QCY G1 Low Latency Bluetooth 5.2 Gaming 4 Mic ENC 32 hour battery TWS

RC061

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
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Model: QCY G1
Price: MSRP Approx $49.99
Website: QCY Store, Aliexpress Store
Review Reference: RC061

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: QCY
• Model: G1 / BH21G1AR
• Driver: 10mm Dynamic Driver
• Chipset: Pixart PAU1800X (unclear from the FCC pics)
• Mic: 4, ENC noise reduction, mic amplification and echo cancellation
• ANC: No
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• App Support: Yes
• Volume Control: Yes, via the QCY app
• Gaming Mode: Yes
• Latency: 40ms (Gaming Mode)
• Earbud Weight: 4.26g
• Earbud Dimensions: 32mm stem length, 22mm depth with nozzle
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 50.70g
• Case Dimensions: 54 - 59mm (length) x 45.7 - 56.7 mm (width) x 23.3 - 29.8mm (height)
• Case Charge Capacity: 450mAh
• Full Charge Time: approx. 90 minutes
• Quick Charge: Not advertised - seems to be supported though
• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Input: 5V 450mA
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 8 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 32 hours
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: HFP 1.7/ A2DP 1.3/ AVRCP 1.5
• Water Resistance: Not stated

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 & Chinese
3 x Pairs Eartips

Real Life Experience



Welcome to the World Exclusive @regancipher review of QCY's new Esports / gaming buds, released this month, with FCC clearance only going through in mid-October!

I was extremely lucky to get hold of an early review model, and to say I'm not disappointed would be an understatement. QCY's stratospheric rise from the ultra-budget T1C, to OEM provider, to all-rounders with a full portfolio of low to mid-range buds of all shapes and sizes is an exciting story of a young but determined sub-company within a behemoth parent company absolutely determined to go places - and with releases coming thick and fast, it is often difficult to see at first where they are going with certain releases. Not so any longer - there are clear lines in the sand over the key attributes, and whilst aimed at the E-Sports market, the G1 will prove popular to many for their array of features that we aren't used to seeing from QCY. Typically they are happy with 'good enough', but this time they've gone the extra mile....read on for more on this surprising, flagship release that signals their intentions for 2022....

Unboxing - 7/10



If there is one area QCY could brush up if they really want to hit the market in a big way, it's the manual. Once again it is a monochrome, folding manual in just English and Chinese, and whilst the idea is clearly for users to scan the QR, use their app and fire over their data (get used to it, it's every TWS app and plenty more), if they want to reach the Russian and Ukraine markets for example, larger diagrammatic visual representations will benefit them far more than saving a few yen on printing a manual commensurate with the quality of the device. Tronsmart have demonstrated this to very good effect, and should be the poster-boy for this kind of approach, as pictures tell a thousand words, as they say.

The tips are grey and actually reasonable quality with thicker inner nozzles than usual. The USB-C cable is in the usual bag.

The Case - 8.5/10

The case is an odd little thing - clearly premium looking with a deeply embossed QCY logo atop a strip light that breaths on and off, kinda like a cross between the Edifier NeoBuds Pro, only less 80's looking, and Hecate GM45 from the same brand.

Despite being shaped strangely like half a mouse - the type you use to navigate a PC, not the ones that get dragged into your living room proudly by a neighbour's cat, it is strangely satisfying from a usability perspective, and actually isn't too shabby in the portability department either.

The front LED glows red whilst on charge, blue when both buds are charging inside the case (or neither, strangely), and red if only one bud is charging in the case. An odd combination, but I'm not gonna argue with it if I find only one of my buds has charged! There is also an LED inside the case, and this also designates charge level - fully charged hits green (apparently), blue is in the middle, red is low. The button below the LED (pictured top left) can be used to display battery (if the case has been open a while) on the above LED or to force into pairing mode, otherwise it will connect to the previously paired device. Hang on - why would the case be open for a while? Well, because it DOESN'T slam shut....a gift and a curse, depending on who you speak to - for me, I love this feature and am always surprised when it is omitted. The buds also feature 'hall switch' mode, allowing them to pair or connect the moment you open the case.

Now since they don't claim to support quick charge, I question whether this is actually reality, as I've been listening for around 2 hours now just with brief charges here and there with no sign of a recharge required. And it never went green when it was charging, so I don't think it arrived with 70% or anything like that. So read into that what you will (I think it does support quick charge, but will defer to QCY for the purposes of the review).

