Sony MDR-EX15AP review

The Sony MDR-EX15AP are an extremely cheap pair of wired earbuds – the type that you’d pick up at the airport after forgetting your pesky Bluetooth ones for your flight (or leaving them at home, on charge). They have a list price of just $19.99 / £10 / AU$29.95 – but are often available for even less. So, I think it’s fair to say you can’t expect phenomenal audio, noise isolation or build quality from the Sony MDR-EX15AP. But what you would hope for is clean sound, a comfortable fit and an attractive design – which for the most part, you get here.

Let’s start where it matters most, audio quality. A lot of ultra-cheap earbuds are guilty of supplying tinny, often grating or even muffled sound, but luckily the Sony MDR-EX15AP didn’t burden me with such issues. For the majority of the time, audio was fairly clean and didn’t come through sounding distorted or harsh. This wasn’t necessarily the case at top volumes, where things could admittedly get a little edgy, but I rarely felt the need to crank things up towards 100%.

Does that mean you get impressive audio, though? Not exactly. The soundstage can get a little cluttered when listening with the Sony MDR-EX15AP. For instance, I tuned in to Summer Soul by Cero and found that vocals lacked prominence and would sometimes have to wrestle with other sounds in the mid-range for my attention – an issue that you won’t encounter with some of the best wired earbuds.

Similarly when listening to Komm, Susser Todd by Arianne, sound could get bloated during climactic sections of the song, in part down to imperfect instrument separation. For example, the plodding bassline got a little muddied with main and backing vocals towards the end of the track and rhythmic claps didn’t have that crisp snap that more premium buds can supply.

So, again, the audiophiles among you may well find fault in the audio department here, but it’s very rare to get a nuanced listen out of earbuds this cheap. And in terms of the basics, these wired earbuds perform decently anyway. For example, when listening to Relentless by Grant Nelson, higher-pitched percussion elements were pretty well behaved – I didn’t get that grating, harsh effect until going towards the top end of the volume scale. In I Want You by Moloko, I also found the bass to be pleasingly warm and relatively impactful, even if the buds struggled to uncover the complexities of the layered synths, vocals, percussion (and more) to my ears.

So sound is pretty average overall and, for this price, that suits me just fine. But what of the noise isolation? Now I have to say, this actually surprised me a fair bit because the Sony MDR-EX15AP actually blockade external noise pretty effectively. Are these going to offer the isolation you’d get from some of the best wireless earbuds with ANC? No. But the gel eartips (there are small, medium, and large sizes included) create a pretty firm seal, which ensured that colleagues nattering, the sound of typing and the whirr of an air purifier were all considerably dulled.

Another department that impressed me was the EX15AP’s appearance. I’m a big fan of the glossy finish applied to the buds themselves and the multi-toned blue colorway that I tested out looked very elegant indeed. You can also get these buds in Black, Pink or White, so there’s an option for everyone. Build quality is perhaps not the strongest though; I found the wire to be fairly flimsy and a bit cheap looking, but that didn’t take away from the elegance of the buds all too much.

Something that I wasn’t massively keen on, however, was the EX15AP’s remote and mic. This is the only thing that separates this model from the slightly cheaper Sony MDR-EX15LP, but it’s not amazing. First of all, the controller only has a play/pause button, no volume controls. That means you’ll have to reach into your pocket to adjust volume on your source device, which is annoying if you’re out on a walk or run, for instance. The mic isn’t good either – when taking a voice recording there was an almost underwater sound to my voice, rendering the inbuilt controller pretty lackluster overall.

One more design issue is that these buds don’t have a waterproof rating. A lot of the more recent models to come to the market have an IPX4 or higher rating, meaning they’re resistant to sweat and rain – handy for outdoor listening. But you don’t get any pledges on resistance to elements here, so if you’re searching for some rough and ready buds for all environments, you’ll have to look further.

So, overall the Sony MDR-EX15AP are a decent pair of earbuds, that offer adequate, albeit unremarkable audio, a pleasing design and impressive noise isolation. There’s nothing particularly standout other than their exceptionally low price, but there doesn’t have to be. If you just need a backup pair of wired buds or need a quick solution for keeping the tunes flowing for your travels, you could certainly do worse.

If you have a little more cash to play with and a device with USB-C, I’d instead opt for the SoundMagic E80D, which are still, in my view, some of the best cheaper wired buds on the market. Apple device users might prefer the Apple Earpods USB-C, Lightning or 3.5mm variant too – but these popular Sony buds are still worth considering for those on a slightly tighter budget.

Sony MDR-EX15AP review: Price and release date

• List price of $19.99 / £10 / AU$29.95
• Often available for a fair bit less, though
• Launched in 2014

Sony doesn’t always like to make it easy with product names and the Sony MDR-EX15AP as a moniker is no exception. This model is essentially the same as the Sony MDR-EX15LP; it just adds a microphone into the mix. For that privilege, you have to pay a bit more: the EX15AP carry a list price of $19.99 / £10 / AU$29.95.

Of course, they are still very much on the ultra-cheap side of the price spectrum, especially from a trusted name is audio. However, you can often find them for even less. They are often available for less than $10 / £8 on Amazon US and UK respectively, so they’re ideal for a small gift or if you need a cheap option after forgetting your wireless earbuds for a flight, for instance.

Sony MDR-EX15AP review: Specs

Should you buy the Sony MDR-EX15AP?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Sony MDR-EX15AP review: Also consider

Sony MDR-EX15AP review: How I tested

• Tested for two weeks
• Used in the office and while outdoors
• Predominantly tested using Tidal on FiiO M11S

I put the Sony MDR-EX15AP to the test over the course of two weeks. I usually listened to music with them via Tidal on my Windows laptop, but I also tried them out using Spotify on the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE. I trialled the EX15AP in the office, at home and while walking near busy roads to judge noise-isolation capabilities.

After first plugging these buds in, I made sure to run through tracks in the TechRadar testing playlist, which contains songs from a variety of genres – though I also spent hours tuning into songs from my personal library.

• First reviewed: January 2025
• Read more about how we test

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6: Two-minute review

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 are a more 'budget' alternative to B&W’s big flagship pair for 2024, the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8. I put budget in quotation marks, because despite undercutting their siblings, the Pi6 are still a premium pair of buds in their own right when you consider that rivals come in at almost half the price – and some of those offer hearing tests, proprietary spatial audio solutions and personalised sound profiles.

Bowers & Wilkins is a name revered for top-tier audio, even if you’re getting the company's ‘budget’ option, and that’s emphatically the case with the Pi6. As soon as you start listening to them you’ll be serenaded with a detailed soundstage, a zealous sound and smart ANC that’ll strip away any distractions.

If you're all about audio and can't quite stretch to the premium B&W Pi8, these earbuds are still a viable option. But to start with the sound quality might be getting ahead of ourselves, because you certainly won’t start there – like me, you’ll probably begin by hitting your shins on the harsh edges that B&W has left about the place. These buds have a surprising number of cut corners for earbuds that cost this much.

