement, silence skipping, or real-time transcription. With that in mind, here are some of the best apps that could replace your built-in recorder very soon.

ANDROIDPOLICE VIDEO OF THE DAY Otter

Otter is a powerful voice recorder that’s laser-focused on productivity. It records with real-time transcription and can transcribe imported audio and video. While most of the best features are locked behind a subscription, you still get access to 10 hours of transcribed recordings per month that can be exported as a TXT file for free. You can also join Google Meet meetings and capture and share notes with participants.

If you decide the subscription is worth it for you, though, you’ll get a much larger pool (up to 100 hours) of transcription time each month, along with the ability to export them as PDF, DOCX, or SRT files and even automatically transcribe Dropbox uploads. If you need to get notes from audio or video quickly, Otter is the app you want. While it has no audio quality settings, that shouldn’t be a huge issue if you’re turning the audio into text anyway.

There are other useful features if your business or school uses Otter, like live transcriptions of Zoom meetings and voice recognition that knows who said what. However, Otter is still worth a recommendation, even without those integrations.

Dolby On

Dolby On is targeted directly at amateur and professional musicians alike. What sets it apart from other apps is its built-in Dolby enhancement that instantly makes your audio sound almost like you recorded it in a sound booth. It’s also the only app on this list to record video and allow you to livestream, all with that same audio enhancement.

The app has a basic editing suite and the ability to upload directly to social media, as well as YouTube and Sound Cloud. If you want to take your music to the next level, Dolby On might be for you.

Easy Voice Recorder

Easy Voice Recorder gives you access to some useful features, like noise and echo reduction, as well as tuned mic profiles for common recording scenarios. It even has a long-press shortcut to start a recording from the homescreen or app drawer. While it doesn’t have one singular thing that it’s trying to be the best at, it doesn’t do anything poorly and has a user-friendly interface. It feels like the blueprint for the next version of the built-in recording app.

Easy Voice Recorder Pro

In addition to the same features found in the free version, the paid version of Easy Voice Recorder Pro has plenty of quality of life and feature upgrades. Automatic cloud backup, silence skipping, gain adjustment, stereo recording, and an easy-to-use editor, just to name a few. While other recorder apps also have basic editing tools, hardly any are as powerful, and even fewer are as easy to use. While the free version is good enough on its own to recommend, the pro version is definitely worth buying.

Voice Recorder & Audio Editor

Voice Recorder by J Labs is a joy to use. As far as user experience is concerned, no other recorder app was as simple or fun as this one. The UI is laid out like a vintage cassette recorder, complete with (optional) click noises when you use any of the controls. There are eight skins for the recorder, dozens of cassette skins, and the logo of the audio file matches the cassette skin you used in your recording. You also save by ejecting the tape.

Features outside the aesthetics are pretty spartan, only letting you change the recording quality and save location. However, if you just want something more fun and are not particularly looking for any special features, this app is worth a try.

Pick an app and get recording

Whether your main interest is productivity, sound enhancement features, or just a quirky UI, our options have you covered. Simply download the one that tickles your fancy and get recording. That said, it’s one thing to tape your voice (or any external audio for that matter), and it’s another to record audio from installed apps on an Android phon