Bought

Sony TX660

15 Apr 2025

160 EUR

Sony TX660 Digital Voice Recorder TX Series

Look what I found on sony.co.uk

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/voice-recorders/icd-tx660

20 Jun 2025 Great but lost it, and not available anymore.

Philips Audio Recorder Pen

24 Jun 2025

61 EUR

Philips Audio Recorder Pen

philips.com

https://www.dictation.philips.com/gb/products/audio-video-recorders/voicetracer-audio-recorder-pen-with-sembly-speech-to-text-cloud-software-dvt1600/

Philips DVT 2050

25 Jun 2025

62 EUR

Philips DVT 2050

philips.com

https://www.dictation.philips.com/gb/products/audio-video-recorders/voicetracer-audio-recorder-dvt2050/

01 Oct 2026 Dead. It doesn't power on, although it shows as charged when I plug it in. Before giving up on a recorder like this, 2 free checks: charge it for several hours from a wall charger rather than a computer port, then hold the power button for 10 seconds or more. At 62 EUR new, a repair isn't worth it.

Replacing the DVT2050

01 Oct 2026

3 candidates in the current Philips VoiceTracer range: the entry-level DVT1170, the DVT2075, which is the closest thing to a DVT2050 successor, and the DVT6115, the top model with 3 microphones.

The 3 Philips VoiceTracer recorders side by side: the DVT1170 with a single round microphone grille and a grey segment display, the DVT2075 with 2 microphone capsules and a small colour screen, and the DVT6115 with a large chrome 3-microphone head and a bigger colour screen

From left to right: DVT1170, DVT2075, DVT6115. My DVT2050 isn't shown.

At a glance

	DVT2050 (mine)	DVT1170	DVT2075	DVT6115
Price	€62 in 2025	about €45	about €90	about €125 to €150
UK list price	-	£40	£80	£150
Microphones	Stereo	1 (360°, mono)	2 (stereo)	3: 2 stereo + 1 directional "zoom"
Formats	MP3, WAV	WAV only	MP3, WAV	MP3, WAV
Best quality	WAV 48 kHz	WAV 1,536 kbps	WAV 48 kHz/16 bit	WAV 96 kHz/24 bit
Display	Dot matrix 33 mm	Segment LCD 34 mm	Colour 36 mm, 128 × 128	Colour 2 in, 240 × 320
Power	Built-in 1,300 mAh	2 × AAA	Built-in 700 mAh	Built-in 1,000 mAh
Battery life	50 h (MP3)	70 h	35 h (MP3 64 kbps)	36 h (MP3 8 kbps)
Memory	8 GB + microSD 32 GB	8 GB + microSD 128 GB	8 GB + microSD 128 GB	8 GB + microSD 32 GB
USB	USB 2.0	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Size	108 × 37 × 14 mm	114 × 39.5 × 19 mm	115 × 39.5 × 15 mm	47 × 129 × 19 mm
Weight	55 g	44 g	51 g	93 g

Prices are what German and French shops showed in early October 2026. The UK list prices come from Philips.

Recording features

Feature	DVT1170	DVT2075	DVT6115
Voice-activated recording	Yes	Yes	Yes, 25 sensitivity levels
One-touch recording	Yes	Yes	Yes
Audio scenes	Memo, Meeting, Music	Memo, Meeting, Music, Personal	Note, Speech recognition, Interview, Lecture, Meeting, Music, Video, Custom
Pre-recording buffer	No	No	5, 10 or 15 seconds
Auto-split long files	No	30 or 60 min	15, 30 or 60 min
Bookmarks per file	10	10	32
Wind filter, limiter, noise cut	No	No	Yes
Recording timer	No	Yes	Yes
Smartphone app (remote control, sharing)	No	No	Yes, over Wi-Fi
Tripod thread	No	No	Yes
Sembly AI transcription trial	No	Yes	Yes
External mic and headphone jacks	Yes	Yes	Yes

What each one is for

DVT1170: the simple one. Mono, WAV only, segment display, no colour screen. Its strength is the 2 AAA batteries: 70 hours, and when they run out you swap them. No built-in battery to die, which is exactly how my DVT2050 failed.
DVT2075: the like-for-like replacement. Stereo like the DVT2050, MP3 for long sessions and WAV for quality, a colour screen and USB-C. The smaller battery is the 1 step back: 35 hours against 50.
DVT6115: the serious recorder. 3 microphones, including a directional one for a speaker at a distance, 24-bit/96 kHz, a pre-record buffer that catches the first seconds, wind filter and limiter, and an app to start and stop it from the back of a room. Nearly twice the weight, and the microSD slot stops at 32 GB.

Recommendation

The DVT2075. It does what the DVT2050 did, in the same size, with USB-C, and its MP3 or WAV files work with any transcription tool. The DVT6115 only earns its price for music, lectures or interviews from across a room. The DVT1170 is the choice for a recorder that can't die from a dead built-in battery.

Philips VoiceTracer DVT2075

Stereo recorder, MP3 and WAV, rechargeable, 8 GB + microSD

https://www.dictation.philips.com/gb/products/audio-video-recorders/voicetracer-audio-recorder-dvt2075/

Philips VoiceTracer DVT1170

Entry-level recorder, 360° microphone, AAA batteries

https://www.dictation.philips.com/gb/products/audio-video-recorders/voicetracer-audio-recorder-dvt1170/

Philips VoiceTracer DVT6110 / DVT6115

3 microphones, 24-bit/96 kHz, smartphone app

https://www.dictation.philips.com/gb/products/audio-video-recorders/voicetracer-audio-recorder-dvt6110-dvt6115/