SoundMAGIC P23BT

Intro

I have heard of Soundmagic during my early days about their bullet styled IEM. Then I kinda stopped hearing from them until recently Caliya from Soundmagic approached me asking if I am interested to review some of their products.

I have heard good feedbacks regarding their IEMs, so I have decided to try out this P23BT wireless headphone. Let’s see how does it sound in today’s competitive market.



Packaging

• Packaging is fairly standard
• It came with a carrying case, a cable with a microphone, and some adapters

Specifications

• Driver: Dynamic 40mm Neodymium
• Bluetooth Version: 5.0
• Bluetooth Codecs: aptX, aptX HD, AAC, SBC
• Transmission Range: up to 13m
• impedance: 32ohm
• Mic Sensitivity: 42dB
• Battery: 400mAh large capacity lithium-ion
• Charge time: 1 hour
• Music playback time: 54-60 hours
• Talk time: 30-45 hours
• Standby time: 50 days
• Weight: 156g

Build Quality and Comfort

• Built quality wise, it is average especially for its asking price
• The headphone is made out of plastic, which keeps its weight light and also comfortable during long session
• On ear design, I have no discomfort throughout my listening sessions, however it does get a little uncomfortable when I am wearing spectacles. (Only on my left ears, which I suspect is due to the shape of my ear)
• The power on button in my opinion is a little too small and sometimes it is hard to press

General Features

• Charges via Type C usb port
• 50-60 hours of battery life playing music continuously
• Supports a wide range of Bluetooth codecs, APTX HD, APTX, SBC, AAC
• Auto power off after 5 minutes after disconnection
• Pairing is fast and easy, and connection is quite stable

Battery Life test

• I was really having a tough time running down the battery, connected via AAC and playing music at 50% volume, looping it 8 hours a day, from Monday to Friday, I am left with 25% still at Friday night. It’s really amazing (Do note that YMMV, as different codec might consume more/less battery life, also the volume)
• Based on real life scenario, where I don’t usually use 8 hours a day, say only 2 hours or less, it will last you weeks before you need to recharge
• Not to mention there’s also a fast charging to get you juiced up pretty quick

Audio Performance (Bluetooth AAC Mode)

• P23BT has been run in for about 50 hours prior to writing this evaluation
• Tonality leaning towards slight bright
• Slight emphasis on the bass and also the treble, slight v shaped to my ears
• P23BT is not shy on bass quantity, whenever it is called for, it will be there
• However, I do feel that the bass can be a little too much to my taste (Personal preference here)
• Despite having some emphasis on the bass, it doesn’t creep into the mids, which is a good thing
• Sub bass rumble can definitely be felt, also the mid bass thump is pretty much very present but not to the point where it’s distracting
• Both male and female vocal does sound a little lean to my taste, however this is just nit-picking especially at its asking price
• Treble extension can be better
• Non sibilant nor harsh
• Treble is smooth and non-fatiguing even for long listening session
• Soundstage feels pretty much in your head, boxy kind of feeling, however, instruments separation is good as instruments can be pinpointed easily

Microphone Performance (Both built in and External mic)

• Tested both external and built-in microphone with Microsoft Teams meeting, the other party can hear my voice clearly
• I do feel the included external mic is quite good for my usage, voice is clear without much background noise

At the end

Focusing on the sound quality itself, I’d say the asking price is a steal considering the sound itself is really good. However, the only let down I’d say is the build quality, which to me feels rather filmsy, but that’s understandable, possibly to drive the cost down.

SoundMagic doesn’t really do a lot of marketing hence they don’t really stand out among the competitors, but they do make good stuffs too like the P60BT that I reviewed previously.



All in all, I would definitely recommend this to someone who is in the lookout for an affordable and high quality sound headphone.



Headover to Soundmagic’s Aliexpress store to grab one if you’re interested.

*not affiliated

*Caliya from Soundmagic sent me this in exchange for my review, however it remain unbiased and my thoughts are not influenced by them.