Sadly, I found pairing with the Pi6 a torturous and ongoing process. I realise it's one person's experience, but nonetheless I reviewed over 30 pairs of wireless headphones and earbuds last year and I'm not slouch on this. It was difficult. For me, the initial set-up was a time-consuming struggle, which I went through on multiple devices to check whether it was just my phone being problematic. And sadly, the connection wasn’t 100% reliable even once the buds were paired, because Bower & Wilkins’ app would reliably fail to recognize the buds if I put them in my ears once the app was already open.

The app doesn’t offer any scope for Spatial Audio or otoacoustic hearing profile curation, which is fair enough, but there are one or two standard quality-of-life perks missing, such as ‘find my headphones’.

Fortunately, the Pi6 are nice and light to wear, making them comfortable to wear and reliable to place in your ear. Honestly, the great audio quality here could very well offset the omission of a few personalisation perks and my connectivity issues, and this review was initially meant to have a 4.5-star score. However, near the end of the testing I was having trouble getting the Pi6 to work before leaving home, once again, and so despite the fact I was meant to be testing the Pi6 I had to leave the house with another pair of buds. And if I choose not to use the Pi6, despite the great-sounding audio, then it makes it hard to wholeheartedly recommend them to someone else.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review: Price and release date

• Released in September 2024, after Pi8
• Costs $199 / £219 / AU$449

You can buy the Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 for $199 / £219 / AU$449, so they’re mid-range buds that act as cheaper – though not ‘cheap’ – alternatives to the Pi8.

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 sell for $399 / £349 / AU$599, which is a big step up, and so people who don’t need the very best and want to save a few pennies will find it a tempting option, and they are absolutely worthy of consideration.

Both earbuds were announced at the same time in August 2024. The Pi8 were put on sale straight away while the Pi6 were released in September.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review: Specs

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review: Features

• App doesn't offer the plethora of features others can
• Persistent connectivity issues
• Quoted battery life is 8 hours, but didn't reach that

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 easily takes a top-three spot in my all-time ranking of the most troublesome earbuds to pair with.

Devices just refused to recognize the Pi6. That’s plural devices – I tried to connect to a smartphone, a laptop and an iPad during testing. On all occasions, the device stalwartly refused to ‘see’ the buds via Bluetooth, and I’d have to keep turning Bluetooth on and off before the planets aligned and the device found the Pi6. Mercury must have been in retrograde or something when I was trying to connect the buds to my iPad, because I simply never managed it – not once.

When I first paired the Pi6 to my smartphone, the right bud wouldn’t work, a process which was only fixed when I went through the entire process all over again and re-paired them to my mobile. And when it did work, the connection wasn’t always reliable, with the app not always recognizing the buds and the left earbud continuing to give up the ghost from time to time. Again, it's important to note this is my personal experience (and it's very different to the one Becky Scarrott had when testing the flagship Pi8) but still, it's valid: I'm a regular TechRadar audio tester and in this particular area, the B&W Pi6 were unusually troublesome.

Another weak link is the battery life. Bowers & Wilkins quotes the Pi6 as having an 8-hour battery life but from my testing, it fell an hour or so short each time. Seven hours is still just above average, but the case was the real issue. The charging case is meant to provide 24 hours of listening time but I found that the power on this would be much less than that.

I’d sometimes put the earbuds in after a few days of not using them, to find that the battery had fully drained, even if it was powered up before. I’d need to charge the buds back up again before using them.

There’s a smartphone app to provide some extra controls over the buds. However, this was chock-full of adverts for things like streaming service free trials and podcasts that B&W sponsors, and so the actual features feel somewhat hidden. You can turn on ANC or ANC pass-through, play with a simple equalizer (you can increase or decrease treble or bass), turn off or on the wearer detection and customize the touch controls.

Most of these are listed under the ‘Discover More’ section of the app’s home page, as though they’re optional extras instead of the main reason you’d download said app. That’s only if you have the buds paired though and remember, several times in my testing the app wouldn’t recognize that the buds were connected.

• Features score: 3.5/5

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review: Design

• Premium-feel, compact case
• Handy touch controls
• Four color options to pick from

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 come in a small pebble-like charging case. It measures 6.5 x 2.9 x 5.2 cm and weighs 46g so it’s nice and small. I had no issue popping it in a trouser pocket and forgetting about it for a day. The case doesn’t seem to have an IP rating.

The buds themselves are fairly light in weight, tipping the scales at 7g each. I found the fit to be comfortable and reliable, staying in my ears during a gym session amongst other activities, but several different ear tip sizes come in the box with the Pi6.

Each bud has a sensor on the top plate that you can use to control your music. Using these took a little bit of getting used-to (to figure out where to tap and how firm to be) but after a while it became a convenient way to handle the playback of my music. Using the app you can choose for the hold options to be to change the volume, or to handle ANC and summon your voice assistant.

You can pick up the buds in four colors. I used Cloud Gray but there’s also Glacier Blue (pale blue), Storm Gray (black) and Forest Green (olive).

I mentioned that the case doesn’t have an IP rating, but the buds do: they’re certified at IP54, which is a good dust-resistant and water-resistant rating – but I hope it goes without saying that you shouldn’t submerge them in water.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review: Sound quality

• 12mm driver, but misses the Pi8's custom one
• Hearty bass and mid, treble falls a little short
• Support for a range of codecs

Bowers and Wilkins has managed to get a 12mm dynamic driver into each of the Pi6 buds, and they support SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive and aptX Classic codecs.

The Pi6 sound great for their price, which is just as well given the lack of a hugely meaningful equalizer to let you fix any issues. I really enjoyed listening to music with them, when the buds worked.

The buds took a zealous approach to my music, with a meaty but not overwhelming bass and full-bodied mids, and a detailed soundstage helps you appreciate these elements. For certain kinds of music, the Pi6 were some of the best buds I’ve tested in some time.

If there’s an Achilles’ Heel, it’s the treble, which I found to lack an extra ounce of sparkle as well as prevalence in the mix. I found myself wishing female vocals and harmonising instruments were a little more prominent, and even maxing out the treble in the equalizer only went so far towards fixing the issue.

At least for the music I listen to, however, the treble was never a huge issue, but it’s something worth flagging to prospective buyers. A few features are missing in the Pi6 that show up in the Pi8, including aptX Lossless support, an advanced DAC and bespoke drivers, but those are pretty niche features that only certain audiophile-grade fans will really need.

• Sound quality: 4.5/5

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review: Value

• Don't offer fantastic value for money
• Hunt around for sales to save

The B&W Pi6 have great audio for the price and a nice light case design, but the value proposition is knocked by the limited feature set.

I’ve tested plenty of earbuds that cost a third of the price of the Pi6 and have more impressive feature sets, more detailed equalizers and apps that don’t attack you with advertising for music services, playlists or podcasts.

You’re paying a fairly high price for the audio tech here and even non-audiophiles will enjoy the sound quality. But you can definitely find earbuds that sound almost as good for around $120 / £120 / AU$300 if you shop around. You can even find the Pi6 for a lot less in sales, despite writing this review only a few months after their release, so shop around.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I buy the Bowers & Wilkins Pi6?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review: Also consider

How I tested the Bowers & Wilkins Pi6

• Tested for over three weeks
• Tested at home, in the office and at the gym

I tested the Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 (when they weren't testing me...) for roughly three weeks, due to the testing period falling over the Christmas break.

