removed.
I just found out Penonaudio running a X-mas special with HiFiMAN RE300A (android version with a corresponding in-line remote) for $29.90: http://penonaudio.com/HIFIMAN-RE300A
From what I read, RE300A has more bass enhancement in comparison to RE300H I reviewed above. Still, for under $30 is a great deal!
I still think RE300 is an excellent pair of IEM earbuds. I continue referring to them as my headphone ear-plugs because their noise isolation with a right set of eartips is really at the top of its game. They go deep into your ear, disappear like earplugs, and seal it well to deliver a very clear sound with a nice enhanced bass. These are not audiophile quality IEMs with a fatigue high frequencies or basshead IEMs with a booming veiled bass that makes everything else disappear. They are just great for everyday use, especially when you need a great sound isolation and don't want anything to stick out of your ear too much
But something was bothering me since I only got a chance to test/review RE300H, their audiophile version, while I read some comments saying A-android and I-apple versions differ in sound with a more booming and distracting bass. Finally, I got a chance to get my hands on a review sample of RE300A Android version of these IEMs which you can still get for under $50 from Penonaudio: http://penonaudio.com/HIFIMAN-RE300A . Penon actually recognized the value of isolation these earbuds provide, and now they are offering a bonus of 3 pairs of eartips, two double-flange and one triple-flange versions. Unfortunately, my earcanal is not deep enough to test multi-flange eartips, so I typically use single flange ones. I can only imagine how much better isolation is going to be with these tips.
The design and packaging of these is IDENTICAL, with an exception that my 300H was US version while 300A is Chinese versions, and it's reflected in the text on the box. But it really doesn't matter, these are headphones - no need for instructions Even the in-line remote, it's universal for any phone and should be self explanatory. I think it could work not only with android but also with apple since I never had issues with Apple remotes on my Galaxy phones. That is the only main difference, an included in-line remote with a single multi-function button that works perfectly for Play/Pause/Call with a single click, Skip Next with a double click, Skip Back with a triple click, and start Google search with a long press.
Another difference is the cable where RE300H has a more rubbery/sticky finish versus RE300A having a more plasticky smoother finish. But that's just a finish. Inside of the cable, RE300H uses different wires for a higher quality sound while RE300A has an advantage of in-line remote to pickup calls and to control the music. I think both models compliment each other well. Just think about it, when you are outside or commuting, with RE300x in your ears you can easily miss the call, so inline remote has an advantage. But when you are at home relaxing and want to tune out screaming of your kids (speaking from a personal experience), RE300H will work equally great.
Regarding sound itself, I do NOT hear any mid-bass bloat from either RE300A or RE300H. H might have a little more sparkle in the sound and according to the spec should have a slightly better extension at the low/high ends, but A sounds very similar. I had 300A on burn in for almost 60 hrs, and it sounds very clear and balanced and still has an excellent bass slam which doesn't overshadows the rest of the frequency range.
So for those who are still deciding between which one to get, based on my testing and comparison - they are VERY similar in sound signature and quality. Just keep in mind if you want a little more sparkle and slightly better retrieval of details, go for H. But if you want a convenience of smartphone control - A is great for that! And if you are lucky enough to be able to use double-/triple-flange tips - Penon got your covered with a free set of bonus eartips, not to forget their shipment is always super fast.
Here are the pictures (click to enlarge):
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Related
Hey,
some days ago Syllable sent me a pair of their D700 bluetooth in-ear headphones for review so here it is now
Let me first clarify that I am neither paid by them nor related to them in any other way.
Let's start :highfive:
General information
The headphones ship in a small box with them printed onto it:
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After opening it up one can see the headphones, a charging connector that is rather short but long enough if you ask me and ear plugs in different sizes:
The medium ear plugs are already attached to the speakers, a smaller and a bigger pair ships with them. I had to go for the smaller onces as my ears are quite small. This was definitely a big plus for me!
The headphones have three buttons as you can see here:
The key mapping is
Volume+/Next Song
Pause/Shutdown or switch on
Volume-/Previous Song
The first element in the list corresponds to a short press whereas the second element is a long press.
The buttons have a good haptic feedback in my point of view! There is also a microphone built in which really surprised me keeping in mind that these things cost just 20$! If you receive a call while wearing them a single press on the middle button answers it. If you then press again the call is hung it.
I collected the following results while running a 15km run:
PairingI used an Elephone Trunk and an Elephone P8000 as a pairing device and both worked fine with the headphones. To pair you simply have to press and hold the middle button until the speakers turn themselves on. A built in LED then starts to blink blue and the "D700" can be found in your BT smartphone menu. Only one device can be paired at a time so if you switch devices, you have to turn off bluetooth on the first device in order to pair the second one. I think that's reasonable as also only one person can listen to the music coming out of these headphones so there is no need to pair more than one device at a time.
