Bluedio T2S Bluetooth Headphones Review
TLDR? Try here.
First impressions: Having these come
over from an associate I already have his first impressions in mind.
Given I have a little bit more of an audio background so he thought I’d
be the man to fully access these on their abilities. So I know he
rather thought well of them. The one thing I noted as a stand out for
me was that while they are primarily a Bluetooth pair of headphones they
also have a removable cable so if you forget to charge them, you can
just plug them in like you would anything else. Such a simple thing but
something all Bluetooth headphones ought to have if you ask me. The
other thing that ought to be standard is that they change with plain old
micro USB. The same micro USB that your phone uses and that you have
at least 10 of the cables saying about the house.
So in the hand they feel quite nice,
somewhat light but that’s fine, the pleather is quite nice to the touch,
especially on the headband. The cups though are circular, I can see
that meaning they will impinge on my ears a bit so many hours of use may
get wearing. Still for the price, they are plastic, sure but seem
pretty decent.
On the head and erm. Yeah, Houston we
have a problem. They do not fit me, at all the right way round, they do
not go flattish on my ears, not even close. Swapping them round is a
vast improvement, they mostly then go on my ears. The cups though, gosh
they are quite firm and clamping aren’t they. Oh there is going to be a
pretty marked time limit I think for listening sessions with these.
Maybe they will soften up when they warm up or with a bit of use?
Source: Predominantly a 1st gen Moto G 4G.
Lows: Right off the bat there is a very
marked emphasis on the lower end. They are highly thick, warm and
boated. Eek, yeah these are certainly aimed at a “mainstream”
audience. Lots of heaviness, gosh loads of thick as molasses bass. I
don’t like to say that a style choice is per say bad but for me its
oppressively thick. I know that its target market however is likely to
be far more amenable to such a styling choice. Given their price point
that they have managed to incorporate Bluetooth, tiny amps and they have
so wisely put in a cable option, sound quality was always going to
compromised ta make that price point. If you like big and think,
weighty, slow bass then you may love these. The depth is so so, a bit
more midbassy but their inherent thickness and weight make the bass all a
bit samey. The sort of thing that suits hip hop type music.
In raw quantity terms it’s rather
elevated. Not quite so much as some things, particularly things pitched
at the “mainstream” audience. Given their thickness and tendency
towards suffocation it’s just as well they aren’t super abundant.
Mids: Passable. If you stick to very
vocal heavy stuff they aren’t too bad. That bass with its mid bass
bloom likes to get up in there any chance it can so be warned. Things
with abundant midbass will start to interfere with the vocals and make
them even slower and thicker than they already are. As you have
probably guessed that means vocal ranges are rather slanted towards the
lower end of the range, more male than female. Lady vocals however when
very prominent can put a little bit of space between them and the bass
so that’s what I tended to steer toward with the T2S’s. Lady vocals
inject a hint of lightness and an attempt to add some air. They never
really actually sound airy though, they are in general still much too
thick and weighty. If your all about vocal delicacy and nuance these
aren’t for you. They are suited squarely at the poppy mainstream,
vaguely passable vocalists like the short blonde girl that thinks shes
fat while justifying said fatness because boys like girls way. Clearly
she’s got some self-esteem issues, not to mention a terrible mother.
Highs: Well thankfully they have tried
to go for an overall rich flavour so the treble is pretty sedate. Thank
god as there is nothing so ear ravaging as overly abundant brittle
treble. At this price point all treble is pretty much going to suck and
lack refinement, it’s all about how you minimise that while still
retaining a semblance of detail retrieval. These have gone for a very
warm, thick, heavy flavour. Thusly the treble is very tame, very laid
back and largely overshadowed. So if you have high end hearing loss
you’ll probably find these very treble lacking but it’s the right call
to make. Not least because I doubt anyone using there is going to be
yet old enough for treble hearing loss to have taken place yet.
Detail wise, its err, more of a casual
notion of what’s going on than explicit detail. If you want detail this
isn’t your go to headphone.
Soundstage: There is a large degree of
abundance but the thickness overrides any real sense of space or image
placement. It’s just a big pillowy wall of sound with little in the way
of distance.
Fit: I don’t know why but these did not
at all fit me the right way round. Swapping them however they did and
once done there were fairly easy at seating them on my ears.
Comfort: Yeah, not so much. They are on
ears, not flat on ears so they put pressure round the outer edges of my
ear. While it was fine for use id hit about an hour before I really
wanted them off to give my ears a break. Everyone’s ears are different
but I’m not sure I’d love it if I had to spend 5 hour train journey with
them on my head.
Cable: So you get a cable, though of
course you buy these because you don’t wat to use the cable. Bluetooth
is what these are intended to be used as but…… it’s very nice to see the
manufacturer realising that there is nothing more frustrating than the
battery dying when you’re out. So if you do have these run out (despite
their rated 40 hour battery life) then you can plug in the cable.
Boom, just like that you’re good to go again. I approve.
Isolation: I am going to assume related
to my fit issue, they clearly were not sealing. Thus they offered
practically no isolation no matter how I played about with the fit.
They just did not want to form a seal on my ears. Again though this is
dependent on your ears.
Build Quality: Actually pretty good.
For the money you’d expect them to be a bit plasticity, which they are
but it’s all nice to the touch, feels solid. The Pleather on the
headband felt not bad. Really cannot complain at all for the money.
Aesthetic: I am not a lover of white but
fear not, they come in black too, additionally a less typical blue and a
red. Not sure about the red but those blue ones look rather nice in
pics don’t they? Well I like blue. Up close they aren’t stunning to
look at but they look fine.
Phone Use: They all seemed to work
fine. I’m not sure the mic on them is the greatest in the world and I
was told I wasn’t super clear but it was sufficient. Though really you
aren’t buying these for use as headset, they are aimed at music use with
the occasional call.
Bluetooth / Cabled: So was there much
difference? Na not really. A slight improvement if you throw a ton of
power at it but that’s not what these are for. They are only ever going
to be powered from a phone, be it via Bluetooth or via a cable.
Accessories: In the box you get a micro
USB charging cable and a 3.5 to 3.5mm audio cable for hooking them up to
a normal audio output. That seems pretty good really, maybe a little
baggy for carrying but really, you’re going to be wearing them not
carrying them.
Value: As products go these are not
exquisite masterpieces. They are obviously built to a price point and
it’s a very low price point. For the sheer convenience factor of doing
away with a cable can be a tremendous boon. For those who want to use
these while out or doing some other activity where you want your hands
free they are just the thing. For what you pay you get a pretty nice
thing that will do the job admirably.
Conclusion: I would be lying if I said I
loved these, or really even if I said I liked them. I don’t. However
that’s not in itself a bad thig. These are not aimed at me. I am super
fussy about audio quality so will not only happily use a cable I’d also
happily spend vastly more on pair of headphones. These are aimed first
and foremost at a low price point and to offer wireless. That they are
Bluetooth right away eats a chunk of production cost as you must add
the Bluetooth receiver, digital to analogue converter, amplifier and of
course include a battery to power it all!!!
So for those who are looking at a product
in this sort of price range I’d wager that are likely to be quite happy
with the acoustic abilities these possess and they are more likely to
be simply ecstatic that they can get audio pumped to their ears, wire
free. It is a very freeing thing to suddenly have no cable flapping
about the place.
What
you get then is what you expect to get. A bargain priced, Bluetooth
headphone that has pretty admirable battery life and has the option to
be driven directly with a cable. It’s fairly easy on the eye, not quite
so gentle on my ears comfort wise but I know others find them very
comfortable. It’s a good value product that does exactly what it sets
out to.
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