Korea Consumer Agency Evaluates Quality and Safety of 10 Wireless Earphones on the Market
Xiaomi Priced at 24,800 Won, JBL at 359,000 Won
On July 7, the Korea Consumer Agency announced that, after testing and evaluating the quality and safety of 10 wireless earphone models currently available on the market, it found that the price gap between the lowest- and highest-priced products was as much as 14.5 times, indicating a significant disparity. The agency also noted that some products exceeded the maximum volume safety standard, warranting caution.
According to the agency, among the wireless earphones tested, the Xiaomi (Redmi Buds 6 Lite) was the most affordable at 24,800 won, while the JBL (TOUR PRO 3) was the most expensive at 359,000 won.
In the sound quality assessment, which measures whether the original sound is reproduced without distortion, eight products?Bose (QC Ultra Earbuds), Samsung Electronics (Galaxy Buds3 Pro), Sony (WF-1000XM5), Apple (AirPods Pro 2nd generation), JBL, Britz (AcousticANC7), LG Electronics (xboom Buds), and QCY (HT08 MeloBuds Pro)?were found to have relatively low sound distortion and thus performed well. The Xiaomi product was rated as satisfactory, while the Iriver (IB-TWA9) product showed relatively high sound distortion and was rated as average.
The noise-canceling performance, which reduces external noise, ranged from a minimum of 14 dB to a maximum of 22 dB. Among these, five products?Bose, Samsung Electronics, Sony, Apple, and JBL?were found to have relatively superior noise reduction. Four products?Britz, Xiaomi, LG Electronics, and QCY?were rated as satisfactory, while the Iriver product was rated as average.
In the call quality evaluation conducted in both quiet and noisy environments (such as buses and trains), five products?Samsung Electronics, Sony, Apple, Britz, and Xiaomi?showed relatively superior call quality in quiet environments. Additionally, three products?Samsung Electronics, Apple, and LG Electronics?demonstrated relatively excellent call quality in noisy environments.
After fully charging the battery, the continuous playback time at a constant volume (75 dB) ranged from 4 hours and 50 minutes to 15 hours and 10 minutes, showing up to a 3.1-fold difference between products. Without activating the noise-canceling function, the Sony product had the longest continuous playback time at 15 hours and 10 minutes, while the Iriver product had the shortest at 4 hours and 50 minutes. With the noise-canceling function activated, the JBL product had the longest continuous playback time at 9 hours and 10 minutes.
Additionally, when checking the maximum volume during music playback, the Korea Consumer Agency explained that the Iriver product exceeded the European Union safety standard (100 dBA or below), so caution is needed. The weight of the earphones varied by product, ranging from 4.1g to 7.1g. The Iriver product was the lightest at 4.1g, while the Bose product was the heaviest at 7.1g.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
