Remember that in a previous headphone brand event, a well-known headphone brand manager once revealed that the global mobile phone saturation is about 300 million, and the number of headphones is "amazing", more than 100 million, of course, here includes wired headphones and wireless headphones. He also said that the reason why the number of headphones has an "explosive" growth in recent years, on the one hand, is that the manufacturer will come with the wired headphones that the mobile phone will come with, on the other hand, after the mobile phone removes 3.5mm, the true wireless headphones will "replace" the wired headphones to become the first choice of the public users. This wireless headset, which is charged through a small charging compartment and has the characteristics of "separation", soon occupied the entry-level market due to portable connection methods and low price.
In the mainstream true wireless market, the "true wireless revolution" led by Apple's AirPods has made TWS sing. According to the I Love Audio Network survey, in 2018, the global TWS headphone sales were only 0.46 billion, and by 2021, the global TWS headphone sales exceeded 310 million units, according to the conservative amount of mobile phones, basically a mobile phone with a TWS headset, and according to data analysis, the first batch of users' replacement tide, richer scene demand and TWS brand lined up, are the main factors promoting the growth of the true wireless headphones market.
In 2021, the sales of true wireless headphones have exceeded 310 million Picture source: Picture from I Love Audio Network
From this point of view, TWS true wireless is the final evolution of the future "headphone" form, like the previous popular neck hanging type and wireless big ear, because it is still unable to get rid of the "line" shackles and big ear endurance carrying problems, it is difficult to board the mainstream "wireless" stage, and TWS headphones, in terms of volume, endurance, wearing, sound quality have a very big advantage.
The focus of this review is naturally not "why TWS headphones can replace wired headphones" nor "why neck-mounted and wireless big ears can't shake the status of TWS", but to "return" to a "fundamental problem".
How should mass users choose to buy real wireless headphones?
Looking at the reviews on the Internet, it is not difficult to find that there are very few reviews that are useful for the "public" to understand some language to describe how such products are, except that "Eight Strands" is "Metaphysical Text" (including I sometimes easily enter a "HiFi state").
So in order to meet the title and not off topic, this horizontal review will try to be written as easy to understand, of course, in the sound quality part, in addition to the regular "HiFi" review, will concisely and concisely comment on the biggest features of the sound part of this headset.
As a headphone enthusiast, I also intentionally or unintentionally pay attention to some mass consumers around me, in fact, for true wireless headphones, the most important thing is not only whether the sound quality is clear, whether the "wearing" comfort is also one of the important reference factors.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
Once a friend asked me what real wireless headphones to recommend, in fact, if you ask, there is no budget and no need for noise reduction, if it is an enthusiast, I may directly recommend more than 3000 yuan of true wireless. But if for a user who does not understand the real wireless product, you can still understand his mood: in the face of a variety of real wireless headphones, there is really no way to start, then I will still ask: "What is the budget?" Only then did I ask if I liked a brand or feature.
5 years ago, the budget for everyone to buy Bluetooth headsets was generally still in the 500 yuan file, and in recent years, the question has doubled, reaching a thousand yuan start.
I also recommend friends who are ready to buy real wireless headphones and put the budget in a thousand dollars.
Because from the current point of view, whether it is a traditional headphone manufacturer, or a "new" digital brand that is ready to "get involved" in the true wireless headphone market, after the real wireless headphones have been imitated, the low price has seized the market, the function is mature, and the technology is mature, and the first product price is in the "thousand yuan" file.
Traditional headphone manufacturers such as Sennheiser, Iron Triangle, and Sony actually entered the TWS headset market relatively late. In addition, after the "entry" of the TWS market is too fierce, it is inevitable to "reduce the value" to launch a new machine at a price of 1,000 yuan, these products are often in order to be recognized by consumers in the market. In terms of sound tuning, we will not hesitate to use the new acoustic technology that will be used in the "flagship products" in order to highlight the characteristics of traditional audio manufacturers in "sound quality"; and some new digital manufacturers have also launched some "thousand yuan" flagship price new machines, these new products In addition to the unit material, tuning technology can "match" the traditional headphone brand strength, but also use more convenient APP, more innovative functions to provide a more interesting experience.
"Traditional" headphone brands have obviously been intertwined with the "big factory" mobile phone brand, competing with each other (internal) competition (volume), it seems to be like the current domestic mobile phone market, mobile phone manufacturers continue to innovate, although there is no brand every month to produce a sub-flagship so frequently, but for often a year or two years to produce a wired earbuds of the "traditional" audio manufacturers, in the "wireless" headphones in this track, is obviously "backward".
