Ah, the EarPods — they sounded garbage, however there was one thing reassuring figuring out that you simply’d get a pair of serviceable EarPods earphones along with your iPhone or iPod purchases in days passed by. The loss of life of the headphone jack in most cell gadgets appeared to signal the loss of life warrant for inexpensive, wired in-ear earphones, however the emergence of USB-C as a dominant, more-or-less device-agnostic connector has meant they’ve been in a position to make a distinct segment comeback on the finances and high-end, high-res ends of the spectrum.
The SoundMagic E80D in-ear earphones are undoubtedly priced on the finances finish of the earphone spectrum, however have a satisfying sound and light-weight design that may make these an incredible backup pair — possibly even main pair — or earphones for anybody uninterested in charging even the greatest AirPods on the market.
Value and availability
Out there now, the SoundMagic E80D are a steal at $45 / £40. You’d be hard-pressed to discover a respectable set of true wi-fi earbuds at that value, what with their added connectivity and battery prices. However all the value right here goes on consolation and sound high quality, and as such, they signify nice worth.
What I Love
There are some apparent, easy issues to like about going again to a pair of wired headphones. First, they clearly don’t want charging — plug-and-play simplicity is the order of the day right here. They don’t want pairing both — offered your machine has a USB-C port, you will be kind of sure it’ll be capable to channel its audio by means of to the SoundMagic E80D earphones with out faffing with settings menus. And with no batteries to accommodate, they’re light-weight and comfy to make use of over lengthy intervals of time, too — the SoundMagic E80D weighs simply 16g, together with its 1.2m cable.
SoundMagic made some sensible design selections with the E80D too. The cable and buds look very good — there’s a clear look to the cabling that allows you to see the copper innards of the earphones, whereas the aluminum buds have a refined brushed-silver end. The USB-C finish is neatly stopped at a proper angle too, making it rather less prone to catch or stick out of your pocket. A easy, slimline three-button distant (quantity up, quantity down, and a central play/pause button that may skip tracks with a double press), sits just a few inches down the left bud’s cable.
You’ve acquired a collection of silicone ear suggestions to select from throughout three sizes, and a single pair of double flanged suggestions too. The latter do an incredible job of passively blocking environmental noise (if not fairly a match for energetic noise cancelation on, say, the AirPods Professional 2). A small, hard-shell carry case is offered too, good for stopping that cable tangling up in a rucksack.
Audio high quality is in fact a very powerful issue with any earphones although, and the E80D punch effectively above their weight on this respect. The E80D are making use of 10mm dynamic drivers, with a DAC cable of 24-bit/96Hz playback, adequate for hi-resolution tracks and higher than you’re normally prone to get from Bluetooth buds on this value vary. Bass has a presence, however these are comparatively near impartial in sound — there’s bottom-end when wanted, however not equivalent to to overwhelm the presentation. It’s an in depth and nice sound general, well-balanced in opposition to any style I threw at it.
The distorted symphony of The Flaming Lips ‘Race for the Prize’, with its synth and harp layers doing battle in opposition to over-driven drums sounded chic, selecting out particulars and protecting a busy monitor’s instrumentation effectively separated.
However the low-end kick of Billie Eilish’s ‘unhealthy man’ landed with power, the strolling bassline protecting its form whereas Eilish’s whispered vocals sat comfortably and clearly on the fore.
For one thing slightly extra raucous, it’s over to Minneapolis’s The Replacements and ‘Favourite Factor’, charging by means of with trebly guitars and two-many-cigarettes vocals. There’s nice presence to the drums, and the scattergun ending, with its blistering guitar runs, is given stunning room to breathe with the more-neutral tuning provided up by the E80D.
Rounding issues off with Marika Hackman’s plaintive ‘Claude’s Lady’, the E80D preserve vocals from changing into too sibilant, whereas displaying good dynamic readability between quieter moments and people the place harmonies fill the soundstage.
What I Don’t Love
There are some things I’d tweak, ought to the SoundMagic E80D ever get one other revision.
There’s a set cable at play right here — you possibly can’t pop the buds off the tip ought to it is advisable to clear or change them. It’s not a massively frequent characteristic, however appreciated when current, if slightly past the realm of finances earphones like these. Extra annoying is the position of the distant — at just some inches from the left bud they’re not positioned in a pure spot for flicking by means of tracks or tweaking audio, inflicting you to boost your hand larger than it’s possible you’ll be used to for remotes.
That distant itself is a bit fiddly. It’s very skinny and small, and there isn’t quite a lot of differentiation between its flush buttons, which might result in unintended button presses.
You’ll solely discover one set of twin flange suggestions within the field too — those that supply the very best passive noise cancelation. In the event that they’re not an incredible dimension to your ears, you’re left with commonplace ear suggestions, which aren’t fairly pretty much as good at blocking out exterior sound.
Lastly, they’re slightly quiet for my liking, it doesn’t matter what machine is driving them. That’s most likely a very good factor actually when it comes to listening to well being. However typically you simply need to crank up your indignant playlist and rage on the world, proper?
Do you have to purchase the SoundMagic E80D?
Purchase them if…
- You lengthy for the simplicity of wired headphones
- You’re on a finances
- You’ve a USB-C appropriate iPhone, iPad, Mac or video games console
Don’t purchase them if…
- Wires annoy you
- You’re on an older non-USB-C machine
- You want energetic noise cancelling headphones for a loud surroundings
Verdict
Even in the event you’ve acquired a pair of AirPods useful, the SoundMagic E80D ought to have a spot in your rucksack. They sound nice, regardless of not breaking the financial institution, and ought to be appropriate with many generations of gadgets to come back, such is the recognition of USB-C. I’ll be recommending them to any friends after an inexpensive pair of wired headphones, fortunately becoming a member of the ranks of the greatest wired earphones.
Backside line: Easy, inexpensive, and nice sounding, the SoundMagic E80D make for an incredible backup pair of earphones for when true wi-fi simply can’t reduce it.
