Sabbat Vooplay Shadow TWS Review - A great audio companion for under PHP 3K?

Today, we are reviewing the Sabbat Vooplay Shadow TWS earphones, a pair of stylish wireless headphones for just PHP 2,990.

Sabbat Vooplay Shadow TWS earphones

The Sabbat Vooplay Shadow is set to be available in the Philippines starting mid-August of 2020. For the price, it seems to be aiming to be a pair of great-sounding wireless open buds with a premium design and a massive soundstage for less.

Unboxing/Accessories

The sleek packaging with a matte finish

The Sabbat Vooplay Shadow came in with a nice looking package with a sleeve in gray and white and a premium feeling box inside with a minimalist design and matte finish. Going by the name, the color we got for review is the black Shadow one.

What you get inside the box

Inside you get the TWS earphones inside its charging case, a short USB-A to USB-C charging cord, a carrying case, and some paperwork.

Build Quality/Design

The charging case a leather finish with LED indicators inside

Let's start with the charging case first since it is you'll interact with this before the earphones themselves. The case has an elliptical shape and it seems to have a leather-feeling finish which adds to its premium appeal.

Premium appeal!

It feels solid in the hand as well and has a locking magnet that is pretty strong. I find it a lot tougher to open than most of the charging cases I've tried before.

It has a USB-C port behind

It also has the Sabbat name engraved on top, a USB-C port at the back for charging, and a Qi Wireless charging at the bottom. The funny thing is that the LED indicators for charging are found inside the case which means you need to open it to check if it is charging.

It has a half in-ear design for both sides

Now, the pair of Vooplay Shadow earphones are made out of polycarbonate plastic. It has an open ear design similar to the heads of the 1st Gen Apple Airpods. There is no information about its exact water and dust resistance though.

The matte finish of each earphone is prone to fingerprints and smudges though. Both earphones have two magnetic charging contacts each.

Due to its design, there are no silicone ear tips to personalize the fit but if you can use the Airpods with no problem then this will provide a similar fit experience.

Just do not clean items with matte finish with alcohol to prevent paint chipping.

Comfort/Isolation

The Vooplay Shadow offers good sound isolation

The Sabbat Vooplay Shadow's design could be hit or miss in terms of fit. I did not have trouble maintaining it in my ear but my sister did. The left earpiece kept falling for her. I did try to use it while moving, on a treadmill, and while shaking my head and it did not fall for me.

Sound isolation is reasonable despite its kinda open design. While using it, environmental noise is greatly reduced but not completely blocked.

There's no ANC to help in blocking outside noise further.

Battery

It has Qi Wireless Charging as well

Sabbat says that it can last 6 hours of continuous play. But, our experience, it more or less lasted for around 7 - 8 hours max. I finished 2 seasons of Suits on Netflix on 50 percent volume.

Strong battery performance!

The charging case adds an additional 390mAh of battery which adds 4 additional full charges or a total of 40 hours battery life.

Charging via USB-C took around 1 hour and 30 minutes. It has Qi Wireless Charging so if you have a device with reverse wireless charging that could be a great combo especially if you have an active lifestyle.

Features

Connecting is fairly easy. It is immediately detected by my realme 3 Pro and since then connecting it is as easy as taking it out of the case. There's also an included instruction for the first time pairing as well if you need it.

Here are the built-in functions via the single button control on each earpiece:

R/L short press for Power On/Play/Pause/Answer/Hang Up

R/L long press for 2 seconds for Wake Up Siri/Reject Call

R/L long press for 4 seconds for Power Off

R double click for Next Song, click three times for Volume Up

L double click for Previous Song, click three times for Volume Down

It also has a microphone on each side with CVC 8.0 Noise-Cancelling solution for clearer calls, Bluetooth 5.0 with QCC 3020 chip which supports A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP, aptX, and ACC coders.

Audio

The Sabbat Vooplay Shadow has a 14.2mm Biology Fibre Driver which delivers amazing audio quality, especially at this price point. Even without playing around an EQ, I am fairly satisfied with the balance it has out of the box. It has deep bass, clear tones, great treble, and a wide sound stage.

Crisp, clear, and balanced tunes!

If your phone supports Qualcomm aptX, you'll be able to enjoy a low-bit rate audio transmission with low latency for a more consistent and better-sounding playback.

I am a hip-hop/RNB type of guys so I lean more on deeper bass but this delivers enough of it without swallowing up the mids and highs. It is a great all-rounder in terms of music.

Watching YouTube videos and Netflix, the stereo experience greatly enhances the immersion while watching. You can hear the dialogs clearly while the sound effects such as explosions and gunshots are booming.

Pros - Fast and easy pairing, stable connection via Bluetooth 5.0, premium and sleek design, great battery life, amazing audio quality, Qi Wireless Charging

Cons - Hit-or-miss fitting, No ANC, No external LED indicator when charging the case

Sabbat Vooplay Shadow Specs

Driver: 14.2mm Biology Fibre Driver

Frequency response: 20-20000Hz

Impedance: 32 Ohms 

Sensitivity: 101+/-3db@1k, 1mw

Microphone: Microphone w/ CVC 8.0 Noise Canceling 

Battery: 390mAh (case) w/ Qi wireless charging

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 (QCC 3020 chip), supports A2DP/AVRCP/HFP/HSP, aptX, ACC

Others: USB-C, Colors: Cereal, Lynn, Reef, Shadow, Glacier, Moss

Price: PHP 2,990

Verdict

At just PHP 2,990, the Sabbat Vooplay Shadow is one of the best and more affordable TWS earphones in the market. It has a premium-looking design and feel, great audio quality, and long battery life.

This TWS gets a well-deserved recommendation from us.

Build/Design - 4.25

Comfort/Isolation - 3.75

Battery Life - 4.5

Features - 4.5

Sound - 4.75

Average - 4.35/5