Sound QualityThe sound quality is okay for me. I usually wear on ear headphones which have a lot of bass - obviously the D700 have less bass and more mids and highs. When I pushed a bit onto the earphones the bass became more present but that is nothing I want to do while running. I still like the sound quality given the low price and the fact that these things have tiny speakers compared to my big headphones. These highs help to understand a calling partner though if making a call. Also I have to note that the built in microphone seems to be good as well because my partner did not have any problems understanding me.
Battery LifeThe D700 came pre-charged and without further ado I literally hit the ground running and tested them. Surprisingly the battery lasted the whole 1.5 hours run! The box states 5 hours music time and I ran another two 1.5 hour runs after charging the device's battery via micro USB, so I'd say that's more than enough if you go running. If you want to use these things for daily music I am pretty sure that you won't make it through the whole day if you listen to music all the time. But I wouldn't recommend that anyways because of the...
DesignThe design of the D700 is not exactly subtle. My pair came in a neon yellow color and I am pretty sure the designers aimed rather at runners than at businessmen. The headphones are not exactly ugly but I personally would not wear them other than for running or sports in general.
ConclusionAfter all I am rather impressed by these inexpensive headphones! You basically get a full functional bluetooth headphone pair with built in microphone, calling feature, music adjustment buttons and a decent battery life for just 20$! Also the bluetooth range is really great! After running I walked into a different room while having my phone lying on the desk and there were no connection problems at all.
The only downside I can on the D700 spot is the extroverted color.
Pro:
Cheap - 20$!
Good sound quality!
Good battery life!
Calling feature!
Great BT range!
Comes with three pairs of earplugs!
Good fit!
Con:
Color
If you're looking for a cheap pair of wireless headphones for doings sports, go for these guys! You won't be disappointed. :highfive:
Hey,
some days ago Syllable sent me a pair of their D300 bluetooth in-ear headphones for review so here it is now
Let me first clarify that I am neither paid by them nor related to them in any other way.
Let's start :highfive:
General information
The headphones ship in a small box with a long charging connector and ear plugs in different sizes:
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The medium ear plugs are already attached to the speakers, a smaller and a bigger pair ships with them (bigger is not in picture). I really like the little clamp that comes with them so I can attach them to my shirt. Big plus!
The headphones have three buttons as you can see here:
The key mapping is
Volume+/Next Song
Shutdown or switch on/Pause
Volume-/Previous Song
The first element in the list corresponds to a long press whereas the second element is a normal/short press. This is quite counterintuitive given that the buttons have + and - printed on itself. Once you figure that out it is easy to use though The buttons are also a bit sluggish to press but they are still usable. There is also a microphone built in which really surprised me keeping in mind that these things cost just 12$! The call quality is mediocre though. If you receive a call while wearing them a single press on the middle button answers it. If you then press again the call is hung it.
PairingI used a Blackview Alife P1 Pro and an Elephone P8000 as a pairing device and both worked fine with the headphones. To pair you simply have to press and hold the middle button until the speakers turn themselves on. Then keep holding the button until the built in LED starts to alter between blue and red. The "D300" can then be found in your BT smartphone menu. Only one device can be paired at a time so if you switch devices, you have to turn off bluetooth on the first device in order to pair the second one. I think that's reasonable as also only one person can listen to the music coming out of these headphones so there is no need to pair more than one device at a time. If you wanna use it after pairing again a short power button press is sufficient so you don't have to hold the button longer than 1 second when starting the phones the next time.
Sound QualityThe sound quality is good! I usually wear on ear headphones which have a lot of bass - obviously the D300 have less bass and more mids and highs. When I pushed a bit onto the earphones the bass became more present but that is nothing I want to do while running. I still like the sound quality given the low price and the fact that these things have tiny speakers compared to my big headphones. They also have better bass compared to D700 which I reviewed here.
Battery LifeThe D300 came pre-charged and I tested them immediately. The box states 4 hours music time which is a realistic value. After charging the device's battery via micro USB, you get 3.5-4 hours out of them.
DesignThe design of the D300 is rather extroverted. My pair came in a neon blue color and I am pretty sure the designers aimed rather at runners than at businessmen. The headphones are not ugly but I personally would not wear them other than for sports or when being at home.
ConclusionAfter all I am rather impressed by these inexpensive headphones! You basically get a full functional bluetooth headphone pair with built in microphone, calling feature, music adjustment buttons and a decent battery life for just 12$! Also the bluetooth range is good! The only downside I can on the D300 spot is the extreme color.
Pro:
Cheap - 12$!
Good sound quality!
Decent battery life!
Calling feature!
Great BT range!
Comes with three pairs of earplugs!
Good fit!
