Vulcan Post has been reviewing various models of Sudio’s earphones since 2017. Having tried a few of them myself since 2020, I can say with confidence that Sudio has been working hard at improving its audio quality.
Their newest model, the Sudio E2, is a huge leap even just from last year’s Sudio T2. The brand calls it the upgraded version of Sudio Ett, which I reviewed here in 2020.
I’ve often taken issue with Sudio’s ability to do bass well, but since the T2 dropped, I’ve noticed significant improvement.
It also felt like Sudio was a bit behind in terms of user experience for their wireless earbuds compared to a lot of other brands, considering the fact that they’ve been releasing wireless earbuds yearly. Now, that has changed, but first, here’s its build.
A crumb of comfort for smaller-eared users, please?
I made my bias for wing-tipped earbuds known in my Sudio T2 review, where I praised the comfort and fit of the compact buds. In my experience, earbuds with a tail tend to feel heavier in my ear canals when used for hours.
The E2 come with tails too, but that wasn’t my biggest discomfort gripe. This time, my issue was that the earbud heads were a little too bulbous to fit well in my ear canals.
From testing multiple wireless earbuds across different brands, I’ve become aware that my ear canals are probably slightly smaller than the average person’s.
I even switched to the smallest eartip size, but they still wouldn’t sit comfortably in my ear. I kept wanting to fidget with them to push them in further to no avail.
So I was left with earbuds that didn’t feel very “sealed”. The E2 are also touch-sensitive, but each time I end up touching them this way and that while putting them into my ears, I’m reminded why I still stand for physical buttons.
It’s rather annoying to mess up the earbuds’ settings and not know how to fix it besides keeping them in the case and taking them out again to reset, just because I’m not sure what I activated or deactivated in the middle of putting them in.
A compatible app is music to my ears
In terms of audio though, Sudio levelled up again. The T2 proved the brand’s ability to balance bass and treble well (previously, I always felt older models sounded thin and metallic), and now Sudio has an additional element that ups it: an app.
This was what I was referring to when I said that it felt like Sudio was behind in terms of user experience. From Samsung to Jabra, other brands of wireless earbuds I’ve tried have had their own apps where I could toggle various settings and even change equaliser controls.
That had been missing from Sudio all this time, which often left me with a one-dimensional experience. The new Sudio app is still being improved on, but it already provides a more robust listening experience, though it’s only compatible with the E2 and T2 models for now.
In it, you can toggle between the hybrid active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency, and none (normal listening mode).
More interestingly though, there’s now spatial audio by Dirac Virtuo that you can toggle on and off too. This was a game-changer for me.
Spatial audio basically aims to turn your listening session (whether for a video, podcast, or song track) into surround sound, like at the movies, but coming from your earbuds.
I guess you could say it gives my audio a more 3D effect, adding on depth and an immersive quality that I really enjoy.
Sudio shared that what sets their spatial audio apart from that of brands like Apple and Sony is that theirs works with all existing music without requiring a track to be recorded in a special format.
I don’t have the other earbuds for comparison, but I was able to hear the difference with Sudio’s spatial audio on/off across different music that I’m 100% sure wasn’t recorded with special formats (some albums were from the 70s).
Sudio’s app also finally gives me control to play around with the equaliser, so of course I will always choose the “Bass” option. This paired with spatial audio simply made for a wonderful time.
You can also customise your own sound profiles. For example, you can create one for your optimum listening experience in noisy public transport, in a quiet room, and more.
Then you don’t have to keep manually toggling the equaliser depending on your surroundings, just simply pick from your set sound profiles.
Verdict
What I wished the app would also let me do is actually enable the ability to map different settings to the different touch controls.
The preset ones are:
- 1 tap (both sides): Play/pause
- 2 taps (both sides): Skip track
- 3 taps: Volume down (left), volume up (right)
- Long hold: Spatial audio on/off (left), hybrid ANC on/off (right)
Once you get used to the touch-sensitive controls though, it’s no hassle.
I don’t often use wireless earbuds to make calls, but I wanted to test the VividVoice microphone system. According to my recipient, I sounded clear.
The Sudio E2 can be bought for RM589 on the brand’s website. A limited early bird offer bundles a Sudio Ladd+ wireless charger with it too, for charging your E2 wirelessly once it runs out of juice after 30 hours of use. Sudio Ladd+ can also be used to charge any other Qi-enabled devices.
In all, I’m honoured to have witnessed the growth of Sudio’s wireless earbuds quality in the past few years, and I’m looking forward to the next pair the dedicated brand puts out.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Wireless charging-enabled case for convenience | Eartip sizes run a little larger for those with small ear canals |
| New app offers more customisation options for audio | Touch-sensitive controls tend to get activated too easily when putting in earbuds |
| Good audio quality with spatial audio that works on all music, offering immersive sound experience |
- Learn more about Sudio E2 here.
- Use code “Vulcanpost” for 15% off your Sudio E2 purchase.
- Read more VP Verdicts here.
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