SoundPEATS Q32 TWS

Freshly coming off the review of the incredibly strong performance of the Dudios Zeus, comes a similar product from their sister company Soundpeats and their true wireless Q32 model. This product, I thought, was just going to be a copy of the Zeus model minus the cable but nope. This is most certainly its own trail blazer and what better time to test an iem and put it through its paces than the 2 weeks of training I had recently? So without further adieu, allow me to share my thoughts on my time with the Soundpeats Q32 true wireless iems.







The Opening Experience






For a product in this price range, sub $50 (if purchased through Amazon), I must say I found myself quite impressed with the care given to the welcome handshake the Q32 provided. The outer shell if very simplistic with only a little marketing jargon on the back (and by little, I mine little [especially for this price range]) and an overall very nice build being strong cardboard. The package itself slides down, similar to that of a drawer where you’re presented the Q32 inside of its VERY nice charging case, a Soundpeats branded pouch, a plethora of ear tip and wing sizes and the micro USB charging cable (no type C sadly). As you look inside the charging case, you’ll find the Q32 true wireless iems sitting snugly inside their slotted area in the case. Now, in order to fit inside the case, you either must have no tips equipped or the standard tip equipped. With the wings on, they will NOT be able to fit inside the case, this is rather unfortunate because I really enjoyed the wings (which I’ll talk on later).

So overall, I am very pleased with the welcome handshake Soundpeats gave me. Though this, like their Zeus sister, is a respectably inexpensive product, they took great care in ensuring it’s presented as if it were one costing several multiples more, and from a consumer's standpoint, I respect that.


Construction



So going from the nice and welcoming handshake I’m not left with the product itself. So how well is it made? The overall construction is that of basic plastic, both the Q32 iems and the hard charging case. The iems are made surprisingly small, at least compared to what I was expecting them to be. I can even, to a degree, lay on my side while listening to them. I do have to kinda adjust my pillow a little bit but overall they are quite flush.

The horn is that of the standard size (again, I’ve no idea the exact measurements but it’s the size I see on the vast majority of iems I come across) so you shouldn’t have any isses getting aftermarket tips for it if you so choose. Speaking of tips, these come with a very impressive supply of different sizes and wings. As I said in the previous section, when using the wings the Q32 will not fit inside the charging case, which is unfortunate, and what more is that the wing tips don’t snap into place on the horn, they just kinda sit there. Though I personally didn’t have any issue with them falling out or off they did never feel fully secure because of this.


Features



Though there’s not a whole lot of special features that come with the Q32 I didn’t really know where else to put these remarks I have about them. The first impressive thing that I REALLY like about what comes with the Q32 is the charging case that magnetically secures the iems in place, so long as you don’t have the wing tips equipped. The charging cases battery supply is absolutely ridiculous! I went my entire 2 weeks of training, while having to charge a dead Q32 at LEAST once each day, without having to once charge the charging case, and it charges the iems pretty quickly as well.

The battery life on the iems however is, disappointing. The website claims 3 hours working time but I consistently only got just over 2 hours with them which granted is likely going to be plenty for the average user to use for a workout session of commute but I tend to listen to A LOT of music for a large amount of time, especially when doing a review on a product so I did have a problem with that but it’s only a minor one.

A big problem I do have is the connectivity and lack of AptX. Though the Q32 is SUPER easy to connect to your device it’s always cutting in and out for about a second every few minutes or so (on my PC, it only occasionally did this on my mobile). It’s kinda annoying when I’m listening to something and it cuts out and fades back in one ear at a time (which is how it connects).

My other issue, which is something I find more of an irritation, is that there’s no AptX. This makes it HORRIBLE to watch anything other than some animes with. The latency is, in best case scenarios, a half second off, but it has been as bad as a full second. This has caused me to just completely stop watching anything when listening through the Q32, it’s just unpleasant.


