Content
- TECH SPECS
- Contents of delivery
- Introduction
- Case appearance
- Headphone appearance
- Landing in the auricle
- About sound
- As a headset
- Working hours
- Conclusion
| TECH SPECS | |
| USB connector | Type C |
| Impedance | 16 |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 HFP / A2DP / AVRCP Range: up to 10 m |
| Case battery capacity | 550 mAh |
| Weight (one earbud) | 4 g |
| Total weight | 43 g |
| dimensions | 25,4 × 36,5 × 70mm |
| Water protection | IPX4 |
| Sign In | 5V 1A |
| Log out | 5V 150mA |
| Color | Black White |
| Working time (headphones fully charged): | |
| Talk time | 4 hours |
| Music playing time | 4 hours (50% volume) |
| Operating time (headphones and case are fully charged): | |
| Talk time | 20 hours |
| Music playing time | 20 hours (50% volume) |
| Charging time: | |
| Headphones | 1.5 hours |
| Charging case | 2 hours |
| Number of charges from the case | 5 |
Contents of delivery
- Headphones
- Cable
- Ear cushions
- Instructions
- Warranty Card
Introduction
At the end of last year, just before the holidays, ZTE presented its first ZTE LiveBuds TWS headphones in Russia. As for “ours”, there is a clear understanding that the device was made by the 1More brand. Actually, that’s why you can find the 1More PistonBuds model on their website without the ZTE prefix. However, these are already details for a separate investigation, and ZTE does not hide this: the box contains a complete decryption of the “name”.
Another question: why are ZTE LiveBuds again? There are already dozens of Buds Lives, FreeBuds and other Buds … Can’t you think of something of your own?
And now, in essence. These are excellent headphones in terms of sound. Looking ahead, I will say that deep bass lovers will be happy. In addition, ZTE LiveBuds has 4 microphones for noise cancellation during a call, and also uses a neural network for the same process.
The cost of ZTE LiveBuds is 4 rubles.
Case appearance
On sale, the headphones will have two color options for the case: white and black. How unexpected. However, some manufacturers only offer one color.
The shape of the case is rectangular, the top and bottom are flat, the side faces are sloping, the front and back panels are also flat. Dimensions are small – 25 × 36 × 70 mm, and the weight is only 43 grams. For rough comparison, the ZTE LiveBuds are larger than the Huawei FreeBuds, but smaller than the JBL Live 300TWS and, plus or minus, are the same as the Huawei FreeBuds 3i.
ZTE and Huawei FreeBuds 3
ZTE and Huawei FreeBuds 3i
ZTE and JBL Live 300
I am in favor of keeping the cases as compact as possible, because they have to be kept somewhere “close to the body.” It is clear that larger cases tend to have a larger battery capacity. However, a balance must be struck. For example, Huawei FreeBuds Pro are already massive for me personally.
The ZTE LiveBuds case is made of plastic. The test turned out to be black headphones. The plastic is semi-gloss, that is, fingerprints do not remain, but the body shines a little in the light.
The workmanship is average: you understand that these are inexpensive headphones. Here the plastic is unpretentious to the touch, and adhesions with cutouts for some details are noticeable.
It is difficult to judge the strength: it seems to me that even if you drop them on the floor, then nothing terrible will happen. When compressing and twisting the body, the gadget does not make any sounds, which is good.
There is a small activity indicator on the front of the device, including one that displays the battery charge.
On the reverse side – USB Type-C for battery recharge. The set includes such a cable, however, it is very short.
In order to open the cover, you need to pull on the recess in it. There is no clear fixation in any position, so the lid can be half open. Don’t ask why – just as an option.
It closes quickly and easily, and is fixed with magnets. The headphone compartment itself does not open. There is no backlash or creak
Headphone appearance
The earbuds are clearly fixed in place and do not fall out. Again, thanks to the magnets.
They are easy to extract: there are recesses for the fingers in the case body. Put your index finger there and pull the earpiece towards you.
The ear casing is made of the same color and material as the case casing. The dimensions of the ZTE LiveBuds are quite compact and comparable to the Huawei FreeBuds Pro. ZTE headphones weigh 4 grams each – the minimum that I have seen during my tests. On average, TWS gadgets weigh 6 grams.
