TWS true wireless earphones - under $25
TWO STARS - The Havit I91 has a business-like appearance for a tiny budget. Unfortunately, that's the only thing it offers.
Specs of the Havit I91:
Bluetooth 5.0
3 hours listening on a full charge
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 5 times
Comes with 3 sizes ear tips and ear hooks and micro-USB cable
$20 on AliExpress or Amazon US/ Europe - check current price!
Design, charging and comfort
Leave it to Havit to come up with original designs of earpieces. The pieces on their entry-level I91 look sporty on the inside. There is a round plastic piece with an ear hook, connected to the rubber tip that goes in your ear. The I91 comes with three different sized ear hooks and ear tips to get a good fit, ensuring the earpieces stay steady in your ear. They succeed - the I91 has a great fit.
That's mainly because a great deal of the earpiece is positioned out of your ear. On the outside, the Havit I91 earpieces have a business-like appearance with their long square shape, button, orange LED light, and logo all below each other. It's isn't weird to wear this on the work floor, for sure. You'd expect to see this in the ear of a taxi driver.
The charging case of the Havit I91 is made from easily scratchable hard plastic and rumbles a bit when you shake it. It has four bright LED lights that indicate the battery charge status when you put the earpieces in them. It recharges the earpieces fully five times, giving the earpieces three hours of playtime each turn.
Connectivity and controls
The Bluetooth 5.0 connection on the Havit I91 is decent under most circumstances, with a stable connection up to ten meters. It can have a few dips in areas crowded with wireless signals though.
As for the buttons, Havit has made some strange choices you may have to get used to. Pressing once plays and pauses the music, and on the right earpiece, two presses returns a song, and three skips one. On the left side, two taps increases the volume and three decreases it. Great to have the volume controls on the earpieces, but the setup is a bit weird.
Pressing the buttons isn't the most comfortable experience, as you press the earpieces deeper in your ear - creating a squishy sound.
Calling and watching movies
With the work floor proof design, you'd expect the Havit I91 to deliver excellent call quality. Havit also advertises with crystal clear sounding calls. Unfortunately, calling isn't a strong suit for this model. It isn't by a landslide. The microphone delivers a muffled sound, with crackling noises and your voice fading away for the other end of the line.
Watching videos comes with a noticeable delay in the YouTube app on the iPhone. The synchronization is somewhat better on services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, just as it is on the entire system of Android - yet many competitors are offering a more spot-on synchronization.
Sound quality of Havit I91: Muffled
The sound quality is the biggest disappointment of the Havit I91. It's insanely muffled, with a severe lack of highs. It shows in vocal songs especially, with male and especially female vocals sounding distant and veiled. That's inconvenient while watching videos or listening to podcasts, but it also doesn't work very well for music. Instrumental genres like jazz, classical music and blues, feel lifeless, due to a lack of airiness and soundstage as well.
In the bass area, the Havit I91 is just as big of a mess. The mid-bass is a swamp, delivering a boomy and long-stretched bass-slaps that can hardly be called punches anymore. The sub-bass sounds dark, yet doesn't go deep.
Don't expect any detail and texture on the Havit I91, from the bass to the mids and the highs. The boomy muddiness may work for an occasional workout, for which the secure fit of the earpieces will come in handy, but this isn't a set for critical listening - or even commuting.
Verdict
Unfortunately, the business-like design of the Havit I91 is the only strong aspect of these true wireless earphones. The calling quality is sub-par, controls require getting used to and the sound is downright muffled.
Two stars - disappointing
Buy Havit I91/ check current price:
Buy Havit I91 on Amazon Europe (Germany)
I bought the Havit I91 myself, to test and review. I test and review all audio products equally honest - read about it here.
Consider buying this earphone? I'd really appreciate it if you use the links in this article. It won't cost you extra, yet it will financially support me a bit in my ongoing quest for great affordable audio. <3
Also read:
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