X2T Wireless Earbuds - Review (Final Thoughts)

For just the review, scroll until the review section,

The X2T's, taken from Amazon.com

How long has it been since I've done a review on tech? Quite a long time, and that has to be because of how long the tech I have on me lasts. Remember the Avantree Auditions? Yeap, they're still alive and kicking. But it has been 2 years since I've posted that review and technology has come a long way since then. And the most expected advancement after the bluetooth headphones are bluetooth earbuds. Like just the earbuds and nothing else. That's the future of bluetooth headphones. The first glimpse we've had of these miraculous devices happened around early 2015 but after Apple announced the Apple Airpods, wireless earbuds were going to take off.

While I'm not personally a fan of Apple, this is one of the few times I'm actually happy they did this. What they did with the headphone jack, ...is another story.

Thank you, Marilyn

So back to my bluetooth headphones, yeah they're great and all, but not exactly comfortable to wear if you're sweating a lot. Not only does you head feel a thousand times hotter, but you think of all the sweat just collecting in the ear cups, that's not a pleasant thought. So having the same thought process every single time I want to do heavy work while wearing headphones was discomforting to say the least. And then my thoughts shifted to the Apple Airpods, then to the fact that surely companies now are manufacturing their own versions of Wireless Earbuds, and surely some of them would be in the price range I would be comfortable spending money.

And after window shopping, day in and day out, I actually stumbled across a pair that was relatively cheap, and looked quite attractive (according to me, my tastes, and I). And like c'mon, the whole sweating story, was just one reason why I wanted to buy them, I mean, this is the stuff we dreamt of when we were kids, and now they're becoming a REALITY.  We are living in the future people and we often forget that, but just look how far we've come. Behold! The X2Ts~

Oh, those perfect circular designs, not ergonomic but who cares they look great!

Me, when I saw them in the mail

Gone are the days where I have two cups collecting head sweat attached to my ears, bathing my ears in the excretions of my skin glands. No more pesky wires getting in the way so let's head on to the review:

X2T Wireless Earbuds Review

Getting a pair of these earbuds comes with,

The carrying pouch, the earbuds, the charging case and a USB to microUSB cable (which I forgot to take a photo of)

They also include replacement ear tips in different sizes so you can be sure you'll have the perfect fit no matter how big, or small you ears are. It's just a shame you only get one of each size so make sure they last!

First off, let's discuss Sound Quality:

These earbuds handle sound really well! Since these were relatively cheap, I went into them just assuming they would sound just mediocre or unimpressive. But far from that, there's clarity in each note, the sounds are separated well so music doesn't just sound muffled together, you can hear each instrument clearly, with a bass that was a bit too strong for me, I had to reduce it in the equalizer. Speaking of bass, the bass is very strong and produced well, they aren't over saturated with a satisfying, very deep thump and a very pronounced lower bass rumble. The ones that induce rumbles in your chest kind of lower bass. There isn't much to say about the treble though, it isn't bad per se, in fact, these earbuds produce wonderful higher tones, but there isn't anything special to talk about unlike the bass. The mids are clear with an intensity I can appreciate, given how small these earbuds are. There's also a very nice amount of sound stage, not as closed as the Audio Technicas or the Avantrees. Which makes me wonder, are headphones meant to have a smaller sound stage because most of my earphones and these earbuds have wider sound stages than those gigantic headphones. If you're judging these earbuds solely on Sound Quality, I'd swear by these straight away. 

Unfortunately, these are wireless earbuds so there's also the connection aspect. Which is the most disappointing part of this whole experience. Half the time when I was listening to music, the left bud would die out for half a second only to go back to producing sound after. And this occurs quite frequently throughout the listening experience, to the extend it becomes annoying.