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
And the frequent launch of new products feedback to the market makes consumers a little confused, so many new products, where is the difference? How exactly to choose?
To this end, this time for everyone to select the market everyone "widely known" brand currently promoted four thousand yuan more representative products, from everyone is most concerned about the wear, function, endurance, sound quality, noise reduction and price of the six dimensions, to a horizontal comparison.
These four products are Sony LinkBuds, WF-1000XM4; Honor Earbuds 3 Pro and OPPO Enco X2, the reason for the choice of Sony two headphones, in addition to LinkBuds is new, WF-1000XM4 is still as Sony's home sales "shoulder handle", it is necessary to join the horizontal review, Glory and OPPO Needless to say, these two digital brands that are well known to the public with more interesting functions, such as Glory's "temperature measurement" And OPPO's "Hisaishi" sound quality quickly "out of the circle", but also in the headphone circle with excellent sound quality caused a hot discussion among burners.
Back to the truth, many users choose true wireless, the first thing to feel is the sense of "wearing", which is also the "strongest perception", the four headphones selected this time, if you have seen the evaluation of LinkBuds before the product play, without mentioning more, you can also guess who is most comfortable.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
It is also obvious that from the form of these four headphones, Sony LinkBuds shape is the most special, like two doughnuts connected end to end, don't underestimate the middle "digging" a hole.
Sony for the first time in TWS headphones to use this structure, and remove the dust cover and use the external magnetic structure design of the speaker unit similar, this "open" structure and flat head plug similar, in addition to the sound to be more natural and transparent than the "ear type", in fact, it is not difficult to look at from the structure, this more "cool" structure, in fact, for some oily ears or otitis media users, obviously more comfortable than the "plug" "block" wearing way, can solve the problem of such users in wearing.
"Upper circle" integrated V1 processor, "lower circle" is only a unit, this "thin as a cicada wing" thickness, through the "oblique insertion" and at the pinna to do the fulcrum to enhance stability, which is actually more stable than its own WF-1000XM4 noise reduction beans only rely on the "hard plug" way, and for the honor Earthbuds 3 Pro, OPPO Enco X2, these two conventional in-ear earbuds, but also more stable.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
Since it comes to stability, the evaluation method of this time is also "scenario-based" multi-dimensional to test. In fact, for the general use scenario, such as daily commuting, jogging exercise and doing aerobic exercise, these four headphones are very stable, basically covering a considerable part of the use of the scene. But since it is "scene-based", it is an extreme challenge, as a universal enthusiast, I came to Universal Studios in pairs to test the stability of these four headphones through actual experience.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
The item chosen is the Harry Potter Forbidden Tour, a 360-degree dead-angle rotation plus rotation that is ideal for testing stability and can even simulate some "extreme sports", such as the turn of a "ski" similar to a "ski" when the robotic arm moves quickly.
Sony LinkBuds thanks to the way of wearing, it is the most stable, no matter how to roll can be "firmly fixed" in the ear, followed by the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro, OPPO Enco X2, two conventional style wireless headphones.
Four headphones wearing figure Source: Pin play lzh photo
The above test is actually a bit extreme for mass users. For mass users, running is already the limit, after the actual run found, and the results of the previous ride project, Sony LinkBuds is still the most stable, so no longer here to write too much.
Before testing stability, you need to connect each headset and mobile phone. In this seemingly "simple" process, in fact, each model has a "subtle use gap", if you are using an honor mobile phone or OPPO model, the corresponding headphones will have the corresponding "quick" pairing pop-up prompt, just need to click according to the prompt. Sony's two headsets, in order to use richer APP functions, need to be manually Connected bluetooth first, and then activated in the APP software.
Next, let's talk about the APP part in detail
When playing with Sony LinkBuds headphones, I focused all my attention on wearing stability and sound quality performance, and did not notice that this open headphone can also be connected to Sony Sony Headphones, and I did not expect that there are functional settings comparable to Sony's flagship models after connection, which I did not expect at all.
After using sony Headphones connection, in addition to no noise reduction, the basic and WF-1000XM4 are not much different, such as the main interface "sound" menu bar can be integrated with smart no-take (as long as the headset monitors the talk, the system will pause the player music), equalizer, Bluetooth connection quality mode (sound priority or stability priority) and DESS switch.
Sony LinkBuds screenshot Image source: Pin play lzh photo
And in the "system" column can be directly controlled integrated adaptive volume control (if the monitoring environment volume is relatively large, the headset will intelligently increase the volume of music), "wide-area click" function, the latter is through the cheek and ear between the area to complete the operation to achieve "fuzzy range click", the actual test can only be said to be a "supplement" to the operation, daily or through the headphone cavity panel to complete the operation, in addition to tracking the use of the process through activities and information bar and check the headset firmware status.
