KZ Carol Pro Review
Intro
Hello, this review and feature covers the latest true wireless earphones from KZ Audio named the KZ Carol Pro. The Carol Pro is the follow up iem from the original KZ Carol (Carol Review) which I personally feel is one of the best tws at its price point when considering all the features that it has as well as the wonderful tuning. I’m telling you folks, KZ (Knowledge Zenith) has come a very long way with their wireless gear. In my opinion they now make some of the best true wireless iems on the budget market. I am actually waiting for the Carol Pro to arrive at my home at the moment. There’s a thought which keeps randomly circling around my mind; “How is KZ going to upgrade over the OG Carol?”. What could they possibly do? Of course, I’ve said this so many times with KZ iems and other audio products and somehow KZ always finds a way to surprise me.
Quality for less
Look at their different iem series. Each series marks certain upgrades and incremental improvements. One after the other. Pick a series folks. I have reviewed a number of them and each time I say similar things. My words always form similar thoughts about value for cost or price to performance. I’d probably go so far as to say that KZ/CCA makes the best budget gear on the market. Whether it be their awesome single DD’s like the $50 KZ Zenith (Zenith Review), or their hybrid sets like the $45 CCA Rhapsody (Rhapsody Review), the KZ ZS12 Pro X (ZS12 Pro X Review), KZ ZS10 Pro 2 (ZS10 Pro 2 Review) among others. Heck, their all-BA KZ AS10 Pro (AS10 Pro Review), KZ AS24 (AS24 Review), AS24 Pro (AS24 Pro Review), and their amazing KZ Sonata (Sonata Review). I haven’t even mentioned their planar series of iems and I’ll Probably get some flak for missing about fifty others which are fantastic for their respective price points. All are quality in their own right. However, this is a wireless review and from my perspective KZ has absolutely knocked the ball out of the park. From KZ’s true wireless sets like the KZ Carol (Carol Review), the KZ Xtra (Xtra Review) which is a phenomenal sounding set, to their KZ VXS (VXS Review) among many others. Shoot, their earhook adapters are definitely some of the best in the market. I’ve reviewed and featured the KZ AZ20 (AZ20 Review) and the KZ AN01 (AN01 Review). Again, one after the other KZ gets better and their prices go down.
Knowledge Zenith
Is there another brand like this? Think about it. I honestly don’t think so. Racking my brain, I don’t think there is another brand quite like KZ/CCA which constantly pushes boundaries and constantly forces the rest of the budget brands to “step-up-their-game”. They have single handedly forced every other brand to bring quality to the table at lower prices. KZ sets those standards folks. They create the benchmarks. Yes, other brands may supersede KZ at times but there truly isn’t another brand which churns out as many solid sets which are affordable to almost anyone across the globe while providing solid audio quality and build quality. Whether you want to admit it or not, KZ created the competition simply out of their sheer willingness to not overcharge for their products. Their wireless series presents a whole new set of challenges that KZ has overcome, to the point that they are thriving in the wireless game.
Well, I just got the Carol Pro this morning and I’ll just spare you any wonderment; the KZ Carol Pro is an irrefutable upgrade. It took me all of a couple hours to make that determination. Now I just need some weeks to spend time using this set for day-to-day tasks and critical listening. I do hope to have a good understanding of the Carol Pro before I go any further with this review. At any rate, I’m ready to get into this folks. I’ll see you in about a month. Without further ado, the KZ Carol Pro everyone…
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Disclaimer:
I received the KZ Carol Pro from KZ Audio as a review sample. In exchange I will conduct a full review and feature at Mobileaudiophile.com. I have not received any payment or any other form of compensation for this review. KZ Audio has not requested to pre-read any review and doesn’t have any control over “what” or “when” anything gets published to mobileaudiophile.com. All thoughts within this review are my own, though please take note that I will always have my own biases. This is impossible to get around. I try to be as objective as my subjective self can be, but this is an opinion piece folks. Thank you to KZ Audio, and thanks for reading.