Non-audio Summary: A light-weight Bluetooth headphone with APTX codec support and a fairly durable build. It can be easily connected using NFC, and has a touch panel that supports gestures for volume, pause, next track, and assistant. The battery life is superb. I’ve used it for a week and it didn’t even bulge on the seventh day. Same battery performance as my KZ T10, which cost twice as much as this headphone. The build is all plastic except for the adjustable hinge. The fit is very nice; it does not suck my ears and hurt the upper part of my head like what KZ T10 does, and I can also use it for hours, unlike KZ T10 that fatigues me within 30 minutes of listening. This headphone can also be used wired and has a very nice sounding microphone built into it.

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Audio Summary: Smooth and organic-sounding, it makes you want to fall into a reverie and just chill and relax to the music. It has a laid-back sound (excellent for Jazz, Bosa Nova, and the like), leaning towards a mild-V sound signature. The bass is very good; it’s fairly balanced with a good amount of thump and rumble without veiling the melodic frequencies or the midrange. The midrange is a bit recessed and soft-sounding but still renders enough details (like backing voices and atmospheric echoes). Treble is also very good; it’s quite smooth and does not sound harsh or peaky at all. There’s also enough brilliance and air that makes the P23BT open-sounding and wonderfully avoids sounding too compressed or narrow. The soundstage is fairly out of the head, with good height and width and a below-average depth.

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Disclaimer

• I liked to thank Soundmagic for providing me a review unit of the Soundmagic P23BT.
• Rest assured that this review will be bias-free and will only contain my honest opinion and assessment of this headphone.
• As always, since our ears have different shapes and resonances, your mileage may always vary.
• Take this review with a copium amount of salt and as always don’t forget to cross refer or check other reviews of this product.
• Also if you have time you can visit my site here XerusKun Archive, for the more polished layout of my review.

Preliminary

• I've used the Soundmagic P23BT for a week, tried different tracks within my library and let the brain burn-in do its work. Unlike my IEM reviews, I will also focus on the features of the headphones, durability, battery life and other ease of use the headphone can provide.
• My library mainly consists of Japanese music, so if you’re a fan of them like me, then we might have the same taste. I also listen to various genre like hiphop, rap, orchestra etc. but not that often compared to the Japanese ones.

My Music Library
I mostly listen to these artists/group of artists, arranged from frequently to least played:

ShibayanRecords, Mitsukiyo, Nagi Yanagi, Yorushika, Kenshi Yonezu, Yoasobi, Ito Kashitaro, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Sawano Hiroyuki, ChouCho, Weaver, Turnover, The Script and Hoyo-Mix.

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Overall, I love listening to symphonic tracks or tracks with relaxing/magical/nostalgic vibe to it.

My Target Sound Signature
I like IEMs/Headphones that adheres to the Harman Target 2019v2 or IEF Neutral. However, V-shaped or U-shaped will also work as long as there are sufficient technicalities. Congestion, bass bloat, and muddiness are a big no for me.

Equipment

• Samsung Galaxy Note 9
• Generic Dell Laptop
• Tiandirenhe CX-31993
• Avani (ALC-5686)
• Abigail (CX-31993)

Thy Features



Build Quality

• Truth to be told the built of this headphone is so-so, all parts are plastic except the hinges and screws, it does not have the premium feel, however I think this is quite okay for the price. The drivers can be rotated 180 degrees and can be folded to fit in the included carrying pouch (pictures above).
• The pads are okay but it feels cheap and feels like it will easily chirp as time passes by, fortunately the pads can be replaced which is a plus.
• The head band is made of rubber and is very comfortable (looking at T10, which hurts my head like crazy after a few minutes.). P23BT is also lightweight and is very comfortable to wear, it feels like I am wearing nothing at all, and what amazes me is it does not have that suffocating feel (unlike KZ T10).

Codec Support
Yeah! APTX support! very very nice (I’m looking at you T10). APTX is just in another class compared to SBC/AAC, there’s no hiccups and most of my songs sounds majestic as it should be. Gaming with APTX is also quite nice. I’ve played Genshin Impact with my P23BT for about an hour, there’s still some delay, yeap, but not that catastrophic compared to SBC/AAC. P23BT is very good for environment-based games like Genshin Impact, however it may be an issue for First Person Shooters players.

