And That’s How the Seasons Passed By
A fitting ending to an era as the BQEYZ Winter deliver in more ways than one. With their unusual tuning, great technical capability and successful bone conduction driver implementation Winter have become one of the more compelling choices in its price range.
The Winter are the latest entry to Chinese earphone manufacturer BQEYZ’s Seasons line-up. BQEYZ is by no means an inexperienced brand, however, they don’t usually follow current trends and hypes, and instead proceed at their own pace.
Winter was earlier reviewed by Mahir, but I wanted to take them on as well. I’ve had their Autumn IEMs for some time and they have been one of my favorites ever since, so when the Winter were announced, I was quite curious and excited. Especially after hearing that they would have a bone conduction driver and are priced below USD $300.
Pros
- Great build quality
- Exceptional technical capability
- A breath of fresh air in a market flooded with Harman-like tuned IEMs.
- Competitive price
Cons
- Tip and seal dependent
- Not the safest tuning and not for all genres of music
- Can occasionally get harsh
Technical Specifications
- Driver: 12mm dynamic, 11.6mm bone conduction
- Impedance: 38 Ω
- Sensitivity: 113 dB
- Frequency: 5-40KHz
- Cable Length: 1.2m
- Pin Type: 0.78mm-2 Pin
- Plug Type: 3.5mm/2.5mm/4.4mm
Disclaimers
Without boring you too much, I don’t necessarily have a sound preference. I tend to enjoy different sound profiles as long as they do well at what they intend to do. I try to be critic in my reviews but I might be somewhat biased one way or another (Recency bias, buyer’s bias etc.). Please keep these in mind. Also, I bought BQEYZ Winter as well as other IEMs mentioned here with my own money. If a unit I reviewed is given or loaned to me in the future, I will say so here.
Packaging
BQEYZ is not stingy when it comes to packaging and accessories. Apart from the earphones, a silver-plated cable, two sets of ear tips special to Winter, a small pair of foam tips, a carrying case and a cleaning tool come out of the box. Cable termination can be selected when ordering.
Cable
The cable is one of the better stock versions I’ve encountered. The purity of the cable is not specified. It behaves well but, the Autumn’s stock cable is still my favorite when it comes to feel and behavior.
Design
The BQEYZ Winter have a high-quality CNC-machined aluminum finish. The shape is almost identical to the Autumn. The only noticeable difference at first glance is, that the Winter is a little thicker. Edges are nicely rounded, except the wings which are pointier than the Autumn’s wings.
I have small ears with small conches and narrow ear canals and the Autumn has a perfect fit in my ears, but unfortunately, the Winter stick out a bit.
They are very tip and seal-dependent. I recommend you change tips until you find the perfect fit for your ear. Otherwise, you might find them harsh or wonder if the bone conduction drivers work at all.
Internals
The most interesting part of the BQEYZ Winter is their usage of bone conduction drivers. Not many earphones implement this technology. The examples that initially come to mind are Unique Melody’s Mext and Mest line earphones.
BQEYZ only accompanied the bone conduction driver with their 12 mm dual cavity dynamic driver. So, we have a 1DD+1BC hybrid in our hands. This driver is probably from the same family as the Autumn drivers since they share similar characteristics.
The dynamic drivers in the Winter work full range, while the bone conduction drivers focus on higher frequencies to help with the treble extension and resolution capabilities.
BQEYZ Winter’s Sound
The BQEYZ Winter have a bright neutral tuning with some warmth down low. They don’t adhere to any popular target, a fresh breath of air in the current market.
Bass
Bass on the Winter is slightly above neutral. They have a good impact thanks to their 12 mm dynamic driver. The bass doesn’t bleed into the mids nor feel detached. Subbass slightly rolls off; however, you can feel they rumbling when the song you listen to has that information. It’s just not highlighted.
Midrange
Mids are mostly neutral. Lower mids are slightly warm and lush. Male vocals have a decent body. The upper mids are not too forward, so they don’t shout or invade your personal space. Midrange clarity is excellent.
Treble
If there is an emphasized region in the Winter’s frequency range, it is the treble, especially the lower treble. The Winter are explosive IEMs, and they literally pop in the treble. They are not necessarily harsh unless you crank up the volume. “S” sounds, and most of the cymbals are not sibilant. However, “Sh” sounds can occasionally jump at you.
Technical Capabilities
BQEYZ Winter shine brighter than most when it comes to technicalities. They are wide, deep, and airy. Imaging and separation of instruments are especially good. They resolve better than most of the IEMs in their price range. Attack and decay are on point, and the notes don’t linger more than they need to. Bass is very controlled.
Clarity is top-notch, maybe except for the bass and the lower mids. But they still have decent clarity in the lower region. Timbral quality, although behind conventional dynamic drivers, is still very good. Only occasional pops in treble throws off the balance.
Comparisons
To give more context about my findings, I decided to compare the Winter to their predecessor the Autumn, since they are also priced pretty close.
BQEYZ Winter vs. BQEYZ Autumn (with Normal Filters)
The Autumn are slightly harder to drive. (With the same power, the Winter get about 2 dBs louder when a 1k test tone played.)
The mids, especially the upper mids, and female vocals are more forward on Autumn.
The Winter are noticeably warmer, while the Autumn have a brighter presentation and can get harsh a bit easier. Since Autumn can become sibilant easier, I prefer narrow bore tips with them, and it mostly solves the problem. The Winter, although similar, are more forgiving. They don’t really get sibilant around the same area.
They both hit hard in the bass region. The Autumn hit slightly harder thanks to their driver size. Sub bass extension is similar but transience might be slightly faster on Winter. However, the Autumn can be tuned according to genre and preference, so they have the upper hand.
The Winter resolve much better. Although Autumn are no slouch, they don’t have that last bit of clarity and resolving ability that the bone conduction driver brings.
The Autumn are considered one of the wider IEMs, and the Winter come very close. The Winter also feel a little bit deeper. The imaging capability of the Winter is also more precise.
Conclusion
BQEYZ has another winner in its hands. While the Winter don’t have the safest and most popular kind of tuning, they do most things very well. Maybe they lack the bass amount that would make them a preferable choice for pop, electronic music, or hip-hop. But where they lack, they make up with exceptional technical capability, especially for their price. If you are bored of Harman-like tuned IEMs and want something different, the BQEYZ Winter might just be the thing.
