It’s been a while since I’ve done a review, so please bear with me, as I tell you a little bit about the Edifier P293 Sports IEM. I would like to thank Edifier for providing me a free sample in return for an honest review, which I will try my best to provide with few weeks I have had it.
Design
I was given the “candy green” variant of these IEMs, and boy are they bright. They run the typical “drop down” cord style. These IEMs have a unique, asymmetric design. The particular characteristic causes the inability to run the “around-ear” cord style that I am personally adjusted to, without reversing the sides of the earbuds. Although I see why they took the route of “drop down” cord style with its popularity with the populace, I still somehow dislike the style. It may be due to the downwards
pull that these seem to give, which other IEMs of similar style circumvent, due to spreading out the weight
over the ear with the “around-ear” design. It is to be mentioned that this does have a flat cable, but that doesn’t do much for me personally, although from practice, cable tangle is lessened.
3/5 Design (I wanted to like them, but there were a couple of misses that do bother me)
3/5 Cable Design (For an IEM that is this large, around-ear may have been a good idea. Flat cable may entertain some, but I’m indifferent about it.)
5/5 Style (They said they are “flashy”. Well, they’re right. It is to be mentioned that the silver backs are subtly shiny; a good touch)
Construction
These IEMs are constructed from what feels like a very durable plastic. If I dropped these, I wouldn’t be concerned of breaking them. The connections that connect both the 3.5mm connector and the cord to the IEMs themselves seem well reinforced, so I expect them to have a fairly long life. If any of this changes, expect a revision of this review!
4/5 Cable Reinforcement (I’m fairly impressed by the reinforcement of the cable, but I dislike the almost “flimsy” feel of the flat cable.)
4/5 IEM Housing (Very sturdy, strong enclosure however, the plastic isn’t something special to write home about.)
Comfort and Fit
So, as mentioned above, there were a couple nitpicky things that I had against the design of the IEMs, particularly the design choice against wrapping the ear. However, the comfort of the IEM itself isn’t bad. In terms of weight, it drops itself comfortably between an acrylic CIEM and a generic metal earbud. I had used them on multiple particularly long listening sessions to test ear fatigue and there is slight ear fatigue. It is to be noted however, that this can be due to a multitude of factors which I have experimented with.
1) Ear tip chosen.
a. These IEMs have deeper insertion than usual. Take extra care on size chosen, and investigate different sizes. Some ear fatigue I faced was actually due to taking a size too small. Choosing a size up alleviated some fatigue.
2) Wire tension
a. The wire clip included can help relieve wire stress, which can reduce some of the downwards force that is present with the “drop down” style of the wire.
As much as I harass Edifier about the wire choice, I do have to hand them their ability to nail down the insertion. The insertion of the P293 impressed me, and is often something that I have seen improperly done at this price range. It is well known that a good seal is essential for optimal audio quality, and this IEM does a good job at addressing this. In fact, I was able to get a good seal from multiple different sizes of ear tips (medium and large) although choosing the medium tip did cause more ear fatigue than its larger counterpart. In addition, the solid insertion does a fair job at passive noise cancellation as well!
Ear Fatigue 3/5 (It’s not something particularly surprising to see at this price point, but any fatigue can be detracting)
Insertion 5/5 (I was very impressed for the insertion of the earbud. Something that I can often struggle with other ones)
Application
Edifier does technically market this as an IEM suitable for “fitness and workout” so I tested out them in a couple situations to see how well these guys held up. I tested mostly to see how different activities impacted the earbuds ability to stay put in the ear.
For many exercise activities with repetitive, non-major motions, such as running or indoor cycling, these guys faired very well, and adjustment was minimal. The included clip reduced the cable from going everywhere as well in action. However, in more rigorous activities, such as yard work, the “drop down” style haunts us yet again. With the full body motions, it is fairly common that the cable will loosen and tighten, ripping the earbud out. Experimentation has shown that tightening the cable reduced the occurrence of this, and rendered similar results casually and on the go.
Application 4/5 (For the most part, the P293 fared well, but failed at the more rigorous tasks.)
Sound
It’s funny how far a little bit of break in can do for an IEM. Initially, sound wasn’t something I was going to write off as something terribly significant until I got more familiar with it. Head-fi user Army-Firedawg mentioned in his review of this IEM that “The ‘V-Shape’ is very prominent in the P293, even more so than [Edifiers] H850”, and he was dead correct. However, I disagree with the statement that the soundstage is on par with others in the price range, as I believe that these do exceed the majority of the price point competition. However, this statement is subjective to the preferred sound signature of the end user.