Microphone Test
Click the links below to check the quality of the microphone.
Bluetooth Microphone Test
Wired Microphone Test

Aux Mode and Bluetooth APTX Mode
Unfortunately, to use the P23BT wired, a specific plug (2.5 mm TRS jack) is needed to be inserted in the headphone. At first, I thought that I can use my extra cable in my arsenal, unfortunately, I need some adapters to make my 3.5 mm cable work. ☹

When it comes to the sound, ironically, I like the Bluetooth mode more, it is more organic sounding and more palatable in Bluetooth compared to wired. Yeap, P23BT will sound much cleaner and has more clarity with wired, however the treble is weirdly boosted and there’s a weird dip at around 100 Hz in wired mode. I’ve tried different dongles, yet, I still can’t seem to like P23BT sound in wired mode. I don’t know but my theory is there’s some processing happening inside the Bluetooth module of the P23BT that fixes the dip and makes the treble smoother.

Anyways, use P23BT in Bluetooth, just use it wired when its low in battery or you need to use that lovely mic built into the wire.

Ease of Use
I love how they implement the NFC at the side of the drivers, very nice feature. Whenever I’d like to use my P23BT I’ll just put the back of my phone to the NFC Panel and it just instantly connects. Very intuitive I must say. The only issue I have with my usage of the P23BT is sometimes the touch panel and the power button. The power button is quite hard to locate and press, most of the time I don’t know if I pressed it right or not.

Aside from these nitpicks, P23BT is simply just a connect and indulge type of headphone experience.

Range
Excellent, Bluetooth 5.0 range is quite exceptional. I tested P23BT range within our house vicinity, and through my testing, the max range I can get is around 11 meters. This is accounting the randomly placed walls as obstruction in its range.

Sound Leakage
In my experience, other people can still hear the music I’m listening to when the headphone is at 80% volume, lower than that the sound leakage is almost unnoticeable.

Battery Life
Amazing, this is another Bluetooth headphone that has a fantastic battery life and easily lives with my almost 1 week of torture…ahh.. no..I mean “usage” (it’s like a mini KZ T10 when it comes to battery life). Specifically, the table shows my usage for the whole 6 days without turning off the headphone and just letting it at standby.


Other Nitbits

• USB Type C charging port! Very nice! (not a nitpick just wanted to point out)
• An application alongside with this headphone will be quite nice I think, maybe for higher models?
• There’s no indicator for battery life, you can only see the battery life in your phone status bar.
• 3.5 mm jack in the headphone body instead of 2.5 mm will be highly appreciated.

Thy Frequency Spectrum

Since this headphone will be used wirelessly most of the time, I will ignore the wired mode and assess the sound via Bluetooth APTX mode (comments will be added if there’s any difference when wired). This is my second closed-back Bluetooth headphone, so take my review with a big scoop of salt.
I will be using my first Bluetooth headphone, the KZ T10, and some of my IEMs for reference.

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Bass: 4/5
For a Bluetooth headphone, the bass is pretty amazing (I liked it better than my KZ T10). It does not have that visceral bass head rumble and punch like my IEMs have, but it does have that softish nature that is quite addicting in some tracks (e.g., Bossa Nova). Truth to be told, I kind of dig this type of bass. If you’ve tried Vido Blue earbuds, the nature of the bass is kind of the same, but with more sub-bass and texture. The bass also avoids veiling the melodic frequencies and presents itself at the back of my head like what my Hzsound Heart Mirror and ZEX Pro do.
Additionally, there’s still enough sub-bass to boot, but it's not taking the front stage and instead rumbles cleanly in the background. Incredibly nice! If you like soft, relaxed bass with plenty of texture, the P23BT is an excellent choice. However, if you’re a basshead and you're looking for a bass that is quite dynamic and enthusiastic, then I suggest you look at the other options.

Bass is more defined and punchier with wired mode however it removes the softish nature of the bass which I don’t quite like.

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Midrange: 4/5
The midrange is a bit recessed and has a soft nature to it. Unlike KZ T10, the vocals are more forward with P23BT, around 1 step back from the instruments. Male vocals have enough raspiness, weight, and clarity, while female vocals are weighted but lack the sparkle and bite (kind of the same as how ZEX Pro reproduces the vocals). What amazes me with the P23BT is that there are some details in the midrange that I cannot hear with my IEMs, like the background voices and atmospheric sound effects in some songs. Pianos, guitars, wind instruments, and percussion are quite okay, still clear but not as clean sounding as my IEMs.

