Apesonic Mist Bluetooth 5.1 'Sleep Aid' Comfortable Semi-In-Ear TWS

RC065

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Model: Apesonic Mist
Price: $35 on Indiegogo
Website: Apesonic
Review Reference: RC065

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: Apesonic
• Model: Mist
• Driver: 8mm Driver
• Chipset: Jieli JL6983
• ANC: No
• Volume Control: No
• Codecs: SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.58g
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 37.3g
• Case Dimensions: 70mm width, 37mm depth, 22mm height
• Full Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: No
• Input: 5V 410mA (unconfirmed)
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 6 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 30 hours
• App Support: Not yet
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.1
• Bluetooth Protocols: HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX4

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User manual, English
1 x Story Card
1 x Warranty Card

Real Life Experience

Welcome to the @regancipher review of one of the most interesting projects of recent times, the Apesonic Mist.

For all intents and purposes, the Mist are still a concept product. The project started in March 2021 - a terrible time to consider the launch of a technology product given the global chip shortages. However, they slipped only very slightly from their delivery times, with shipping commencing in November 2021 - practically unheard of in crowdfunding projects!

The Mist 'story' is based on the concept of an 'open air' design that allows for calls and listening to music, with simple controls and a comfortable fit, whilst retaining awareness of your surroundings. Apesonic have marketed the product for side sleepers in particular, with this being much of their marketing focus on their Indiegogo launch page, but their use cases extend far beyond that, and have prompted Samsung (with their Buds Live) and Sony (with their Linkbuds) to try to address the same problem - a lot of people don't like silicone in their ears all day.

Apesonic commit to donating a dollar from every product to conservation of apes, and that alone is worthy of consideration. They have also been in touch since the review, have communicated respectfully and taken the feedback on-board without trying to persuade me to alter my review (ahem Aukey, Mpow, etc) and are genuinely committed to improving the product, which in my book is worthy of an extra half a star!


Unboxing - 7/10

The unboxing of the ApeSonic Mist is actually not terrible given the low cost. The box looks a little cheap as you would expect, and there are lots of QR codes, none of which seem to do anything particularly useful.

The 'ApeSonic Story' card is a nice touch, providing background and context to the project and mission. They come with a warranty card, clear instruction manual, and the case and buds are held in a foam insert. The USB-C charge cable is decent quality, held in a small cardboard case.

The front of the box claims 'Premium Audio' and 'Sleep Aid App with Nature Sounds' as well as 'High Resolution'. None of these are objectively true as things stand, and perhaps the marketing of the product would be better served playing down the sound and using terminology like high resolution and instead focusing on the real strengths of the product.

The Case - 7/10



The case is very portable with a nice embossed ApeSonic logo on top, and a hook loop for keyrings. This makes them really useful for exercise or even just having on your keys as a spare pair of earbuds. The USB-C charge socket is at the rear.



There is a lip at the front of the case, but it is not only rather difficult to flip open with single handed-use, but the lid tends to default to close, so you kinda have to hold it open with your thumb while taking the buds out. Not a problem, but worth knowing if you're on the move.

The cockpit has a small LED in the centre, which when opened, remains solid for 4 seconds. When it is below 20% (around 5 remaining hours in total), the LED will flash. It would have been helpful on the outside, but inside is better than not at all.

The case has 'hall switch' mode which means the buds connect to the last device when the case is opened. If they connect, they will flash blue, but whilst pairing with each other they flash orange quickly, then when awaiting pairing with a device, orange and blue. It can look like a pilots cockpit at times when you open the case - lots of flashing lights and at times very confusing! However once you're connected and paired, it's less noisy.

Getting the buds in and out of the case isn't the easiest. There is no obvious place to put your fingers to pull them away from the strong magnets. I have settled on the edge that sits below the L and R case stamps, as is instructed in their marketing video, but even then you have to dig your nails in a little. Definitely easier for females! Putting them back in the case at night is nigh on impossible in the dark - their intricate shape means they don't really land simply into the case, you have to find the right angle, and it's a little counter-intuitive.



Aside from those minor quibbles, their portability and long battery life make them good travel buddies. at 37g and just 7x3.5x2.2cm. they can practicably be used as a keyring. This gives the case lots of merit. There is sadly no quick charge and no wireless charging, as you would expect at this price point.

