Hey.
What is the most common thing you hear on the forums when it comes to the bundled headphones? Trash them!
The hero of today's review hit store shelves directly from the Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 EDGE set. Does he have the right to an independent life?
To begin with, I want to say that I became the owner of this headset almost by accident. The younger brother bought himself a Samsung Galaxy S6 EDGE and started using the complete white headset. Seeing it from him, he took it to listen, and even then, with surprise, he noted a very good sound quality for complete earbuds. Then I happily forgot about it – my brother managed to lose, or somewhere to forget, his headset, and she did not catch my eye. And now, after almost six months, while looking for inserts for cycling, I remembered about it when I saw this headset in contextual advertising on one of the sites.
Visit to the store. First inspection. Price? Resolved – I'll take it.
Contents of delivery
- Headset Samsung EO-EG920L with ear caps
- Additional replaceable silicone tips in three sizes
- Box
Technical specifications
- in-ear headphones with mic rophone
- volume control
- impedance 32 Ohm
- sensitivity 101 dB / mW
- membrane diameter 12 mm
- mini jack 3.5 mm
- wire length 1.2 m
- replaceable ear pads
Packaging and equipment
Packaging – a small neat cardboard box of light blue color (the same for all colors of the headset) with a transparent window in which the headphones and remote control are clearly visible. It is very convenient to wrap in colored paper and use as a gift.
The package bundle hints at the laconicism dictated by economy – in the box you will find only the headset itself and a set of interchangeable nozzles in three sizes.
The manufacturer did not even put the accompanying documentation, all the information on the box. Made in China.
It is not a lot, however, naive to expect anything more for this money. The average cost of a headset in Russian retail chains is 880 rubles (according to Yandex.Market).
Appearance
The perception of this headset depends a lot on the color you choose. There are four of them: black, white, blue and red (unfortunately, I managed to find only three versions).
The headset has its own flavor in the form of using two shades of the same color for different parts of the device, which creates the feeling of a more expensive product than it actually is.
A similar combination of two tint colors is typical for all four headset colors. Even if we consider the version of the classic black color, you can pay attention to the fact that the nozzles and the wire are not black, but rather dark dark blue, which is visible only in good light.
I have on review (and in use) a blue headset, which has a glossy case in deep blue, and the remote control is exactly the same color. The wire itself, the plug and the nozzles are matte, in a much calmer blue. The main sound outputs are covered with chrome metal grilles. The external audio output is highlighted by a glossy pill-like element.
Yes, perhaps the most correct word that comes to mind when looking at a headset is spectacular.
I would also like to dwell on the build quality and materials.
As for the assembly, there were no complaints during the operation. The headphones themselves and the remote control are perfectly assembled, do not crunch or creak. Feels solid, well tailored. What I would especially like to note is the absence of stamping seams and burrs, both on the headphone case and on the remote control. All edges are qualitatively processed, nothing clings anywhere and does not cut into the skin (for me, an absolute kinesthetic, this is extremely important).
In general, the headset gives the impression of a monolithic, high-quality thing.
Materials
In the era of 'disposable' wires from 'Apple' it was very gratifying to find that the wire of the headset in question is made at a qualitatively different level, in the spirit of the 'eternal' wires from Nokia in its heyday. The headset is extremely reluctant to cling to dirt and it seems that it will not disintegrate into its constituent elements over time. After a month of daily, not the most accurate operation, no significant damage or abrasion appeared on the wire, and most importantly, the wire remained exactly the same color as when it was removed from the box.
The shells of the headphones and remote control are made of hard, rigid plastic, which gives a sense of reliability, and there is nothing more to say.
The plug is straight, stiff and quite thin at the base, making it suitable for almost any case or accessory. During operation, from frequent carrying in a pocket with a rather large phone, the plug slightly bent at the base and 'remembered' the bend.
Before that, I used a complete headset from Samsung Galaxy S4, which is much inferior to the hero of today's review in terms of strength, reliability of the plug and wire.
At the bifurcation point of the cable there is a thickening in the form of a sleeve, on which the words 'VIETNAM' on one side and 'BJ' on the other are embossed in very small print. It's unclear how the headset relates to Vietnam. Perhaps the wires for these headsets are manufactured in Vietnam and supplied to China for subsequent assembly. Who knows the reason, unsubscribe in the comments. Curious.
Ease of use
The complete attachments are made of soft silicone with the 'SoftTouch' effect. By default, the manufacturer installs the smallest attachments on the headset, which are equipped with an additional element – a spacer. The three remaining replacement kits lack this structural element, and this can only be seen by opening the box. Consider this when buying.
Due to the asymmetrical shape of the body, the nozzles are divided not only by size, but also into left and right. Corresponding markings are printed on the inside of each nozzle, for example 'L1' is the smallest left nozzle.
Also, the L / R designations are duplicated on the headphone case from the inside on the leg.
When putting on the attachments, make sure that the attachment is seated correctly and does not block the two internal sound guides (there are three of them in the headset, two on the inside and one outside to cut off external noise). After correct installation, the attachments do not move out or move during operation.
I used the headset daily for a month with the attachments out of the box. During this time, the headset never rubbed my ears, and with prolonged wearing, no other unpleasant sensations appeared. The spreader attachments hold much better in the auricle and allow you to engage in active sports without fear of losing your device.