Wired mode makes the midrange more recessed and less organic.

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Treble: 4/5
Yeap, this is the treble I’m looking for a headphone, I ironically prefer it over my dorm-mate’s Philips SHP9500. The instruments like violins and cymbals are detailed and present but never feels edgy or brittle, it has that organic tone which I quite enjoy with most of my tracks. There’s also enough boost in the air and brilliance region, making the P23BT sound open and wide. There are some instances where the treble lacks resolution and is kind of peaky, but this issue mostly occurs with complex and fast tracks.

Wired mode seems to make the treble more edgy and harsh, already tried different sources same result

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Technicalities

This is where the P23BT quietly disappoints me. Its tonality is fantastic for the price, but its technicalities are pretty average.

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Track used for testing stage: Soliloque feat Milka by ShibayanRecords (Toho Bossa Nova 10 Album)
Shaded circle represents instruments, yellow box represents the singer, rounded rectangle with dash outline represents the size
of the stage in terms of width, lastly the rounded rectangle without dash represents the *block in where the instruments lies on.

Referring to the figure above, P23BT is more intimate in vocals than KZ T10, in T10 the vocals are far away from the listener and often veiled by the instruments.
Instruments staging in P23BT are well separated but they can only be located in your left or right side.​

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*When a headphone/IEM have this block, the imaging and staging is kind of so-so/average and sometimes mushy, otherwise if there's no block, it means that the instruments have physicality within the stage, and you can somehow imagine them in 3D.​

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Soundstage: 3/5
Sound stage is okayish, very nice height, average width, below average depth. The sound stage still has that out of the head experience; however, it does not extend that far unlike KZ T10.

Imaging and Staging: 3/5
The instruments are located on my left and right side while vocals are in the front center. Instruments sounds like they are in a one block of space instead of having different individual bubbles on the stage.

Separation: 3/5
The separation is quite okay, the vocals and instruments are well separated however they are not that cleanly separated like what I prefer. However, the separation is better than KZ T10 in my opinion.

Detail Retrieval: 3.5/5
It’s amazing how it can retrieve macro-details in the midrange like background voices and guitar plucking, but micro-details are so-so, especially with fast tracks.

Driver Speed: 2/5
Yup, I can’t recommend this headphone for fast and complex tracks, the driver speed is quite average and plays nicely with moderately paced songs like pop and jazz, however as fast passages are being played treble resolution starts to fall apart and the bass starts to bleed in the midrange.

Music Analysis

1. Hamu Test “Multiple tracks arranged by Hamu” (Played in HibyMusic)

The tracks in this section, will test the IEM/Headphone ability to naturally replay and stage musical instruments like piano, guitar, violin and drums. This section will also test imaging, detail retrieval and separation. Most of the tracks here hates V-shaped IEMs.

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Very very nice replay by P23BT. Instruments like piano and guitars sound organic, and the bass lines are kept clean and rumbly at the back of my head. Wind instruments and violins are nicely weighted and defined. They are not sharp or sterile in any way. P23BT does not have that technical capability (nuance, cleanliness, imaging and staging prowess) that my IEMs have however, the timbre of the instrument are quite spot on. The P23BT also captures atmospherics well, and I can hear sound echoes and decay on stage, which is surprising.

It might be an overstatement, but for me, the overall sound is like a warm blanket in the midst of cold nights... it makes me want to stop analyzing the details in the music and just relax and fall into reverie.

Replay Rating: Excellent

2. Chocolate Lemon Trio by Mitsukiyo (Played in HibyMusic)

Piano, Timbre, Imaging and Staging

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Yet another organic and smooth replay by the P23BT. I love how the piano sounds on this track. The key presses are clean but not too sharp like on my T10. The piano just sounds amazing and emotional. I should mention that it isn't as nuanced and detailed as ZEX Pro or Heart Mirror...However! The organic replay is just addicting. The same organic replay applies to the drums and cowbell. The said instruments never veil the melodic part of the track, even if it’s quite punchy and boomy. It just supports the piano wonderfully, it’s like bread and butter.

