First of all, shoutout to Ash from QCY for offering me the opportunity to try out some earphones from this unfamiliar brand straight out of China. I really wanted to try out the E1 but it was out of stock so he was only able to send me the M1 Pro. Here goes my opinion after testing them for a while.


Packaging and Build Quality

The packaging is actually pretty straightforward. Open the box and you’ll see two booklets, one charging cable, 4 pair of additional silicone ear tips, and the earphones themselves. There is no carrying case whatsoever, but I would probably store them inside my pocket anyway.

They don’t look particularly cheap as a whole, but they don’t really look like a high end product either. Okay, maybe the control buttons look kinda cheap and I do find the charging port cover a little bit weird-looking, but not many should complain about the earphones themselves. Unless you care so much about branding.

Put them on, and I already noticed two things (other than the fact that it turns on automatically). One, the cable felt too short. Second, consequently, mic placement felt a little bit awkward. They could learn a bit from V-MODA here, but if they did that many would complain of the cable being too long and goofy-looking. I’ll let them decide. Anyhow, they don’t feel like breaking soon.


Sound

First time listening to these, wow, just wow for the bass. The bass was so clean, yet so rumbly. Do note that the lows are really heavy. It feels like having a separate subwoofer next to the drivers in your ears. Not a bad thing when I said that, because the bass never really dominates over other frequencies. It’s relatively “balanced”, if you will.

Mid is powerful and warm. Perhaps a little too warm on some songs, but so perfect for something like Adam Levine’s vocal on Maroon 5’s newest single “Wait”.

Treble is almost perfect for me. It never gets painfully sharp, and on non-EDM songs, it never leaves me wanting for more. Although, at some EDM songs I wished it had just a little more high.

Soundstage is intimate but instrument separation is really good. There are some better ones out there, but it’s definitely higher than average. Details are never drowned in the music; these are listening tools that absolutely qualify for the term “Listen to details you never knew were there before.”

In my bedroom with a Dyson air purifier running at 4/10 fan speed, I only needed about 25% to 30% from my iPhone listening through Apple Music and that is honestly more than enough. The amplifier in these must be really strong just because at my listening volumes they’re loud as a V-MODA Crossfade II Wireless. 50% is definitely as loud, but I don’t dare go past that to find out more.


Other Words

They are surprisingly pretty light and comfortable. However, after a few minutes wearing them I felt some heat inside my ear canals. Not sure if it’s a radiation emitted by the QCY earphones themselves or if it’s an issue with the ear tips. It’s usually not a problem with most Bluetooth earphones.

Before I wrap up, I‘d like to make note of some other things. These can perform basic functions like skipping track forward/backward, adjusting volume, answering call, ignoring call, but there are some controls that I found weird. First, to skip tracks, you actually have to hold one of the volume buttons (in respect to which direction you want to go). To adjust volume, you need to click one by one. Usually to skip forward you just double click, but with these, it takes you to redial. Come on. I found that to be potentially embarrassing. I don’t wanna accidentally call a friend late at night! Besides, who doesn’t have their phones at all times in front of them now? Also, to activate Siri it might take some getting use-to as well. You have to hold it for one second. Yeah, a very specific instruction indeed. Siri didn’t sound clear through them (not like it is in other Bluetooth earphones), but hey, apparently my voice sounded pretty clear to Siri, at least. When you’re done with them, turning off is as simple as connecting the magnetic earbuds together.


Conclusion

Overall, it’s a very powerful warm-sounding pair of earphones. The QCY is quite contrary to my other earphones like the V-MODA Forza Metallo Wireless that sounds rather bright. I really am in no position to say which is better, because this is preference based on your familiarity and depends on which sound profile you usually listen more. What I do find is that the M1 Pro’s sound profile is rather similar to Focal Spark Wireless, but heck, I’m just gonna straight out admit that the M1 Pro has more clarity. Yeah, this claim will surely spark some controversy, but it really is how I felt about the two. Can they perform against high-end offerings from company like V-MODA, Beoplay, Focal, and RHA? In terms of sound quality, heck yeah! They are at least better in clarity and instrument separation than your AirPods or BeatsX. Can they compete as whole? Uh, maybe, considering they’re waterproof (more so than most). But then again, some things could be improved.


Visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/qcyus/, Twitter at twitter.com/QCYUS and website at qcy.com.

Disclaimer: should you trust my ears?
I'm pretty young for my age but I've experienced more audio than most people. I'm no expert, I'm no critical audiophile, but as a consumer I know enough between good or bad. To see what products I own, feel free to go to my Signature page. I listen mostly with my iPhone 7 Plus on Apple Music.