The earpods do not hold so securely in the ear without spacer, however, thanks to the soft, rough silicone and the good shape, they provide a more secure fit than, for example, the EarPods that they are so proud of Apple.
It should also be noted two important points that made me very happy:
- the wire has practically no 'microphone effect'. Perhaps the only reason is that these are 'earbuds' and not 'plugs', but I also lean towards a very good choice of materials and the use of soft silicone tips.
- the wire is flat, which means that it is rather difficult to confuse it. When you take it out of your pocket, you don't have to waste time and nerves untangling it.
When using the 'vacuum' earbuds, medium sized earpieces are fine. In the case of the hero of today's review, the smallest attachments fit perfectly. This should also be considered when choosing.
The design of the remote will be familiar to users of complete headsets from Samsung 'Galaxy S' series devices.
Button travel is short and soft. At the same time, the clicks are clear with a characteristic low click. The height and shape of the buttons are comfortable, allowing them to be easily found blindly. It is convenient to use the remote control.
The only caveat is the location of the controls. In the upper part of the remote control there is a double volume control button, under it is a call accept / reject button.
This arrangement is standard for Samsung devices. Personally, I prefer the option with the central location of the call accept / reject button and volume keys along the edges, but these are rather personal 'wishes' and nagging.
There is a microphone hole on the back of the remote control. He is alone, so when talking in windy weather, it is better to cover the remote control with your hand (despite the fact that the manufacturer claims protection from the wind). In other cases, the interlocutors did not complain about the quality of the connection, and they never realized that I was talking to them through the headset.
Compatibility
The remote is guaranteed to work with all 2012 Samsung smartphones and beyond. Compatibility with devices from other manufacturers must be checked individually.
The remote works correctly and fully with the Nexus 6.
Also works correctly with devices Motorola (G 3th, X Play).
At the same time, with the Nexus 5, only the volume down key does not work (I tried several samples of this headset and several Nexus 5, in order to avoid the error of a specific device).
As expected, the headset remote does not work with devices Apple (pressing any key in any mode launches Siri).
With older devices Lenovo (P780, etc.), pressing any key while at rest has no effect. During a call, any key ends the conversation.
There are headsets on the market that work correctly both with devices based on Android and with devices Apple, but often their cost is much higher than that of the hero of today's review. In this regard, one should not expect any miracles of compatibility from this headset. This is an inexpensive Samsung accessory designed primarily for Samsung devices.
Sound
Now let's move on to where, probably, it was worth starting the review – to the sound.
Since the headset is not positioned as a device for music lovers, it was tested primarily with those devices with which most owners will be used – with various phones. I deliberately avoided audiophile equipment such as Hifiman HM-801 players, etc. The test disc Prime Test CD1 was used as content.
Low frequencies – as many as you need. At the same time, there is very little hum, which does not interfere, you quickly get used to it. The headphone case, apparently, acts as a kind of resonator.
Midrange – As with many low-cost devices, this is the first sacrifice. They are slightly sunken and lack naturalness and transparency. At the same time, the sound does not hurt the ear, there are no sibilants, whistlers. And this is undoubtedly a plus.
High frequencies – they are, and it pleases (smiley). At the same time, there are not too many of them at a moderate volume, which means that there is no excessive sharpness. At high volume, high frequencies 'wake up' and their excess begins to be felt.
The stereo panorama is rather narrow, it clearly lacks volume. Because of this, the placement of the instruments suffers.
Attack – 'on four with a minus'. Especially in the low-frequency segment.
The first thing that comes to mind when listening to music through a headset is balance. The sound is smooth, without any bright features. Music lovers (provided that they generally pay their sophisticated attention to the headset) are likely to call the sound mediocre, inexpressive.
EarPods from Apple are asked as an object of comparison. In this regard, the headsets are very similar to each other. On the side of the EarPods, there are stronger low frequencies, which I would like to be smaller, which is demonstrated by the ears from Samsung.
EarPods' trick is rich bass in large quantities.
The 'trick' of the Samsung headset is balance. Samsung has just as much bass as needed (fans of 'beats' won't like it).
The main complaints about the sound of this headset are the lack of transparency, depth and narrow stereo panorama. It seems that the headset was created for sports, and for listening to dance and electronic music. She copes with this task very adequately, and more than pays for its cost. If it comes to heavy, fast music with a large number of instruments, then the headset clearly fails – the sound turns into mush and booming. It becomes problematic to disassemble the instruments, and to enjoy listening, alas, does not work with all the desire.
When listening to popular music, there were no complaints about the headset (however, the same can be said about the most popular music (smiley)).
As a result, the headset can and should be used when playing sports, listening to electronic music and other simple genres, and should not be used for listening to heavy, instrumental music.
Conclusion
I use the headset for sports and in cases where the use of vacuum headphones is contraindicated – for cycling. They cope with this task perfectly.
The strengths of the device are good sound without blockage in any direction, high-quality materials, excellent assembly, spectacular appearance, and a comfortable, secure fit, which excludes falling out of the ears during sudden intensive movements.
From the weak sides – the sound without the 'zest', as well as the 'lottery' with the compatibility of the remote control.