To be honest, I’d like more sparkle and separation with this track, but the warmish tone of the instruments is just triggering my happy hormones. Ahmmmmm, I don’t want to analyze this track anymore, I just want to listen and indulge myself in tranquility.

Replay Rating: Excellent

3. Love Letter by Yoasobi (Played in Apple Music)

Female Vocals, Layering, Bass, Treble Quality

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Ikura’s voice at the start of the track has that softish tone to it while still being clear and defined. It’s well weighted and not shouty at all. The drums are placed far out of my headspace and have a good thump and punch. Some microdetails at the start are unfortunately muted. As the chorus approaches, instruments start to mush with each other, making the music kind of congested. Fortunately, Ikura’s voice is still clear even with the instruments not being resolved well. The overall listening experience with this track is fairly balanced. It’s just that the technicalities like detail retrieval and separation pull me out of the music experience.

Replay Rating: Average

4. Daydream by Kenshi Yonezu (Played in Apple Music)

Male Vocals, Staging, Imaging

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The starry night effect at the start lacks details and clarity, echoes and decays of notes are quite muted and in-audible. Kenshi’s voice is nicely weighted and has that nice raspiness, however it lacks the clarity and forwardness. At the chorus part, Kenshi’s voice became even more laid back and his voice starts to place itself behind the instruments. The bass lines are also quite enthusiastic with this track however, specially in the chorus part, the bass starts to makes the vocals and piano veiled for some reason. The staging and imaging are so-so since the instruments are all over the place on the stage. Overall resolution is meh, driver technicalities greatly suffer with this track, unfortunately.

Replay Rating: Below Average

5. Evening Calm, Somewhere, Fireworks by Yorushika (Played in HibyMusic)

Female Vocals, Staging, Harmonics, Transient Response, Guitars

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The hi-hats at the start sound full, but as the electric guitar takes over, the whole intro becomes a little congested. Sui’s voice is clear, weighted, and nuanced, however the high notes she’s doing at the chorus lacks the bite and clarity. The drums and guitars are played smoothly throughout the track, but they have a slightly fuzzy feel to them.There’s also not that much microdetail extracted from this track.

Overall listen is quite good. The replay is quite organic and smooth, even if there are some instances of congestion. The overall replay is far more satisfying than KZ T10 in my opinion.

Replay Rating: Above Average

6. Make it Rain by Ed Sheeran (Played in HibyMusic)

Male Vocals, Stage, Guitars, Imaging, Treble Quality

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Yeap, this is the track where the P23BT excels at, slow-paced and has a lot of atmospherics. The sound of this track is so smooth that it’s quite surprising. Ed Sheeran’s voice is so emotional and lovable, and I can clearly hear the echo of his voice within the stage. It's very nice. The guitars and drums are also played with poise. However, I’d like more texture and nuance with the said instruments. Lastly, wooh, the backing voice is... just beautiful, very very good.

With that out of the way, let me now enjoy this track in peace….

Replay Rating: Excellent


7. Binary Star by SawanoHiroyuki feat Tielle (Played in HibyMusic)

Male Vocals, Stage, Guitars, Imaging, Treble Quality

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Another smooth replay with the P23BT. The starting symphonic arrangement is okayish, but unfortunately lacks nuances and some details here and there. Tielle’s voice in this track is a little laidback, but quite satisfying and unfatiguing to listen to. The chorus is where the P23BT struggles again. The violins are quite uncontrolled and induce some harshness to the track. Fortunately, Tielle’s voice is unaffected. It’s quite disappointing that P23BT can’t resolve the lower treble that well (add those kick drums throughout the track and the congestion starts to kick in). The tonality and organic replay, for me, are spot on. The driver technicalities are just holding it back.

Replay Rating: Average

8. Oort no Yume by Nagi Yanagi (Played in HibyMusic)

Sibilance Test, Female Vocals, Lo-fi Test

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Yeah, this is it, looooovveeeee it! Another slow track that P23BT excels at, the atmosphere of this song is just played amazingly. There’s no frequency that is bleeding or too much; everything from Nagi’s voice, drums, bass guitars, and piano is just laid out in front of me. There are even little details that I didn’t notice with my IEMs, like at 01:49, there’s this little sparkling echo at the back of my head, very very nice. Truth be told, technical/analytical sets hate this track due to the recording artifacts present. However, since P23BT is not that technical, it avoids any harshness and just plays this track smoothly. Just amazing.

