Desperately needing some new earphones on a budget, I bought Blitzwolf’s Graphene Earphones (BW-ES1) for $15 from Banggood.com, on sale. I had previously bought Blitzwolf items and was very satisfied, so I knew I would probably be getting a quality item. This is my review of them.
The usual price of the earphones are around $24. You can visit Blitzwolf’s site here for more info and other products.
In the Box
Usually I wouldn’t dedicate a section to what’s in the box, but Blitzwolf really surprised me here. Considering the price, I expected a pair of earphones in a cardboard box or something. Instead, they came in a strong black box, within a carrying pouch surrounded by foam.
Inside the carrying the pouch are the headphones, along with different sized ear tip accessories. You can choose between small, medium, and large. Below is the case and the ear tips.
Don’t expect any fancy foam tips, but that can be easily changed if you have your own pair that you can install on them.
Build and Quality
The earphones feature a metal and plastic construction, with the actual earphone modules mostly made of aluminium. They feel similar to ceramic, and look and feel very solidly built.
The connecting wires come across as a bit weak initially. However, they are quite the opposite as testament to the daily tugging and pulling I exposed them to. There are also flexible plastic sleeves where the wires connect to the units and the headphone jack to strengthen the physical connection.
The gold-plated headphone jack has a metal piece above it which helps to protect the connection. This makes it easy to grab onto it and pull the jack out. In cases where this piece is rubber or plastic, you’ll often find the connection is damaged after a few months, causing crackling noises.
Lastly, the place where the wires split and where the controls are is a strong point for these earphones. There are (+) and (-) buttons for the volume, as well as a main button used for pausing and skipping tracks. These buttons are refreshingly tactile. There is also an adjustable rubber piece that can be moved up and down the left and right cables to effectively change the length of the wire. There is also a microphone here.
Sound and playback
The sound that the ES1’s produce should not really be expected in this price range. I would expect the music that these produce to come out of a product that would cost $70 or $80. You really are getting a bargain by paying less than $25 for these. As of recent, there are actually quite a few cheap earphones that are capable of pumping out some respectable audio. I guess it’s inevitable as technology continues to improve exponentially.
Blitzwolf touts the graphene membrane as the reason for the good audio. As Blitzwolf says:
Earphones using graphene offer superb frequency response. The reason for this down to the graphene diaphragm’s simplicity: Most diaphragms/cones must be dampened to prevent undesirable frequency responses, graphene requires no dampening. This is because graphene is so strong that the diaphragm can be incredibly thin- and thus very light.Instead of being artificially dampened, the graphene diaphragm is dampened by the air itself. Graphene is also very energy efficient which lead to reduced power consumption.
I’m no earphone expert, but it does make sense how the graphene layer improves output.
The bass of the earphones is perfect, for me at least. I like my music with quite a punch when the bass comes around, and too many earphones are either too weak with bass or they drown out everything with the thud-thud. The ES1 finds a balance, so that you can experience the bass, but it doesn’t overpower the other frequencies.
The treble is also very capable. It can get to very high pitches without cackling or background noise, provided that your file bitrate and quality is high enough. It’s not quite as fine-tuned as the lower frequencies and it lacks that “punch” sometimes, but it’s certainly very good nonetheless.
Everyday usage
I have been using the ES1’s for several weeks now and there is nothing that stands out to me in a negative way that affects the earphones. They fit really comfortably in the ear and seal in the sound seamlessly, to the point where it felt as if they weren’t in my ears after some time.
The cable length is neither too long nor too short, and the control buttons always respond to your input.
If I could improve one thing about them, I would consider making a bulkier jack part (as seen in the 5th picture). Although the metal construction has worked without a hitch, I do feel like it’s prone to damage if something were to push against it. But I guess that time will only tell.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, not only do the ES1’s feature respectable quality and design, they also pump out decent audio. For a price of less than $25, you will be making a good choice to get these if you were to pick up a budget headset.
You can get the item from Amazon here.
You can get the item from Banggood.com here.