Axum Gear Earphones
£142.69
Pros
- Great Sound
- Loads of Eartips/Cups
- Rechargeable
Cons
- No Manual
- Poor Bluetooth Connection
- Overpriced
- Inaccuate Playtimes
- No Volume Control
Another week and another earphone review for the My Helpful Hints website, this time I’ll be reviewing the Axum Gear earphones.
These Axum Gear earphones are cable-free which offers a true wireless solution to your audio.
They cost $189.00 (reduced from $299.00), for UK buyers the cost is £142.69 (reduced from £225.73) with free worldwide shipping. But UK buyers be warned of the HMRC customs charge of £14.58. Which, I had to pay Royal Mail prior to receiving these.
Axum Gear has some big marketing promises which included 24-hour playtime, unbreakable Bluetooth connectivity, and a fit that means these earphones won’t fall out. But are these claims true? Time to test them out!
Packaging.
The Axum Gear earphones come packaged in a very stylish outer box. This box features a magnetic lip closure and has a nice matt finish to it. The box measures 12.5cm 10.0cm x 5.3cm and weighs 200G.
Contents.
Upon opening the box you’ll find the following; 1x Charging Dock, 1x Pair of Earphones, 3x Different Sized Rubber Cups, 3x Different Sized Silicone Tips, 3x Different Sized Memory Foam Tips, 1x USB-C Cable, 1x User-Guide QR Code.
Axum Gear Earphones.
The Axum Gear earphones are a small pair of wireless audio earphones, each one measures 2.5cm x 1.5cm x 2.0cm and weighs only 4G. The main colour is Black with a Red centre, this Red area is the control button and features the Axum Gear logo.
Before using the Axum Gear earphones you’ll need to charge the charging dock. The supplied USB-C cable (which measures 20.0cm in length) and power it using any 5V DC power source. Charging takes around an hour to fully charge, this charge will then be enough to charge the earphones for 8 full charges! The charging dock measures 7.5cm x 4.0cm x 3.5cm and weighs 70G. Internally is a power button, pressing it displays how much battery life is left in the charging dock, which is a great feature.
The lid is also slightly translucent so you can see the charging status of the earphones whilst they sit and charge.
Setting up the Axum Gear Earphones.
The supplied QR code manual doesn’t work! It’s been disabled and now longer works. But Axum Gear did provide me an A4 sized sheet of paper with a guide as to use these earphones. This paper has obviously been photocopied multiple times and is faded and very unprofessional. For a product of a £142.69 in retail value you’d expect a proper manual and not a photocopied sheet of paper!
I did find an online PDF version, I’ll put it here for you to download as it is much better than the sheet of paper. Axum Gear User Guide
Important note be sure you’re using the correct ear tips and ear cups before you start using these earphones. A wrong fit will hinder the sound and sound isolation performance. They need to fit snuggly into your inner ear canal and the cup fits into your upper ear flappy thing area.
Take some time trying out the many tips and cups until you find a comfortable fit.
Pairing the Axum Gear Earphones.
If using for the first time, you’ll need to pair the Axum Gear earphones by doing the following:
- Power on both earphones by pressing and holding the power buttons for around 3 seconds.
- You’ll hear ‘Power On’ and then ‘TWS Connected’.
- You’ll hear ‘Pairing’ from the left earbud.
- On your device perform a search.
- Find the option ‘AXUM GEAR-L’ and connect to that one.
- If done correctly you’ll hear ‘Your Headset is Connected’
The left earbud is the master earbud and the right is a follower earbud. If you connect to the option ‘AXUM GEAR-R’ you’ll only be able to use the right earbud only.
All future connections are automatic. Simply power on both earphones and they’ll connect to the last known device.
Features.
The Axum Gear earphones can control some functions of your device, although these are quite limited, and volume cannot be controlled.
The control works equally on either earbud and can do the following:
- One short press will play/pause a track.
- Two short presses will forward a track.
- Three short presses will go back a track.