Ergonomics - 7/10

The Mist make some very bold claims in their marketing material. Lets start by addressing all of them one by one:

"Unlike most earbuds, the Mist has an open design that allows sound in from the outside. Many people experience anxiety or claustrophobia when wearing headphones that isolate them from the sounds that people naturally use to orient ourselves in our surroundings, especially while exercising - some people instinctively avoid earbuds and headphones for this reason.
Silicone fins and inner contact surface brace the Mist's form-fitting design at three points in the ear for a soft, comfortable, yet secure fit."

I can relate to this. I like using the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live for this very reason, however, they do lack fins and can sometimes come a little loose. And at the moment, only one of my Samsung buds is even working after a wet winter of infrequent but drenched road runs seems to have affected their ability to work properly.



The Mist fit exactly as intended, and actually, for short term use they are really comfortable - as comfy as my Buds Live but more secure, and comfier than the Sony LinkBuds. Their longevity is questionable though - and this comes down to my own ears, rather than every ear. The problem seems to be in the strength of the material of the fins, no doubt deliberate to ensure stability. The problem is stability and comfort are often a trade off. The diameter of the top fin is rather wide - wider than the gap in my Helix lock. This means after around an hour, I feel pain against my concha - more in the right ear than the left ear, again highlighting the Aristotlean 'Third Ear' argument!

The bottom also suffers from the strength of the material - again, after a while I felt pressure against my antitragus. Had they made the fins the same material as the comfy 'flaps' that rest against your ear canal, albeit thick enough to prevent the feeling of plastic from the main body, they would have worked better for me. However do NOT let this reason alone put you off - everybody's ears are different, and just because they aren't ideal for me, doesn't mean they won't be for you. Even despite this, they do resolve the issue of over-isolation.

I would personally look to reduce the surface area and put more padding between the plastic edges and the concha, and that's exactly what Sony have done with the LinkBuds. They've bundled in a bunch of interchangeable fins that work for different ears. This is probably cost-prohibitive for ApeSonic, so a happy medium may be a foamier edge to the rubber, especially at the bottom, and a softer material at the top.

The problem for side sleepers is that whilst they may be pretty good for sleeping (I tested them a few nights and not only did they stay in, they didn't feel especially painful - possibly as I'm a little more relaxed at bed time), the flashing blue light on the side makes them totally impractical for this purpose, as it repeatedly lights up the room. Not only that, the 30 sleep sounds and app support currently don't exist. So for sleeping, they are more a 'non-starter' than a 'kickstarter' in this respect.



"The Mist’s low-profile design causes it to virtually disappear into your ear. No awkward poles or protrusions here – our ultra-slim, naturally shaped housing makes the Mist a perfect match for any outfit or uniform."

No arguments here. They are practically invisible and they do stay snug and secure, and the range of colours are all quite subtle and nicely designed.



At 4.58g, they aren't especially light, and are a bit too bulky to deliver what they promise to as much of the market as they would like. Comments on Indiegogo reflect these observations, but again, this really is quite subjective. They feel fairly light in your ear despite the numbers, and this is a first stab - plenty of room for improvement.

Audio Quality - 5.5/10 (for the price paid), 5/10 (raw score)

For background sound such as podcasts - they do the job. Otherwise, it's not a particularly enthralling experience. And therein lies the problem. I actually wouldn't have cared if the sound was marketed as 'balanced and neutral'. Sony have done this with the LinkBuds, and they haven't over delivered at all. They've done exactly what they said they would do.

This is where the ApeSonic have dropped the ball. They claim 'accurate tonality, deep bass and a wide soundstage' - in reality they sound more like the cheapest Bluetooth earbuds you can get from Aliexpress. Tonality is bland, there is no 'deep bass' - thankfully the bass is quite flat, but lower-mids virtually disappear as upper-mids are elevated to reveal vocals easier, without bordering on sibilance.

I tried a number of different songs and music styles, and whilst the soundstage is reasonably open and airy, there is no depth or substance to instruments or orchestral elements. Vocals just overpower everything.

ApeSonic claim "the Mist sounds better than most traditional style earphones at more than double our MSRP of $60. Our engineers have decades of experience in personal audio, and are responsible for well-known products from some of the popular brands you hear about every day, so rest assured - you are getting a product that is built well and sounds great."

