Honor AM12 Quick Review

Honor AM12 Quick Review

Thanks to Honor for the sample.

Brief:  A disturbingly good first showing.

Price:  £16 officially but I found for £8

Specification:  Model: AM12, Color: White, Range of application: Mobile phone, Palmtop, MP3 or MP4, Compatibility: Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, HTC, Nokia, LG, Apple, Blackberry, Functions: Song Switch, Microphone, Volume Control, Earphones type: In-Ear, Headphone jack: 3.5mm, Frequency range: 12-24000Hz, Impedance: 32ohm, Sensitivity: 120dB, Cable length: 1.2m

Accessories:  You get 4 pairs of tips, you could also use the case and cable wrap innards as well if so inclined.

Build Quality:  Very nice.  The buds are metal, the Y splitter, mic and jack are too.  My eyes and fingers say they are impeccable, amazing given their cost.

Isolation:  It’s okay. Normal for a dynamic so adequate for out and about or on a bus.  Not Tube or long flight worthy but as ever, enough to get yourself run over if you don’t use your eyes.

Comfort/Fit:  Very good.  Not sure I loved the stock tips but they gave me no issues.  Just didn’t feel snug.  Slapped on Comply’s.  Just a case of shave in and done.

Aesthetics:  I really quite like them.  I’m a fan of bare metal and light translucent cables.  I like the little blue accents but I do feel an opportunity was missed.  If only they had made the right bud with a red ring rather than blue.  Still, they are attractive little things.

Sound:  Good.  They are rather polite and a little unexciting.   The bass is elevated as you would expect, it’s a bit more towards the middle bass ranges rather than the upper bass.  Trying to put a little distance between the bump and the mids.  That helps to keep the two from bleeding together and lets that bass bump play free.  Moderately quick and lively compared to other more bass bloomy and billowy things you oft see at this price range.  Comparatively rather a heavy, slow but impactful punch.  Mids are a touch behind that bass.  They are bit thick, bit creamy and so they don’t abound in clarity nor air.  Still their distance from the bass helps to be cleanly audible and unencumbered.  It’s very well suited to poppy, charty sorts of stuff.  “Selfie” is an explosive rip-roaring extravaganza with the lady’s dulcet vocals cleanly audible.  Treble is relatively back a little, it’s not the worlds most refined so it’s a wise decision.  Its extension is so so, on the whole it’s more about chiming in when it’s called to but it’s never in charge.  Cymbals and tambourines are background accompaniments.  Detail is more about giving you an impression without trying to, harshly trying to be edgy and then becoming brittle.  It’s competently balanced and composed.

Value:  Super.  I found them for £8 or US$12 from a source I trust, how do they even post them for that????  You get decent sound quality in a lovely bundle for negligible money.

Pro’s:   Lovely visually.  Cheap beyond cheap.  Pretty good sounding.

Con’s:  Given their price, nothing really.