Greetings! 💨🦖 This is a review of the KZ VXS, which KZ Official Store (through Tyvan Lam) have provided me to review.
DISCLAIMER: I WAS PROVIDED THE UNIT IN EXCHANGE FOR A NO-FRILLS, UNBIASED REVIEW. I AM NEITHER PAID NOR COMMISSIONED TO PROVIDE A SKEWED REVIEW.
Video Review here: https://youtu.be/HNcWA69K6lM
𝙏𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨
Driver used: Dynamic Driver (1)
Bluetooth Version: 5.2
Bluetooth Chip: QCC3040
Earphones battery life: About 5 hours
Earphones battery capacity: 35mAh
Charging case battery capacity: 400mAh
Charges in the charging case: About 4 times
Charging port: Type-C
Transmission distance: about 15 meters
𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙌𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 + 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮
⁃ Case is made out of pure matte plastic, feels lightweight yet durable
⁃ Has an average tactile feel: doesn’t feel cheap yet doesn’t feel expensive
⁃ IEM is 30% metal and 70% plastic: some parts of the faceplate and the entire nozzle is metal, the rest is plastic
⁃ Feels good on the ear, doesn’t bother at all when its in place
⁃ Connects to a device like a dream, everything is snappy and to the touch
⁃ Touch response on the faceplate is great too, with minimal latency between input and response in any device
⁃ Latency in gaming is brilliant, almost sounds like a wired device due to its extremely low delay
⁃ Best TWS I currently have in terms of connectivity and latency
𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙
𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗗: (𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘍𝘓𝘈𝘊 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵, 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 24𝘣𝘪𝘵/48𝘬𝘏𝘻 𝘰𝘳 24𝘣𝘪𝘵/96𝘬𝘏𝘻)
𝘋𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘗𝘶𝘯𝘬 – 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘋𝘶𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘱𝘢 -𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘨𝘪𝘢 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 – 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 & 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 – 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯 – 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦 – 𝘐𝘯 𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦 – 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 – 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 – 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘖𝘮 – 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴 – 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘴 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 – 𝘔𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 – 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘧𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 – 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘧𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 – 𝘖𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘯 – 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘯 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘯 – 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘐𝘴 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘺 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘛𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 – 𝘕𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘳 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 – 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 – 𝘚𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 – 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 – 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 [𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥] (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 – 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩 – 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢 – …𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘭𝘭 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢 – 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢 (𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮)
𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 – 𝘛𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯
𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 – 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘹 𝘖𝘮𝘦𝘨𝘢
𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗗: 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘺 𝘚8+; 𝘍𝘪𝘪𝘰 𝘟3 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘐𝘐𝘐
Overall Tonality
⁃ strongly straddles along the line between the EDA Balanced & Heavy Bass version
⁃ Commendations to KZ for giving us a “fun” sounding IEM without sacrificing midrange maturity and control of both bass & treble frequencies
⁃ Can suffer some distortion in higher volumes, might be due to its Bluetooth/wireless nature
⁃ Overall another win for KZ in terms of sound, they’re finally coming to a point in leaving behind the heavy V-shaped sound in favor for a fun yet nuanced listen
Bass
⁃ Brings the boomy and punchy kicks when he song needs it, but does not bleed too much into other frequencies
⁃ Still midbass focused, which can be heard from its predominant kick and punches with average attack and decay
⁃ Even with its bias on punch, it still brings in the meat and rumble by not leaving the subbass frequencies behind
⁃ Texture in the bass is honestly a shocker for a TWS; even in its punchy response, it still has quite a texture to it that I still haven’t heard from all the TWS that I have reviewed
⁃ Said bass texture is palpable out of the box, which really shows KZ’s mastery of tuning their dynamic drivers
Mids
⁃ Even with its more balanced approach, it still remains KZ’s weakness in terms of tuning
⁃ Features the same balanced and more natural midrange approach of recent KZ/CCA releases, but still quite lacks the “meatiness” and layering
⁃ Focused on the higher midrange frequencies in bringing the “balance” and clarity, thus favors higher pitched instruments and vocals
⁃ As said, female vocals are preferred here because of the sweetness of the upper mid range; beautifully rendered with a little bit of spice to it to keep things exciting
⁃ Male vocals are has a slight-to-medium amount of veil to its presentation, metal growls take quite a hit
⁃ Instruments are generally rendered on the leaner side of the “balanced” spectrum; the VXS is nice for string section (violins, guitars, etc.), but is generally underwhelming in the brass section (tuba, etc.)
Treble
⁃ have a lot of energy and vitality to its response, yet still suffers from KZ’s near patented artificial sounding treble response
⁃ Focused more on shimmer rather than body, which gives crispiness and utmost clarity to modern-produced albums
⁃ The aforementioned artificiality still plagues the VXS: it has moments where treble sounds “forced” to give out a fake sense of “hifi-ness” to it, which in turn results in a sometimes fatiguing listen with an off-putting timbre
⁃ Despite my gripes with it, its still on the better side of KZ’s releases when compared to their older, heavy v-shaped IEMs of the past
Soundstage/Imaging
⁃ has a surprisingly better soundstage capabilities than KZ’s wired IEM releases, which is really great for its second purpose of gaming
⁃ Not an overly cavernous experience, has an above average height and width to really just compliment its great imaging
⁃ Imaging is quite nice, with everything sounding separate while cohesing together to form a bodied sound