Replay Rating: Superb

Comparison

I only have my KZ T10 as my other Bluetooth headphone, so kindly check other reviews for more comparisons.

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KZ T10 vs Soundmagic P23BT
P23BT is airier, has a nice bass (that does not bleed too much to the midrange), has a more organic sound, has a treble that is smooth but also airy. I don’t even know what am I comparing here. In terms of overall tonal balance, I much prefer how P23BT replays my library, even if its not friendly to fast and complex tracks, once you set it in with a nice slow-paced music, the sound prowess of P23BT just skyrocketed (organic, warm and smooth, I ironically sometimes prefer to use P23BT over my ZEX Pro).

The only thing that KZ T10 wins in my opinion is the bass quality and quantity, and the driver technicalities, KZ T10 just resolves my fast tracks much better and the sound stage is much bigger than the P23BT. However aside from that, I will take the P23BT anyday of the week. P23BT wins.

Measurements and Objective Analysis

Equalization

Only recommended for wired mode, bluetooth mode needs no EQ!

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Recommend Tracks/Genres
Jazz, Bossa Nova, Acoustic/Live, Some Slow Pop Songs, Indie/Alternative, Rock (The smooth nature of P23BT just benefits with it.), Lofi Tracks, Mitsukiyo (Yeap, this is a genre now, I don’t know what type of music is he creating but man his creations make me happy every time I listen to it.), Any music that is relaxed sounding.

“Not that good” Tracks
All tracks that have fast and complex passages e.g Metal, Some pop songs, EDM/Trance, Hiphop/Rap, Electropop

Shop Links
PH Link: https://shopee.ph/Soundmagic-P23Bt-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headset-Portable-Noise-Isolation-Hifi-Stereo-i.163728067.12615681030
International Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002864812074.html

Overall Rating
A+ (Higher rank than KZ T10)
A (Relative to Price)
Recommended! Will daily drive this headphone no doubt, along with my ZEX Pro.

Final Words
Hey, thanks for reaching this part! Hope you enjoy the read, even if it is quite long....

Introduction:
SoundMAGIC has been in the audio business for more than a decade now. The company was founded in 2005, and they were made famous by their bullet type IEMs. It was only recently that they ventured into headphones and true wireless IEMs. The P23BT is SoundMAGIC's follow up to their previously released P22BT. The P23BT currently retails for 55 USD, and was provided to me at a discounted price by SoundMAGIC in exchange for this review.

International purchase link

Specifications:
Driver unit: 40 mm dynamic
Impedance: 32 ohms
Bluetooth version: 5.0
Continuous playback: up to 60 hours
Standby time: 50 days
Weight: 156 grams

Source:
Poco X3 paired with FiiO KA3, iBasso DC03, Shanling UA1, Tempotec Sonata E35 and Zishan U1

Test tracks:
Africano - Earth Wind and Fire
Dark Necessities - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Gurenge - Lisa
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Monsters - All Time Low
Ours - Taylor Swift
Stay - Mayday Parade
Snuff - Slipknot
Yesterday Once More - Carpenters
So Slow - Freestyle
Aurora Sunrise - Franco
Attention - Pentatonix
Blue Bird - Ikimono-gakari
You're Still The One - Shania Twain
Anyone Who Knows What Love Is(Will Understand) - Irma Thomas
Salamin - Slapshock
AOV - Slipknot
Hey Jude - The Beatles
The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
...and a lot more.

Unboxing and Accessories:
The P23BT comes in a large white box that opens at the top. Removing the thin outer packaging will reveal a thick brown cardboard box. On top of everything there is the user manual. Below it is the soft carrying case with a thin sleeve that contains the USB C charging cable, a splitter for computers with split audio and microphone jacks, and the 2.5 mm to 3.5 mm auxiliary cable with a flexible microphone. And finally, the headphones folded and inserted in a thin molded plastic sheet.