In addition to the noise reduction part, the WF-1000XM4 is basically the same as the LinkBuds function interface. But as Sony's flagship noise-cancelling true wireless headphones, in some "exclusive" technologies, the specifications used are higher, such as the WF-1000XM4, which uses an enhanced version of the digital sound enhancement engine, DSEE Extreme, which is equivalent to improving the quality of digital audio in real time by improving the sampling accuracy and frequency, which Is not available in LinkBuds.
WF-1000XM4 noise reduction part and glory, OPPO two headphones also with noise reduction function of the biggest difference, is the former to provide more detailed "adaptive" noise reduction "auxiliary" adjustment function, such as in the "status" column can see the "adaptive sound control" option, it will be based on your current state of action, such as whether to stop or walk or commute, and through position learning, to provide the appropriate noise reduction intensity, in addition to manually adjust the ambient sound level, there are 20 levels, Arguably the WF-1000XM4 offers the most detailed noise reduction options.
Sony WF-1000XM4 software screenshot Image source: Pin Play lzh photo
And the glory and OPPO function settings, I personally feel more suitable for "public" users, in addition to the use of their own mobile phones can be quickly matched external, if it is other brands of mobile phones, you need to download the corresponding software, glory for "glory wisdom space", OPPO for "joy", the corresponding software of the two headphones is not easy to find, so the corresponding two-dimensional code on the scan product packaging is the most secure, which is also the general status quo of the real wireless Bluetooth headset launched by the mobile phone "big factory", which is very convenient with its own products, For other brands of mobile phones, it is not so friendly.
Honor Earthbuds 3 Pro does not have an independent headphone APP developed for headphones, but integrated in the Honor Ecological APP, after downloading the APP, you also need to download the headphone plug-in for adjustment (but this step is automatic), the overall operation interface is more intuitive, in addition to the integration of temperature monitoring time adjustment options, temperature monitoring charts, intuitively see the user's own temperature status.
OPPO Enco X2 is four headphone products, three APP in the most emphasis on the "sound" experience, such as through the "golden hearing" and "test listening" to complete the software sound adaptive tuning, "personalized noise reduction" will be based on fit and ear canal structure, the noise reduction effect is automatically improved, of course, there are rich control settings and like "game mode", "device dual connection" such as more emphasis on "specific scene" functions, compared to the first three products can adjust more "sound" options.
Honor Earbuds 3 Pro Temperature Measurement Interface Screenshot Image Source: Pin Play lzh Photo
For mass users, the "aesthetics" of the software is also within the scope of choice, and it is obvious that OPPO's "Huanlu" APP has the upper hand in aesthetics.
OPPO Enco X2 software screenshot Image source: Pin Play lzh photo
Detailed interpretation of the sound quality part (the metaphysical part is coming)
Next, enter the "subjective" evaluation of the sound, because the four headphones in the on-noise reduction mode, and after turning off the noise reduction normal playback of the sound is no more than right, so the noise reduction will be turned off first to test, and then will be turned on "noise reduction" for subjective evaluation.
Since LinkBuds does not have a noise reduction function at all, here is a brief overview:
The overall low frequency in the quality, the rebound speed is relatively fast, diving and cohesion in general, although the transient response is good, but because of the lack of a certain amount of sense, so that the entire low frequency is relatively thin, plus for the open design, so the low frequency advantage is not obvious, the intermediate frequency performance vocal distance is good, the female and male voice intermediate frequency density is relatively high, but compared to Sony's traditional in-ear headphones such as EXK, XBA series, the taste is not "strong", but fortunately the vocal restoration is good, at least it will not sing Cai Qin into Teresa Teng Lijun, In fact, this kind of mid-range vocal performance is more suitable for listening to some "light" type of female voices, such as Lavigne, Sarah Brightman or Faye Wong, who have both charm and clear voice.
High-frequency extensions and overtones are at normal levels, but they are not successful. In addition, in the creation of the soundstage, there is still a difference from the earplugs, the overall sense of sound field space is closer to the MX985/980 Senhai flat head plug, the horizontal is wide and vast, and the longitudinal layering is not as clear as the earbuds.
Of course, the advantage of the sound field is also due to the open structure, which is still stronger than the same price dynamic ring earbuds.
