KZ SKS Bluetooth 5.2 TWS

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)

Model: KZ SKS
Price: MSRP $30-40
Vendor Website: KZ
Review Reference: RC038

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: KZ
• Model: SKS
• Driver: 1 x 10mm dual magnetic dynamic, 1 x 30019 balanced armature
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
• Impedance: 16 Ω
• Sensitivity: 116dB
• Microphones: Dual
• ANC: No
• Codec Support: aptX, AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.28g
• Case Weight Gross: 52g
• Case Dimensions: 60x60x31mm
• Charge Case Battery: 400mAh
• Charge Case Input : 5V
• Charging Time: 2 hours
• Quick Charge: No
• Qi: No
• Single Playtime: 2.5-4 hours
• Total Playtime: Approx. 20-30 hours
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: Not specified

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless headphones
3 x Pair Silicone Tips (Transparent)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case (no wireless charging)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User manual (English, Simplified Chinese)

Real Life Experience



Welcome to the @regancipher review of the KZ SKS.

Some background on KZ, in case you have come here from anywhere other than head-fi: A well-established name in the IEM market, KZ, or Knowledge Zenith to their friends, were founded by Keith Yue (a former AT engineer) and Zen Li, a classical musician, in 2008, and whilst not my first, second or third choice IEM, they still manage to consistently knock out decent sounding buds with a wide variety of tuning and configurations, not afraid to break from the norm with their driver set up. It makes for a bit of a mixed bag whereby they even have their own thread on head-fi for enthusiasts trying to work out what they're going to do next. They are cheap though, and generally very good value for money.

I've reviewed several KZ TWS over the last couple of years, and this is one area they have failed to learn lessons in the past. Their SA08 was one of the best sounding earbuds I've ever tested, but lacked practicality and had terrible battery life. Their previous iterations, the Z1 and S1, lacked the sound quality of the SA08 but had the same issues with battery life, and terrible connectivity. So I wasn't expecting much when the SKS arrived.

Once again, I've been proven wrong when I least expected it.

The Unboxing - 6/10



When earbud vendors cut corners on the unboxing, I always hope it's because they are trying to optimise margin on the irrelevant stuff, because the product quality is high. Usually this is very wishful thinking on my part, but I'm not going to begrudge a company making profit if the product is good. It paves the way for the next wave of development.

The SKS hardly scream premium from the first impressions - in fact, it is far from some of their IEM releases, and even the SA08. Particularly frustrating is the lack of detail about the particulars of the buds, either on the box or in the accompanying documentation. They come with a set of spare tips and loose, short USB-C charge cable inside a battered box that looks like it has come on an epic journey from Shenzhen via the Netherlands. Funny that!



The back is similarly vague in terms of components - these weren't aimed at a Western audience. It would be nice to see what KZ are putting in the buds, because as much as I enjoy taking buds apart, the KZ are pretty well built, so my fingers are going to live to fight another day - I'll have to take their word for it.



The quick guide, or 'First Fast Use' as they call it, is reasonably straightforward, although very hard to read. What is written in English is mirrored in Chinese overleaf, as pictured above.

The Case - 6.5/10



Other than in colour, the case is identical to the SA08, Tronsmart Apollo Bold, S1D, Cleer Ally Plus, etc. It's a generic case with a puck-style shape about it that has the KZ logo etched in the top, and KZ Acoustics inside. The buds nestle into their magnetic holders quite gently, and the space in the top of the lid gives information on the charge capacity, etc. The gentle magnets and roomy interior lid did give me concerns about whether I could face a scenario where the buds dropped out and failed to charge, but this hasn't happened yet, and is probably paranoia on my part.



At 6cm diameter, 3cm height, the case is not really pocket-friendly, but you could get away with it unless you're in skinny jeans. As far as TWS cases go, it's a bit chunky, but not a deal-breaker.




KZ advertise the case as 55g in weight, but they over-egged it slightly, coming in at 52g. This is one of the heavier cases out there, similar to the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live in this respect, although much larger in surface area.



It's kinda going over old ground here as we've seen this case so many times, but the buds will light up red once in the case, and the centre light denotes charge with a red/amber/green configuration telling you how much juice remains. Red is less than 30%, Amber 30-70%, Green 70-100%. Whilst taken for granted a little now, it's still a 'good to have' feature.

As you may notice, the case has scored half a mark higher this time around. That's because you get an additional 7 full playtimes out of a single charge. Now this is likely nothing to do with the case and more down to the efficiency of the buds, but nevertheless between 24 and 32 hours charge is exactly where it should be today.



The case is charged with USB-C and has a charging input of 5v 1a, and an output of 100mA. In terms of overcharge protection etc. - who knows. No wireless charging, no quick charge.

The Ergonomics - 9/10



KZ are no strangers to custom-style fit earbuds, so it goes without saying I expected a good fit with the SA08, and was disappointed when they didn't deliver, leaving me feeling like I was wearing lego bricks in my ears. This time, they nailed it.


The depth of the buds (23mm) is a whole 4mm shallower than the SA08, and it makes the world of difference. Instead of feeling like they will topple out at any point, they nestle in really nicely and feel super comfortable.



This time around, they've reduced the exterior footprint, and it makes the world of difference. Like SoundPEATS with the H1, they've gone slightly bulbous at the neck, and it provides very respectable passive noise isolation.



