These sound excellent for the price. Not “audiophile grade”, but that’s nowhere near expected for $30. The value is ridiculous. Comfortable, lightweight, fits well without falling off or exerting painful pressure on the head over prolonged use. Battery life is VERY impressive, though I tend to listen at low to moderate volumes, which of course will extend the time between charges. The soft materials feel great, though I can’t speak for longtime longevity of the pad covering for example, since I haven’t had them for years.
Overall, the sound profile is way more balanced than I would expect from a budget headphone. It genuinely sounds fairly accurate with surprising clarity. No frequency range feels too recessed, nor is it too in-your-face. Keep in mind, these aren’t crystal clear, silky smooth, or perfectly even across the full frequency range, but those are characteristics reserved for a WAY higher price point and are completely unexpected here.
– Bass reproduction is imperfect, not totally even, has some undesirable resonance in lower frequencies that can muddy the experience, but it’s less of an issue than I’d expect at this price point. It’s not way too overtuned, but it’s also not anemic or lacking. Also, repositioning these on the head slightly can help with the muddiness. I’m pretty sure there’s not a $30 headphone under the sun that actually has great bass reproduction, so definitely not knocking a star off for this. Worlds better than a lot of bass-boosted consumer headphones, without falling into the insipid tin can category.
– Mids are pleasant and generally sit in the right spot in the mix. If you don’t crank them up, they’re not too harsh or “serrated-edged”, but not buttery smooth either. More than acceptable, but can sound a little shouty at times. They will get harsher at louder volumes.
– Highs aren’t crystal clear, but don’t feel too lacking or unnaturally excited. They won’t present perfectly in a busy mix, but once again, nothing will at such a price. It’s impressive how they’re always serviceable, never totally getting lost or garbled while also not being painfully piercing.
– Soundstage is just okay, but absolutely good enough for a super-affordable closed-back headphone. Like everything else, it’s better at a moderate volume where things feel less compressed in general.
They get really loud (too loud) from a regular source like a phone, whether over Bluetooth or a wired connection. The best sound quality will definitely come at a moderate volume though, since the drivers don’t begin to present that “overmic’d” sound with a harsher edge as most do speakers and phones do closer to their volume limit, and separation will be better when they’re not struggling.
One of my biggest pet peeves—at least on my phone—is that every time they connect after turning them on, they default to the same volume, which is WAY too loud for me and can actually hurt my ears and leave me with an hour or two of discomfort and slightly reduced hearing acuity. Make sure to turn them on, begin playing your media and double-check your volume levels before putting them on your head to avoid this. I take pride in my sensitive hearing and this is very important.
It’s also worth mentioning that the volume control on the headphones themselves is awkward since it requires holding a skip button. This means it’s hard to make a delicate adjustment, since you have to hold it long enough to change at all, but not so long that it adjusts too far up or down. I recommend finding the setting that sounds the best, then adjusting on your device from that point forward.
Overall, these are a no-brainer if you want $30 over-ear bluetooth headphones with solid, accurate-but-acceptably-compressed sound quality, great comfort, stellar battery life and a completely solid connection even from several yards away.
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