The microphone works plugged in to the head jack or Bluetooth but for it picking up the kids voice it has a hard time if they are talking in a low voice. We bought these for washrag hangers in our newly remodeled shower. While it came with an adapter to hookup it up to my smartphone, I used it on my PC so I didnt have to download an app. There are several models with design goals that are intended to meet a particular need. I normally use simple green and a scrub brush. Although the headphones are small, you can still fold them up into an even more compact state; you can stow them in your overstuffed backpack without much fuss that way. I like the build quality, but do not like the performance. Unfortunately these are not going to do it. It did need to be tightened between uses. Nice n roomy