Bought these during 11.11 sales at around 33 SGD and just wanted to quickly share some thoughts on these because they are so good for the price.
Design:
Design is going to be subjective, but I like how these look. The magnets hold the earbuds in place securely. My only complaint is that it can be a bit harder to push the earbuds out of the case due to the smooth matte finish.'
Fit & comfort:
Probably my favourite part of these earbuds. I’ve worn these while jogging for over an hour and they stayed in the same position without shifting/loosening much, and they are really comfortable with no obvious pressure points that would cause aching even after a longer session. The fit is secure, but not too tight. This more “relaxed” fit does mean that passive noise isolation is below average for in-ear earbuds, but I suspect this looser fit is also what helps it sound a little more open and airier. Win some, lose some.
Sound:
At first I thought that the "reference" tuning was spot on, but when I started jogging with them and used them at a higher volume, the upper mids became a bit too shouty for my liking. Switched to "monitor" tuning and never looked back. If you refer to the graph from Vortex Reviews, you can tell that it has a less bass, but it's still at a level that I'm okay with. You can tell that it still has a bit of sub bass slope up and it does sound that way to me too. Still a nice amount of thump for my liking. It's a clean and tight sounding bass.
It has a nice amount of details and staging too (likely thanks to the looser fit too). Overall, it's a really nice sounding pair of earphones, and one that I really enjoy using. Even compared to some wired IEMs I've used around this price range, it still holds up really well, which is kinda nuts.
Moondrop Link App:
TRASH. On Android, the app can’t be found on the PlayStore and has to be downloaded and sideloaded manually. The app doesn’t work without giving it access to “Photos & Media”, “Precise Location”, and “Nearby Devices”. WTF. The last one I can understand for pairing purposes, but the first 2? This reminds me of the app from QCY years back which was almost just as intrusive with its permissions.
The app itself allows you to change the tuning and the touch controls which is great! But the app performance isn’t that great, and the UI looks kinda ass. My recommendation is to just ignore the app, or if you really want to change tuning or touch controls, install the app on a burner phone and uninstall it afterwards. I expected more from Moondrop in this regard, but oh well.
Transparency & ANC:
The first is kinda trash, and ANC is slightly less trash. Both are features that I would never use on these earphones. One could argue that for the price they're fine, but because it doesn't have great passive isolation, any cheap TWS with a tighter fit and better passive isolation would likely block out more noise than these... so yeah... just don't expect too much here.
Battery life:
At the usual volume that I’m using (ANC off), it lasted around 5-6 hours of playback, which is decent enough and actually higher than what I was expecting.
Conclusion:
Ignoring the app and ANC performance, these are amazing for the price in terms of its sound quality. I think it’s not quite as good as the Chu, but I enjoy it more than their budget Moondrop Quarks wired IEMs at least. Considering the convenience that comes with TWS earbuds, and that it’s only slightly more expensive than those, these are easy to recommend.
Do note though that it doesn’t have an IP rating, but it’s probably fine unless you use them in the shower or rain. Even for jogging, as long as I’m careful about not touching them while my hands are wet, the earbuds stay completely dry even after an hour of jogging. I've even jogged in a very light drizzle with these, and they're still fine so far. Anyway they are so cheap to replace if they do break.
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