2023-04-20 Article updated with test of Jlab Go Air Pop
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Jlab Go Air Pop
It starts with a text message, a picture and a cheerful “I have a pair of cheap headphones you can try!” from our editor-in-chief. So I will once again wander down the avenue of “sunk sound”, as I have done several times before – just read the tests that have already been done below.
Anyway, the Jlab Go Air Pop comes in a tacky box and at least looks okay. After all the paper is removed, I hold a small black headphone case that is not only plastic but also feels incredibly plastic. And easy. You charge the case by unfolding a USB flap that is folded in on the underside.
Inside are two pairs of headphones that basically weigh nothing. When you put them in your ears for the first time, a voice informs you that they are in pairing mode. I opened the bluetooth settings on my Iphone and connected to them – no problem at all.
Unfortunately, I only got sound out of one, but after taking them out and putting them back in, the sound kicked in. It’s not a good sound. In fact, music sounds frighteningly bad. Certainly not as bad as Streetz True Wireless; apparently there are degrees of difference in hell.
You can also forget about using the headphones in a noisy environment. The fit is so-so, it does not leak sound in part and minute, and that noise reduction shines with its absence. They are equipped with some kind of touch control that I never managed to understand.
On the other hand, calls sound perfectly fine, but the person I called complained that the sound suffered from a slight distortion.
But what the hell, they cost 300 bucks. If you want to listen to podcasts, audiobooks or have no major demands on sound quality when listening to music, then you can buy a pair of Go Air Pop.
Rating 2 out of 5
Taken: SEK 299 at Amazon
Vokmon TWS-02
The headphones from Vokmon are delivered in a gray plastic case which, believe it or not, is even more plastic on the inside. Inside this plastic orgy hides a couple – what else? – plastic true wireless headphones. When they are taken out of their case, with some difficulty as it is slippery as hell, and attached to the ear, a voice is heard shouting something in Chinese. We’re not sure, but we’re guessing that what’s being said is something like “the headphones are now on,” but we don’t know.
Once in the ear, they are easily connected to the phone’s bluetooth. However, it does not happen automatically à la Apple’s Airpods, here you have to open settings and carry out the pairing manually. When it’s done, it’s just a matter of getting the manual… which doesn’t exist. However, we managed to figure out how to pause, skip forward or rewind a song. It all happens by touching the outside of the headphones. The disadvantage of this is that it is easy to interrupt a call if, for example, you want to put the headphones on the right way. But we guess it’s a matter of habit.
In terms of sound, despite all its plasticity, it’s perfectly fine. Admittedly, it doesn’t have noise reduction, but considering the price, it still sounds pretty good. If you need a pair of headphones when you want to listen to an audiobook or similar, they work just fine. When we called our audio expert, Ante “good stuff” Bergsman, to ask how the call sounded on his end, we got the answer “a little muffled sound, but it’s perfectly fine!”.
There you have it. A pair of true wireless, without noise reduction, which sound perfectly fine for just over 200 kroner.
Costs SEK 233 at Amazon Sweden
Streetz
Just when we thought it couldn’t get much worse than the Coioc S50, see the test below, the Streetz earphones appear and surprise us. But we take it from the beginning. The case is made of matte plastic and feels… well, plastic. When we lift the lid, the headphones come to life and begin to emit a flashing light. To be honest, it looks pretty trippy. Getting the headphones out of the case is not easy. They are difficult to get hold of, but if you have small fingers, it’s easy.
The headphones have the same matte plastic material and feel anything but solid. They weigh basically nothing. It doesn’t have noise reduction, which we can understand considering the price, but they aren’t true in-ears either, instead hanging on the outside of the ear. This causes noise from the surroundings to leak in.
But the big problem is the sound emanating from the Streetz. Or the lack of it. Streetz has no base. They are only treble and midrange, which means music sounds scary. I knew the phase if there wasn’t better sound from a transistor radio in 1967! For conversation it is acceptable, but no more and requires you to be in a relatively quiet room. If you’re out and about in town, you won’t hear much.
Pairing the Streetz with the phone was anything but smooth. One headphone happily connected while the other refused. After 4-5 attempts we got “sound” out of both. But considering the sound quality, it didn’t make us happier.
Well, the Streetz is, as we professional testers say, a piece of cake! You have been warned.
Yobola T2 Pro
The next headphone for shaving is for us the unknown brand Yobola. They have borrowed wildly from Apple’s aesthetic, if not copied it outright, with their headphones T2 Pro. Unlike the Coioc headphones above, these are not in-ear, as they are rather hung at the hearing input.
In terms of appearance, there is not much to say. The case is white. The headphones are white with small diodes that light up when they are on. When they are lifted out of the case, a small voice is heard to say “power on”. The pairing is not a luxury experience à la Apple or Samsung, but there are no problems at all to pair them with an iPad. The total time the headphones and the case can spread sound is approximately 25 hours. The case is charged via an included USB-C cable.
Sound wise they are okay. Music definitely sounds better in these headphones, even though they are not true in-ears. Sure, it’s not exactly hi-fi, but not low-fi either. Conversations sound perfectly fine, but if you’re out walking around town, you’ll notice that they let in a lot of ambient noise.
The controls are also touch, placed on the sides of the headphones. They work, but to say they work well would be an exaggeration. As soon as you access them, something happens to volume, music or calls. At best, you pause the music or skip a song. In the worst case, you hang up in the middle of a call.
In terms of price, there is not much to talk about. These cost under SEK 300. If you’re looking for a simple pair of wireless headphones and don’t care too much about how music sounds as long as it sounds, then this might be for you. A tip in such cases is to control the music and volume during calls with the phone.
Costs SEK 289 at Amazon Sweden
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