Home iPhonia iPhone Accessories ,,,,,We have now lost count of our tests of headphones with and without wires, while we can count on the fingers of one hand those relating to headphones with cable equipped with a Lightning plug, a connection that only recently, with the arrival of the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus (Apple's first to abandon the audio jack), is encouraging third-party manufacturers to adopt it in the creation of new solutions for headphone music.
In recent weeks we have had the opportunity to thoroughly test Anker SoundBuds Digital IE10, the first earphones of the well-known manufacturer to adopt the Apple Lightning socket. During the long test period we replaced them with any other headphones in our possession without ever regretting it: thanks to what we can define a path of total love, not only the high quality materials but the sound performance far superior to any another wired headset and some other Lightning headphones tested in the past. In the next few lines we will try to explain why in our opinion these headphones should become the reference point for those who are preparing to build wired headsets compatible with the new iPhones.
Excellence starts from the packaging
From Anker we tried power banks, cables, speakers, chargers, stands but also wired headphones. Few or perhaps none of these, until now, is accompanied by a package that in our opinion looks very good even in view of a gift. First of all, the box is very large, although the contents could certainly be distributed even in half the space: this helps to “breathe” the product which, from the moment the box is opened, appears very elegant. The choice of black for the box and internal padding, among other things, helps to highlight the reflections of the brushed aluminum components, characterized by a dark gray paint.
The accessories
Below the main compartment that holds the earphones well collected we find two compartments where the accessories included in the package are housed, i.e. the user manual and a practical oval-shaped case canvas inside and rubberized outside closed by a solid zip. Inside the latter, well separated by some plastic bags, there are the in-ear rubbers and the fins in sizes S and L (those in sizes M are already placed on the earphones), as well as a set of memory foam pads and a clip to fasten the cable – for example – to the edge of the collar of a shirt.
A special mention deserves the memory foam rubber pads as they are rarely included in the earphone packages but, following our tests, they are in some cases better than the classic rubber, although the latter ensure better soundproofing from external noise. Those made in this “special sponge” from this point of view are in fact less occlusive but much more comfortable in prolonged use. If crushed, they keep their assigned shape for a few seconds: thus, by inserting them into the ears, they will adapt to the shape of the ear cavity without tightening or forcing with excessive pressure. The result is that they still remain stable in the ears, but you almost forget they're wearing them.
How they are made
The earphones are approximately 120 centimeters long and the cable, although it is rather thin, is really special. The rubber sheath , instead of completely smooth, is characterized by a series of streaks making it, if nothing else, particular to the touch. It also seems to be slightly thicker than others, or at least it felt a little more resistant to twisting than common headphone cables which, to ensure better tangle resistance, often use nylon coatings or ribbon cables instead. This cable – explains the manufacturer – is among other things designed to withstand more than 10,000 bending, thus ensuring high durability over time.
The Lightning plug, MFI certified , is very small, which ensures wide compatibility with iPhones and iPads that use cases even quite bulky. As anticipated, this connector, as well as the other components, is protected by a sturdy aluminum chassis, cold to the touch but at the same time rather light and resistant: the overall weight of the headphones is in fact only 20 grams, not bad if we take into account the technology. incorporated.
The earphones are not excessively large (1.7 x 1.2 cm approximately) and the drivers are protected by a metal grid , another sign of the fact that the company has spared no expense giving priority to the final quality of the product (most competitors are satisfied with plastic grids), both in the materials and in the sound performance which we will discuss in detail later.
Along the left earphone cable is the microphone , covered with a small aluminum cylinder, while holding the two together there is the remote control , the heart of this product. Larger than others (approx.5.3 x 1.2 x 0.5 cm), it offers on the front side three large keys covered with a large rubber section. The first is the Play button which, with a single press, stops and starts the music playback, with the double click it goes to the next song and with the triple click it returns to the previous one: holding it down for more than two seconds, instead, calls Siri . Then there are the Volume + and – buttons while on one side, a fourth button allows you to manage the equalization: adjacent to this 'last there is a small LED indicator useful in recognizing the selected mode.
