So, here’s the thing. I receive loads of emails from random PR companies to test products, not as many as real tech reviewers, but enough. They claim to give you free products, but actually want you to pay for them first. I’ve been burnt a few times so typically decline. However I was intrigued to try some AirPods alternatives and I wish I hadn’t bothered.
That isn’t to say there aren’t earbuds out there that can live up to the functionality of Apples foray into true wireless. It is simply the fact that I see so many claim that they are alternatives when in reality they are not even comparable. These Miyun versions are no exception, and no hidden gem.
Indeed they are a fraction of the price, because frankly there is no getting around the fact that many of the new breed of truly wireless earbuds are eye wateringly expensive. I didn’t expect them to be equal, but in true B movie style, I expected them to at least be somewhere near.
They come in a nice, robust case, offering a neat charging solution with supplied micro USB cable. The build quality feels surprisingly robust to a level that I am frankly astonished at. With that said, Apple resort to using a ridiculous amount of glue, so I would expect these to be no different, an illusion of quality if you will.
Sound
As with all earphones this is the proof of everything, the reason you by them, but it’s difficult to know where to start. The sound quality is terrible and there is no getting around it. Due to the strange twist you do when putting the earbuds in your ears the seal seems to be pretty good and cuts out lots of background noise. Unfortunately they haven’t taken advantage of this and everything sounds very shallow and distant.
The bass levels are non existent and everything else seems to be forced into a much higher range than it should be. Spoken word such as podcasts and audio books are the most noticeable and make all voices sound tinny and sometimes uncomfortably high pitched.
Couple this with the fact that audio moves around from ear to ear and you have a very disappointing experience. I realise that these are very very cheap for true wireless earphones, but I would save your money and purchase something better sounding with wires!
Connection Issues
The ease of initial connection is where most cheap wireless headphones fall down. Let’s not over inflate the issue, most users are ou fait with heading to your phones setting to set up and pair. Yet for some reason this is overly complicated with a dance of buttons and connecting you must jump through simply to listen. A successful connection is following a predetermined path of connecting to one earbud, and then the other connecting to it. Stray too far from this path and resetting is your only option, condemned to try again until the Bluetooth gods accept your offering.
As annoying as snagging a cable is, if this is your alternative I think I would rather sit in silence. There are alternatives to AirPods out there, but these cheap offers are simply not it. I have bought and enjoyed cheap Bluetooth headphones before with a wire between them, removing this has proved so overly complicated that it is simply not worth the hassle. Save up, or save your time – the choice is yours.