Carol Pro Pros
-Build is not bad at all for $35
-Still the same slick design
-Great fitment
-Much improved charging case (size, design, battery life)
-ANC works great for low droning noises
-High Performance Mode (Game Mode) gets you down to 55ms latency
-LDAC
-Fantastic call quality (great for online meetings)
-KZ’s Super Linear Dynamic Driver
-Dynamically balanced sound across the mix
-Smoother sound overall
-Certainly a fun sounding set
-Big, deep bass, punchy
-Decently detailed midrange, clean
-Sparkly treble, non-offensive
-Great soundstage for a tws
-The Carol Pro actually has very nice imaging
Carol Pro Cons
-Design may not appeal to everyone
-For this cost, nothing else.
Packaging / Accessories
Unboxing
Not much to report on here. The Carol Pro arrived in a typical small white box which is typical of a KZ budget set. The box simply has a picture of the Carol Pro on the front and some specs on the back. Open the box and you’ll see the charging case looking all fly under some clear plastic, sitting inside of a cardboard tray. Inside the case you’ll see the Carol Pro. Under the cardboard tray you’ll find the type-c charging cable on one side and the eartips on the other. Nothing out of the ordinary and again, typical for a KZ budget wireless set.
Eartips
Now, the eartips which come packaged with the Carol Pro are definitely what I’d consider “true wireless” eartips. Meaning, they are much more shallow and less firm at the flange. You often see these types of tips. Now, the tips which come packaged have an oval opening to match the oval nozzle on the Carol Pro. They are three pairs (S, M, L) of dark gray silicone tips. These tips have a narrow bore, semi-firm flange, very shallow fit too. To be honest, I do not like the included tips simply because I couldn’t get a seal at all. I had to tip-roll. So, I went straight to some of my favorite all time eartips in the KBear 07 tips. Thankfully, the 07’s fit inside of the charging case without a problem. However, I don’t think I could go any larger in size or else they probably wouldn’t fit inside of the case. Anyways, thankfully KZ provides enough room with their new and awesome charging case for 3rd party eartips. Nice KZ!
Charging Case
One of the coolest upgrades we’ve seen with the Carol Pro has nothing to do with the earphones themselves, but rather the charging case. Gone is the hockey puck shaped case and in comes a new and sleek case. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with the older case style. However, it did look a bit odd when sitting in your front pocket. Anyways, the new case is much better folks. The new case is black, hard plastic, not too chinsy feeling and has a very nice light indicator of the front. It’s a stylish design and I’m glad KZ changed things up. The magnets inside which hold the Carol Pro in place work well as I don’t have to fiddle with trying to get them to line up with the charging pins. Really, it’s just a nice case. Easily small enough to fit inside the tiny front right-side pocket in my jeans, so I’m happy. The case will afford you roughly about 35 hrs. of battery life as well.
Build / Design / Internals / Fit / Misc Info
Build Quality / Design
Basically, the Carol Pro is a decently built set of tws earphones. Not unlike many tws sets on the market. Made entirely with skin friendly plastic and durable feeling too. I don’t see any burrs, glue spots, or anything jagged and cheap lokking. The Carol Pro are stick style tws earphones and so you do have to like this style if you want to purchase. Surely not everyone does. However, I think the Carol Pro looks flat out dope. Pretty much identical to the OG Carol. The stem has transparent plastic which shows off the internal components which is a very nice touch. The nozzles are once again oval shaped and are a shallow fit. Which, by the way, pushed me to use wider and firmer K!Bear 07 tips. The Carol Pro has three different microphones per side and the touch surface is at the top of the sticks. Friends, I feel the Carol Pro is a very well-designed set. I love the black colorway, the smaller stem (stick), and the look is simply just sleek. KZ did a nice job.