- Two long (2 Seconds) presses will activate Siri/Google etc.
- One long (Over 4 Seconds) will turn your Axum Gear Earphones on/off.
Whilst in use you can answer a phone call by pressing the power button once to answer, pressing it twice will put the caller on hold. To end a call, press the button once. The microphone is very good and you’re able to make a clear phone call.
The Axum Gear earphones will last for around 3 hours before you’ll need to recharge them again. Recharging is done via the charging dock and takes 1 hour to fully charge. You’re able to charge these earphones 8 times before needing to recharge the dock again.
So, the claim of 24 hours of playtime is true to some extent. But don’t get confused thinking these will last for 24 hours on a single charge. The 24-hour statement is based on the following format:
3 Hour Playtime x 8 Charging Cycles = 24 Hour Playtime.
A cool feature to mention is the battery remaining level which is visible on the top bar of my iPhone 7.
Sound and Signal Quality.
The sound quality is very good, but only if you get a correct fit. If the Axum Gear earphones are fitted correctly then there’s a lack of bass and no noise isolation or noise cancellation. So, it’s very important to get the right tips/cusp in order to achieve a comfortable but soundproof fit.
Once done correctly you quickly become immersed in punchy bass tones and clear audio. I found no sound distortion whatsoever, despite increasing the volume to the max!
Both sound isolation and cancellation is probably the best that I’ve reviewed on this site. You can’t hear anything except your banging tunes and nobody else is able to hear them too!
The Bluetooth signal is advertised with a working range of 10M. It’s much better than that and goes to a 15M distance. But I noticed a quality issue with the signal when I cupped my hands over each earbud, the right earbud cut’s out and won’t work again until my left hand has been removed.
The issue also becomes more apparent when wearing a beanie style hat which covers your ears. If you were to lean onto your left ear, you’ll cut out the right earbud. Very strange!
Technical Specifications.
- Brand: Axum Gear
- Model: Wireless Earphones
- Model Number: AXUM GEAR-L
- EAN: N/A
- ASIN: N/A
- Driver: 8mm Dynamic Driver (each)
- Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth v4.2
- Working Range: 10M
- Standby Time: 100 Hours
- Talk/Audio Time: 3 Hours
- Charging Time: 1 Hours
- Earbud Power Capacity: 3.7V 40mAh (each)
- Charging Dock Capacity: 800mAh
- Charging Voltage: 5V DC
- Microphone: Yes
- Compliance: CE, FCC
- Axum Gear User Guide
Conclusion.
I do like the sound quality produced by the Axum Gear earphones. But, for the money I certainly expected a lot more in terms of features.
For one not being able to control volume using the earbuds is a big let-down and the lack of either a decent paper manual or indeed an online version is embarrassing to say the least. If you’re going to market these earphones for the premium audio market and then send a photocopied sheet of paper out don’t expect high praise from me.
The Bluetooth signal is great providing there’re no obstructions whatsoever, but to lose signal by cupping a hand over the earbuds is terrible. I’m human after all and not some robot with anti-Bluetooth blocking features.
The 24-hour playtime is also cutting it fine in terms of accurately describing this product, if you advertise a 24-hour playtime you expect a pair of earphones to work for that time before needing to be recharged. But the reality is a standard 3-hour playtime, but you’re able to use the charging dock 8 times. But Axum Gear seem to forget the 1-hour charge time for each cycle, so in fact you’ll be left waiting 8 hours in between the 24 hour ‘playtime’.
Summary.
To summarise, the sound is excellent, but the product package is a massive let down. For the price I was expecting more and to top it off I was hit with a HMRC customs charge too of £14.58. This charge could’ve been prevented if Axum Gear held some stock in the UK and sent from here instead of shipping from the USA.
If you want the Axum Gear Earphones for yourself, they’re available for purchase only on the Axum Gear website. The RRP for this product is £225.73.
Product sample provided by Axum Gear in exchange for a detailed, unbiased review.
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