I've detailed lots of my testing process above; I used them alongside my phone, an iPad and a laptop, in a range of environments including my home, the office, public transport and the gym. I streamed music, played games and watched some TV too.

I've been testing gadgets for TechRadar for almost six years now, and in that time have tested a huge range of headphones and earbuds, so I'm used to troubleshooting and fixing faulty tech.

• First reviewed in January 2025

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Shure SE215 review: Review

The Shure SE215 have made quite a name for themselves in the live music scene, offering solid monitoring capabilities at a competitive price point. Specifically, the SE215 are often available for less than $100 / £100 / AU$200, meaning they’re a fairly low-priced set of entry-level in-ear monitors for live performers, producers, or fans of wired listening.

Let’s start where it matters most: sound quality. The Shure SE215 have a self-proclaimed “warm” sound signature and look to showcase “enhanced bass” while still delivering clear, detailed overall audio. So, how do they fare? Generally, quite well.

First, the Shure SE215 live up to their promise of offering enhanced bass. When I tuned into Black Eye by Allie X, the thumping drum machine had impressive levels of depth and responsiveness, making for a punchy, rhythmic listening experience. Generally, the track’s bouncing bassline was managed well, sounding controlled and impactful throughout the song’s runtime – something I’d always look for when testing the best wired earbuds.

And this was a recurring theme, pretty much every tune I threw on offered very good low-end depth, especially considering the price you pay for these IEMs. The only slight issue you may have is that the higher focus on bass can result in a slightly cluttered sound, especially at top volumes.

When listening to I Want You by Moloko, the song’s pounding bass was both impactful and immersive, but cranking the volume up could sometimes create a slightly overbearing, cluttered sound. This could be slightly frustrating for musicians who want ultra-clear, expertly balanced information during sets, but again, at medium volumes, I found the focus on bass to be pleasing, rather than a source of severe bloating.

The only other complaint I’d have sonically is that highs can sometimes sound a touch inaccurate with these IEMs. For instance, cymbals in I Want You sounded prominent but slightly harsh, particularly the crash that connects the intro to the main portion of the track. But otherwise, audio quality is up to standard here. Vocals, although not perfectly breathy or realistic, are clear and well-balanced, while music rarely sounds distorted or tinny.

Despite offering commendable audio quality, I’d argue that the real highlight of the SE215 is in another domain entirely – passive noise isolation. I’ve been impressed by Shure’s wired noise cancellation before (see my Shure AONIC 3 review), and these deliver more than enough protection against external sounds.

When using the default foam tips and listening at around 50% volume I could barely hear anything in my office, from typing through to colleagues conversing. At one stage, there was some drilling taking place, which was audible, but strongly dulled, thanks to the excellent seal these ear tips provide. So, if you’re a musician who needs a consistent, clear audio feed, free from too much distraction, the SE215 will serve you well.

Speaking of the included ear tips, you get the usual selection of small, medium and large included. But that’s not all, you also get the same, but in gel form, if you find that more comfortable for longer in-ear listening. On top of that, you get a fabric carrying case included with the earbuds, which has a clip that can attach to a belt or bag – pretty handy. For the price, you do get a decent amount included, but something worth considering is that there’s no in-line mic or controller. You can detach the cable and switch it out for an alternative with such features, but you’ll have to cough up extra for this.

I mentioned earlier that you get a great seal with these earbuds and the overall fit is very secure. The buds are attached to a bendy wire that can be molded around your ear – ideal for keeping them in-ear when you’re on the move. I would argue, however, that these aren’t the comfiest buds on the market. You definitely get a reliable, tight fit but they can feel a bit uncomfortable after a couple of hours. So, if you’re looking for a wired option for casual listening, they may not be the best option.

Regardless, these are well-made IEMs with good build quality. The earbuds I tested came in a see-through, black-tinted shell so you can see the components powering the IEMs. That might not be for everyone, but I found it made for a cool-looking aesthetic. The buds don’t appear cheap or fragile, either, so these should last you some considerable time. They don’t have a specific waterproof rating, but Shure’s website claims that they’re sweat-resistant at the least, making them fit for purpose if you’re an on-stage performer.

Finally, the included wire is decently slim, except for the slightly chunky Y-connector. You’ll hear a bit of cable noise if moving around with these earbuds, but it’s decently muted, meaning the SE215 do well at mixing style and substance overall.

All in all, the Shure SE215 are a very solid pair of entry-level IEMs, that offer impressive bass, pleasing clarity, excellent noise isolation, and a neat design. Audio can get a little bloated at top volumes and you might not find them the most comfortable buds on the market, but they’re still more than fit for purpose, whether you’re on the stage, cooking up beats in the studio or indulging in some leisurely listening at home.

Shure SE215 review: Price and release date

• $99 / £90 / AU$179
• Launched in 2011

The Shure SE215 were released all the way back in 2011, but they’re still a super-popular option among musicians and fans of wired listening in general. They’re available for around $99 / £90 / AU$179, but you can pick them up for even less on sale, so keep an eye out for sweet deals. This model is available in a range of color options, including Black, Blue, Clear and Purple.

Shure SE215 review: Specs

Should you buy the Shure SE215 review?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Shure SE215 review: Also consider

Shure SE215 review: How I tested

• Tested for two weeks
• Used in the office and while outdoors
• Predominantly tested using Tidal on FiiO M11S

I tested the Shure SE215 over the course of two weeks. I predominantly listened with them using Tidal on the FiiO M11S, but also tried them out using Spotify on my Windows laptop. I tested the SE215 in the office, at home and while out on walks near busy roads to assess noise-isolation capabilities.

When listening to music I played tracks from the TechRadar testing playlist, which contains songs from a variety of genres – though I also spent hours tuning into songs from my personal library.

• First reviewed: December 2024
• Read more about how we test

Nothing Ear (open): One minute review

I started testing for this Nothing Ear (open) review under the impression that, like other open ear headphones, they were designed for fitness use. Over the last few years open earbuds, or air conduction headphones, have become a popular type of sports headphone to let you hear your surroundings while running, cycling or working out outdoors.

When judged against this use case, though, the Nothing Ear (open) fly far from the mark, and they're not ideal for going on walks along roads either, and it’s all from one questionable design decision. I found them frustrating to use and had to force myself to put them on my ear every time I was going to hit the gym or go on a run.

It’s a shame, because Nothing has become a reliable name in earbuds in the last few years. Its Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a) from earlier in 2024 were both impressive and affordable earbuds with amazing bass and unique feature sets, and there were high hopes for the Ear (open), which mark the company’s first foray into the open-ear headphones market.

I’d wait until the second foray to buy some of these buds though, because as I said one design issue ruins the user experience with these buds. That issue is in the band hook, which loops over your ears to connect the body of the bud (which goes over your ear, providing the music), with the rest of it which goes behind your ear.

This band is made of a very flexible material which does a poor job at holding the bud and counterweight still. This means that when you’re moving; say, going on a run or bending down at the gym to pick up some weights, or even walking, it wobbles. Wobbles enough to change how the music sounds for a little moment, and wobbles enough to slap against the tragus of your ear (that’s the sticky-outy bit in your ear) if you’re moving rapidly or repeatedly.