Is this thing on? Oh, ok (my thought process during that half a second)

On good days, both earbuds produce sound equally and consistently, but only for around 1 hour and 30 minutes, after that the battery life starts to fall off, then you'll have skips and stutters coming from either earbud. This, however, I'm not really complaining about but it's something you should note if you want to get these earbuds. In terms of tether range, these earbuds don't have that much range to them either, simply putting your phone in you trouser pocket is enough to cause some inconsistent music playback. My solution to this is to place my phone somewhere close by that has some height to it, I've realized when my phone is on higher places there's less connection problems. Or else, the earbuds only play music smoothly while within an arm's reach of your phone, which isn't that much to work with. Even then, on bad days, the left bud will just decide every now and then to stop playing music for half a second. To demonstrate how weak the bluetooth connection of these earbuds are, if you ever get them, just covering one earbud, while in your ear, with your palm can already start causing some connection issues.

How about Comfort and Ease of Use?

These earbuds are light and can sit comfortably in your ear for long periods of time (by long period, I mean around an hour and a half). During which I used them as long as they remained consistent, and I didn't suffer from ear fatigue even though these earbuds are mostly held by the ear tip in your ear cavity. While I can't speak for everyone, the circular form factor sits well in my ear, but those with smaller ears might find them too big. These are in-ear buds so the noise isolation is top notch, depending on how deep and well you've plugged your ears, you can easily shut someone off or continue having a conversation with them. Either way, they continue to sit comfortably in the ear. The earbuds feature a single button, on either bud, and a single press plays or stops the current track depending on what's happening. A long press turns the earbuds off if they were already connected. One of the features that actually surprised me, because of how seamlessly both earbuds turned off at the same time. Given that both earbuds were on and connected in the first place. A long press while the earbuds are off turns them on with an audio queue to inform you they're on. Although it's recommended you turn on one first, get it connected and then turn on the other one, they should both pair to your phone with no issue if done so. A longer press with put them into pairing mode, which is done when you're just connecting for the first time.

I should also note that each earbud registers as a different device in your bluetooth menu. So it's good to keep one side as the primary bud (the one you always turn on first) and the other as the secondary bud (which you turn on next). And also I've tried reversing this to check the connection issues with the buds, and it actually became worse. So I can't speak for all X2T earbuds, but for me, the left one is certainly the troublemaker of the pair.

Earbud capacity: 85mAh, Case capacity: 1500mAh

The charging process is pretty seamless, simply insert the earbuds into the charging case and leave them undisturbed for a second, the charging progress is indicated by the LED light in the earbud, orange meaning charging and blue meaning at full capacity. The buds are held in place by magnets so it's really impressive to experience for the first time. It's like the bud pulls itself into the case effortlessly once in close proximity. The charging case is basically a glorified powerbank which you can charge using microUSB and you can keep track of how much juice is left by the blue LEDs on the charging case.

These earbuds definitely look futuristic, with their material choice and minimalist design

Additional Features, or lack thereof,

Even though both buds have buttons, they function the same regardless of which bud you press. From a design standpoint, it makes sense to give the user the choice to start with either bud. But on the other hand, the lack of a way to differentiate the left bud from the right makes me think they simply used the same mold to make either bud and just change the internals for the left and right channel. Which is a shame given that they could have included forward and back controls on these. Instead you're left with the bare bones, Play and Pause. They also don't have any NFC support for easy pairing but that's just a minor gripe. For the most part, you're getting quite a classy package here, bare bones, yes, but classy looking.

The entire product is meant to impress visually, but the user experience speaks differently

Verdict

The X2Ts definitely delivered in the looks department, its initial impression also left me with wonder and amazement. But as you continue to use the earbuds, the cracks will start to show. And they're very ugly cracks. The sound quality is impressive for a pair of earbuds at RM80, and wireless ones at that, but the connection issues you're likely to encounter and the difficulty you'll have differentiating right from left will pull away from that seamless experience we've come to expect from technology nowadays. The fact that the manufacturers managed to overlook a simple design element to help distinguish the two buds baffles me, and that either bud can function as the primary bud, adds to this confusion. I've seen other earbuds that clearly assign the right bud as the main driver and the left as the secondary bud which makes the experience less confusing and frustrating. The overall package is built to please and catch the eye, but note that these earbuds are temperamental and can deliver inconsistent performance as you continue to use it. If you're okay with those caveats, feel free to get yourself a pair, or else, look for other brands and perhaps, be prepared to shell out a couple more dollars for that assurance of quality.

