Sick of dragging your phone out every time you want to record a speech, meeting, or interaction? Anker’s sub-brand, Soundcore, sells the Work, a button-shaped voice recorder not much bigger than a quarter but much thicker.

You clip it to your shirt and link it to your smartphone; it records your interactions (meetings seem to be the primary use case) and uses AI within your phone app to transcribe them. Meanwhile, your phone can stay in your purse, desk drawer, or pocket.

less obtrusive than a bare phone

Lots of us use our phones as impromptu voice recorders. From making voice reminders to taking work meeting notes to snagging audio clips of buskers on the street, phones’ built-in audio recording apps are convenient enough to keep on hand.

The problem is “at hand,” meaning you need to take your phone out and activate the default voice recording app. And then you need to leave your phone out between you and the people you’re speaking with so that its microphones can pick up the audio. It’s a bit obtrusive.

I’ve worn enough lapel mics to know that they’re not invisible or unnoticeable, but they’re a lot more subtle when you’re interviewing someone or, I imagine, sitting in on a meeting.

When you want to begin recording with the Work, a single button press on the Work itself starts recording. You don’t have to fumble around with your phone to start or stop. Soundcore says the Work’s two microphones can capture audio within a five-meter radius, so about 15 feet from you.

As you can tell, the Work is not going to replace a professional voice recorder. But 15 feet is sufficient for most situations that aren’t taking place in a huge corporate boardroom.

While the Work, uh, works with both Android and iPhone devices, the latter has the bonus of syncing with Apple’s Find My app in case you lose it.