Going for workouts with the Nothing Ear (open), then, was an exercise in patience: could I survive the tap-tap-tap of the wobbling bud for long enough to complete a course or a workout routine? For the purposes of this review I endured it, but I don’t think I would have if not for that!

Putting aside fitness use, it was also an issue when I was walking at any speed (though it was more pronounced the quicker my pace), and given that the entire point of open ear buds is that you can hear your surroundings when walking on roads, this means they miss the mark as non-fitness earbuds too.

Beyond the annoying design, the Ear (open) would need to be incredibly impressive to get a decent review, and unfortunately it missed that high bar. Primarily, the audio wasn’t on par with other open-ear headphones I’ve tested, particularly in the volume department — this latter is vital to combat surrounding sounds when you’re in busy areas.

I did like a few aspects of the buds: the case is the main one, as it’s pretty slender compared to other open-ear headphone cases and was attractive all things considered. Plus the touch controls on the earbuds were handy to use, and there was no sound leakage which fixes a problem I’ve faced in other earbuds (open-ear and not).

These elements show that Nothing is on the right track with the Ear (open), but I only see these buying a worthwhile buy if you’re not into your exercise. If you simply want earbuds you can wear in public without being unaware while crossing roads, it could be a decent option — as long as your walking pace isn’t too quick!

Nothing Ear (open) review: Specifications

Nothing Ear (open) review: Price and availability

• Announced and released in September 2024
• Priced at $149 / £129 / AU$249
• Middling price for this kind of tech

The Nothing Ear (open) costs a reasonable $149 / £129 / AU$249, and was both announced and released in September 2024.

That price puts them slap-bang in the middle of a host of other open ear headphones on our list of the best open ear headphones (excusing the exceedingly-premium Bose Ultra Open, which costs twice as much).

The Nothing roughly matches the $149.99 / £149.99 (about AU$290) 1More Fit Open Earbuds S50, a competitor with which the Ear (open) has a lot in common (namely, a poor fit). If you want to spend a little more you can opt for the Shokz Openfit at $179.95 / £179.99 / AU$289 but if you want to save money, the OpenRock Pro go for $129.99 / £119.99 (roughly AU$185).

Bear in mind that open ear headphone tech is in its infancy, so you’re paying a premium no matter what you opt for; if you’re conscious about price, opting for ‘standard’ headphones will get you superior audio quality at a much lower price.

• Value score: 3/5

Nothing Ear (open) review: Design

• Bendy hook makes buds wobble
• IP54 rating and light weight
• Case is nice and slender

I’ll start with the case, because you will too when you take the buds out of the box.

If you’ve tried other ear-hook headphones, you’ll know that the cases often end up being pretty large to house the hook. The Nothing Ear (open)’s case is comparatively small, due to its thickness of only 2cm. Its total dimensions are 12.6 x 4.4 x 2 cm and it weighs 63.8g – I found it more pocketable than many other open ear headphone cases that I’ve tested.

Like most other Nothing headphone cases, this one has a see-through front, so it’s easy to double-check whether the gadgets are in there or not.

The headphones also resemble Nothing earbuds, in that they’re small and see-through with rounded designs, but with the addition of a long silicon hook to go around your ear and a counter-weight at the end. The buds weigh 8.1g each, so they’re lighter than many rivals, which is obviously really important for fitness earbuds.

In terms of an IP rating you’re looking at IP54: protection against dust ingress and sprays of water, but not full immersion in liquid. The important thing, though, is that they’re sweat-proof.

I’ve often touted Nothing’s buds as having some of the best touch controls: they’re pinch-controlled, so you get a nice haptic ‘click’ when you trigger the function. While the Ear (open) don’t provide this same click, they’re also pinch-controlled – they’re easy to use but impossible to accidentally trigger.

That’s a lot of praise for the Nothing Ear (open)’s design, and you’ve (presumably) already read in this review’s introduction that design is the Achilles Heel of the earbuds. And that’s correct.

As I mentioned earlier, the hook is made from silicon, a very weak and flimsy material being used in a very thin hook. The result of this is that, when you move about, the body of the bud isn’t held in place – it bounces around horizontally which is really annoying to feel and affects the sound quality you’re getting. Sometimes, poor fit can be justified by a reviewers’ ears not matching the size of the buds, but given that this is an issue with the build, it’s a lot less subjective than that.

The fit is a lot less rigid than on other open ear headphones I’ve tried, which I can see some people hailing as making them comfortable, but this just exacerbated the issues that I faced. I’d rather firm-feeling wearables than ones that keep flicking me!

This floppy build quality made the Nothing Ear (open) infuriating to use when on a run, as the body would bounce up and down, and at the gym, as bending down to pick up weights or leaning back on a bench would see the gravity pull the body away from my ear. That’s why I said these aren’t fitness headphones – I found myself opting to hear the clunks and grunts of my gym than endure the Ear (open) wobbling around near my ears.

A problem like this doesn’t solely affect exercise though, and it was even a problem when going on walks. It’s hard not to view these as a ‘draft one’ version of the earbud, if the problem is this pronounced.

• Design score: 2/5

Nothing Ear (open) review: Features

• 8-hour battery life, up to 30 if counting case
• Minimal feature set but equalizer present
• ChatGPT function for certain users

In its marketing, Nothing loudly cites that the Ear (open) has a 30-hour battery life, but you have to delve into the small-text to realize that this refers to the combined lasting power of the earbuds and the case.

On their own, the earbuds last for 8 hours of listening time before they need to be charged, which is slightly above average compared to other earbuds — the lack of ANC helps here. The case holds 22 hours, for a grand total of 30, which is a little on the low side compared to some other bud cases on the market but it’s not a terrible figure.

In headphone reviews, ANC usually goes in the ‘features’ section, so I should touch on it for anyone using CTRL-F: there is none, of course, due to the nature of open earbuds. You don’t want to cancel noise, you want as much of it as possible!

In terms of the rest of the feature set, the Nothing Ear (open) has a few taken from other Nothing earbuds, but a few missing too. Using the Nothing X app you can change what the touch controls do, play with an equalizer, turn on a low-latency mode (for gaming, which doesn’t seem like something you’d want to do on open-ear buds?), and set off a ‘find my earbud’ alert which makes them play a loud chirping sound if you’ve lost them.

The equalizer is the main feature there, and it’s just as intuitive as Nothing fans will be used to. It’s default option is a three-band customization model between mid, bass and treble, but there’s an advanced option with an eight-band equalizer for people who know their way around EQ.

In the default Simple mode, there are three four presets as well as the ability to customize your own mix, which I think most people will go for. A few Nothing features like Bass Enhance mode and Listening Test are missing, but that’s not unexpected given the nature of these headphones.

If you own a Nothing or CMF phone you get an extra feature: you can use ChatGPT as your smart assistant from the buds. You can easily squeeze the button and ask your buds what the weather’s like, what the time is or how many kilometres are in a marathon — given that it’s ChatGPT, though, there are no guarantees that the answer will be correct!

• Features score: 3.5/5

Nothing Ear (open) review: Performance

• Max volume isn't high enough
• Lacking bass and mid
• Little sound leaking

You can’t expect incredible audio quality in open-ear headphones, due to the way they work — it’s just the nature of the beast, and a trade-off you get with the increased situational awareness of wearing them. That’s not even factoring in how background sounds will get in the way of your tunes.