After Thoughts

Honestly, I've still been using these earbuds, there's no denying the convenience of wireless earbuds, these don't heat up my head, and it's as if I'm not wearing anything but earplugs. Most of the time, if I don't want to encounter connection problems, I'd just connect the right bud. Which is much better in those cases where you're talking to someone or still have to use you sense of hearing. Putting your phone at a higher place does improve the connection range and can allow you to move around the room freely, my reasoning why this works is because there are less objects that can interfere with the weak bluetooth connection. Or else, I'd just try my luck with the temperamental left bud. Sometimes, I'd be:

Or else, most of the time, it'll just be like this:

Why are these two shirtless? There were literally no other gifs that had the right expressions so yeah.

Have fun and keep looking for those perfect buds!

Avantree Audition Bluetooth Headphones - Review (Final Thoughts)

Okay, suppose you're lying down in your bed and you wanna hear music but your phone needs charging, the charger's way across the room and you use your phone as your portable music player even though it's 2 am and you should be sleeping but class starts at 9 am so you have faith in yourself that you'll be able to wake up (and we all know what happens next). Or suppose you wanna do work like model making the night before submission because you've put off your work for the 11th time due to sheer laziness (which is in no way is related to me, c'mon guys it's just an example) and you don't want to have those dang wires get in the way. I mean, it disrupts workflow and they're constantly latching onto things even though it should never happen but it's the way of the universe so your model pieces fall to the ground and you have to pick them up and urghhh it's just annoying. Or even suppose you wanna do the laundry and you also wanna sing because it's noon and you've just skipped class (because laundry is more important and not because you woke up late or anything) so there's no one home and you can sing to your heart's content but your hands are constantly moving, the earphone cables just don't cooperate with you and before you know it, your phone is flung towards the kitchen.

Pesky cables

Y'know sometimes I feel like I overshare too much on this blog... But then again maybe it's just me. Anyways so if you have any of these problems, have you thought about getting a pair of bluetooth headphones? WELL I DID!!! There's kinda a backstory to that over here so you can check that out if you want (shameless self-promotion). I got the Avantree Auditions so here's the review~

THE AVANTREE AUDITIONS~

Let's cut to the chase, first off it's...

Sound Quality

The headphones, although bluetooth, manage to pump out a significant amount of detail. The strum of a guitar is crisp with a twang and ring you'd expect to hear and the drum hits both evoke the force and impact as well as the deep thumps produced. Singing voices are clear with rasp and breath audible and clean when expected with the intensity of high sustained notes enjoyable. I mean, I was really impressed because there wasn't much difference between when the headphones are used wired and bluetooth. I'll admit at first there was not much of a difference, almost to the extent that I thought there wasn't any. But after a listen here and there, the headphones sound clearer when used wired, when used with bluetooth however, the sound became a bit muffled and the mids became more prominent. So note to self, don't plug the headphones in and switch between wired and bluetooth while testing, instead, use the headphones on bluetooth and then wired with a grace period in between. Then the difference was clearer.

When you're belting like mad and suddenly work with the traffic police

The headphones can produce adequate detail but the detail falls off when the sound produced becomes more intense, then the headphones display more intensity than detail. Almost like the intensity blocked out the small details. So keep that in mind because acoustic songs can sound nice and detailed and airy but when you have a song that starts out slow but ends with a ton of instruments playing at once, the music will not be as detailed. The headphones produce trebles with a good amount of sparkle and twinkle, just enough to make it sound good but doesn't slouch on the bass either which is deep and thumpy. Maybe a little muddy at times but most of the time precise. The mids are nice and warm, these headphones really shine with mids so if you like vocals, you should really try these. A high note with sustained vibrato sounds really good, intense but not to the extent that it hurts your ears. If you'd ask me to sum it all up, it that these headphones ticks off all the right boxes while failing at more of the less important ones. You have the part where when a lot of instruments are playing at once, the sound becomes a bit messy but never to the extent that it sounds bad and also with the slightly higher mids than normal.

