Preamble:
When George from GearBest contacted me and asked if I was interested in reviewing the “Original Xiaomi Piston Colorful Starter Edition” in-ears (
http://www.gearbest.com/earphones/pp_231055.html,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qybUy2Pz50), I agreed, although I had a negative attitude towards sound quality and was honestly not expecting much. Surprisingly, the sound was much better than I expected, but more about that in the corresponding paragraph.
Xiaomi is a Chinese smartphone manufacturer that is very well known in the Asian area. Besides cellular phones, the industrial giant also produces headphones and in-ears (the latter are always very low in price, just as these which cost only $7.59) and I was honestly speaking very surprised when a DHL Express package arrived just shortly after George contacted me. When I opened it and realised that GearBest indeed sent me those ridiculously inexpensive IEMs by express mail, I had a good laugh for a couple of seconds.
Technical Specifications:
Driver type: dynamic
Connector: 3.5mm
Cable length: 1.25m
Frequency response: 20~20KHz
Impedance: 32ohms
Maximum input power: 5mw
Delivery Content:
The inexpensive in-ears arrive in a small, simple paper box with a “mi” logo and some Chinese lettering on the outside. Breaking the seal, one will find a mysterious card with Chinese words on it as well as the in-ears and four pairs of silicone tips in three different sizes.
A carrying case is not included, but I wasn’t expecting one either at this low price point.
Looks, Feels, Build Quality:
GearBest sent me the black and light blue version of the Piston Colorful Starter Edition in-ears. Visually, they IEMs with their flat cables and the matte finish looks not bad at first glance, but they turn out to be quite cheaply made at closer look. Besides a metal application on the bodies, the in-ears are made of extremely lightweight plastic that feels rather poor, though both parts of the housings are glued together very precisely and it looks like they have got a good quality control at the Xiaomi factory. On the other hand, the cable doesn’t feel very well made, lacks any strain relief (or chin-slider) and doesn’t seem very durable at all in general.
The remote control feels cheap as well and does not work with iOS devices (I couldn’t test with my BlackBerry as it is currently being repaired).
Comfort, Isolation:
Beforehand I have to say that I was only able to get a good seal when wearing the Pistons around the ears (which by the way gave me a very good fit, too), wherefore I can’t evaluate them with the cables straight down.
Wearing them with the cables over the ears, comfort and fit are excellent and I can’t hear any microphonics (as this wearing method drastically reduces microphonics in general) and I don’t notice the in-ears after just a few seconds due to their very light weight.
The dynamic IEMs have got one vent in each side but isolate pretty good.
Sound:
Sound was mainly evaluated with my iBasso DX80 and jailbroken iPhone 4 which has also got some software tweaks for a better music playback.
Honestly speaking, I wasn’t expecting much from the sound, but was even more surprised when I played the first tunes through the Pistons (which were burnt in before evaluation – just in case).
Quality control seems to be very good at the factory, as the IEMs don’t only have evenly glued bodies, but also the same frequency response on both samples I was provided with.
Tonality:
The Piston Colorful Starter Edition in-ears have got a classical consumer-oriented v-shaped signature which is however more gentle than on some other entry-level products, though bass is still quite strong with a broad-band emphasis of about 8 dB and appears a bit mighty.
Lows’ emphasis extends from the sub- over the mid- and upper bass over the lower to the upper middle ground-tone area. Level starts decreasing to a normal amount again in the upper lower ground-tone; sub-bass is present and doesn’t really roll off.
Mids are neither recessed nor emphasised and to my ears sonically correct; level is very slightly in the background in the lower highs and starts increasing promptly from 3 kHz on and has got two peaks at 5.9 and 9.2 kHz in my ears.
Super highs extend very well and maintain a good and even level even up to 18 kHz.
By the way, treble emphasis is rather gentle and evenly rising.
As I said, voices are to my ears sonically correct and treble is mostly realistic and not harsh despite the emphasis, as it is quite evenly lifted.
Resolution:
As I repeat myself again, I really didn’t expect much, but the Piston in-ears managed to surprise me in a positive way.
Overall resolution is clearly better than with many large-brand commercial products like the Sennheiser CX 200 Street II (which doesn’t only have a massive v-shaped signature with metallic and piercing highs, but also a mediocre resolution) and about on the same level as other good budget earphones, and I see it, regarding technical strengths, somewhere between the KZ ED10 and EDSE.
Resolution in the mids and treble is very decent for the price and can compete with higher priced models without any problems and there are no problems regarding harshness or peakiness in the highs as they are quite even and well resolving.
However, lows are less good, as they can’t maintain the good resolution and should reveal more details in comparison to the mids and high – they even appear a bit blunt. Impact is fairly good, controlled and punchy (wherefore double- and triple-bass strokes are still recognisable as such), though the Pistons have got a rather slow decay wherefore they appear quite massy and lack some control – but they are still more or less decent for the price.
Soundstage:
Soundstage is a bit wider than mediocre and has even got some depth, but instrument separation is rather foggy and instruments bleed into each other a bit – a good separation and positioning like the one offered by the KZ EDSE or ATE is not achieved by the Piston Colorful Starter Edition in-ears, though they are better than the ED10 in this regard. Though, they don’t create a soundstage mush either, like one could probably think at their low price point, and they are generally very decently sounding.
Conclusion:
For the low price, the Xiaomi Piston Colorful Starter Edition offers a more consumer-oriented sound signature, but is on a good technical level and sounds definitely better than one could think for a product being sold at less than $10. Sounding is made quite well and mids are sonically and tonally very correct, and treble in addition appears natural and not harsh despite the emphasis.
Resolution in the mids and highs is decent and the lows have got a good impact, but appear somewhat unprecise, blunt and have got a rather slow decay and lack some control as well.
Unfortunately, build quality regarding haptics isn’t that good and I have had other lowest budget IEMs that felt more durable and more valuable.
Audiophile sound is not what you get with these, but they are in-ears that offer a very good value for the money.
Regarding price and sound quality, I give them 4.5 out of 5 stars, which translates to about 90%, whereby the build quality is the greatest drawback.
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As a bonus, I have also included a frequency response chart that I recorded with the Vibro Labs Veritas (it may not be the most accurate, but should give you a general idea on how they sound):