LinkBuds summed up in one sentence: the intermediate frequency vocal and high frequency and sound field performance is better, and the low frequency performance is slightly insufficient due to structural characteristics, but the low frequency can still be "compensated" through the APP equalizer.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
As Sony's flagship, the WF-1000XM4 is indeed remarkable in terms of sound performance. Its biggest feature is that the horizontal soundstage is very wide, compared with the same price of true wireless headphones is no better; in addition, the overall tuning style is not bland, but a tuning style with obvious dyeing taste, slightly rich trend.
And in the low frequency part of the sense of volume, cohesion, elasticity are good, with the "C set" of this kind of inert sponge material earbuds, there can indeed be a "fist to flesh" sense of hearing; the vocal part of the knot is clear, no tooth tone, with that unique taste of the sound dyeing; the middle frequency vocal part is the highlight, although the vocal clarity is very high, but there is no kind of knot like the excessive clarity after the easy to bring frizz and tooth sound, the human voice has a moist feeling, but not like the kind of excessive moisture sponge.
WF-1000XM4 one-sentence summary: the sound has a "strong" Sony flavor, in terms of sound field layering, it is the best of the four, but the sound density is too high, and in the performance of some tracks, the high frequency may have some "dull".
Honor Earthbuds 3 Pro low frequency is just right for me personally, I don't know if it is because of age (no), whether it is deep diving or ample overtone, anyway, I just like the transient response is relatively "fast" low frequency performance.
In terms of soundstage, instrumental music and vocal knots are accurate, but in terms of atmosphere, it may be because of the low frequency volume sense is less, so it does not belong to the "intense" type, but it is not "quiet and dull", when listening to large compilations and trio, quartets, this "permeability" can show the original "sense of scene" of this kind of instrumental music. However, because the headphone unit stroke is relatively "large", note that this is only relatively speaking, so low-frequency cohesion is OK, in listening to some of the more dense drum beats, this cohesion and high transient brought about by the "knock", clear and natural.
When listening to classic songs such as Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" and "Hello", the vocals and the drum beats of the background are coordinated, the longitudinal layering is very good, not flat and has a certain sense of air, coupled with a not "viscous" atmosphere, so the sound is very natural, can show Adele's dense and delicate, hard and clear and three-dimensional voice.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
Glory Earthbuds 3 Pro summed up in one sentence: it has a very good "transparency", in addition, the vocals are delicate and moist, and the overall style is biased towards the upper plate, which is suitable for instrumental tracks.
OPPO Enco X2 low frequency is the most impressive, especially after opening the "Hisaishi Jean" tuning style, whether it is low frequency volume sense or elastic strength, diving or cohesion have reached my expectations: the sense of volume does not blow the head, the rebound speed is faster, and the cohesion is slightly stronger (comparable to wireless in the ear). In addition, the low-frequency atmosphere is also very good, the lower plate is very stable, and the sense of flattery is strong.
The intermediate frequency is still the warm and delicate style of OPPO, followed by the medium frequency density that is difficult to achieve in the TWS headphones, combined with the more easy to push attributes, the overall vocal sound is good. In addition, the sense of knot is closer, the vocals are smoother to the ear, and it is almost difficult to hear the grainy feeling.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
The high-frequency is relatively clear style, which is very suitable for listening to ACG tracks, so that the listening sensation of the slightly tilted upward disk will not have a bright listening sense. Both extension and overtone have some improvements over other true wireless brands, but it is still the taste of OPPO: the high-frequency performance is more warm and the line sense is clear and not hazy.
OPPO Enco X2 one-sentence summary: Enco X2 is the most "balanced" of the three frequencies of these four headphones, in addition, with the "Hisaishi Jean" tuning style, it can also adapt to the mainstream vocals, instrumental music, and some classical tracks.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
In terms of noise reduction, let's put aside the open structure of LinkBuds for the time being, in order to ensure fairness, the remaining three headphones are turned on "deep" noise reduction, this part I completed in the subway scene, of which the most outstanding noise reduction effect is sony WF-1000XM4, after wearing with the sponge cover, it can be very effective to filter out the "rumble" of the subway, the effect is very obvious.
It is followed by the Honor Emeralds 3 Pro, second only to the Sony WF-1000XM4, which has good noise cancellation when wearing the largest earbud sleeve. OPPO Enco X2 in the turn on the depth of noise reduction, the effect is not as good as the glory Ofbuds 3 Pro, although it can filter out the subway "rumbling" noise, but for slightly higher frequency sounds, such as rail gear friction sound, whistle sound, noise cancellation effect is general, the overall noise reduction effect can only be said to be decent.
