We don't know where I'm going to stop, after the I10, i11, i18 here are the i12. One wonders why I test so many ixx headphones. In fact, I must be very ill.
For the moment the first generation i10 remains my benchmark. It seems that the I60 are very good too (do not crack). I remind you for all intents and purposes that for the moment, none of these headphones does not come close to the Airpods either in terms of sound quality and autonomy. For aesthetics, they are almost identical; in short, enough to create an illusion.
Please note, these are not Airpods and for the moment none have reached their level. For those who love high fidelity HI-FI sound, these headphones are not for them.
These kinds of headphones are for people looking for lightness and mobility
Let's say it, between the i18 and the i12 there is a chasm, between the i10 (my reference) and the i12 it is not as obvious. I12 tests with Realtek processor
Description and Features
Description
Aesthetic level, we are so close to Airpods that someone who does not know anything will not see the absence of points and will take the i12 for Airpods. My colleague who passes me his Airpods for comparison freaked that I am wrong during the restitution. There is something. The case is very slightly larger than that of the Airpods. It does not have the load assessment function. We will be satisfied with an LED to indicate the loading of the i12 and a red LED in the I12 to indicate that they are in charge. When you charge the case, the LED changes from green to white. The charging connector of the case is the Apple Lightning. If like me you are on Android, do not lose the connector.
The test
The connection is easy, you take them out of the box, you connect them via Bluetooth, that's it !! Some of you want to be able to connect them independently of each other. Yes provided you keep left. This therefore has no interest.
The first listening is with its i12 to say the least incredible. It must be said that after the very disappointing i18, I still expected another ixx headset. In fact, no, these headphones are average high. They respect stereo effects very well. What rediscover pieces of music.
After testing several imachin-type headphones, I finally had one thing confirmed. If you have compatible ears, you will have more or less bass. The position in the ear is essential and is the guarantor of deep bass or not (see the video). To find out, grab them by the end, and press down. So what about Airpods that do not need this manipulation.
The instructions in English could not be clearer. First of all, it is written larger than usual. Then it's English translated from Chinese surely by Google, but that's fine. At worst, you use the Google Translate smartphone application.
The autonomy is in the high average (I remind that the tests take place with the volume at 50% when I am at the office is 80-90% in the Paris metro 1). Before stopping permanently, from 10% battery, the headphones repeated every 2 seconds battery low (at least 20 times). As it was hellish, I replaced them in their case for a good recharge. In short, depending on the conditions, we have an autonomy of 2 h 10 to 3 h 19 !! (from my measurements). So it's a record for my tests.
The touch controls work well, but with a rather long response time of almost 1 second
- 1 key on the right or on the left to pause
- 2 keys on the right turn up the volume
- 2 keys on the left lower the volume
- 3 keys on the right return to previous songs
- 3 keys on the left go to the next songs
And the sound my dear Jérôme?
Rather, it is a pleasant surprise, even if they are not free from problems. The first is the latency between audio and video. That said, this latency is largely a function of your smartphones. With Zenfone6 there are almost none. With my OnePlus5 it's a different story. The bass depends on the position in your ears. We can thus have very good bass if you tape them to your ears or if the entrance to your ears is small. Overall, the midrange and treble are acceptable. Overall we have a more than acceptable sound and listening to pop will be fine.
These headphones lack bass, if you have to listen to hip hop songs I think you'll have to find another alternative. But like all these headphones, the more you turn up the volume the more you will be served (and deaf). That said, the bass produces a kind of pff. That said for the bass, I have a solution (see a little below).
In short, I remain on a positive note on the sound side and I admit that I was rather surprised. I even brought out my i10 to compare. The i10 stay better, but it does not play much (probably the micrometer less than the i10).
And when there is no music or videos, there is nothing in the ears, not even a noise. And when they are not connected? There is nothing either. It may be related to my smartphone.
In communication, there is no problem, you hear very well, and it seems we have heard you very well
For the listening distance, we will be clear. In general, I have my smartphone close to the headphones. I went to the toilet, 5-7 meters apart, separated by a glass wall and two walls and I was still capturing.
The solution for bass is to book at home if you do not want to be too ashamed. Just put them upside down for more than correct bass. You place the left earpiece in your right ear with the long part upwards (and vice versa for the right). Sometimes you wonder what's going on in my head. I noticed that when I pressed the i12 TWS correctly I had a good level of bass and more than adequate sound. Anyway, should I tape them? I conclude that depending on the ears, the sound must be very different.
The most, the least
Most
3 hours autonomy
Its ok for this kind of headphones
Compact like Airpods
The lessers
Lack of bass
Lacks a bit of power to completely cover subway noise
Conclusion
Well, I am frankly convinced. Please note, this is the version with a Realtek processor, I don't know what the other versions with different processors are worth. I can advise them without too many problems especially thanks to their enormous autonomy (compared to the i10). Random video voice synchronization can be tedious but depends greatly on the smartphone. We will rather reserve them for audio listening. The sound depends on your ears and the pressure they will exert on the i12. More pressure means better bass. The sound of the i12 is more than adequate for this kind of Airpod copy headphones, what more could you ask for?
