Review: Zoom H5studio
A new ‘Handy’ recorder from Zoom: big capsules, ‘unlimited’ headroom, with two additional F-Series preamps.
18 June 2025
Review: Rob Hanlon
Zoom’s family of ‘Handy’ recorders is like a stable of workhorses. Zoom has iterated the concept across a bunch if different variants, dominating the category. Regardless of the Handy you’ve got, it’s small enough to throw in an audio bag yet large enough to be useful in most situations – taking a gig recording, interviews, field recordings with reliable stereo mics and two analogue inputs.
The handheld recorder form factor has recently taken on new shapes, with the H4 Essential which I reviewed last year adding 32-bit recording at a lower price, and Tascam bringing out the Portacapture series, with AB & XY microphone position options as well as that 32-bit killer app. The new H5studio feels like (at least in part) Zoom’s response to the Tascam X6, adding premium features to this time-tested original Handy recorder.
MONSTER MICS
Firstly, this thing has monstrous new microphones. Large diaphragm condensers, no less. They dwarf the rest of the device, looking a bit bobble-headed. Their specs are similarly massive, with a sky-high 140dB max SPL, which beats out many studio condensers, and a large dynamic range. You’ll barely tickle the SPL ceiling unless you’re close-miking a jet engine, but it’s nice to have the headroom, especially on a 32-bit float device such as this – the chances of maxing out the mics or the recorder are slim. Subjectively, they sound excellent and don’t seem to get spooked by anything – the capsule of my studio’s large diaphragm condenser was overwhelmed close-miking a kalimba, while the H5studio didn’t flinch. Up against a drum kit, set up as an XY overhead, the sound was impressive and useable. Like any drum recording, it came out somewhat overly dynamic and needed processing, but all the raw material was there, including plenty of kick drum definition, to extract a pleasingly full kit sound which I could imagine using in a mix. Things would only get better with a couple of close mics plumbed in. Speaking of which, the H5studio has you covered there as well, with two primo F-Series preamps (-127dBu EIN).
NEED TO KNOW
Zoom H5studio
32-Bit Float Handy Recorder
GETTING AROUND
The updated UI is very similar to the new Essential Series recorders. You can choose from either waveform view, meters, or a bit of both, which I found very clear for sighting levels and quickly setting gain just peaking into the orange. Menuing is all intuitive, functional and snappy, just let down in my case by a lack of clickiness in the encoder wheel – which made aiming for values and menus trickier. Rounding things out, you can crank the sample rate on all the way up to 192k, record directly to your DSLR with the Line Out and record tones, and hook up an optional Bluetooth adaptor or timecode generator for syncing up on set. Studio quality recording in your bag? With a protective case, definitely.
RESPONSES