Image source: Lzh photo of pin play
For the LinkBuds headphones, some previous UP main video reviews look at this innovative product from the perspective of "noise-canceling headphones", which must be useless. Because it itself cannot be classified with "noise-canceling headphones", LinkBuds has a significance, which is to allow consumers who need to complete their homework outdoors to communicate through headphone voice through headphones when they can hear the surrounding environment.
There may be some users who feel that whether it will affect daily calls because of the special structure of LinkBuds, so I conducted a call test and found that in the chaotic situation of the outside world, in fact, the sound of the other party "inside the headset" is very clear. On the one hand, thanks to the precision voice pickup technology, Bluetooth 5.2 technology, so that the voice is clear and stable, on the other hand, combined with neural network learning, such as daily commuting, the system will filter out the surrounding noise according to the surrounding environment state in this scene, so that the voice call quality is better, and the perception of the "missed sound" situation is not strong.
During the experience, I was thinking about a question, what kind of people are suitable for this type of headphones? Outdoor workers? Park amusement park service staff? guide?
In fact, public users can find their own needs from LinkBuds, such as the need for wearing comfort; for the demand for call quality; for the demand for long battery life and the demand for "popular" sound style, etc. In other words, although it looks strange, it is actually more suitable for the general user group than the other three products in this review.
Finally, let's talk about battery life
That is not only continuous playing music, but also turning on deep noise reduction, how about the performance in terms of battery life? After 2 hours of continuous looping, the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro has 90% of the battery left, ranking first, with The LinkBuds at 85%, the WF-1000XM4 at 80%, and the OPPO Enco X2 at 70%.
However, because each family's charging speed is very fast, some models also support wireless charging, so it can completely "dispel" the power anxiety. Don't worry too much about that.
What about the price?
Don't look at the official price of these real wireless headphones are "thousands of yuan", but the price gap on each online shopping platform is still relatively large, if you care about the warranty, it is recommended to buy directly in the official mall.
LinkBuds prices are still very strong At present, image source: Sony's official website
Honor Earths 3 Pro currently requires a deposit Source: Honor official website
Image source: OPPO official website
Source: Sony official website
Although the price of Sony's flagship true wireless flagship is close to 2,000 yuan, the price is similar to LinkBuds in Pinduoduo
LinkBuds is currently priced at about 1200 yuan in various channels, while the glory Earths 3 Pro and OPPO Enco X2 are still firm because they have just come out, the former is 899 yuan, the latter is 999 yuan. Although the official website pricing of WF-1000XM4 is as high as 1999 yuan, if you want to "shear the wool", you need to "wander" in various third-party channels, and there are different preferential margins.
Finally, direct purchase recommendations are given:
If the daily outdoors, need to communicate with the voice at any time, then suitable for long-term wear of LinkBuds as the first choice, this headset is recommended that users with conditions go to the offline physical store to personally bring headphones to try, I believe you will be the same as me, it will have a different understanding.
If you are a loyalist of Sony's "Dafa" or have a very high demand for noise reduction, the WF-1000XM4 should be the best product for noise reduction and sound quality at this price point.
If you are an Honor ecosystem user (Note: Huawei mobile phones also need to download the APP separately), or want to have a long battery life and have the need to monitor their own health status, Earbuds 3 Pro is definitely the first choice.
If you are an OPPO mobile phone user (OPPO, OnePlus, realme), or want to try different sound styles, or simply a pure music lover, then oppo Enco X2 is worth buying.
Of course, the above can actually be seen as an advantage, so let's summarize the problems used:
LinkBuds because of the unique structural design, although it can provide a very good intermediate frequency and high frequency extension, but the low frequency is still not dominant, in addition, it is the only model in the above four headphones without active noise reduction, long-term commuter users may need to bring another active noise reduction headphones to use.
Although the WF-1000XM4 cavity has converged compared to the previous generation, the overall structure is still relatively large, and users with smaller auricular parts need to adapt, and it may be painful to wear for a long time.
The Earbuds 3 Pro's temperature measurement function has not been integrated with other body monitors, and it is currently more single, more like a gimmick.
Oppo Enco X2 looks the same as the previous generation, and it feels like a "lonely". In addition, the overall product plastic sense is relatively strong, the workmanship is not as exquisite as the above three models, and the first batch of users around me have the situation that the headphones can still not be disconnected after putting them back into the charging compartment.
The above is the subjective experience of the four thousand-dollar TWS Bluetooth headsets, and it is once again recommended that conditional users go to the offline store for actual experience before purchasing, and do not be fooled by the "gimmicks" and proper nouns of the manufacturer's blockbuster. Dare to believe in your own ears, after all it is it listening, you say?