The case is proportioned, with my own measurements, at 54 - 59mm (length) x 45.7 - 56.7 mm (width) x 23.3 - 29.8mm (height). The ranges should be self-explanatory from the top right picture, which clearly shows the half-mouse style design.



The case is not heavy at a shade under 51g fully loaded and supports wireless charging. It has a 'not-quite-rubbery-but-less-slippery' base for stable wireless charging, and wireless charging will be slower than USB-C. Capacity is 450mA and it takes 5v, and the multimeter read pretty close to this, in fact just over. USB-C is on the back - very convenient and a big improvement from the old T10/T11.

The buds have a satisfying click into the cockpit, but it takes some getting used to. Whereas the natural inclination will be to pop them in tip first - don't. They just get confused, and you start questioning your left from your right! Slide stem-first and they just click in no problem.



Everyone loves a family portrait except those in it, but I'm sure the above won't mind. The only ones missing were the HT01 which are in my drawer at work. Yep, we are back in semi-lockdown here in the UK and the HT01 are confined to the office! It gives you an idea of the size compared to the T13.

Ergonomics - 9/10

The G1 are stem-based earbuds that wear diagonally in your ears, following the contour of your jawline. Whilst there is no overt QCY branding, there is some 'Gamer' related text, etched in a light grey against the dark grey backdrop.

QCY have an uncanny knack of producing earbuds that just feel so comfortable. Funnily enough, their most popular, the T13, are probably my least favourite, but only because the T17 are outrageously comfy, and the G1 are the best yet.

The 'breathing light' Blue LED's, which can thankfully be toggled in the app, are actually quite cool for gaming buds. But they aren't the killer feature of the G1. The comfort is off-the-scale! I forgot they were even in my ears like maybe three or four times. I even tried putting earbuds into my ears whilst wearing them. At first they seem really odd to put in your ears, then you realise that actually, it's every other earbud that is odd! These just sit and then twist. And boy do they feel good - they are comfortable all-dayers.



Despite the relatively long stems - 35mm, they aren't by any means obtrusive, and from the front their ergonomic design is clearly evident.



A close up of the buds reveals nothing particularly fancy. Sure, they've bevelled the pogo pins to restrict them touching your skin - that's always nice, especially if you have nickel allergies.

Yep, there's LED's on there (again that can be toggled on and off in the app) but default is on, and blue. There's a large gap at the bottom, likely a mic chamber, although the mic appears to be at the bottom which suggests it's possible for ambient listen-through mode, although it isn't currently an option as would be unlikely due to the absence of ANC. There is a feed-through mic and pressure release gap on the rounded area, and the touch control areas are clearly designated by the change in surface depth.



Sadly, there is no IPX rating, otherwise the G1 would score a perfect ten. QCY, like Huawei, choose not to put their earbuds though the testing process in order to minimize costs. They are expected to be the equivalent to ipx5, but I certainly wouldn't recommend going snorkeling in them.

Audio - 8/10 (for the price paid), 7/10 (raw score)

Audio on the G1 appears to be an afterthought from their marketing material, but unlike previous Pixart buds I've tested (ahem, Boya), and the majority of gaming buds (Hecate, Razer, etc) the G1 aren't bad at all, doubling up as acceptable music companions too.

The G1 has a relatively flat lower frequency response which recesses from 100k, and again stays flat up to 3k, with a warm and balanced bass delivery that offers body without a great deal of punch. The peaks in the mids correlate to the vocal ranges to bring some presence around acoustics, preventing voices from sounding muffled, and the gentle peaks at 3 and 8k try to create the illusion of definition to a relatively soft sounding earbud. The sharp drop-off from around 9k adds to the nature of the warm sound even further.

Despite a relatively flat profile, the G1 doesn't sound overly congested on simplistic tracks. 'Alive and Kicking' by Simple Minds - a straightforward rock track from the 80's - has adequate separation, but feels somewhat constrained, with little space between you and each orchestral component. Perhaps because these are gamers buds? I don't know. It isn't that all tracks sound really warm - 'Bleeding Love' by Leona Lewis sounds pretty much as it does on my more open buds, but on classical or opera you notice the intimacy even more. Even tracks like 'A Little Respect' by Erasure sounds quite two-dimensional, and that certainly wasn't their intention when they created it.

