Ekotek Ekobuds GO Review - The Stable And Good Sounding Wireless Buddy!

Ekotek, the trusted makers of premium yet affordable accessories in the country has created their first ever Bluetooth ready headphones, the Ekobuds GO. It's a sports-centric wireless in-ear monitors (earphones) with the promise of their standard Ekotek-grade durability, portability, and style paired with good sound and quality for the price.

We review Ekotek's Ekobuds GO Bluetooth in-ear monitors!

Let's see if Ekotek can pull off that promise even if they're newcomers in this scene. Let's start with the review!

Ekotek Ekobuds GO Specs 

Driver type: Dynamic

Chipset: AB1512

Frequency response: 20 Hz - 20 kHz

Impedance: 32 ohms 

Sensitivity: 95 dB

Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1 w/ EDR

Battery: 80 mAh (4.5 hours playback, 2 hours charging time)

Others: IPX4 water and dust resistance

Price: PHP 1,470

Disclaimer: This Ekobuds GO unit was seeded by Ekotek for this uncolored review!

Unboxing / Accessories

Improved window type packaging

Ekotek improved on their packaging this time, it comes with a window type of box that'll give you a glimpse of what to expect inside.

Everything included inside

Upon opening the package, you'll be greeted with micro USB to USB data / charging cables, 3 sizes of silicon bore tips (small, medium, large), Ekotek sticker, and user manual.

What could have made this package better is the inclusion of a soft-velvety like carrying case.

Build Quality / Design

Left and right markings

Ekotek followed their same design language they used with their powerbank and headphones. The GO maintained the premium matte finish that looks great and feels amazing to hold.

Power button / answer keys or play / pause
There's an LED notification here too

Covered USB charging port and microphone

Volume rocker / play or pause button on this side

Checking on the quality of its build, the Ekobuds GO feels decent overall. It's construction is mostly made out of high-quality plastic with no sharp and annoying edges. On the tips, Ekotek used a good type of silicon tip.

With proper care, this headset will surely last!

What made this headset stand out in design is its use of a flexible memory wire. It's not the type of memory wire that will cause cable strains which will eventually damage your cables. Instead, it's using a properly engineered design for easy cable management.

At the right earpiece, you'll find the easy to reach controls. The power button / play or pause and volume rocker / next or previous keys.

By the way, this has IPX4 water and dust resistance. Perfect for those who workout a lot. Usual sweat won't damage this device.

Comfort / Isolation

The slightly bigger earpiece construction of the Ekobuds GO made us think that it might have an uncomfortable fit. But, we were very wrong. This device ranks among the most comfortable and easiest to fit wireless earphones we ever tried. The tips are soft and doesn't get itchy over time. It's over-ear design provided us highly secured fit too.

If you want serious listening on a safe place without hearing anything else except the music playing, then the excellent isolation of this in-ear monitors is perfect. It blocks most of the outside noise very well.

However, if you are running outdoors often, wearing this might be dangerous? Why? It isolates very well. You'll be unaware of your surroundings. Use this device on safer locations like closed gyms and running tracks.

Battery Life

The Ekobuds GO comes with an 80 mAh battery. It is good for up to 4.5 hours of straight playback at around 70 to 80 percent volume. It can last up to three days on a single charge based on my personal usage.

Charging time is 2 hours using a regular 1A charger. Faster charging time would have made it better.

Sound Quality /  Performance

It's functional and good sounding

The Ekobuds GO is fairly easy to operate. Just hold the power button for few seconds and it'll be pairable with your favorite music player. Once connected, operation is easy and effortless. Buttons are responsive and you won't have a hard time skipping, going back, and playing or pausing your playlist. It also has an English voice assistant which will tell you if you're ready for pairing, connected, and even dictate the number of the person calling your phone.

Ekotek boast that the Ekobuds GO is equipped with Bluetooth 4.1 connection w/ EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for stable connection and near CD grade quality support. It's also paired with a high-quality dynamic drivers inside to ensure full sounding tunes.

To our surprise, Bluetooth 4.1 connection is highly stable unlike some more expensive wireless headsets we tested in the past. Even if its inside our pocket or we're moving few meters away from the player, connectivity is still on point.

Connectivity is very stable!

For the sound, the signature signature is balanced. Bass is also good, tightness and speed is on point and it won't overpower the rest of the audio frequencies. Sub-bass is there, but some may find it a little lacking. It won't also go that deep and not as punchy compared with other workout-centric earphones.

Sound quality is awesome for the price!

Emphasis on mids is on point here. Vocals are full, thick, and layers of details are distinguishable. It's not the cleanest we've heard, but its far from being muddy unlike most budget wireless earphones. Highs have that surprising sparkle and minimal hiss as well. Soundstage is far from being headphone-like, but decent for an IEM.

This wireless earphones rated at 32 Ohms is also easy to drive. It also has the type of safe-to-the-ears type of loudness. Not super loud, but loud enough. Microphone quality for calls and basic records is decent too.

Overall, Ekotek stayed true to their promise of delivering great wireless sound even at this very affordable rate.

Pros - Good style, very easy cable management, nice comfort level, stable Bluetooth connection, decent battery life, well balanced sound

Cons - Isolation is too much and might be dangerous for outdoor runs, bass is a tick lacking (for some), charging time is far from the fastest around

Verdict

The Ekotek Ekobuds GO is a living testament that Bluetooth earphones with great overall quality is possible even on a tight budget. Flaws are minimal and the experience is mostly great. This wireless audio device is ideal for casual Spotifying and workouts on safe environments.

It's a steal at just PHP 1,470!

Build / Design - 4
Comfort / Isolation - 4.5
Battery - 3.5
Features - 4
Sound - 4
Average - 4 / 5