When you hit high notes and suddenly start wiping imaginary windows

The soundstage is there but again when a lot more instruments come in and they're all loud then the sounds start to mix together. It's relatively small so you won't feel like you're in a concert hall or anything but good enough that you can discern where instruments are coming from and also their distance.

The headphones are black with red accents that make them look quite sharp

Comfort

This is where it starts to get bad (for some people), these headphones really clamp on to your ears. And it doesn't help that the headphones are not really over ear headphones but at the same time they're not really on ear headphones. The result is headphones that can completely cover your ears if you have smaller ears, but then squish them if you have bigger ears. I fit into the latter category so my ears did hurt after using them for an hour or two. Another thing I'd like to point out is that if you have ears that stick out more then they'll start hurting faster. My dad and my sister said they hurt after using them for just half an hour and so did a friend of mine. My ears didn't really stick out like theirs so it was more comfortable for me.

Heat build up is another issue. The faux leather they used on the earcups are not that breathable so heat starts to build up really fast. If you're in an air conditioned room it's fine but they're definitely not something I'd take with me on a jog, especially with Malaysia's climate. Have you ever taken a shower in your own sweat? HERE YOU CAN, TRY IT!!! (sneaky advertising FTW) And the only thing these headphones have to clamp onto your head are the earcups, (which are soft enough but the clamping force... not so much) the band that sits on your head is literally an elastic piece of metal that is sandwiched with faux leather.

Foam cups are nice and soft, the faux leather seems quite durable and won't peel off easily

Isolation

I'll just say one thing, for on ear headphones, these have exceptional isolation. The headphones on already block out half the sound, when music plays you basically won't hear anything anymore, like your mother next to you yelling. Another example is like if you're on a train to the airport and you're listening to music, and you just happened to fall asleep, expect the cleaner to wake you up and you'd panic cause you thought you missed the stop but then feel relieved because the train hasn't left the station and you then vow never to do that again although this wasn't the first time and yet here you are in this situation again (just an example and has nothing to do with me).

Buttons are easy to locate, press and are tactile, feedback is also good

Additional Features

Since I wanted a bluetooth headphone first and everything else was additional, I thought I'd include this part as well but last. These headphones come with a USB to microUSB cable for charging and also an audio cable so that you can still use these headphones if the battery runs out (super convenient guys) and they also have NFC. NFC is short for near fields communication, and if you have a phone that has NFC support, instead of  having to put the headphones into pairing mode and then pair them with your phone, you can just tap the phone to the NFC spot on those headphones to bypass the entire process! (mind blowingly convenient). The battery life is also wonderful. To give you some perspective, I've used these headphones for a week, 3-4 hours a day and they still had some juice left in them. I never reached a point where I had to charge them because they suddenly died while you were listening to music. I just charge them at the end of the week and use them for the coming week. The charging time is quite long, about 2-3 hours if you've used them for a week like I did. If they do run out, you can listen to them while charging (although I had to put it to pairing mode and then my phone could connect to it) The only thing I wouldn't recommend using them for are calls because, my god, is the microphone on this thing bad. It hardly picks up my voice which when it did sounded muffled and distant. I actually had to turn these off to resume my phone call, because it was that bad. The headphones also come with buttons so you can control your music without having to take out your phone. Pause and play with a press of the middle button, which is the one you use to turn it on or off with a long press, or a super long press from off to go to pairing mode. The "+ -" buttons skip tracks back and forth with a press and increase the volume with a long press. Hold on the buttons if you want to continue increasing the volume.

An image taken from their site

Conclusion

These might not be the best bluetooth headphones, but they certainly do a lot of good for what they cost, which is around RM150. The extra features they come with also make them a hard offer to refuse, you can use them wired if the battery runs out, not that you would need to because the battery lasts for a week on regular use. The headphones pair effortlessly with NFC support and you can use them while charging if you have to. The only thing to look out for is that you shouldn't use these to make calls, the sound can get a bit messy when the music gets intense with a lot of instruments but to the point that it sounds unpleasant it's just you can't really discern the instruments and they clamp hard with a significant heat build up. But for the price they come at, and all the perks of going wireless, I'd highly recommend them.