Well, Nigel Mansell has years of Formula One experience, but put him behind the wheel of a Fiat 500 and it's fairly unlikely he's going to usurp Hamilton and Raikkonen - and that's the case here. It is almost embarrassing to see claims like 'high resolution' (the buds only support SBC - there's no aptX-HD, no LDAC, no LHDC...they don't even offer high res SBC or AAC) and the waxing lyrical of the sound quality in the marketing material. I feel ApeSonic should have been a bit more upfront about this, because setting expectations so high can be a very dangerous game, as they are discovering on their comments section on IndieGogo.

Whilst there are arguments that they are cheap, so don't expect too much - well, look at QCY. They are producing very adequate sounding buds at a similar price.

Call Quality - Indoors - 5.5/10, Outdoors - 5/10

Not the worst sounding buds I've ever used for calls. The marketing claims Environmental Noise Cancellation - I didn't really hear any of this, in fact traffic and wind comes through pretty clearly.

This is a common problem for most earbuds, but it was particularly prominent on the Mist. Still, phone calls indoors are perfectly doable, and again, room for improvement. I wasn't expecting miracles at £26!

They feature, somewhat unfortunately in extreme conditions, on my recent 2022 updated YouTube call quality test:



Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 5/10

The Jieli chip is a little outdated now. Sure, you get Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, but that's about it - it only supports the SBC codec and thus the constraints with sound make perfect sense.

App Support with what is promised would lift the score up a little, but until now it doesn't exist, and when I reached out to ApeSonic and told them I was going to review the product and gave them the opportunity to give me a bone to chew on, they ignored me.

Controls are OK - reasonably effective, but there's no volume control. There are no spare fins for an alternative fit, no low latency option (although latency is low anyway, unsurprising given the sound quality is so weak). There is no quick charge option, no wireless charging....really, there's no features of note.

Connectivity is pretty adequate - no drop outs up to 10m. Voice prompts are clear and a nice touch, with pause, left channel, right channel, pairing etc. all clearly prompted.

Battery Life - 7/10

On paper, battery life is excellent. 6-30 hours is no mean feat, especially for this form factor. The problem is, with this form factor, you have to max the volume right up, practically to 100%. Given that most battery statistics are based on 50% volume, this means living up to expectations is going to be tough. Even so, the Mist managed about 4 hours on first blast, and they have lasted around 24 hours in total before running out altogether.

Summary

ApeSonic set themselves lofty targets with their talk of high resolution audio, experienced sound engineers, 'the most comfortable TWS' and other impossibly high goals at such a low price point. In reality, they fall way short of this, and their actual USP - their fit - is very subjective and dependent on the user's ear anatomy.

However, the Mist have their place. They could be good for side-sleepers if they can turn the blue flashing light off, which may be possible with their app. The 30 soothing sounds could also give them a little edge that currently, they don't have. They could be good for exercise too, if they can up the volume and make the comfort slightly higher. They are also a very valid 'spare pair' given their portability and that they slip nicely onto a keychain.

ApeSonic have since been in touch and are looking to update with a newer chip, which will allow for AAC support and hopefully improve the audio. Even at $30-40 QCY and SoundPEATS have proven that cost does not have to be a barrier to good audio, so let's stay positive that this materialises. Update - no sign of this happening in early 2023.

Kudos to ApeSonic for trying to solve a real world problem - but with the Sony Linkbuds prompting Samsung to slash the price of the Buds Live, this appears to be too little, too late for a company with a story that is sadly much more appealing than their product right now. However ApeSonic proved they are not going to lie down by meeting their delivery objectives during a global pandemic - don't rule them out altogether, they may not be the answer to everyone's prayers right now, but neither were the Buds Live nor the LinkBuds. Definitely one to keep an eye on and let's hope they build on this release going forward!

Price Weighted Score: 58%
Raw Score: 50%
2023 Score: 41%

About Apesonic:

In 2020, a few old friends started talking for the first time in a long time. We had worked together before on other companies’ projects, but those companies had their own goals and ideas. This time, we decided to do things our way.

Our way is together - with each other, but also with our customers, and our planet, too. The Apesonic team is from all over the planet, and one thing that brings us together is the idea that we all share common ancestors - we all came from apes. We want to make high quality gear, and we promise to stand behind every product we make. But for us, that’s not enough. We want to do more for our world, so we donate $1 per purchase to conservation efforts targeted at ensuring wild, natural living spaces for primates. Because we are all stronger together.