I'm giving my time for this review because nobody has reviewed these yet and for the quality, they're really underrated as relatively very few websites have reviewed them.

Sound
Let's just jump right into sound. Clarity? Check. Dynamic? Check. Balanced? Check. For the price this is one of the best earphones you can buy. Even better, they're wireless. Yes, they are on par or even beat a lot of wired earphones with higher prices. These are the most balanced V-MODA product there is, even more balanced than a Crossfade II Wireless. The treble is bright and sparkly, yet never harsh nor hurting to the ears. The mids are somewhat warm, very clean, and crystal clear. The bass, wow. I don't mean wow as in big or dominating; it's just very tight and well-defined. The bass is a little above flat, but just where I love it. Never does it overdominate other frequency, nor does it take the fun out of the low frequency. If you're an absolute basshead, maybe look somewhere else; if you're a fan of completely flat sound, maybe find something else; but if you're somewhere in the middle like me, you'll be more than satisfied.

Soundstage and separation are fantastic. The FMW are so detailed I feel like minor instruments are very emphasized like never before even in moderate volume. With other earphones and headphones, I have to either focus or crank up the volume. Not with this one, it's perfect. The maximum volume (on an iPhone) isn't that loud honestly, but I only find myself using half volume as how detailed they are.


Fit
I'll be honest here, first time I had these I didn't like the behind-the-neck titanium traplock. My previous earphones were the Beoplay H5, and they didn't have anything like this stuff, just wire from one earphone to the other. It just was, kinda ugly in my opinion. After a few days or so did I start learning to appreciate them. They've never fallen from me while walking or running. One time I even played tennis with only using them in one ear and it didn't fall either (and I don't even use the activeflex sport fins). Conclusively, the fit is amazing. I'll never lose these earphones. Funny story: my Beoplay H5 fell out of my neck somewhere (because the magnets are really weak too) and I didn't even feel them coming off. Before losing them permanently, they were lost once previously and have fell off more than 5 times.

Anyway, someone had mentioned that when working out laying down, the traplock could fall out and you could find yourself readjusting them. I tried that myself and confirmed that this is indeed a problem, but really, you can't have the best out of both worlds. Some also thinks the wires are too long and make you look goofy but here's my justification: they are that way by design so the microphone can stay right there near your mouth and I also find it really helpful while eating. If you're like me hanging them around the neck all the time, it helps prevent the earphones from touching my food. The looks can be annoying at first in the mirror, but really, nobody around you pays that much attention to it.


Mic and Remote
I've only tested these a few times but so far nobody has complained about my voice. I do know that these have noise-cancelling dual mics so it should be pretty good. The remote, as a tradeoff for the optimal microphone placement, can take a little while for getting used to. However, once you're comfortable with it, it's pretty good. Summoning Siri on my iPhone feels like it takes more than 3 seconds, but I guess this is from the iPhone's end because if I look at the screen, holding the button for 3 seconds actually bring up Siri, but it's not taking any commands yet until another or two seconds later. It's a well-known problem with Siri when connected to Bluetooth devices. But once you get the Siri up and running, voice commands seem to be recognized very clearly. One thing I don't like though, is that the haptic vibration from the traplock can't be turned off. I wish there was a setting to turn it off, because it's pretty audible in silent places like libraries or classrooms. I don't know if other people would actually hear it, but I can hear it pretty clearly (considering it's behind my neck) and if I have to guess, to others maybe it sounds just as loud as if you were typing on a keyboard. Maybe I'm just not used to the sound yet because it sounds like a really fast vibration.


Conclusion
I haven't mentioned the battery life, but with more or less ten hours of battery life, I really got nothing to complain. Once again, about the sound, it is absolutely top notch and there is no need to doubt. I dare to say the FMW sounds as good as a Shure SE846 with an iPhone, if not better. They also sound clearer than my main headphones, Beoplay H7. This guy dalethorn, praised them to be better than Sennheiser IE800 and RHA T20i (https://www.computeraudiophile.com/...metallo-wirelessbluetooth-earphoneiem-review/). The only one of my speakers that gave me the same aural first impression as the FMW is my B&W 800 D3. If you trust CNET's David Carnoy, he gave the FMW a 9/10 for sound. I assure you not all earphones he reviews gets a 9/10. Even the critically acclaimed Focal Sphear only came at an 8/10. Some with his 9/10 rating include the 1More Triple Driver, B&W C5 Series 2, RHA T10i, and Beyerdynamic DX160 IE. Remember, none of them are wireless. If you crave them for just purely no other reason than the sound, really, you can't go wrong with these. Not to mention extras like their battery life, for, convenience, durability and weather-resistance.