On the whole, the devices have a typical design: droplets, in-ear, with a small “stem” at the end of which a microphone is located. The length of the “stem” is about 15 mm.
The manufacturer claims that the headphones use four microphones for noise cancellation during a call. Plus, DNN (artificial neural network) algorithms are used to eliminate noise.
The left and right “cups” of the headphones are touch-sensitive and recognize touches: double-tapping on any earphone – answer a call, double-tapping while playing music on the left earphone – activating the voice assistant (if you use iOS, then say hello to Siri), and on the right it will be play / pause.
Landing in the auricle
They go very tightly into the ear canal, creating not very pleasant pressure, especially when you touch the “cups” for any action, thereby driving ZTE LiveBuds even deeper into the ear canal in a short period of time. All this is individual, but it was unpleasant for me.
On the other hand, passive noise cancellation is good here. The earbuds do not fall out even during active sports.
About sound
The manufacturer indicates that this model uses a 7mm driver. By modern standards, the size is small. But, for example, in Pamu Slide mini for 5 rubles the speaker is only 000 mm. Another example to understand: in Huawei FreeBuds 6, the driver is 3 mm, and in FreeBuds 14i – 3 mm.
ZTE LiveBuds headphones support SBC / AAC codecs, neither LDAC nor aptX is here.
Immediately, I note that in the headphones you will clearly hear deep bass. It is soft, not humming, not very assertive. To my ear, it starts at 20 Hz. I can’t say that I often come across headphones that honestly pump 20-30 Hz. Here it is all there. Commendable!
However, at about 16 kHz the band ends. It seems to me that for such high frequencies it is not critical.
I listened to many songs in different genres and could not determine the positioning of the ZTE LiveBuds. They play rock, pop, and classics equally well. Just keep in mind that deep bass will prevail everywhere. It is not distracting, but present.
The “middle” is heard well, the voice is also transmitted without problems. In general, the headphone setup is good: there are no obvious dips in frequencies.
As for the feeling of the scene, the volume – they are in the minimum amount. And I would not focus on this.
The volume is high. In my case, 60-70% is already loud enough. I used an Apple iPhone 12 as a test device.
For those who want to know in a nutshell about the sound of ZTE LiveBuds: cool deep bass, well-developed middle, slightly cut off extreme high frequencies (at least 17-18 kHz I would like to get), the scene is felt weak. For headphones for 4 rubles, everything here is very harmonious in terms of sound.
As a headset
I can’t say that talking on the headset got me hooked. The interlocutor hears you loudly, intelligibility is slightly above average. The fault, it seems to me, is the excessively picky attention of the “noise control” and algorithms: it is necessary or not necessary, but digital voice processing is used. It is felt that the sound is transmitted through some kind of barrier, which decently filtered out some frequencies and transmitted electronic notes in the voice.
Below is an example of a voice recording, you can judge the quality yourself. Both phones were on the same network, and the network quality was at its maximum. And I sat in complete silence at home.
An example of a conversation recording >>>
Working hours
The battery capacity in the case is 550 mAh. What batteries are in each “ear”, I have no information. Most likely around 30 mAh.
According to official figures, the opening hours are approximately 4 hours. I even got 5 hours at a volume level around 30%.
The headphones in the case take 1.5 hours to charge, and the case itself takes about 2 hours.
Conclusion
Let me remind you that ZTE LiveBuds will cost 4 rubles. For this money, you will get very good headphones in terms of sound: deep bass, frequency response without obvious drops, excellent voice transmission – in general, everything is very decent!
The appearance is primitive, the operating time is normal, the quality of a headset is not bad, but with reservations, there is no support for the aptX codec. This is if you go through the shortcomings.
If I wanted to buy this model, I would wait with the price. It seems to me that a more real cost is around 3 rubles.
Among the competitors are dozens of headphones from Xiaomi, Anker, JBL and so on. Now every manufacturer has “hit” the release of TWS-gadgets. And this, in fact, is bad: it creates confusion in the choice. They are all the same, but the prices are different. It’s good when there are people like us – Mobile-Review.com! We will always help you choose what you need ?
I am waiting for you in the comments: how do you see the development of such headphones in the future, what technologies and chips?
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