Internals
KZ added a bunch of tech within the Carol Pro. For starters, KZ used their very nice “Super Linear Driver” which can be found in any number of KZ iems. In fact, I’ve done nothing but praise KZ for their use of this driver. KZ also provides a nice SOC Chipset. However, I only say that because of its feature set. Obviously, it’s a solid chipset. Internally the call canceling microphone sits at the bottom of the stem as well. You also have the larger battery inside as well. Honestly, KZ packed quite a bit internally yet kept the overall size very small. I suppose that’s what makes a stem style so nice as usually all the extra tech is hidden in those stems.
Chipset
Again, I have no idea what chipset KZ used inside of the Carol Pro. I can tell you this, it’s a pretty solid one. This chip allows for many different features like ANC, Transparency Mode, Gaming Mode, and it comes with a fairly strong amplifier too. Definitely strong enough that volume gives me good headroom when listening. It’s also the chipset which provides us one of the better audio codecs in the market in LDAC. Besides LDAC the Carol Pro is also afforded AAC and SBC codecs. So once again it’s a very capable chipset. I’m sure it cost much less than the high-profile Qualcomm chips that KZ has used in the past. Honestly, I don’t see or hear any big difference between the two.
Fit /Comfort
I find the fit to be pretty much perfect for my ears when I use the KBear 07 eartips. The Carol Pro is a very light earphone and feels like nothing in the ear. Now, if you are using the included eartips just know that the nozzles are shallow fit, their short. Also, the included eartips are shallow fit too. So, it may take some fiddling around trying to get a seal for you. We are all so much different in ear anatomy and so what works for one may not work for another. However, for me, the Carol Pro is very comfortable, and the fit is just about perfect.
Controls / Functionality
Thankfully KZ saw to it to make all controls (except volume control) available on the buds themselves. I hate that they didn’t add volume controls, but I am managing. However, it is great that every other control is a tap or two away. You have play/pause, answer/hang-up, forward track/backward track, game mode, pass through, ANC, and you can summon your voice assistant very easily too. KZ provides a manual which goes over all the controls and it’s very intuitive and easy to follow. I’ll add a picture in this review of that so you can see what I’m talking about. Honestly, it isn’t much different than any other bud but it’s nice to have those commands on the ready.
Functionality
As far as control functionality goes, I should first mention that the touch surface is great and very sensitive. Now, the touch surface covers the entire stem which is very easy to hit on the mark every time. Most buds will be a small circle at the top of the earbud and while that is not a bad thing, it also isn’t an entire stem. Of course, we’ve seen this style in the past and so it isn’t anything new. However, it’s still a cool piece of the puzzle. Again, the actual touch surface is very sensitive which makes getting a solid finger tap very easy. Of course, the downside to a sensitive touch surface is the fact that you can and probably will have phantom touches. It happens. Still, the Carol Pro is not some janky cheap earbud that takes forever for me to pause or forever to switch tracks. No sir… Carol Pro works right away, everytime. I realize this seems like a petty thing. Tell me that when you have a set that is horrible in this regard.
Specifications
–Core Specs–
-Bluetooth: BT 5.4
-Chipset: ???
-Supported Bluetooth Codec: LDAC / AAC / SBC
–Battery–
-Battery Capacity: 40mah (earbuds) 300mah (charging case)
-Hours per use: 7hrs (earbuds) 35 (charging case)
-Charging Port: Type-C
-Total Playtime: 35 Hours
–Specifications cont…-
-Driver: 10mm Super Linear Dynamic Driver
-Mics: #6 mics in total
-ANC: Yes, Hybrid Active Noise Canceling (55db attenuation)
-Multi-point Connection: Yes
-In-Ear Detection available: No
-Gaming / Low-Latency: Yes (55ms)
-Touch Controls: Yes
-Frequency Response: 20hz – 20000khz
–What’s in the box–
-KZ Carol Pro
-3x eartips
-Manual
-Type-C Charging Cable
Features
*Note: I am going to copy/paste some of the features from the OG KZ Carol Review as there aren’t any changes in some of the features. I will speak on any differences.
