While the actual number of earphones priced under Rs 1,000 is baffling, I can count the really good ones on my fingers. And hence, when a brand sends across a review unit of their shiny new sub-1000 rupee earphone I grab the opportunity with both ears.
Evidson, a Kochi-based audio equipment manufacturer since 2014, started promoting its earphones aggressively on e-commerce websites and with journalists only recently. The company’s latest earphone is the AudioWear R5. It comes with flat cables and Evidson promises, “powerful bass, natural vocals, and precision highs for every playlist.” Now, that is tall claim for a budget earphone. Let’s review it.
Design, specifications and fit
The AudioWear R5 is a tiny and comfortable pair of earphones. Two 9.2mm drivers are enclosed inside metal housings. Unfortunately, during my review period I noticed that the drivers move inside the enclosure, which is clearly audible when you adjust the earphones for the right fit. The earphones are connected to a thin 1.2m flat cable. The cable definitely resists tangles but is not entirely tangle-free. Regardless, that is a good thing. You also get a in-line control remote that also includes the microphone. The entire remote is made of plastic, but the buttons offer a great tactile feedback and make “click” sound when you press them. I am slightly disappointed that there is no L-shaped connector, though.
Thanks to the small size of the earphones, I didn’t face any discomfort during long listening sessions. The AudioWear R5 operates at a low impedance of 15.8 ohms, which means that most smartphones should able to drive it without much fuss. That said, the drivers can work in the frequency range of 30Hz to 20,000Hz. Now, at 30Hz you lose around 10Hz of sub bass response but it won’t be immediately perceptible to untrained ears.
Sound quality
Right off the bat, I can tell you that the AudioWear R5’s sound signature is more “massy” than “classy”. It offers dollops of bass but the high end was too bright for my liking and the mids are recessed too. Moreover, I heard a fair amount of sibilance as well. The soundstaging is what you’d normally expect from an earphone at this price – average at best. However, the soundstaging improved more than a couple of notches when I paired it with a FiiO X1 (2nd Gen) DAP, indicating that you can derive a little more grunt from the AudioWear R5 using a dedicated DAP.
One thing I liked about the AudioWear R5 is that the bass is pretty tight for a budget earphone. I absolutely relished listening to a song like Make it bun dem by Skrillex, because when the drop kicked in it created the right amount of thump in my head. Thankfully, the bass doesn’t bleed into the other frequencies and the separation of sounds of different instruments is above average.
The quality of mic is pretty good, in fact it is one of the best you will use in a wired headset.
Should you buy it?
Evidson has tuned the sound signature of the R5 to please the bass-heads, which makes sense because bass provides immediate gratification and “Baby ko bass Pasand hai” is an actual Bollywood song. Having said that, I am not a fan of the shrill treble or even the recessed mids offered by the AudioWear R5. And, if I were to pick up a pair of earphones under Rs 1,000, I’d spend Rs 200 more and pick up the OnePlus Bullets (V2) instead. If you are on a strict budget, you can take a look at this list of top five earphones priced under Rs 1,000 instead. Unfortunately, the Evidson AudioWear R5 won’t make that list.
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