Comfort


I have absolutely zero issues or complaints about the comfort of the Soundpeats Q32. I was able to lay on my side with them (after adjusting my pillow a little bit) and pretty much always listened to them until their battery died (which was quite often during my study sessions). I kinda just forget they’re in my ear truthfully. They don’t weight much of nothing and even those with teeny weeny ears (like my wife [you can tell her I said that too]) can comfortably wear them. So I really have nothing but positivity to say about the comfort, even the wings are fantastic, if only they could have fit in their case and snapped on the horn.


Sound


Coming into this I was under the pretense that this was going to sound very similar to the of it’s Dudios sister; similar price range and style just the removal of the cable and addition of a charging case. Nope. Not the case at all. The Soundpeats Q32 is a more universal sounding iem whereas the Zeus had a much stronger bass presence. The soundstage is quite small, for an iem or not, and not once did I think I wasn’t listening to earphones so imaging is alright. The Q32 I wouldn’t consider an audiophile product whereas it’s a general use product. They’re made, my opinion, to be a grab and go to listen to something while working out or commuting to and from work etc…, something you’ll hear as background music as opposed to fully listening to what’s being played. Now, this doesn’t mean what’s being played isn’t good, for with respect to its sub $50 price point (if bought on amazon) it sounds pretty decent. But allow me to talk more individually so that I can hopefully better express my opinions.


Treble


The highs on the Q32, for a product with a V Shaped sound curve, I will be honest, I wasn’t too impressed. While listening to “Ballad No. 1 in G Minor, op 23” by Chopin, nothing sounded overly impressive. This particular piece has become a favorite of mine for it’s emotion that’s present throughout (and the AMV/anime it’s attached to makes it worse) really doesn’t come through that well through the Q32. Also, this piece, towards the end, pretty much maxes out the Q32’s drivers abilities (things begin not sounding right until it calms down again). The best way I can explain the highs on these iems is that they’re subdued without being recessed.


Mids


Haha, so I’m going to start off this section by posting a song I’m listening to that does a really good job at showing the vocal performance of the Q32, and give a good laugh at the same time (say what you will but I enjoy the song ). But “True Survivor” by David Hasselhoff (yes, THE David Hasselhoff) really gives him the front stage and shows that, though the Q32 overall is a V Shaped sound sig, it can do a fantastic job and cleanly showcasing the vocal performance.


Bass


Oh the heartbeat of the music, and a strong heartbeat the Q32 has indeed. Though I still wouldn’t call these a “bass heavy” iem they, at least for me, were quite satisfactory. For their price range the bass had a fairly impressive impact and speed but there was a fair amount of decay. As I’m writing this I’m listening to the song “They Don’t Care About Us” by 2CELLOS and though the piece isn’t really a bass forward piece the parts where they hit their Cellos resonate quite well. At the same time, continuing on the giving yourself a good laugh while showcasing a given section, “RASPUTIN” by Boney M. Consistent bass hits are present throughout and will give you a fantastic sense of the Q32’s speed, impact, and decay (and it’s just fun to watch).


Conclusion




My final thoughts on the Soundpeats Q32 is that it makes a great on the go pair. They’re not, in my personal opinion, an audiophile product but instead something one puts in to have some background music going as they’re doing something else. They’re comfortable to wear and stay in your ears during a good workout session, running included. I do wish the battery life on the iems were longer but the quick charging case does a fine job at supplementing that.






Also, make sure to check out my unboxing and review videos. They’re pretty awesome AND you getta put a face to the Army-Firedawg name. If this review helped you out at all please hit that thumbs up button for it really helps me out a lot. Till next time my friends, stay safe.

Firstly - I've given these headphones five stars because for their price they're excellent. Offering pretty much the same sound quality and convenience of the Apple Airpods but at a third of the price.

There are a few truly wireless headphones on the market now and many of these are surprisingly inexpensive - especially when compared to the similar products being released by the major brands such as Sony, Samsung and of course Apple.