Game Mode (Low-Latency)
Once again, KZ added in a slew of features for the KZ Carol Pro and one of those features is “game mode” or “low-latency mode”. To be honest I rarely use this feature but when you need it, you need it. Now, KZ advertises that the latency in game mode can get as low as 55 milliseconds, which is ridiculously low. That’s basically as fast as the natural time difference. You cannot tell if there is any latency or lag at all. So, for videos the latency is fantastic. Yes, Game Mode does eat up the battery a hair faster but nothing you’ll notice. Most of the issues stem from games which are more intense graphically or more chaotic games. Anything like first person shooters like “Call of Duty” etc. will have a very slight lag only sometimes. Only in heavily congested sequences. I did try this out for quite a while and can attest that the 55 ms doesn’t seem very far off. Still, no Bluetooth is perfect and of course there are moments of lag. That said, I still find the $35 Carol Pro does perform just as good as the $120 Soundpeats Capsule3 Pro Plus in this regard. So that’s saying something. Even more so when you take into account that the Capsule3 Pro Plus has one of the best chipsets. All in all, game mode is a good feature, and it works well on the Carol.
Hybrid Active Noise Cancelation
I was overly surprised to see that the OG KZ Carol was outfitted with actual working ANC at $30 US. So, it wasn’t as much of a stretch to see the slightly more expensive and upgraded Carol Pro also with ANC. However, before I describe the Carol Pro’s ANC, I first want to remind you all that no ANC on earth removes all outside noise. Nothing is really being “canceled”. What is happening is certain frequencies are being attenuated. In the case of the Carol Pro, its ANC does a good job of attenuating low droning noises. Stuff like air conditioners, running microwave ovens, fans, car engines, stuff like that. However, it doesn’t attenuate higher pitch noises or noises which happen suddenly. The Carol Pro doesn’t remove voices, usually TV’s can be heard. So, put it all in perspective, I guess. I enjoy the Carol Pro as I lay in bed and when my fan is blowing, I don’t hear that constant white noise. That said, for the cost the Carol Pro does a fine job. Especially against the current competition at $30 to $50.
Multi-Point Connection
Now this is another feature that is very nice to have if and when you need it. I’m talking about “multi-point connection”. Multi-point gives the Carol Pro the ability to be connected to two different sources, or phones, or a phone and a tablet, really any two devices at once. So, I can watch a video on my iPad and then get a phone call on my cell phone and simply answer the call without the connection completely breaking on the iPad. Once I hang up and open back up my iPad it works there again. No loss of time fiddling with Bluetooth settings. Now, I have to confess that I haven’t tried this feature out yet. I’m simply going by what I’ve seen in the past and used in the past. So please forgive me. I just know that the Carol Pro has this feature. I will edit my results when I have a moment to actually try it out.
Transparency Mode
The next feature is called “Transparency Mode”. Some brands refer to it as “Pass-Through Mode” as well. This mode allows the listener to not only hear your music but also hear the outside world. This is especially helpful when out jogging and you need to hear your surroundings. I was actually very impressed by KZ’s pass-through on the Carol Pro. It doesn’t sound overly artificial like so many sets out there. There’s a hint of boxiness and some metallic timbre to the sound but for the most part it sounds nice. I use it all the time in my office when I have a video playing and people asking me questions. I don’t have to take them out of my ears to hear my surroundings.
Phone Calls
Now we get to one of the best features on the Carol Pro. That is its ability to replicate a natural sound through phone calls. I test a ton of tws folks. Many you never hear about because I tell the brand that I don’t want to review them, something doesn’t tick the boxes for me. However, the Carol Pro has very good call quality. KZ advertises that it has hybrid AI powered noise cancellation for phone calls. This is where the AI tech inside, along with the feed forward and backwards mics actually clear out any background noises so to provide a cleaner sound for phone calls. In the same breath, the Carol Pro has a very natural sound for phone calls. I actually use the Carol Pro for online meetings, and it always goes well. Really a good job here KZ.
