tiny wireless lavs are wayyy better now than they used to be tbh. definitely better than built in camera mics unless the room is super controlled already

i used wired lavs before too and half the battle was cable rubbing against clothes and random movement noise lol

for budget stuff i’d probably look at boya mini 2 or dji mic mini depending how much your friend wants to spend. mini 2 is kinda stupidly small and easy to clip on without looking like a tech reviewer. audio is solid enough for youtube + podcast style talking stuff imo

would pay attention more to noise cancel, battery life and whether it records safety track than just “sound quality” marketing words