UMIDIGI Ubeats – the company claims it is the best value and performance BT 5.0, in-ear, neck strap style headphones today. If enthusiasm counts and UMIDIGI has that in spades – the company and its products deserve to succeed.
GadgetGuy has covered this largely unheard of company (in Australia) – its F1 smartphone (n relation to the F1 motorsport) offers incredible value at $279.99 and has a 4.4-out-of-5 rating. If the UMIDIGI Ubeats (no relationship to Beats by Dr Dre) follow a similar formula, then they are worth several times what they are charging.
Review: UMIDIGI Ubeats, BT5.0, in-ear, neck strap style (called necklace), headphones
Website: here
Price: US$32.32 but there are special prices on-line at AliExpress  and elsewhere
Brief specs
- Qualcomm QCC3003 BT5.0 stereo and mic chipset (compatible with earlier BT versions)
- BT 5.0 SBC codec means multi-point connections, higher data transfer to 2Mbps, 10M range, and use 25% less energy than BT 4.2 (LE)
- 12-hour playtime with micro-USB charging (cable supplied). 300 hours standby – idle
- 140mAh battery, 1.5 hour charge time (off a standard 5V/1A USB-A port) with red/white LED indicator
- 8th generation Qualcomm CVC noise reduction algorithm  for clearer audio, automatic gain, wider stereo separation and more
- 10mm dynamic coils, 20Hz-20kHz frequency response
- MEMS ( micro-electromechanical system) silicon mic
- Small, medium and large ear tips and the silica gel necklace. 33g.
- Magnetic earphone shells (stick together – but does not act as a power switch)
- Voice assistant compatible
- No app required
Setup
- Press power on
- Pair with any BT device – that is is.
- No app – thank goodness
Sound
Maximum volume is 70dB, which is very loud in the ear. It is good clear sound with no apparent distortion.
Sound is interesting in a good way
(Note: Frequency response is from 20Hz to 20kHz)
- Deep Bass: 20-40Hz – none
- Middle Bass: 40-100Hz – strong from 50Hz
- High Bass: 100 to 200Hz – flat (good)
- Low-mids: 200-400Hz – flat
- Mids: 400-1000Hz – flat
- High-mids: 1-2kHz – flat
- Low-treble: 2-4kHz – flat
- Treble: 4-6kHz – peaking
- High Treble: 6-1kHz – declining but solid enough
- Dog whistle: 10-20khz – amazing – does not deteriorate until about 16kHz
There are six basic sound signatures – the nirvana for music and movies is Warm and Sweet.
- Analytical: (bass/mids recessed, treble boosted)
- Balanced: (bass boosted, mids recessed, treble boosted)
- Bass: (bass boosted, mids/treble recessed)
- Mid: (bass recessed, mids boosted, treble recessed)
- Warm and Sweet (bass/mids boosted, treble recessed)
- Bright Vocal (bass recessed, mids/treble boosted)
This is Warm and Sweet but has lots of potential to use an EQ to go mid-centric (for clear voice) or a little more bass. For a US$19.99 headphone, this is crazy good – far better than headphones for ten times the price.
OK Google and voice
A short press on the power button summons OK Google or Siri. It can then play song lists etc. You don’t get voice foldback.
Callers said I sounded clear and not at all in a ‘tunnel’.
Battery
Our tests confirm up to 15 hours at 50% volume (comfortable) and correspondingly less for higher volumes – let’s average that at 12 hours for most users. BT 5.0 devices usually report battery levels.
Quality, fit
The silica gel necklace – the closest analogy looks wise is that black rubber insulation piping you see on air-conditioners – is durable, flexible and well made. It has a 1-year replacement warranty.
GadgetGuy’s take – all buds should be as good as Umidigi Ubeats
I am impressed. I prefer over-the-ear, ANC headphones costing 20X times this. Frankly, the sound quality was as good as I have heard, and the snug ear tip fit reduces noise to acceptable levels.
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