However even with this in mind, I wasn't blown away with how the Nothing Ear (open) sounded. I’ve typically found Nothing earbuds to provide overwhelming bass and admirable treble and mid, but that wasn’t the case here.

The earbuds didn't offer as much bass as fitness-bud fans will be accustomed to, and while they did fare a lot better in the treble department, mid was left in the wayside. There was quite a bit of peaking and distorting too, particularly on drums but it affected other instruments to a noticeable degree too.

Some of these issues could be fixed with the EQ, and I squeezed enough extra bass into tunes to emphasize some workout tracks, but was always aware that I could get a better sound quality purely by changing to another pair of earbuds (normal, workout or open).

A gripe I’ve had with previous Nothing earbuds reared its head, in that the maximum volume wasn’t that high. I listened at max volume for most of my listening, and lots of the time when I was outdoors I could barely hear my music.

One thing I do appreciate — though it could be a knock-on from the volume issue — is that there’s very little audio bleed. People around you won’t be pestered by the tunes you’re listening to.

• Performance score: 3/5

Nothing Ear (open) review: scorecard

Nothing Ear (open): Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested

To write this review, I used the Nothing Ear (open) for roughly three weeks. During the first two weeks of that, I only used them for exercise: on a run or at the gym (so perhaps five hours per week), but for the final week I made sure to use them a lot more.

This latter testing involved use at home, at my office, on walks in various areas and on public transport. Most of my testing was done using Spotify and Tidal though I watched a few videos and played games to see how they fared. It was paired with an Android phone during the process.

I've been reviewing technology for TechRadar for almost six years as of writing this, which includes many audio and fitness devices. I've also tested open-ear headphones and other Nothing earbuds prior to the Nothing Ear (open).

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds: Two-minute review

Bose clearly likes the name 'QuietComfort Earbuds', because this is the third pair of earbuds to which the brand assigned the name – and that's not even counting suffixes! To clear up confusion, we've slapped the '2024' on the end up in the headline and our section headers. Got it? Good.

Following on from 2020's Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, 2022's Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 and 2023's Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, these could be called 'Gen 3' or simply '3', but Bose has decided to simplify things but dropping the descriptor entirely. For all intents and purposes, then, these are the new QCE (until newer ones come out).

It's no wonder that audio powerhouse Bose loves this name, though, because it's a very literal description of the two principal selling points of its earbuds. When you wear them, things are quiet (because of the Active Noise Cancellation) and comfortable (because of the design).

First up, the ANC: Bose's earbuds have noise cancellation that beats out anything else I've tried at this price – and many earbuds that cost much more. It completely eradicates all but the most incessant and loud background noises, and its Aware mode is fantastically smart in isolating and amplifying voices while hiding other sounds.

I was surprised by just how dramatic the two modes were. On a stormy day, on Aware mode, I could hear someone talking to me perfectly but didn't hear a peep from the trees which were almost blown at a 90-degree angle. Turn on full Quiet mode and I couldn't even tell if someone was talking to me.

Onto 'comfort', then. Again the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds knock it out of the park, with a snug and sturdy fit. Bose has brought back its stability bands from previous models, but has redesigned them to look slightly less like velociraptor talons – these ridges ensure the buds stick firmly in your ear. During testing, I was constantly surprised by just how secure the earbuds felt; in fact near the end I did an 8km run and never did the earbuds come close to falling out.

But the name isn't all, and the Bose have a few other tricks up their sleeve: they sound great, the battery life is surprisingly good, the app has plenty of features and the price is pretty low all things considered.

A few minor annoyances detract from the experience of using the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, but not by much. I found the case a little too big, and it really bulged out of my pocket. Plus, the buds support the SBC and AAC codecs for music streaming, but audiophiles will miss the likes of aptX, FLAC and WMA.

My personal biggest gripe, though, was that the earbuds' voice controls were far too sensitive, to the point that other people nearby me would accidentally control my earbuds when saying words similar to the voice commands. This was easily remedied by me turning the feature off, but it's a shame for there to be a feature that I can't use.

These issues aside, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds are some of the best mid-range buds you can buy for the price, and might even sway you into spending your hard-earned cash here, instead of on something plenty more expensive but not that much better.

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024 review: Price and release date

• Unveiled in October 2024
• Sells for $179 / £179 (roughly AU$270)

Bose announced the QuietComfort Earbuds in October 2024, following the biannual release schedule of the other two earbuds of the same name.

You can buy the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds for $179 / £179 (roughly AU$270, though I couldn’t find them on sale in Australia). This price puts them as more affordable alternatives to the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, which sell for $299 / £299 / AU$449.

Ignoring the premium alternatives, the ‘standard’ QuietComforts’ price places them in the mid-range earbuds sector – you can’t call them 'cheap' but they’re certainly not expensive either, bringing some top-end features to a lower price point. Importantly, they're about $/£100 cheaper than their two namesakes.

It’s a surprisingly scarce market segment compared with other gadget types' mid-ranges but the JBL Live Beam 3, Creative Aurvana Ace 2 and Sony LinkBuds Fit are some of the few options at that same rough price area.

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024 review: Specs

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024 review: Features

• Fantastic ANC
• 5-band equalizer with presets
• Overexcitable voice controls

To make the most of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, you need to use the bespoke Bose QCE headphones app – not any of the other Bose apps on your chosen app repository – and I’d strongly recommend you download it because it’s your ticket to most of the headphones’ features.

Let's deal with the first half of the QuietComfort name. Bose knocks the 'quiet' bit out of the park – it’s almost like the company names its products based on its fantastic noise cancellation. The QCE use a similar Active Noise Cancellation tech to Bose’s other products, many of which we rate as the best ANC earbuds. In fact, the company’s website implies, but doesn’t go so far as to explicitly say, that it’s exactly the same tech.

Either way the ANC is fantastic, drowning out sounds which I thought would be impervious to the best ANC-ing; no more chatty office spaces, rattling of train carriage or roar of wind in trees. I also found the earbuds’ Aware mode more accurate than many companies’ equivalents – this cancels most background noises but isolates and amplifies certain noises like oncoming traffic or people talking nearby.

The app also has an equalizer – it mostly offers you presets but there’s a custom mode that lets you adjust low, low-mid, mid, high-mid and high sounds to your taste. It’s not quite as in-depth as many earbud EQs but I’d say it’s the most complex you can make an EQ like this while making it usable by non-audiophiles.

Other features enabled by the app include multi-point pairing, the ability to change the touch control functions, a way to set up the earbuds to be remote camera triggers for your phone, a low-latency gaming mode, a battery prediction feature – which was really useful, so much so, I wish there were a way to find it that wasn’t buried in menus! – and voice control.

If you’ve read the introduction, you’ll know that I had an issue with this latter feature. It’s intended to let you use voice commands to control the buds hands-free (rejecting or accepting calls, playing or pausing music, skipping tracks, changing the volume, adjusting the ANC and so on) but it was far, far too sensitive. When I tested the buds in my office or in public, people around me would (accidentally, I presume) trigger these voice functions, and I kept finding my music stopping, or getting louder. It's really annoying. The only way to stop this happening, I found, was to turn off voice commands.