What makes the SoundPEATS Q32’s different from the competition? Well for one thing they’re using Bluetooth 5.0. Whilst this really makes little difference for me because my devices don’t have this latest Bluetooth version, however hopefully this new version will reduce the number of dropouts that you tend to experience with these types of headphone. Another thing which is different is that the case uses magnets to hold the headphones in - kinda like some of the more expensive versions - nice touch.



These headphones don’t feel particularly cheap. If they had Sony or Samsung written on them you wouldn’t think there was anything amiss. They both have just one multi-function button for Play/Pause and Power On/Off and that’s pretty much it. The buttons on the Q32’s are concave whereas the buttons on their nearly identical Q29’s are convex - and that’s pretty much their only difference. The Charger/Case is a little different though - it feels much more solid in its construction. It feels that there’s a much better battery pack in there than that found with the Q29’s as well. The magnets almost pull the headphones out of your fingers and into their slots - again another nice touch.



The Q32’s come supplied with six sets of tips - three regular ones and three fitted with wings which can help with the fit for some people. I personally got on fine with the regular tips and found it easy to get a good seal without any problems. In addition to the extra tips, you also get the world’s shortest USB charge cable and a neat string-pull bag to keep all the bits in. You also get the world’s smallest instruction manual as well. The print in the manual is so small I had to use my phone to take a close-up shot of the various pages so that I could use pinch and zoom in order to be able to read it.



I tried a brief phone call with them and the person on the other end could hear me just fine. You should note that when you’re using them as stereo headphones, phone calls only come through the right ear. Although for stereo use, you only need to pair the right hand earbud with your phone - the left one normally only connects to the right bud. However you can pair up the left bud independently so that it can be used on its own to make calls. Not up to the standard of the Apple Airpods but not bad. Phone calls on the Airpods come through both earphones.


Sound Quality


For me, headphones are all about sound quality. I’m not going to wear the most comfortable headphones in the world if they sound like crap. The good news is that the Q32’s don’t sound too bad at all. One thing I was really pleased to hear from a nicely controlled bass. A lot of inexpensive headphones tend to follow the Beats way of doing things with the bass - I like bass like the next ex-headbanger but I also like a balanced sound. One thing that I’ve grown to really like is a mellow tone - no extremes in either end of the spectrum - the Q32’s definitely meet this criteria. In fact I feel that the Q32’s are somewhat recessed sounding right through the frequency range. Whilst being somewhat lacklustre on first listening, I’ve found them to be fairly non-fatiguing and also surprisingly detailed considering they lack APTX. The top end could do with a little more ‘sparkle’ to it but not by much. There’s not much soundstage with these headphones - the sound tends to pretty much stay right inside your head - personally I don’t mind this too much because I think that soundstage on studio recordings is pretty much an artificial effect anyway.



Another pleasant surprise is that they have a pretty low noise floor. This is great when listening to music at lower volumes. I’ve noticed that on some of my older recordings, I’m using nearly full volume - they go loud enough but I always like the option to go to 11.



One thing that Bluetooth 5.0 appears to offer is connection stability. This is where the Q32’s really shine - they not only have an impressive range for this type of headphone, but they’re extremely stable - certainly on par with Apple’s Airpods - and they’re excellent for signal stability. I have experienced the occasional dropout - but this only usually happens when you first connect them to your player and they recover faster than any other bluetooth headphone I have tried.



Conclusion


The more I listen to the Q32’s, the more I am beginning to consider these a kinda ‘closed’ version of the Airpods. That’s quite a compliment in my opinion because I love the Airpods and rate them very highly. I have absolutely no problems with using these for more serious listening sessions - I also own Sony’s WH1000XM2 and Sennheiser HD598SR full sized headphones which obviously sound better - but not by massive degree in my opinion. Considering that the SoundPEATS Q32’s are a third of the price of the Airpods it’s a bit of a no-brainer to recommend them.