House tracks, on the other hand, sound heavy and side-chain translates surprisingly well. 'Gecko' by Oliver Heldens is all straight down the middle, but tightly engineered. 'All of Me' by John Legend is pleasant and clear, but it sounds like you're listening to it at a wedding rather than in concert. And that kinda sums it up. It isn't that the sound is badly engineered - far from it, it is clear and well-defined. No distortion, no frequency spikes, no nasty surprises - it's just they weren't designed for audiophiles, they were designed for gamers. Nevertheless, despite the buds feeling super comfy, prolonged use can leave you thinking the sound is a bit dull and lifeless, and you'll almost certainly be reaching for your AKG or SGBL's before long.

Soundstage is not linear: wide isn't necessarily good, narrow isn't necessarily bad. It's a personal preference thing. I like a very airy soundstage most of the time - I don't really go to nightclubs these days, I like festivals where the bounce-around of beats and percussion makes you feel like you're at a carnival. The G1 makes you feel more like you're sat in your front room, and for gamers, this situational awareness is no doubt really useful.

The preset EQ's in the app are, as always, horrific. Fortunately, you have a customisable mode, with a ten-bar equaliser (you need all ten) - a slight lift of the lower mids and a tweak of the trebles and you can get a really palatable sound.

Call Quality - Indoors - 8/10, Outdoors - 7.5/10

By the time you read this, I'm hoping my YouTube clip will have uploaded, so you can see for yourself, but once again despite no accelerometers, no fancy AI algorithms, etc....QCY have still once again delivered a perfectly usable set of earbuds that don't skimp on call quality.

Outdoors, the volume can spike a little, but traffic and fire engines were dulled quite significantly - you can hear something, but it's a big step over what we were testing out last year. Your voice can still sound quite over-processed, but every word is very clear. The performance was very similar to the excellent QCY T17, but not quite as natural.



Compared to the Omthing Airfree, your voice sounds less natural but on that model - it is far more difficult to hear every word and environmental sound is far more prevalent. Compared to the Tronsmart Onyx Prime, environmental sound is more obvious, but the spikes in your voice are less bassy so you sound less muffled.

Overall QCY have done another superb job of delivering excellent call quality in this price bracket.

Connectivity, Controls and other Interactive Features - 8/10

QCY often take a no-frills approach to their releases, limiting the number of needless features in favour of a lower price tag, but the G1 have managed to dig practically every specification sheet out here and pack feature after feature into these little pocket rockets.

Firstly, whilst the controls don't allow you to change the volume out of the box, this can be customised via the QCY app. Out of the box, double taps play/pause and answer/end calls, holding left and right skips track back and forward respectively (and ignores call). Triple left tap hails voice assistant, and right tap gaming mode, which brings latency down to a stupid level - not only can you can expect lipsync on YouTube, especially as AAC is the focus codec here, gaming is actually acceptable - only the Razer Hammerhead have come close to this level of latency on PUBG. Be aware it will drain the battery, so try not to keep it on unless absolutely necessary.

The audible beeps which tell you your 'taps' are doing something are on par with the T16 in volume - loud enough without blowing your eardrums, but lack the finesse of the spoken word of Tronsmart or Elevoc, for example (another area of improvement, such a shame their biggest market doesn't speak English!).

Using the Pixart chip, the Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity is very stable and the distance extraordinary - I can go almost 20m line of sight. In the same week as I tested the choppy and flakey Elevoc Clear, the T13 stood up to strenuous testing, only dropping out at beyond the marketed 10m, and the G1 smashed both models - I was literally down the street before they disconnected.

Wireless charging is a first for QCY, and whilst I don't use it personally, it will be attractive to many. Codecs-wise, we've got SBC and AAC - there are no hi-def codecs sadly.

The QCY app is discussed in previous reviews (see the bottom of the review) but a welcome addition at this price point, and it is worth mentioning that whilst the buds aren't yet selectable in the Android app, they are in IOS, and they offer two features just below 'Gaming Mode' that aren't explained in the manual - 'Sleeping Mode' and 'LED'. LED turns the LED off altogether (it goes off when media is playing anyway) - 'Sleeping Mode' - well, who knows. Maybe they automatically switch into standby when no media plays after a while. Nevertheless, whatever it is, I'm sure QCY will fill us in in due course. The app has matured nicely since those early reviews - you get a brief glimpse of it in my YouTube short here:



Back to the EQ, and whilst most of the options sound a bit trash, rock is my preferred option, otherwise you can tweak from there, but above the list of options is a line of text which says 'Hot Sound Effects' and two Chinese words, one of which is highlighted orange. Press on the one to the right, and you're offered a list - 'Default, Gunshots, Human Steps, Explosion, Vehicles and Aircraft'. That's right - they boost the sound of these specific elements in gaming mode to help you hear them easier. What?!!! Maybe this is the norm in gaming buds, but I've never heard anything like it. Fair play QCY for one of the most innovative things I've ever seen in a set of earbuds, something else!!