At some point, the QCE are getting a feature from their Ultra sibling: Bose Immersive Audio is on its way, though it wasn’t on the buds as of this review. This feature is basically Bose’s own version of Spatial Audio, so movies, games and sometimes music sound like they're coming from all around you. However the buds miss another feature of the Ultra, CustomTune technology which scans your ears to deliver sound mixed for you, a sign of the lower price.

Bose predicts the battery life of the buds to be 8.5 hours with the case getting you an extra 31.5 hours (or 2.5 charges). In my testing, the buds actually hit nine hours with ANC on, so presumably they'd last even longer with it turned off. I presumed 8.5 hours would be ANC off, with an ANC on figure of around six hours, and was very pleasantly surprised.

• Features score: 4.5/5

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024 review: Design

• Comfortable and secure fit in-ear
• IPX4 rated against sweat and showers
• Chunky case

Given this section is about design, it's time to deal withe the second half of the QuietComfort name.

Each bud weighs 8.5g, and they’re bigger than some other earbuds I’ve used but the center of mass is towards the ears so they don’t wobble when you’re walking. They felt secure and comfortable to wear, even for long period of time, and I never felt any worry about them falling out.

Helping the security of fit is the fact that each earbud has a ‘stability band’, a protruding rubber ridge which helps ensure that the bud is wedged into your ear. There are multiple sizes of this in the case, as well as different ear tip options, and I imagine most people would be able to use these to find a fit as stable as mine.

Further helping the 'comfort' descriptor are the buds' incredibly easy-to-use buttons, which you can activate with just a tap of the flat part of the body.

Unlike many other earbuds, you don’t need to push the buds so far into your ear that they hit skull, nor do they require a finger manoeuvre so complex that you need to be double jointed. However, the sensitive button did pick up accidental touches quite a bit, especially when I was was putting the buds in my ear.

The buds are IPX4 resistant, which Bose says they repel sweat and ‘water’, albeit the latter is more likely to be splashes instead of immersion.

A small gripe I have with the new QuietComfort Earbuds is that the case is a fair bit bigger than most other true wireless cases I’ve tested. It’s not exactly football-sized but its 3.2 x 8.9 cm x 5.1 cm body made it feel like a rock in my pocket.

The case also feels like a questionable element as the buds audibly rattle around in it. I don’t think they could ever sustain damage from this wiggle room but it makes you question whether or not there’s a lot of empty space there…

• Design score: 3.5/5

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024 review: Sound quality

• Warm and energetic audio
• Wide sound stage
• Not all codecs supported

Though Bose hasn’t added a word into its earbuds’ name for sound quality, prospective buyers will be happy to know the QuietComfort Earbuds don’t cost you a premium price.

The QCE have a crackling warm tone, with rich and meaty bass, though not to the extent that these will only cater to bass-heads. I’ve used earbuds that turn the bass up to 11 to the detriment of everything else, but these buds are more nuanced. Mid tones remain energetic and excitable and for the most part, treble did too, although in certain songs I did find the vocals missed some sparkle that other earbuds could provide.

The QuietComforts go nice and loud too – not ear-blisteringly loud when you crank it to the max, but I never found myself going near to the max volume in everyday use.

My favorite aspect of the buds’ audio, though, was a much more dramatic sound stage than many other buds I’ve tested. You can hear the different instruments spread around you like dishes at a tapas restaurant, and if you close your eyes you feel like you could point to where each one is. In fact, I’d say these Bose provide perhaps the best sound stage of any earbuds that don’t support top-end audio codecs.

Oh yeah, about that – support for some fancier codecs and features are missing, which ensures the Bose Earbuds Ultra still maintain some relevance, but if you listen to your music on Spotify you might not even mind.

• Sound quality: 4/5

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024 review: Value

• Rare earbuds that justify the price
• Bose's best value-for-money proposition

I previously referred to the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds as some of the best non-premium in-ears. Though this is true, in that they’re definitely cheaper than the top-end buds you can find on the market, they’re still pricier than loads of other options out there.

If you want to save money, you can find earbuds with pretty good fit or ANC or sound quality for about half the price of the QCE. They won’t do the job quite as well as these buds, but they’ll save you money.

But if you want features as advanced as the QuietComfort offer, you’d be hard-pressed to find a rival as capable on all fronts and costs any less.

I'd add that, being cheaper than previous QCEs and the Ultras, these are arguably the best-value earbuds Bose has put out recently.

• Value: 4/5

Should I buy the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024 review: Also consider

How I tested the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2024

• Tested for two weeks
• Tested at home, in the office and on trips

The testing period for this Bose QuietComfort Earbuds review lasted two weeks, not counting time spent reviewing. I used them alongside my Android smartphone with many different music and video streaming apps, and also games.

The Bose got to enjoy a few different environments over those two weeks including my home, my office, various trips to the local neighborhood and gym, bus and train trips and even a run at one point.

I've been testing gadgets for TechRadar for nearly six years now, including audio products for much of that time, and that includes some of the earbuds I compared the Bose to earlier.

• First reviewed in November 2024

• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector: Two-minute review

The Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector are spectacularly unspectacular. For a pair of cheap wired earbuds, they do everything you’d expect – nothing more, nothing less: audio that’s average at best, a basic yet decently practical design and a lightweight feel.

So, of course, it’s worth starting with a disclaimer. These earbuds have a very low list price of just $24.99 / £14.99 / AU$29.95. As a result, it’s unreasonable to expect great audio from these buds – even if Belkin itself insists that they offer “superior sound quality” (spoiler alert, they don’t). And perhaps unsurprisingly, the overall listening experience you get from the Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector – which will here-on be known as the Belkin SoundForm USB-C – isn’t a good one.

The key issue here is that audio is often pretty tinny. When I compared them to the Skullcandy Set USB-C – which sit on our list of the best wired earbuds – I found the Belkin buds to offer less clarity and instruments often sounded inauthentic. For instance, when I tuned into Holy, Holy by Geordie Greep with the Belkin buds, bass was quite muddy, the choppy guitar lacked sharpness and the usually theatrical, showstopping vocals couldn’t find their defined, satisfying position in the overall mix. Percussion in the treble frequency range would often sound quite grating at higher volumes too, making for a pretty unimpressive listening experience.

I should say, though, that if you’re not too picky on sound quality and just want cheap buds, these can certainly do the job. There were no horrible technical hiccups like audio cutting out, low volume levels or compatibility issues with devices. Sure, a lack of instrumental separation and narrow soundstage can leave music sounding pretty restricted, but bass has a decent (albeit not booming) kick and treble – although sometimes grating – can be bright when listening to more upbeat tracks.

However, some sonic shortcomings could admittedly be quite frustrating, even if you’re a more casual listener. When listening to Rains again by Solji, the vocalist’s high notes came through in a rather brash manner, which was a little uncomfortable on the ear. On a slightly different note, I found cable noise to be pretty prominent with the SoundForm USB-C. This is accentuated when you’re on the go or moving around a fair bit, making these far from ideal if you need some buds for workouts or walks. In fairness, however, cable noise is pretty typical with wired earbuds and you often have to splash a bit more cash to avoid this – pricier models like the Shure AONIC 3 are pretty competent in tempering the issue.