However, where they excel is by adding in 'shoulders' which tuck the bud into the top of your concha quite nicely. The result is a non-invasive feeling bud, unlike the Jabra Elite 75t, for example, which has an elongated neck and thus relies on sitting right in your ear canal to achieve a seal, which many find uncomfortable.



This design feature is further reinforced by the wide bore driver nozzle - as I said, they got it right in almost every aspect here.



As you see above, the surround is metallic, which encourages regular cleaning, and there is space for a pressure-relieving hole below the battery connectors. At least, I assume it is, as there are two additional holes - an ambient mic on the top, and a voice mic in the bottom.



The ambient mic hole is quite wide, and you see very clearly that the buds are reasonably well constructed with good quality plastic. They also change colour a lot in the light, which makes them aesthetically pleasing especially in the sunlight. The outside is teardrop shaped, and is emblazoned with the slogan 'restart'. As new beginnings go, this is definitely pretty apt, as after many false starts in the TWS market, this release is pretty much like a second chance for KZ, which they have taken very well.



At 4.28g they are fairly lightweight. I didn't weigh buds on every review, but these are lighter than the Jabra, Soundpeats T2, H1 and only marginally heavier than the Enacfire E90, which were super light.

It makes for wonderful ergonomics that don't just look good, they actually facilitate a better audible experience.

Audio - 9.5/10 (for the price paid), 8.5/10 (raw score)

Whilst not quite providing the clarity of the SA08, the SKS retains the nice wide soundstage of its predecessor whilst delivering a warmer feel. The 30019 handles the highs and mids nicely, sounding natural and minimising sibilance. Despite using the same BA as the ZAX, it is tuned closer to my preferred sound signature. Most surprising is the bass. The 10mm dynamic drivers do not disappoint, with a thumping midbass and growling sub.

I tested them with 'Rose Rouge' by St Germain, a notoriously tough track for TWS especially when the brass elements kick in. Typically, Marlena Shaw's vocal pierces through and the instruments take a back seat, but that isn't the case with the SKS. The mid-bass has a thump to it and comes into its element in 'So Flute' from the same album, making plenty of room for the snares and piano. Really pleasant experience without any hint of fatigue.

'Mama' by Jonas Blue also avoids distortion which I detect when the low-mids get congested shortly after the chorus. Whereas the peak at 5k will bring out the illusion of detail most of the time, on some tracks such as 'Other Side of Love' by Kokiri, a track I was in the studio for while it was being produced, the dipped 8k peak demonstrates where the slightly rolled-off highs can at times make the sound a little too warm and at times too laid-back. House tracks will occasionally need a minor uplift to get those high hats through, otherwise it's tuning at its best, certainly for my palette.

Be careful - the buds are unbelievably loud. 60% volume is more than adequate for me. I would not recommend going any higher, not because of distortion, but because they will cause permanent damage to your hearing.

As with any buds there is compromise. The buds deliver far better sound on aptX than AAC, certainly on IOS anyway. AAC seems like bitrate has been clipped, with overall sound duller, so bear this in mind. On Android, AAC sounded better, but noticeably not as good as aptx. Go figure!

Call Quality - Indoors - 7/10, Outdoors - 5/10

Pretty bad in all honesty. The mics are clear enough - just - for indoor calls, but outdoors they're practically unusable, which is a shame, but something to work on in the future. A step back from the SA08 which actually weren't too bad. Any kind of background noise just wipes your voice out - wind, traffic, air...you name it

They finished bottom of the league in my test of 28 different tws models in challenging outdoor conditions:



Zoom calls also scrambled a few times - this may be down to my Bluetooth adapter though, as I have had similar issues with other new earbud models.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7/10

Touch controls are adequate, even pretty good. Exactly the same as the SA08, single tap plays or pauses, answers or ends a call. Double tap moves through tracks, long press while a call is coming through rejects the call, and any other time it initiates voice assistant. Low latency mode is triple tap.

Despite using the QCC3040, aptx-adaptive is not provided as an optional codec on any platform I tested. This chip allows binaural use, which reduces power consumption and thus boosts battery life, and also improves connectivity, and this was evident when connected to both iPhone 8 and Poco X3.

It's possible to use the buds in single mode, but they lack a few desirables such as wireless charging, quick charge, any kind of water resistance, ANC and app support.

Latency was around 220Ms in Normal Mode and around 170Ms in High Performance.

Battery Life - 7/10

Unlike previous KZ releases, the battery life on the SKS is much better, bottoming out at 2.5 hours, but typically topping 3.5-4 hours. With 8 further charges from the case, this puts them well and truly back in the game.

Final Comments

KZ have finally delivered a top notch set of TWS. One of the frustrating things about their foray into bluetooth was that they got the basics wrong, and they've rectified that here with the SKS, whilst still retaining the KZ identity. The fit and ergonomics are great, they improved the battery life, and you're getting a pretty decent chipset as well as well-tuned drivers at a remarkably low price.

If your default sound signature is Harman-style tuning, then you will enjoy the SKS out of the box. No screwing around on Wavelet trying to get them to suit your preferred experience - they just are.

They won't suit every application. The lack of WR rating and dire mic make them still impractical for the commuter dash. Nevertheless, at £22 (today's price) they are an absolute steal, one of the best value earbuds on the market today.

Price Weighted Score: 91%
Raw Score: 81%

ig: @regancipher