And as always... Have fun and do laundry while listening to music~

Or cables, more accurately cables

Bluetooth Headphones Experience

Since, I've done my final thoughts and impressions for the Audio Technica M40X's, I think I should follow up with giving my opinion for my bluetooth headphones as well. Although these are not even in the same league as the M40X's, there's still something captivating about headphones that are cordless. My first experience with bluetooth headphones was rather sad. Sad in the sense, they were cheap headphones, not comfortable at all (on top of that on ears), the sound they produced was mediocre at best. The sadder part was I swore by those headphones and thought they were the best thing ever invented since the wheel. They were the Rapoo H6060, and like your parents when your friends come over, imma show you some pictures~

Rapoo H6060

When you look at those, I think you'll get their initial appeal, I mean, they look sleek and simple with that all matte black build. but the choice for materials could be better. The soft touch plastic they used was of a cheaper quality, the fact proven that after a while, they started feeling sticky and dust would gather on them (ugh). Plus the headphones' foam cups were made of poor quality faux leather so they started peeling off, exposing the itchy spongy layer beneath them, adding to their already discomforting design. They sat on your ears (on ear headphones) and ergonomically they could be better. All that lead up to me just ditching them after a year of use, though it was a good one year journey we had together. Having your hands free from obtrusive cables was really convenient to the point you didn't expect it would be THAT convenient. You can control media and volume all from your headphones so you can leave your phone charging and still listen to music without being tethered to the power plug like your phone~ All that nostalgia brought me back to trying them on again, I stopped using them after the foam cups started peeling off, thankfully the buttons still work but before I put them on, I noticed ants coming in and out of the ear cups.

My literal face, I kid you not

The condo I was living in had an ant problem, if you left anything sweet out in the open, 15 minutes later, ants would swarm it! So because the ear cups were exposed, since the faux leather was peeling off, they made the inside of the headphones a place to make a nest... All that nostalgia and love I had for those headphones went down with the headphones as I tossed it into the trash. (I broke the band that connects the two cups together as well since it already had cracks, I've always wanted to do that, and I hate ants, especially when they bite you, it was kind off therapeutic to be honest) After that I was left there with no bluetooth headphones, so I was all like "I have got to get me a new pair of them bluetooth headphones!" And I didn't want to just buy any old bluetooth headphone I could get off the shelves, no way, at that point sound quality already mattered to me. So I did some window shopping after going through lists on the internet. The thing about bluetooth headphones are that good pairs don't come cheap. The Sennheiser Momentum were over RM1000, I don't have that kind of money so obviously, I didn't even dream about getting them, next were the Sony MDR-10RBT, RM700-800, nope, lower, their older brother the Sony MDR-1RBT were more expensive so I didn't consider those as well. Bose was just as expensive as the sennheisers, and there was no way I'm going to buy a pair of Beats headphones which were overrated and overpriced all the same. The Jabra MOVE Wireless were the best for the price according to reviews but they were still too steep for me. In the end, I settled for the Avantree Auditions. There aren't really a lot of reviews for them online, most of them were in forums and there was only a couple of youtube channels reviewing them. But the gist of all my reading amounted to the fact that these weren't bad and for the price, these were decent enough~

So I got them, and here they are~

I've been using them for over 11 months now, I'll post my final thoughts in a coming post, I got them before my M40X's and these don't come close to the Audio Technicas but they aren't half bad.

I got them at lelong as well, link here. The seller had good reviews so I chose them even though there were cheaper options. You really have to be careful when purchasing online so I wasn't taking any chances. I bought them for about RM150, including delivery so it was cheap considering the Rapoo's were RM115.

When I looking up reviews, here are some of the good lists I've found from:

TechRadar

The Wirecutter (you should look at their other lists, their lists are pocket friendly)

The Sound Guys

And that's all, have a good one~