Other than cable noise, I had very few problems with the Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector’s design. The attached controller, although a little on the chunky side, is responsive, works well and has volume controls, as well as a play/pause button that can also be used to take calls or skip songs. The actual USB-C connector is decent too, didn’t protrude out of the port when using a Samsung Galaxy S24 FE and isn’t too large when holding the device in-hand. To cap that off, these have a pleasingly comfortable in-ear feel. Unlike a lot of cheap buds, I never felt that these were falling out of my ears, even when listening for multiple hours consecutively. Belkin also includes a selection of different sized ear tips, so no matter your ear size you can form a pretty tight seal for use.

On the topic of fit, it’s important to get a strong seal when using the SoundForm USB-C. As wired buds; they’re not going to offer active noise cancellation and instead rely on passive noise isolation for banishing external noise. I used the medium-sized ear tips and found passive noise isolation to be quite good. I could still hear some external noises such as typing with volume at around 60-70%, but this was pretty dulled. For the price you pay, I definitely felt that the quality of noise isolation was above average.

If you’re concerned about the SoundForm USB-C accruing damage when walking in the rain, you can rest assured. These have an IPX5 waterproof rating, meaning they can survive direct contact with water jets – so even if it’s raining cats and dogs you should be good here. Alas, this is where my praise meets its bitter end.

That’s because it’s time to talk about the actual look of these buds. In my view, these aren’t at all easy on the eye. Sure, the rounded shape of the buds is decent and pretty practical, plus the Pink and Blue color options (available in the US and Australia) are quite appealing, but that’s about it. The buds themselves look very plasticky and the glossy exterior only really accentuates that. In addition, the wire is flat, rather than rounded, making for a not-so-elegant appearance. Beyond that, I found the wire to kink pretty easily, so don’t expect peak durability. The “tangle-free” claim is also an exaggeration – I found, like most wired buds, the SoundForm USB-C could get in a twist after pocketing them or placing them into tight spaces.

Finally, a word on the inbuilt mic, which Belkin says can offer “clear” call quality. But it can’t. I tried making a voice recording and I won’t dress it up – the results were poor. My voice sounded pretty tinny and there was an audible hiss present throughout the recording. When making a phone call, my voice was clear enough to hear on the other end of the line, but it wasn’t particularly clean and there was static too. So, if you want an upgrade on your phone’s inbuilt mic, don’t expect to be satisfied by what the SoundForm USB-C have to offer.

So, despite the low price-point of the Belkin SoundForm USB-C are they really worth considering? In my view, no. There are definitely some positives here – noise isolation is pretty good, you get a comfortable fit and the IPX5 waterproof rating is a nice touch. But as always, what matters most is sound and these buds don’t fare well in this department. Overall audio is pretty tinny, narrow and treble can get quite grating too. On top of that, mic quality is disappointing and the buds’ design lacks finesse. Sure, these have an ultra-low price and are totally functional, but you’ll certainly find better quality from competitors in our guide to the best cheap headphones.

Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector review: Price and release date

• $24.99 / £14.99 / AU$29.95
• Launched in 2019

The Belkin SoundForm USB-C earbuds released in 2019, so they’re not the freshest on the market, but will work perfectly well with any modern handset or device with USB-C. On Amazon UK they’re only available in Black and White, although Amazon US and Australia have them in more enticing Pink and Blue options.

These wired buds have a list price of $24.99 / £14.99 / AU$29.95, meaning they’re a super-cheap option. This is a pretty competitive space – there are some good options from the likes of Skullcandy and Final, so make sure to assess alternatives before snapping these up.

Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector review: Specs

Should you buy the Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector review: Also consider

Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector review: How I tested

• Tested over the course of multiple weeks
• Used in the office, while on walks and at home
• Predominantly tested using Tidal on the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE

I put the Belkin SoundForm Wired Earbuds with USB-C Connector to the test over the course of multiple weeks. I predominantly used them while listening to music on Tidal with the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, but I also played tunes on Spotify and watched video content via YouTube. I used the buds in an office environment and while out on walks near busy roads to trial their noise isolation capabilities, but also at home for more zoned-in listening sessions.

When listening to tunes I played tracks from the TechRadar testing playlist, which contains tracks from a variety of genres, although I also spent hours blasting bangers from my personal library. When appropriate, I pitted these buds against the similarly priced Skullcandy Set USB-C, to compare audio quality, comfort and design choices, among other things.

• First reviewed: November 2024
• Read more about how we test

FiiO FH19: Two-minute review

Another day, another pair of FiiO headphones, and this time it’s the FiiO FH19, a pair of wired in-ear monitors. The FH19 are, by FiiO standards, a fairly expensive proposition and so it follows that the company, as is its established practice, has thrown the kitchen sink at them where specification and design are concerned. If FiiO has overlooked anything here, I’m not at all sure what it might be.

As is appropriate for a product with such a big specification – a couple of dynamic drivers plus half a dozen balanced armatures per earbud, enhancement technology for most parts of the frequency range, high purity sterling silver cable, you name it – the FiiO FH19 are quite physically large, too. The provision for 22 pairs (count ‘em!) of various ear tips helps to get the best fit, but at 12g a side these are chunky earbuds despite the liberal use of aluminium and titanium in their construction. And despite their carefully ergonomic shape, plenty of FH19 will protrude from all but the most generously sized ear-hole.

A contender for best wired earbuds? Perhaps – they have plenty to them, after all – but may fall down on that top-end sound. It's a close-run thing.

FiiO FH19 review: Price and release date

• $599; £549; AU$999
• Launched in July 2024

The FiiO FH19 wired in-ear monitors are on sale now, and as you can see from the asking price in various territories, the company is not afraid of lining up against some of the biggest names in all of IEM-land. From the eccentricity of the Campfire Audio Cascara to the dead-eyed pro credentials of Sennheiser IE 600 and Shure SE535, you’re not short of choice if you’ve big money to spend…

FiiO FH19 review: Specs

Fiio FH19 review: Features

• Hybrid dynamic driver/balanced armature arrangement
• Midrange notch filter and ‘S.Turbo’ bass enhancement
• High-purity sterling silver cable

The biggest news here as regards ‘features’ has to be the driver array FiiO has specified – each FH19 earbud features no fewer than eight drivers. A pair of 13.7mm dynamic drivers are arranged in a push/pull layout in an effort to maximize phase consistency and reduce the amount of power required to achieve optimum sound pressure level, and six Knowles balanced armature units deal with midrange and treble reproduction. FiiO has worked closely with Knowles, specifying acoustic vents at the rear cavity of the midrange drivers to maximize sound energy, and with Onkyo to ensure the cleanest possible sound from the dynamic driver arrangement.

And just in case this seems a bit tentative, the company has added a midrange notch filter to minimize the overlap between the sound produced by the midrange and high-frequency balanced armatures. There’s also the racy-sounding ‘S.Turbo’ technology that literally acts like a turbocharger by guiding low-frequency soundwaves through a turbine-like structure to deliver (according to FiiO) deep and vibrant low frequencies. 

What else? Well, rather than resistor-based ceramic capacitors, the FH19 feature film capacitors for greater crossover accuracy. And a suspended voice coil reduces both the adhesive load and reduces the possibility of unnecessary contact – instead, there ought to be smooth, uniform diaphragm movement.