Battery Life - 8.5/10

One of the best in class TWS, and a very strong performer at this price point. The buds are capable of just under 8 hours on 50-60% volume, music only. This drops to around 7 hours 'real-world' - i.e. occasionally increasing the volume and spending a good amount of that time on calls, which is more battery-intensive for any earbuds. I have been using them for hours and they haven't dropped below 100%. Gaming mode has around a 15-20% impact, and I'd imagine calls the same. 32 hours from the case plus buds is remarkable, they charge quickly, they offer wireless charging, and whilst there is no advertised quick charge, take it from me, they charge quick!

Final Comments

Possibly QCY's strangest ever release. One of my favourite recent earbud releases for comfort, design and ergonomics and gaming buds that go way beyond the usual 'low latency' criteria, with a whole load of features usually reserved for premium releases.

For budget buds, the G1 do all the basics well. My only complaint is the audio has been optimised for gaming - kinda necessary for a gaming bud, but for those looking beyond gaming, there are some areas of improvement - notably in the audio, as you would expect because....they are a gaming bud.

If QCY take this design into future releases, I don't think anybody could be disappointed with that - the ergonomics are nicer than the T13, and even their super-comfy T11. Sure there is no ANC, but passive isolation is excellent. Sound is good enough without troubling audiophile offerings. Calls are good. Battery is excellent. They have wireless charging, a unique case, app support where you can customise everything from the LED's to the preloading of gunshot recognition. It's an impressive package.

I don't know what these buds will retail at but you can bet it will be lower than the Razer and Hecate, and that is once again to QCY's credit - they've smashed it. Sure I got these as a pre-release, but I also got the Tronsmart Battle - and they were not even close to these in any way shape or form.

Not being into E-Sports myself, I can't say for sure whether these will be ideal for everyone, but I can't see how they can possibly improve other than some small things like bigger diagrams on the manuals and removing the beeps in favour of spoken words or subtle sound effects, like 1More do.

This would take QCY into the next echelon - maybe as a business they aren't ready for that, although more recently it appears they may well be, but as a product, they are consistently proving they are. A really top-notch release from the QCY team.

Price Weighted Score: 85%
Raw Score: 78%

instagram: regancipher

QCY Audio Comparison:



QCY Review Inventory:

HT07 Arcbuds
HT05 Melobuds ANC
T20 Ailypods
T18
G1
T17
T16
T13
HT03
T12
T11

About QCY:

Whilst not quite a household name outside of China yet, QCY are well-renowned in the budget TWS space for developing extraordinarily low cost earbuds that, whilst perhaps lacking some of the bells and whistles of the more expensive brands, deliver to the segment of the market where 'good enough is good enough', with solid reliability and tremendous value for money.

Part of the Hele Electronics Group, as well as designing their own products, they also OEM product for other vendors (Aukey, for example rebrand the T5), with three of their major customers being brands you will certainly recognise and in the global top 10 of the TWS market in 2019. In 2020, market research indicated they were the 4th biggest TWS vendor worldwide - no mean feat.

Despite a close relationship with SoC manufactuer Zhuhai Jieli, QCY are not afraid to mix and match components to suit their target market. This often sees a number of releases in quick succession - their T17S are an example of this, released subsequent to the T17, and differentiating with the use of the Qualcomm QCC3040 SoC, to support customers who require the added lower latency enabled by the aptX codecs that the Qualcomm chips support. They did a similar thing with the very popular T5, T8 and T9 - nice to see a vendor using an easy to follow naming convention! The G1 use the newest Pixart chip in order to reduce latency - horses for courses!

The QCY mission seems to be bringing music to the masses at a very affordable price - they are unlikely to top the charts for sound quality or features any time soon, but I think that's how they prefer it - their bang for buck is often unparalleled, with customers knowing they are getting value from a brand they can trust.