AUKEY EP-121 True Wireless Earbuds REVIEW | MacSources
Budget-friendly earbuds provide premium listening experience.
Finding a comfortable, good-sounding pair of earbuds can be a difficult task. Some create that awful suction problem while others just sound hollow. I’ve tried all kinds of earbuds over the years and have found very few that really fit the bill for me. Apple AirPods work great, but they are terribly cost-prohibitive. Starting at $159 per set, the AirPods just aren’t practical for most users since tiny earbuds are easily lost or broken with continued use. Fortunately, one of my favorite accessories companies, AUKEY, has a great set of True Wireless Earbuds (EP-121).
DETAILS
The AUKEY EP-121 True Wireless Earbuds offer users superior sound quality with crisp, high-fidelity tones. They feature Bluetooth 5 which ensures faster pairing and a more stable, efficient wireless connection. The earbuds connect quickly and easily when removed from the charging case. They automatically connect to the user’s phone (or other devices) after being paired the first time. The earbuds have multi-function touch controls built into each earbud along with a microphone. The earbuds can be used together or individually. The earbuds have great battery life — up to 5 hours of sound output on a single charge. The charging case provides up to 4 additional charges for a total of 25 hours of total playtime. The package contains the earbuds, Micro USB charging cable, charging case, three pairs of ear-tips, and a user manual.
SPECS
- Model: EP-121
- Technology: BT 5, A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP
- Driver (each channel): 1 x 6mm/0.24″ speaker driver
- Sensitivity: 96 +/- 3db SPL (at 1Khz/1mW)
- Frequency Range: 20Hz — 20KHz
- Impedance: 16 ohm +/- 15%
- Microphone Type: MEMS (microphone chip)
- Microphone Sensitivity: -7 db +/- 3db (1 kHz)
- Microphone Frequency Range: 200Hz — 5kHz
- Charging Time: 2 Hours
- Battery Life: Up to 5 Hours
- Battery Type: Li-Polymer (2 x 40mAh)
- Operating Range: Up to 10m/33ft
- Weight: 9g/0.32oz
USER EXPERIENCE
The earbuds arrive in a plain brown cardboard box. This is a mark of an AUKEY product. I don’t mean that in a bad way. They just do simple packaging for their products. I actually appreciate it because they focus on their product more than their packaging. The front of the box features an illustration of the product while the back includes the contact information for AUKEY and the model number for the earbuds (EP-121).
When you open the box you are met with a charging case covered in plastic wrap. The earbuds are nestled inside. The headphones come with two sets of ear gels that can be swapped out depending on the user’s preference. In addition to the ear gels, the earbuds also come with a short Micro USB cable, warranty card, user manual, and quick start guide. I applaud AUKEY for included both a full user manual and a quick start guide because it seems like when you see one you don’t see the other these days. I found both are useful to have.
Getting the earbuds paired wasn’t difficult, but according to the quick start guide, the LED indicators will flash green and red when you take them out of the case. I didn’t see them flash green or red. I also didn’t hear any pairing voice prompts like I normally do when I pair headphones. This isn’t really a negative per se, but it was unexpected. The earbuds came with the medium-sized ear-tips. I immediately replaced them with the small ones because small ear-tips seem to fit into my ears better without causing that ‘vacuum’ effect. I was surprised to find the earbuds were quite comfortable. Even after wearing them for an hour without a break, my ears didn’t hurt.
As far as sound quality goes, I have to give these earbuds a solid 9–9.5 stars (out of 10). The only thing that stops them from getting a 10 in my book is that you do lose a little bass depth. I listened to a variety of music tracks through Pandora and thought they all sound just as good if not better than music does when I’m using my AirPods. One of my favorite tests for sound quality is to watch scenes from movies because you get a really good sense of how well headphones do with many tracks of audio being mixed together. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2 is one of the best to use because it has a rich sound effects track, vocals, and a music track. Even though there was a little bit of bass lost, there were a lot of sound effects and even some vocals I’d never heard before because the earbuds provide such a premium listening experience.
Even though these earbuds aren’t designed for noise cancellation, they do a great job of sound isolation. I was wearing them in the same room where my fiancé was playing Metallica through his Audio Engine A2 monitors. These AUKEY earbuds are down right impressive. I only had one issue with the earbuds randomly disconnecting on me and I think it’s because I confused them. I was watching a movie to test the sound quality and I kept pausing/playing the movie that was streaming on Disney+. Eventually, the earbuds disconnected. I moved over to the Settings menu on my phone and reconnected them with a simple tap within Bluetooth devices.
CONCLUSION
The AUKEY EP-121 True Wireless Earbuds are remarkably amazing headphones especially when you think about their purchase price (only $29 at the time of publishing this article). Aside from these charging with Micro USB instead of USB-C, I really don’t have any complaints about these earbuds. I think these are a great option for anyone who needs a good set of earbuds, but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg.
For more information, visit aukey.com, Facebook, and Twitter.
Originally published at https://macsources.com on May 7, 2020.
