A built-in microphone lets you take conference calls or group video chats without having to disconnect. It also lets you access your device’s default voice assistant from the Bluetooth speaker.

A new study from Yale confirms what everyone already knew: we’re all judging you when your mic sounds cheap and bad on a conference call.

In virtual meeting settings, the moderator can simply hit the mute button to focus on a single speaker ... virtual conference from a noisy cafe without everyone having to put on a microphone.

A microphone ... call — whether for a job interview, a business meeting or a chat with a prospective romantic partner. A series of lab experiments has revealed that microphone-induced voice distortion ...