FiiO suggests the entire FH19 arrangement results in a pair of in-ear monitors with a frequency response of 8Hz - 40Khz, a sensitivity of 109dB and an impedance of 16 ohms. Which means the FH19 really ought to be delivering full-range sound from pretty much any source of music without too much difficulty.   

Getting audio information into this almost performatively complex arrangement happens via 1.2m of high-purity sterling silver cable. It consists of eight braided strands, each carrying 28 wires for a total of 224 wires - each individual wire is enamelled, and the cable is twisted in Litz braids. It connects to each earbud using stainless steel MMCX connectors, and the connection to a music source can be made using either of the ‘twist/lock’ unbalanced 3.5mm or balanced 4.4mm jacks that are supplied.     

• Features score: 5/5

Fiio FH19 review: Design

• Semi-open housing
• Swappable audio filters
• Titanium and aluminium construction

First things first: these are relatively large, relatively heavy in-ear monitors, and despite the fact that FiiO provides no fewer than 22(!) pairs of ear tips of various sizes and materials, if you’re on the smaller-eared side the FH19 are going to feel like quite an uncomfortable earful. 

Let’s assume, then, that your ears are no smaller than ‘a bit smaller than average’. In this scenario, the FH19 are easy to fit securely and, thanks to the carefully ergonomic shape of the housing, comfortable too. Yes, they protrude from the ear in a slightly inelegant fashion, but that just allows bystanders to get a good look at the semi-open design with its aluminium shell and titanium midframe.

There are sound reasons why the FH19 feature a semi-open housing, of course – they’re mostly to do with the balance of internal air pressure and the prevention of pressure on the eardrum. Equally, FiiO has selected aluminium for the earbud shell because of its light weight, durability and willingness to be formed into relatively complex shapes, while titanium’s rigidity and resistance to corrosion make it a wise choice for the midframe. The fact that they combine to deliver a product that looks upmarket and even quite dramatic doesn’t do any harm, though.

Obviously, by allowing the wearer so much scope to get a comfortable fit, FiiO is hoping to maximize the audio performance of the FH19, but it’s also taken more direct steps. The FH19 are pre-installed with a ‘green’ audio filter which, according to the company, “delivers refined and detailed treble”. But it also supplies two alternative pairs that can be fitted by the wearer: ‘red’ (which “enhances low frequencies, providing powerful and impactful bass”) and ‘black’ (“offers balanced sound that is clear and transparent”). A little tool is supplied to make the changeover as simple as possible.

The tool itself arrives in a fairly large, hexagonal travel case that features some branding and also contains a magnetic cable-tie, a small brush to help keep your FH19 clean, and the alternative 3.5mm cable termination. It, like the earbuds themselves, looks and feels like a premium item. 

• Design score: 4.5/5

FiiO FH19 review: Sound quality

• Spacious, well-defined sound
• Rapid, punchy and entertaining presentation
• Can be goaded into top-end unruliness

Like any pair of in-ear monitors, the FiiO FH19 will perform most agreeably when they fit correctly. Unlike most pairs of in-ear monitors, the FiiO offer you well over a dozen options where ear tips are concerned, so getting to the point of identifying the most appropriate pair takes a little longer than normal.

Similarly, the audio filter options need to be investigated in order for you to establish what your preference is – although, as I will discuss just a little later, the pre-fitted ‘green’ pair are likely to be the least commonly deployed. But once you have reached the point whereby you’re happy with both the physical fit and the audio filters fitted to the FH19, there’s an awful lot to like about the way they sound.

A 24bit/44,1kHz FLAC file of Bad Guy by Billie Eilish, for instance, sounds energetic, wide-open and rapid. There’s proper control of the attack of low-frequency sounds, so even when they’re coming thick and fast there’s proper definition and separation. Rhythmic expression is confident, and momentum is maintained at every turn. Similarly the midrange is detailed and packed with variation, so the close-mic’d vocal is expressive and information regarding technique, timbre, attitude and all the rest of it is available in spades.

The semi-open arrangement allows the FH19 to sound more spacious than the usual ‘directly into your ear’ sensation of monitors that are, to be fair, directly in your ear. There’s an airiness and openness to the soundstage they present, a sensation of the gap between specific elements of a recording and more than enough elbow-room for each of those elements to do their thing in something approaching isolation. But there’s no overall sense of isolation or remoteness to the sound the FH19 serves up: instead it’s quite tightly unified and unarguably ‘together’. The recording is presented as a performance, as individual elements acting with a common aim rather than simply doing their own thing while other things happen nearby.

Switch to a 24bit/96kHz FLAC file of Chick Corea’s Return to Forever and the FH19 continue to impress. They pay close attention to the harmonic variations in specific instruments and the wordless vocalizations, and dispatch the bigger dynamic shifts in volume or intensity with the sort of casual effortlessness that lets you know  there’s plenty more where that came from. 

The tonality here is basically neutral, your choice of audio filter notwithstanding, and despite the numerousness of the drivers, the FH19 integrate the frequency range well. Where the audio filters come into play most obviously, though, is where treble response is concerned.

A 24bit/44.1kHz FLAC file of LesAplx by Floating Points has plenty of high-frequency activity, of many different tones and substances, to offer. There’s no two ways about it, with their default ‘green’ audio filters fitted, the FiiO FH19 are altogether too happy to get hard and edgy at the top of the frequency range. Even with one of the other filter options selected (my preference is for the ‘black’ option, FWIW), it doesn’t take a lot for the treble response here to get a bit overexcited. Dial in more volume and things just get shinier and, in extremis, abrasive.

Still, this is easily mitigated against. Leave the ‘green’ audio filters well alone, don’t listen at the sort of volumes you shouldn’t really be listening at anyway, and all will be well. 

• Sound quality score: 4.5/5

FiiO FH19 review: Value

• Stack up well against the competition for price
• …But only if they fit

If you’ve read this far then I’m going to go ahead and assume you don’t think your ears are too small for FH19 ownership. So as long as they fit, there’s plenty to suggest the FiiO offer very acceptable value for money

The quality of materials used and the way they’re constructed, the engineering prowess that’s been brought to bear and, most of all, the open and engaging sound quality they’re capable of delivering in almost every circumstance see to that. Hear them against the best of their rivals and you’ll quickly realise what FiiO is offering here is not to be sneezed at. 

• Value score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the FiiO FH19?

Buy them if...

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FiiO FH19 review: Also consider

How I tested the FiiO FH19

• Connected to a FiiO M15S DAP
• Connected to an iFi iDSD Diablo 2 headphone amp
• With a big range of digital audio content of all types and file sizes

I won’t pretend it has been any kind of hardship, not really. Using the 4.4mm balanced connection I joined the FiiO FH19 to a FiiO M15S digital audio player and to an iFi iDSD Diablo 2 headphone amp – this way I was able to listen to digital audio files of all sizes (320kbps to 24bit/192kHz) and to music of all styles. I also connected them directly to the 3.5mm unbalanced headphone socket of an Apple MacBook Pro – not an experiment I’m in any kind of hurry to repeat. 

Read more about how we test earbuds.

• First reviewed: October 2024 
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