Build:
The P23BT has an all plastic build, with the exception of the metal inside the headband for its length adjustment. The headband has a silicone cushion at the top portion. The pads are made of synthetic leather with a very soft foam inside. On the left earcup, there is the 2.5 mm jack for the auxiliary input, and next to is the power button that also acts as a multifunction button. At the top, there is the female USB C port for charging with a rubber dust cap. SoundMAGIC also decided to put the gesture controls on the left side only. You can double tap to play and pause, swipe up or down to adjust volume, and swipe left or right to go to the previous or next track respectively. The right earcup has the NFC logo, which means you can tap your phone on this side to connect instantly.

Now let's get to the sound.

Lows:
The lows have a fairly balanced attack. The subbass has good depth but it can be felt that some very low frequencies are missing in action in bass centered tracks. The decay is somewhat adequate and leans partially to the quick side. Midbass has an average thickness and presented harmoniously with the subbass.

Overall, the P23BT has surprisingly well-controlled lows. Having heard other SoundMAGIC products in the past, they surely focus on the low end most of the times, but they seem to have gone a different route here.

Mids:
The mids are recessed with an added touch of warmth. This makes the male vocals more forward and highlighted more than the female vocals. In conjunction to the bump in the lower mids, the upper mids are toned down a bit, causing the female vocals and instruments in this section to sound slightly muffled or veiled.

Overall, the mids of the P23BT can feel slightly bland especially on vocal centered tracks. But, playing around with the equalizer, and giving the 3 - 8 kHz section some two to three notches significantly improves the mids.

Highs:
The highs have a laid back reproduction. Treble reach is slightly below average and dissipates rather quick. The focus of the highs is more on the lower treble, causing instruments in this section to have a bit of a soft attack.

Overall, the highs of the P23BT slightly lacks the reach and the decay to be able to output minor details in every track and to give instruments a solid blow. Although this can be good for treble sensitive people, because this means that fatigue will never be an issue for the P23BT's highs.

Soundstage and Imaging:
The stage of the P23BT has a slightly below average expansion. The height noticeably expands a lot more than the height. Imaging is good; has sufficient accuracy and clarity. Same thing can be said with the instrument separation and layering, with both having adequate magnitudes. There are occasional hints of congestion in busy tracks especially when instruments like cymbals gets shrouded.

Conclusion:
The SoundMAGIC P23BT is an affordable pair of wireless headphones that is packed with great set of features and accessories, and I do see it to be one of the better options in the price range, considering most other options sound extremely bassy or V-shaped. While it seems that the build quality is not the best you can get for the asking price of these, it is nice to see SoundMAGIC drastically improving especially in the performance of the lows.

The P23BT was kindly provided by SoundMAGIC free of charge and I only covered import fees and tax.
This is my honest and subjective evaluation of it.
All links inside the text are not affiliated and I don't get commission by clicking on them.
The MSR price is $54.99 and you can buy it from Amazon.

Introduction and technical specifications

The P23BT stereo Bluetooth headset is the latest addition to the growing SoundMAGIC catalogue.
It is powered by the latest Qualcomm QCC3034 chipset which doubles as a Bluetooth receiver and a DAC/amp to drive the 40mm high quality dynamic drivers.
The QCC3034 supports Bluetooth 5.0 and the high definition audio protocol aptX HD together with the usual aptX, AAC and SBC.
The P23BT can also be used wired with the supplied cable which also has a built- in microphone so it can be used for web conferences and gaming.



Fit and build quality

The P23BT is an "ON" ear headphone with a medium clamping force to stay in place without exercising excessive pressure.
The overall experience is very good, the headphones feel comfortable and lightweight without exercising pressure, the appearance is classic minimalist with a modern twist, very friendly for commuting and traveling but not suitable for use during exercise.
Passive noise isolation is medium and the headphone gets a little hot after a while but this is common with all "ON" ear designs.



The head-band is made from food-grade silicone with some extra padding inside and it is smooth, skin friendly, sweat proof, durable and easy to clean.
The ear pads are made from high quality protein leather with memory foam inside and they have a foldable design to fit inside the included carrying case for easy transportation and storage.



Accessories

The accessory pack is surprisingly comprehensive despite the budget price and everything needed is included.
The extra cable with the embedded microphone, a splitter cable, a USB type C cable for charging and the neoprene carrying case.




