Introduction
I often go into a detailed preamble when reviewing headphones. It's an attempt to establish what headphones I am already familiar with - hopefully so that meaningful comparisons can be made with the headphones being currently reviewed. To break this down into something more succinct:-
Axloie Magic - Hardware and Features
There appears to be a million new bluetooth wireless earbuds on the market at the moment. In many ways there's not much difference between the Axloie Magic and many of the others from the big names in the audio industry - there are some interesting features though including:-
The headphones themselves are extremely shiny and feature a fairly cool blue LED strip which pulsates and glows whilst charging - looks kinda cool. Unfortunately this super shiny case makes the headphones very difficult to get them out of the case - although in all fairness, my massive sausage fingers don't help much in this matter. The touch controls are a nice touch and definitely help reduce 'driver flex' when changing tracks, etc. They also appear to be reasonably immune to accidental presses - I often wriggle them around a little usually without accidentally pausing the music - not always though. I find that you have to use a positive TAP for them to register the touch - I think they've pretty much found the right balance.
The case features a transparent lid and I can't help thinking that this could ultimately be a weak point although I haven’t experienced any issues so far with it. It's fairly large - about the size of a stick of roll-on deodorant (sorry I couldn't think of anything else). It doesn't weigh too much though. Not perhaps the easiest thing to fit in the pocket of a pair of tight jeans. The case also doubles as a portable charger although don't expect miracles - it's really designed to offer a very limited charge capabilities - useful to have though nonetheless.
The packaging claims that the battery life is 3 hours for music. Whilst this is certainly low compared to the Airpod's 5 hours and Mavin Air-X staggering 10 hours, in all fairness I rarely get the chance to listen to music for 3 hours straight so for me it's not really an issue. The buds appear to charge pretty quickly - as does the case when connected to a charger.
Bluetooth range appears to pass the upstairs toilet test with flying colours but I've noticed that if you cup your hand to your ear the signal drops pretty much every time. I've not had any problems regarding connection under normal use though - pretty much rock solid. When connecting to your phone the Axloie Magic’s go through this verbal rigmarole of informing you of each stage of the connection process. This effectively means that it takes a little longer than other Bluetooth 5 headphones. One good thing is that you know that both headphones are connected correctly.
Sound Quality
These are not flat, studio monitor type headphones. They have a ‘fun’ sound - pretty V shaped with enhanced bass. It’s not too bad - but they ain’t flat. Background noise is nice and low. The connect using the AAC codec so there’s a reasonably nice ‘resolution’ to the sound - I’m finding that more and more comparatively inexpensive wireless earphones have surprisingly good detail and sound quality. Differences between models is often now more a case of changes in tone rather than
Bass.
The bass is enhanced and fairly soft. This is perhaps akin to moving your loudspeakers closer to the back wall. It’s not unpleasant but I personally prefer my bass to be a little tighter. What this does help with though is late night listening at lower volumes.
Mids.
Definitely recessed. Details are still there and tend to come forward somewhat as the volume level increases.
Highs.
Not as enhanced as the bass, detail is there and instruments have some timbre to them. I personally don’t like treble to be too much as this can produce listening fatigue. I didn’t notice any distortion in the top end - typically a symptom of low bit-rates - I can confirm that listening fatigue is not an issue with the Magic.
Conclusion
I like the build quality of the headphones themselves. They’re light, shiny and look ‘cool’ thanks to them not having any visible branding. To be honest, I’m having some trouble getting the right fit in my right ear - but that’s just me. I’m experimenting with a number of different tips from my embarrassingly large collection. The good news is that it’s very easy to find compatible tips with these headphones which still fit in the case - nice touch. I like the touch controls and I like the ability to be able to change volume (albeit in very course steps).
There’s a lot of competition now in this price point - the Axloie Magic do offer some interesting additional features - USB charging from the case, touch controls, volume controls and a nice build quality make these stand out a little more from the rest.
You can get them here:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Axloie-Bluetooth-Headphones-Cancelling-Waterproof-blue/dp/B07RJQJ9Y3/
Postscript
I've been using these headphones at work for the last couple of weeks and feel that I can report on some of the longer term aspects more reliably now.
Battery life appears to be excellent - I've actually yet to hear a low battery warning yet.
The touch controls don't accidentally activate from touching material - only your skin - you can wear these in bed without any significant problems.
The charger appears to offer a pretty good punch. I've not had to charge the unit for a couple of weeks and it's still showing full power.
The sound has mellowed out somewhat and I personally find it a very relaxing listen - softish bass and softish treble - a radiogram kind of sound.
Hope this helps.
I often go into a detailed preamble when reviewing headphones. It's an attempt to establish what headphones I am already familiar with - hopefully so that meaningful comparisons can be made with the headphones being currently reviewed. To break this down into something more succinct:-
- My personal favourite IEM's are probably the Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10. I like these because they sound truly superb, have detailed and rich mids, a wide frequency range, go loud and are reasonable flat in their sound signature.
- I own both the Sennheiser HD598sr and the Sony WH1000XM2's. You really couldn't find a bigger contrast in sound signature between these two - and yet I love the sound from both of them.
