I stand corrected. This IS a condenser mic and it does need “phantom power.”
If you use it with XLR cables and there is no phantom power, nothing happens.
If you plug it into and older stereo input laptop with the included cable, not much can be heard.
If you plug it into a smartphone input using the included adapter, it powers it and it works.
Hi there. These are being pulled from Amazon inventory so we don’t have a lot of information. However, that is the way the manufacturer lists it so we’ll have to stick with the listing as is.
I understand.
But, hey, it’s a ten dollar mic with free shipping. Probably fine for a lot of things! I will use it, along with others for the cover photo of my podcasting audiobook. It’s pretty!
My info (aside from 40 years in broadcasting) comes from the world famous Neumann microphone company.
Oh, I figured you were correct. You generally know what you’re talking about. 
LOL. Can I quote you???
There are people who “mod” some of these mics with better resisters, etc. and others who want the housing and connection parts for home-made mics. Don’t be surprised if you sell out.
It looks to me that this does, indeed, meet the requirements you listed to be classified as a condenser mic. It even explains the use of phantom power in the manual and it’s the very first thing that the manual addresses.
Yeah I am all kinds of confused so does this thing need phantom power or is it a plug and play I am super confused
I have used it on a laptop that accepts the smartphone type plug (not the older stereo plug like most headphones) using the INCLUDED adapter. And it works, and pretty well. It has a bit more “hiss” from some lower priced resistor, but a little bit of noise reduction takes care of that. I need to consult with some audio experts on this. I do not think it needs phantom power and a lot of mics use the same sheet of specs, even though they don’t match. I’d say this Pyle mic at $10-$20 is a better deal than the other brands marked “ZingYou” etc. Actually fairly impressive.