Con:
Color
If you're looking for a cheap pair of wireless headphones for doings sports, go for these guys! You won't be disappointed. :highfive: I definitely recommend to buy them because of the low price and good features! I would also prefer them over the D700 but that is my personal opinion.
Archeer AH07 Bluetooth Headphones
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Unboxing
The Headphones are packaged into a stylish and compact, premium-like and solid package, with some basic accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 3.5mm Audio Cable, 1x User Manual, and the Headphones (of course).
As regards the Chassis, well there is a mixture of Metal and Plastic, together with a soft-cushion in order to make its wearing experience comfortable.
Each side can be rotated/adjusted, here you can see the internal slider. This is something rare to find, even on high-end headphones.
Thanks to the soft-cushion, made of artifical leather, there are no issues as regards prolonged usage.
Over-ear pavilions (please correct me if i'm using the wrong word) guarantee a better sound insulation, but i found the soft-cushion, at least on my skin, getting pretty hot after some minutes of usage. This is probably caused by the almost-perfect insulation that reduces to minimum the amount of air coming to ears, or just my skin.
Sound Quality
As regards the sound quality, well i am not an audiophile so i can't provide you some professional audio tests, but basing on my power-user experience, i can definitely say that these headphones are able to provide an almost high-end experience, with a great sound quality and complete frequencies coverage.
The Volume is high enough, and low frequencies (aka Bass, even though this isn't the correct definition) are here. I haven't noticed any lack of frequencies, the sound is equilibrated and well calibrated.
This is my Loudness/Volume Test while running a Dolby Sound Test. Result: 82.2 dBA (MAX)
As regards the built-in Microphone, it seems to work just as fine as on the majority of headsets. Nothing to say about it.
Is there something negative about sound quality? Yes, but not directly related. Sound Insulation isn't perfect, it doesn't have any active noise cancellation system so what provides the insulation is just the pavilion. I am not saying that it isn't good, it is definitely enough for me, but in case of loud environments it could be a problem.
Controls and Connectivity
I was able to pair the headphones with my device in just one step (using BT), and after being connected i didn't experienced any issue as regards stability or such. There is APT-X support here for high-definition BT Audio.
There is also the possibility to use Wired Connection instead of Wireless (using BT), without having to use its internal battery, and i do not notice any Quality difference compared to the Wireless connection, maybe because i'm using a last-gen device.
As regards the controls area, there are just three buttons here, but they are multi-functional. The Power Button works also as an Answering Button and as a Music Control for Play/Pause, and the Volume Buttons are used to control the volume (of course), to Reject/Mute a Call and as a Music Control for Next/Previous song.
Conclusions
I am impressed by the quality of these headphones, being a Piston 3 user where sound frequencies are a bit messed up, i can definitely hear the difference. Archeer...well done!
Summarizing all, these AH07 Headphones are really well-made, nice build quality, and what matters most is the sound quality that is great.
So...do I recommend this accessory? Well, i haven't tested lower-end headphones so i can't provide you a comparision or such, but considering the mid-range price, i doubt it is possible to find something better at the price target. Recommended if you want to buy something well-made, with great sound quality, at an acceptable price.
Pros:
- Lightweight
- Great Sound Quality
- Solid
- Comfortable
- Acceptable Price
Cons:
- Sound Insulation could have been better
Rating: 8.8
Packaging and Accessories: 8.5
Design and Materials: 9.5
Sound Quality: 9.5
Price: 8 (based on Amazon price)
Official Product page: http://www.archeer.com/Archeer-AH07...laxing,Up-to-14-Hours-Playback-Time-p-20.html
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/2b5mP2M
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: http://imgur.com/a/wLYZ9
These are the BlitzWolf BW-ANC1 Earphones.
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Unboxing
Unlike previous audio products i reviewed in the past, this one comes in a rather boring external packaging, but the amount of accessories well over expectations, with a nice rigid case, a small USB Cable (no Type-C sadly) and the usual replacement earbuds in different sizes.
Something that stand-out for this product is the Nylon-Braided cable for extra durability, but the two cables that go from the little box to each earphone is not braided (for some reason).
Starting from the box, it is made of Metal with Rubberized Buttons (Play/Pause/Answer + Back + Forward). The clip is OK, keeping the little box stable anywhere it is placed. It is not the most compact solution, but i guess they i had to go for this instead of something slimmer in order to include a beefy battery.
On the top of this box, there is a dedicated button to control ANC (working only when the whole thing is turned on, excellent solution) with a dedicated white LED. Near the ANC LED, there is also a standard Blue LED for the BT connection.
The microphone is placed on the right earphone's cable and it is included in a small cone made of Metal. Well engineered in my opinion.
Each earphone features a metal chassis (not as good looking as in the photo to be honest, not the same shown color) and is compact, quite comfortable.