The application can do more
If you have connected them to the Lightning socket of the iPhone but, clicking Play, you cannot listen to your music, do not worry, they are not broken. To work, the installation of the Anker Play app is necessarily required which, as confirmed by the skimpy description on iTunes, allows you to manage and keep Anker products updated and nothing else.
A little bit for a product that, as we will show shortly, ensures excellent audio reproduction. From this point of view we would have liked to have had greater control of the headphones, perhaps being able to interact directly on the equalization and create custom presets. In this regard, we point out the Equalizer + app that works with any stereo or headphones and puts an “octave” equalizer (7 bands) on the iPhone: a good alternative to be able to put your hand and customize the various frequencies based on listening and own tastes.
You will have no other headset but me
The moment we pressed the Play button to listen to the usual playlist with which we test audio products, we understood that we had in our hands – indeed, in our ears – a product far superior to the competition.
First of all, they are not headphones that need to be kept at maximum volume to allow you to fully appreciate all the frequencies of a piece of music. For the record we have also brought them to 100% of the volume, but generally in everyday use you can fully enjoy the music even with a volume between 50% and 75%.
The equalization , as mentioned, is managed by pressing the side button on the remote control, which allows you to select three different types of equalization . The first, recognizable by the white LED, is a balanced equalization ; the second, with the violet LED, is called by the manufacturer Clear Voice and gives greater emphasis to high frequencies; the third and final mode, called Super Bass , enhances the bass.
Even with balanced equalization the audio reproduction is above average: the sound is three-dimensional , an aspect that we hardly found in headphones proposals also in the same price range. The headphones can practically accurately reproduce the virtual position of the instruments, they have practically total control of the space. In trying to give a practical example, listening for example to Guglielmo Tell Ouverture by Rossini, the sensation is that of being in front of the orchestra, managing to perceive the fullness of the strings and the sound of the trumpets as if they were at a real distance from the orchestra. listener. Therefore, they do not only reproduce the games of the audio stream that moves from right to left, but they manage to define a position for the instruments.
By switching to the mode mainly dedicated to emphasizing the voice and remaining in the example of the aforementioned piece, completely instrumental, strings and trumpets acquire greater presence, but also with the bass boost mode, which is certainly designed for pieces of a very different cut. , an equalization is obtained such as to give greater prominence to other instruments which, with the other methods, instead took a back seat.
In short, what the equalization button does is not simply an increase in specific frequencies, but a real ad hoc equalization guaranteed by the DAC processor built into the remote control, the real brain of this feature.
For example, with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, the Clear Voice mode seems to be built specifically around this song: the voices of the choir seem to move from one side to the other (an effect that among other things appears even more evident in the introduction of Baba O'riley by the Who), while the timeless voice of Freddie Mercury and Brian May's guitar seem “alive”.
The bass boost mode shows its muscles in tracks like Beat Dominator's Bass Can You Hear Me, which live on low frequencies: in fact, audio tracks like this literally make the eardrums vibrate even at medium-high volume.
Conclusions
It is impossible not to recommend these headphones to those looking for something actually better, especially from the point of view of audio quality. Equalization selectable apart, it is precisely the best sound performance that is immediately perceptible even to the less trained ear, thanks to the DAC processor which, according to our tests, is not even demanding in terms of battery. In fact, the headphones do not recharge but are powered by the iPhone battery: two hours of listening to music affected only a few percentage points of the available energy.
They are also ideal for training, thanks to the fins they remain perfectly stable in the ears and are IPX5 certified, so they easily resist sweat and jets of water. The practical case makes it easy to transport, avoiding damage to the cable and keeping tangles away. It is almost impossible to find a flaw in them, indeed: it is not excluded that following future app updates, they may not even improve even more especially in terms of audio customization.
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Retail price
Anker SoundBuds Digital IE10 is on sale on Amazon for € 59.99.
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