LDAC
I would have never believed I’d see the day when LDAC would come to a $35-$39 tws iem. It was not very long ago that so many in the industry said that it was simply too difficult to incorporate LDAC. Now look at us. At any rate, LDAC is a truly impressive audio codec in that it allows but rates up to 990 kbps. Beyond that, LDAC provides bit depths of 32bits and sample rates up to 96khz. Better than CD quality. It was good to see that out of this budget KZ product. Really, something I never thought I’d see.
Sound Impressions
*Note: During my review period of the KZ Carol Pro, I only give my opinion on the out-of-the-box sound. I do not use EQ for critical listening. Now, I will occasionally mention how EQ can help, but all impressions of the Carol Pro are with its stock tuning. I only listen to flac or better files which are stored on my devices. Also, the Android music players that I use most are UAPP and Poweramp.
What’s it sound like?
The Carol Pro is a certain upgrade over its predecessor when it comes to sound quality. For a $39 true wireless earphone it is very good, very well-tuned. So, the Carol Pro comes across as warm/neutral in tonal color with a fairly dynamic sound, nice note weight, and some nice dynamic contrast. If anything, I’d call the Carol Pro a slight V-shaped sound signature. However, more than anything I’d call the Carol Pro a fun attempt at a balanced sound. Honestly, it’s tuned very well for any number of situations and genres. Great for anyone going to the gym, running, out and about in the market, or just chillin’ listening to some music. You have the boosted and beefy bass region that hits hard and deep. The midrange has solid note weight coming across with a subtle warmth, some slight richness, and nicely melodic without causing any undue glare. Also, the treble region is what I’d call semi-brilliant, just enough sparkle to provide some good energy, detailed enough too. Now, the Carol Pro is on the smoother side of the aisle and it’s not going to be considered a detail king, but for a more musical sound I find details, separation, and even imaging to be quite good. Of course, we have to factor in the price point here, which, at $39 it’s hard to comment negatively about anything with the Carol Pro. Let’s dive a little bit deeper into each 3rd of the mix…
Bass Region
The low end of the KZ Carol Pro has an “above moderate” emphasis in its stock form. That means it’s fairly heavily lifted. From what I can tell (without a graph) I certainly hear a more sub-focused sound, but both the mid & sub-bass regions have adequate energy for my music. Certainly, EQ can add some nice extension to the sound (keep that in mind). However, in its out-of-the-box form, I truly enjoy the depth of the bass. Now, this is not some audiophile streamlined, ultra tight, and ultra peppy bass that perfectly defines every last intonation of my music down low. Not quite anyways. KZ knows that they have to craft something which has an element of fun to it. We should all expect that for $39. The bass is definitely lifted enough to give a nice rattle, a nice rumble, and some guttural depth to your music. Also, the Carol Pro can slam folks. Especially on bass lifted tracks. However, this is not a bass that will color the whole mix in warmth or veil either. It won’t overstep its bounds. In the same breath, it’s also a pretty clean bass region, fairly well defined, reasonably hard-edged, nice note attack and a natural decay. You’ll have some lingering resonance effects which come across as somewhat atmospheric.
Bass cont…
Beyond that, the bass is simply a nicely controlled region. It never really comes across one-noted, never muddy, never sloppy. KZ used their awesome super-linear dynamic driver in this set. The same DD used in the KZ Zenith (Zenith Review), and if you’ve read anything about the Zenith then you know that many consider it a top five single DD under $100. Yes, it’s that good. So the low-end of the Carol Pro kind of exemplifies and embodies those characteristics. Fairly tight at the edges of each note. You don’t have a ton of width of each note either, but you do have nice density. Notes are more compacted which is a lot more than I could say for most any tws at this cost. Also, I should add that the stock bass really doesn’t seem to bleed too much into the midrange which does help to offer a clean sounding midrange, for the most part anyways. Not bad at all for a budget true wireless set. Though I should add that you have to keep your expectations in check. This is a budget true wireless. I’m simply saying that “for the cost” the Carol Pro offers a fun and relatively clean low-end.