Bass
· Tight, deep, and hard hitting. The bass is by far my favorite part of these IEMs, as they provide a strong, sophisticated sound which go toe-to-toe with many IEMs way out of price range. To best describe them, they are accented and provide a forward, dynamic, non-bloated/“lazy” bass signature. To quote Army-Firedawg a second time “I find myself always bobbing my head and enjoying the bass hit the P293 gave me.” These provide pure and utter bliss for genres such as Hard Rock, Electro Dance Music, and other genres demanding a strong lower frequency.
Mid-range
· I personally am a huge fan of a “V-Shaped” sound signature, but I would be silly not to acknowledge the importance that the midrange contributes to a piece. Unfortunately, Edifier didn’t acknowledge its importance enough. Although the midrange did fill in a lot more since initial listen (with burn-in), it still has a “hollow” feeling to it, which can be a turn off to those who really love it.
Treble
· If someone could draw a line to represent successful treble playback for these IEMs, it would be drawn firmly at the 75% mark. At the higher registers, the treble becomes uncharacteristic of the original sound, and can sometimes be a burden to listen to. I find this to be problematic when listening to genres such as Poptronica, Pop, and even some cases, Classical.
Other major characteristics of this IEM to be noted would be its surprisingly analytical nature. In addition, the soundstage is larger than you would expect for the price point after burn-in. Finally, these IEMs scale well with good equipment. I paired this up with both a Fiio E07K and an Objective 2 Amplifier, and was pleasantly surprised by the performance boost!
Bass 5/5 (By far my favorite part of the IEM itself. Punchy, non-bloated)
Midrange 2.5/5 (Weak and noticeable gap in the sound signature.)
Treble 4/5 (Close, but when the treble gets too overbearing, it can be detracting)
The Extras
These IEMs came with a few extra accessories, and it wouldn’t be fair to exclude them in this review. That being said, it came with a leather pouch, a 3.5 mm male to female extension, cord clip, 3 pair of ear tips, and an inline microphone with control.
The leather pouch is wonderfully beautiful but I often have a hard time using it, as a sleeve is difficult to utilize with IEMs of this shape and size. I resorted to using a hard case I had laying around for regular use.
The extension is 5.5 inches (about 14 cm) and interestingly, worked with every single headphone and IEM I had ranging from the AKG 7xx to the Heir Audio 3.ai but
didn’t work for the Edifier P293. I actually couldn’t figure out why this was, and made a deduction based on the design of the plug of the P293 itself.
Cord clip was mentioned a little earlier, and although I don’t always use it, I always keep it on hand with the P293. They can be critically important in reducing cable noise in certain situations, since the “drop down” cable style can introduce that problem.
The amount of ear tips Edifier provides is actually lower than what I usually see at price point (usually anywhere from 5-9 different sets). However, I was able to find two of the three actually fit reasonably well, but I wish to have seen more sizes and types.
The inline controls and mic worked flawlessly. I never had a hardware related issue with it. It was also brought to my attention that I had good clarity when using the inline microphone.
Leather Pouch 4/5 (Pretty, but not practical)
Extension 4.5/5 (Sturdy construction, worked with everything but what it shipped with)
Cord Clip 4/5 (Sometimes fitting it on the wire is cumbersome)
Ear Tips 3/5 (I found ones that worked, but diversity wouldn’t hurt)
Inline Controls 5/5 (Worked every time, microphone is of good quality)
Overall
Design 3/5
I really, really wanted to like them. They are flashy enough to look good without looking cheap, but the cable design personally bothered me. Your mileage will vary.
Construction 4/5
Sturdily built. Flat cable isn’t my favorite, but it does help mitigate tangling. I am concerned for the life of the cable that isn’t reinforced.
Comfort and Fit 3.5/5
I wanted to like them more, but sometimes I would imagine how it could potentially be easier to wear with an “over ear” cable. However, ease and depth of insertion of the IEM is a pleasant feature.
Application 4/5
Served its purpose for most activities. Only notable failure was in actions which the entire body was involved.
Sound 4/5
It’s hard to give a rating for sound. However, the failures of the midrange as well as some parts of the treble can be forgiven from other aspects of the IEM. Extra brownie points were given for how analytical it can be, the soundstage, and decent scaling.However, it would be unreasonable to overlook the few flaws this has.
Extras 3.5/5
Some of the extras were really nice (note: the leather pouch), but my biggest stipulation was the lack of ear tip diversity.
I think these IEMs are great, but they can be situationally niche. The particular highlights of this IEM will appeal to many people, especially those who are willing to dismiss mid-range, and some treble for “a good time”. Its “V-Shaped” sound signature definitely characterizes this crowd. That being said, this IEM isn’t without its flaws, but still remains a good contender for the piece point.