Operation and user experience

After powering ON, the headphone will automatically enter pairing mode and the only thing that you have to do is to select it on your phone.
For even more easy pairing you can use the supported NFC one touch connection.
Multipoint connection is not supported and the P23BT can be connected to only one transmitter each time.
After the first connection is established the headphone will automatically connect upon powering on, something that pretty much worked as intended but sometimes I had to do it manually from the phone menu.
The outer ear cover on the left side of the headset is the touch control area which can perform the various functions as described in the following picture.
You have to use your left finger and although the available area is not very extended I was able to successfully operate it, after a little practice.
The touch area is not very sensitive and that works better than being overly sensitive.



If you connect the cable then the headphone will automatically power off and switch to the wired mode.
Call quality is very good and callers reported crystal clear voice both in wired and wireless mode.
The P23BT is a simple Bluetooth headphone without active noise cancellation and an accompanying application for adjusting the sound parameters.

Battery life

The P23BT charges through a type C USB port and it needs one hour to be fully charged from a 2A power adapter, to give 50 days of standby, 30-45 hours of continuous talk time and 50-60 hours of playing music.
To be honest I didn't perform an endurance test but during my evaluation time I didn't need to charge for more than fifteen days and that is with about two hours of music listening on a daily basis with the aptX HD codec engaged.
A pretty spectacular performance that seems to align with the manufacturer's claims.
The P23BT in order to preserve the battery will automatically power off five minutes after the connection is lost.



Sound performance

The headphone was run for about 80 hours prior to listening evaluation which besides the Bluetooth mode was also performed with the SoundMAGIC A30 and ddHiFi TC35B Pro.

Most of the entry level Bluetooth headphones I have reviewed so far featured a consumer friendly "V" shaped tuning with the only exception being the Sennheiser HD250BT.
The P23BT is my second encounter with a fairly neutral and reference-like tuning without severely boosting any given part of the frequency range.
The bass is neutral and quite extended without significantly rolling off and while it is not going to offer a thumping sub - bass performance it is not lacking with bass heavy material and that is without getting boomy.
It is surprisingly tight and well controlled with a clarity and layering that other competitors would envy and although it is not as full bodied the dynamic contrast is good and realistic.
Mids stay clear and unaffected from any mid - bass cloudiness, voices sound quite realistic with the right timbre and good articulation, vocalists seated somewhere in the middle of the stage , not too front nor stepped behind.
They blend quite well with the instruments in a very satisfying and cohesive way and the same goes for the higher pitched members of the orchestra that sound sparkling and agile.
There is a touch of brightness which is not annoying and piercing, this is a well thought implementation that adds clarity and helps with detail on noisy environments but back at home use you are going to discover that texture is a touch metallic and artificial.
The P23BT is not the most refined listen but it is not supposed to be and although there is some grain to the sound it is not too much as to spoil the otherwise excellent performance.
What is unexpectedly good for such a budget on-ear headphone is the clarity and the level of separation inside the soundstage which although it is boxy and limited between the ears, nonetheless sounds airy and not congested, making the P23BT suitable for listening to large scale symphonic works and gaming.
The latter is supported by the excellent microphone performance which also helps a lot during calls and web conferences.



Bluetooth mode

All the above impressions apply to listening with the cable but the good part is that switching to Bluetooth with the aptX HD enabled is equally competitive.
The performance remains mostly unaffected and only the treble is losing in quality, becoming coarse, thinner and slightly more forward, otherwise this is one of the best sounding budget Bluetooth headphones I have used so far and it gets pretty loud too.
I would come as far as to suggest that is certainly on par with the Sennheiser HD250BT although less refined, and this is quite high of a praise since the latter is in my opinion the best budget Bluetooth headphone but slightly more expensive than the P23BT.

At the end

I have never tested a SoundMAGIC product till now that didn't sound at least good for the asking price and the P23BT is no exception.
This is a simple and budget friendly on-ear headphone with great Bluetooth performance that becomes even better with the included cable.
No, it doesn't have noise cancelling, a compatible Android application or other bells and whistles but in exchange it sounds really good with a fairly neutral and balanced tuning that is a rarity at this price point so it is not of a surprise that it gets highly recommended, at $54.99 it is a steal.

Test playlist

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