- I've always loved IEM's - whilst there's always a place in my heart for larger over ear and earbud type headphones, in ear monitors offer a more intimate sound and, for me at least, offer more details in the music.
- I prefer a deep insertion (Ohhh Matron!) to a shallow fit. Unfortunately most IEM's out there appear to only offer a shallow fit. I always got on really well with the Etymotic ER4P and their triple-flange tips.
- I'm 56 years old. My hearing is not going to be as good as an 18 year old - that's life.
- and finally - I love bluetooth headphones and find myself using them more and more over wired.
Axloie Magic - Hardware and Features
There appears to be a million new bluetooth wireless earbuds on the market at the moment. In many ways there's not much difference between the Axloie Magic and many of the others from the big names in the audio industry - there are some interesting features though including:-
- AAC codec support
- Touch controls - including volume control (very cool).
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Case not only acts as a charger for the headphones but can also inject some power into any USB device.
- Reasonable sized sound tube - compatible with a fairly wide range of different tips (depending on being accommodated by the charger case).
The headphones themselves are extremely shiny and feature a fairly cool blue LED strip which pulsates and glows whilst charging - looks kinda cool. Unfortunately this super shiny case makes the headphones very difficult to get them out of the case - although in all fairness, my massive sausage fingers don't help much in this matter. The touch controls are a nice touch and definitely help reduce 'driver flex' when changing tracks, etc. They also appear to be reasonably immune to accidental presses - I often wriggle them around a little usually without accidentally pausing the music - not always though. I find that you have to use a positive TAP for them to register the touch - I think they've pretty much found the right balance.
The case features a transparent lid and I can't help thinking that this could ultimately be a weak point although I haven’t experienced any issues so far with it. It's fairly large - about the size of a stick of roll-on deodorant (sorry I couldn't think of anything else). It doesn't weigh too much though. Not perhaps the easiest thing to fit in the pocket of a pair of tight jeans. The case also doubles as a portable charger although don't expect miracles - it's really designed to offer a very limited charge capabilities - useful to have though nonetheless.
The packaging claims that the battery life is 3 hours for music. Whilst this is certainly low compared to the Airpod's 5 hours and Mavin Air-X staggering 10 hours, in all fairness I rarely get the chance to listen to music for 3 hours straight so for me it's not really an issue. The buds appear to charge pretty quickly - as does the case when connected to a charger.
Bluetooth range appears to pass the upstairs toilet test with flying colours but I've noticed that if you cup your hand to your ear the signal drops pretty much every time. I've not had any problems regarding connection under normal use though - pretty much rock solid. When connecting to your phone the Axloie Magic’s go through this verbal rigmarole of informing you of each stage of the connection process. This effectively means that it takes a little longer than other Bluetooth 5 headphones. One good thing is that you know that both headphones are connected correctly.
Sound Quality
These are not flat, studio monitor type headphones. They have a ‘fun’ sound - pretty V shaped with enhanced bass. It’s not too bad - but they ain’t flat. Background noise is nice and low. The connect using the AAC codec so there’s a reasonably nice ‘resolution’ to the sound - I’m finding that more and more comparatively inexpensive wireless earphones have surprisingly good detail and sound quality. Differences between models is often now more a case of changes in tone rather than
Bass.
The bass is enhanced and fairly soft. This is perhaps akin to moving your loudspeakers closer to the back wall. It’s not unpleasant but I personally prefer my bass to be a little tighter. What this does help with though is late night listening at lower volumes.
Mids.
Definitely recessed. Details are still there and tend to come forward somewhat as the volume level increases.
Highs.
Not as enhanced as the bass, detail is there and instruments have some timbre to them. I personally don’t like treble to be too much as this can produce listening fatigue. I didn’t notice any distortion in the top end - typically a symptom of low bit-rates - I can confirm that listening fatigue is not an issue with the Magic.
Conclusion
I like the build quality of the headphones themselves. They’re light, shiny and look ‘cool’ thanks to them not having any visible branding. To be honest, I’m having some trouble getting the right fit in my right ear - but that’s just me. I’m experimenting with a number of different tips from my embarrassingly large collection. The good news is that it’s very easy to find compatible tips with these headphones which still fit in the case - nice touch. I like the touch controls and I like the ability to be able to change volume (albeit in very course steps).
There’s a lot of competition now in this price point - the Axloie Magic do offer some interesting additional features - USB charging from the case, touch controls, volume controls and a nice build quality make these stand out a little more from the rest.
You can get them here:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Axloie-Bluetooth-Headphones-Cancelling-Waterproof-blue/dp/B07RJQJ9Y3/
Postscript
I've been using these headphones at work for the last couple of weeks and feel that I can report on some of the longer term aspects more reliably now.
Battery life appears to be excellent - I've actually yet to hear a low battery warning yet.
The touch controls don't accidentally activate from touching material - only your skin - you can wear these in bed without any significant problems.
The charger appears to offer a pretty good punch. I've not had to charge the unit for a couple of weeks and it's still showing full power.
The sound has mellowed out somewhat and I personally find it a very relaxing listen - softish bass and softish treble - a radiogram kind of sound.
Hope this helps.