Sound Quality
Thanks to the APT-X support, those are the best sounding earphones i have ever tried, but not perfect. The sound seems to be slightly tuned to increase low frequencies (as usual). Other than that, i can't find any flaw in the sound quality at all.
The volume is quite high, there is no distortion even at maximum volume, and the APT-X support is correctly recognized by my smartphone as shown here.
Also, the Active Noise Cancelling feature works flawlessy, there is no extra noise added to the sound (like background noise or anything like that) neither interferences.
Nothing to complain about call quality, the microphone position is just excellent matching wired earphones.
Conclusions
As promised some months ago, i would be focusing on those ANC products that are becoming more and more common and affordable. This is, with no doubts, the most balanced i have ever tested. Good sound quality, decent battery life and no flaws in the design.
If only there was a built-in equalizer to switch between different presets...
Pros:
- Good sound quality
- ANC - Active Noise Cancellation (properly implemented)
- Metal Parts all over the place
Cons:
- Slightly tuned for low frequencies
- Not all cables are nylon-braided
Rating: 8.6
Packaging and Accessories: 8.5
Design and Materials: 9.5
Sound Quality: 8.5
Price: 8 (based on Amazon price)
Official Product page: http://bit.ly/2lWVJik
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: https://imgur.com/a/mKZvgi1
The Dudios Ace T8 is the successor of Dudios Tic, which I reviewed a few months ago. This upgraded set of earbuds come with an improved performance, sleeker design and better sound quality.
The following is a detailed review. TL;DR is at the bottom, enjoy reading!
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Package:
User manual.
2x Earbuds.
Charging box.
Charging cable (USB).
3x Pairs of tips (small/medium/large).
1x Safety cushions (Earbuds pod).
Features:
Bluetooth 5.0.
Waterproof (IP not stated)
35h of playtime
Responsive, simple controls interface.
Charging pod (Add up to 30 hours of play time).
Experience
Considering the current situation of Corona, my testing with the earbuds was limited, yet I tried to get the best out of it. Noting that I already own the Dudios Tic and found it appealing to me, this upgraded set of earbuds also caught my attention.
Package
The package has improved slightly from the inside, due to the new oval design of the earbuds pod. The content is still the same. It comes with a charging cable, 3 different sized sets of tips and a manual.
Design
Dudios paid attention to the design. It made it easier to distinguish between the controls area and the rest of the body. Now, the controls area has a round edge, that can be noticeably observed by the finger.
The tips now set more comfortably in comparison to Dudios Tic. The new design provide a firm grip to both the tips and the controls area, so that you don't have an inaccurate touch of the area or accidentally get the wrong feedback off the controls.
Quality
Dudios Ace T8 implements Solo and Mono modes, in case you would like to hear the surroundings from one ear. It's highlighted by the feature that Dudios Ace T8 doesn't have a "parent" earbud, so that you can use any of the earbuds without any limitation.
Testing on the low and medium range spectrums give the best quality with notable defined sounds. High range is also spectacular, considering the audio quality doesn't get "crispy" or lose its features.
Furthermore, the experience with bass boosted music is incredibly amazing. It also applies to calm music, where focusing is the main concern of yours.
Performance, Usage
Battery life is a main feature of the earbuds. It has 35 hours of playtime and I managed to test that throughout the week. Also, there are no noticeable connectivity issues, thanks to the Bluetooth 5 chipset that's bundled with it.
The new controls are much simpler. You can use different gestures, such as: Touch, long touch for x seconds, etc. Doing those gestures will let you control the music (Next/Previous/etc), change the volume and manage the incoming calls.
Misc
The earbuds are priced for 27.99 Euro on Amazon (DE/26.12.2020), with a 10% discount, making the price as low as 25.191 Euro. It also comes with IPX7 rating, so you don't need to worry much about getting wet.
Daily usage
It's been more than a week of testing and I have used the earbuds during my training and work. The quality and battery life amazed me, especially with the convenient price for them. I didn't have any issue with long sessions or wet conditions. Jogging and sprinting were also smooth, the earbuds managed to have a firm grip and be stable in their position.
I didn't have to re-position them and the quality of the sound is notably great, especially in a crowded area. The volume didn't need to be insanely high to have my own "world" with these earbuds and I can easily switch to Solo mode when I want to hear other people.
The earbuds are suitable for casual events, workout sessions, gaming and calming moments. It can be your daily companion and the charging pod can be easily brought with it.
Notes:
Remove the charging safety tapes from the earbuds. It's transparent.
TL;DR:
Great, distinguishable design.
Firm, comfortable in all situations (walking, running, training, sitting and leaning).
Solo/Mono modes.
Durable, suitable for long sessions.
Improved audio quality.
Great quality/price ratio.
I hope you enjoyed reading. I'll see you in my next review!