Conventional ultrasonic transducers transform acoustic waves into electrical signals preserving phase and amplitude information. When the acoustic wavelength is significantly smaller than the transducer diameter, severe phase modulation of the electrical signal can occur. This results in anomalous attenuation measurements, background noise in Non‐Destructive Evaluation (NDE), and in general complicates data interpretation. In this article, we describe and evaluate a phase insensitive transducer based on the acoustoelectric effect. Theory of operation of the Acousto‐Electric Transducer (AET) is discussed and some optimization procedures outlined for its use. Directivity data for for the AET is contrated with a conventional piezoelectric transducer. In addition, transmission scanning data of phantom flaws in metal plates is presented for both transducers and demonstrates a significant improvement in resolution with the AET.