TWS true wireless earphones - under $25
ONE STAR - You know these insanely poor 10 dollar in-ear earphones you bought in an airplane to get rid of a baby crying? Yeah, well.
Specs of the Umidigi Upods:
Bluetooth 5.0
4 hours listening on a full charge
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 6 times
Comes with 3 sizes ear tips and micro-USB cable
$15 on AliExpress - check current price!
Design, charging and comfort
The Umidigi Upods has a matte-black plastic case that kind of looks like the one from the Xiaomi Redmi Airdots. It's a little higher than the one of the Xiaomi, but this one too has a logo in shiny letters engraved. Opening and closing the charging case goes with an audible click and feels cheap, but sturdy.
The earpieces are very resemblant of the Xiaomi Redmi Airdots as well and share the same size. Here, they have capacitive touch buttons on the sides. The inside is perfectly compact and fits nicely in most ears. Comfort is pretty good.
The battery life of the Umidigi Upods is respectable for the size and price. Earpieces last around 4 hours on a single charge, and the case is capable of recharging the pieces six times fully. Besides, you can see the battery status inside the box by four LED-lights. Neat.
Connectivity and controls
As said, the Umidigi Upods earpieces have actual buttons on the sides, which you have to press to control them. Pushing once plays or pauses the music. Press twice on the right or left side to activate the voice assistant. The only other option you have is shutting one of the earpieces of by long-pressing that side for a few seconds.
What's great, is that the other earpiece will then keep playing. The Upods thus have the sweet feature you can listen to one or two sides without setting up new Bluetooth connections to your phone. Turn the other side on again, and they instantly reconnect. Take note, other manufacturers!
What's bad, however, is that there are no volume controls on the earpieces. It isn't even possible to skip or return a track.
The connection of the Umidigi Upods is Bluetooth 5.0 based and pretty solid up to ten meters, indoor, and outdoor. At times, however, there is a slight lag between the two earpieces. One side then has to catch up with the other one a slight second. It doesn't happen a lot - but still, it's a strange sensation.
Calling and watching movies
Video synchronization on the Umidigi Upods is proper on Android and on iPhones, except for playback on the YouTube-app, where there is noticeable delay in audio playback. When it comes to games, there's probably a little more lag than you would like to have.
Calling with the Upods is not recommended, as surrounding noises will sound louder than your own voice. To the ether end of the line, you will seem distant to the point of being inaudible.
Sound quality of Umidigi Upods
Well, there's sound coming out of the Umidigi Upods. That's good.
Unfortunately, it's the kind of sound, you loathe yourself for, after buying it. It's the kind of sound you're afraid of when you buy a 10 to 20 dollar earphone in an airplane because you desperately want to watch the in-flight entertainment, or listen to the same list of new age-music over and over. Just to escape a baby crying. Because you just HAD to forget your own pair of earphones.
You know the result will be bad, but you purchase it anyway. Because somewhere you are hoping for a miracle. Something in you believes it can't be THAT bad, surely.
But then it is.
That purchase, is the Umidigi Upods.
The Upods sounds like there's a teeny-tiny piece of audio-technology hung up somewhere in a plastic housing. The element couldn't have cost more than a penny, and worst of all: Umidigi didn't do anything to accommodate it. It sounds as if there's no isolation, no directional optimizing - as if the ultra-cheap driver isn't just hung in there carelessly... it's hung up the wrong way.
The sound coming off from the Umidigi Upods is distant, shallow, unbalanced, and lacks practically everything you expect from bass, mids, and highs. It's doesn't get worse.
Happily, there are way better TWS true wireless earphones for a little more money. Check out the best 25 dollar-earphones out in this list.
Verdict
The Umidigi Upods is a pretty comfortable pair of true wireless earphones at a very low price. That doesn't mean you should buy them, though. Please save up a little more to buy a way better pair.
One Star - Trash
Buy Umidigi Upods/ check current price:
I bought the Umidigi Upods 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:
Leaderboard: All true wireless earphones reviews