Downsides to the Bass Region
If I were to report any issues with the bass region, I’d say that those who really cannot stand any bass emphasis will likely want to check out other sets, or just EQ the bass down to preferable levels. Really, the Carol Pro responds fantastically to equalization. Whether you want more or less. Also, remember that zkZ used their awesome “Super-Linear Driver” in the Carol Pro which is wild to see. Folks it is a very capable dynamic driver which can take all of what you give it and not distort or lose its control. So, at this cost I truly don’t have anything to complain about. The bass is nice.
Midrange
The mids on the Carol Pro have an ever-so-slight recession near the lower portion of the midrange. However, the midrange is also very clean, almost untouched by the bass. I suppose I’d like a hint more energy in the low-mids but also, this is a true wireless we’re talking about. I’m not judging the Carol Pro for its perfect tonal characteristics. That said, the timbre is actually quite nice and certainly leans organic. I definitely don’t hear anything which comes across as “artificial” sounding. The midrange is mostly non-offensive for my ears, and I don’t hear anything metallic or grainy. However, note weight is actually pretty nice. It’s more of a natural note weight. I wouldn’t call the Carol Pro’s midrange rich, and I wouldn’t call the mids lean either. I’d call them semi-lush at best. Males come across nicely highlighted, dead center, nice authority to their voices. That said, I definitely like female voices a bit more as they have more of an elated presence. The upper mids are certainly more forward and have a very nice presence against the melody which surrounds them. For instance, I find females to be slightly closer to the listener than most instruments. In truth, I’d say that vocals in general come through rather well. Also, instrumentation leans organic as well. Percussion has some snap, some punch, and strings sound very melodic and tuneful. Really all instruments sound pretty authentic.
Midrange Cont…
Now, out of the box I wouldn’t call the midrange the airiest, or most refined I’ve ever heard. Perhaps resolution isn’t going to blow your mind. In the same breath, the midrange also isn’t anything close to congested or blurry. I hear zero sibilance, nothing shouty either. Everything remains in relatively good control. Now, detail retrieval is about what you should expect for an under $50 tws set of earphones. Don’t expect every last nuance to sound illuminated and perfectly resolved. In my opinion the Carol Pro is all about musicality and fun and isn’t meant to be the picture of technical bliss. However, detail retrieval, instrument separation, and imaging are all pretty nice considering the fun sound signature. They all range from average to above average for a true wireless at this price. Really though, the midrange is nicely done folks. Notes have enough weight to them, notes have some density, notes are cleaner than they aren’t, and I don’t hear anything offensive.
Downsides to the Midrange
The downsides would be for any analytical-head who only desires perfect clarity and years for a very airy and open sound. Those people may not enjoy this set. In fact, I don’t even know how well EQ could help them get to that point. You could try but mostly the sound will begin to come across far too artificial for me. At any rate, the mids are nice folks. For what the Carol Pro is, for the cost, and for the expectations of an under $50 true wireless earphone; I’d say that the Carol Pro sounds great.
Treble Region
Looking at the treble region the first thing I notice is that it carries a very nice balance dynamically against the bass region. I like the emphasis added here as it really does counter the low-end muscle very well. This is not an overly bright treble, and the sound remains in fairly good control. Obviously, you won’t have huge amounts of authentic treble bite to notes. We shouldn’t expect that. Thankfully, the treble region does have adequate amounts of crispness when a track calls for it. However, by-and-large the treble region is smooth. Some of those finer subtleties may sound a hair smoothed over and less refined, which is about par for the course. This is a tws folks. It already has at least some level of compression along with less output pushing the dynamics of the sound. That all said, KZ knows what they’re doing, and they tuned the treble to sound nicely brilliant against the rest of the mix.
Treble Cont…
The stock treble also has nice extension and pretty good detail retrieval as well. Stuff like cymbals come through with decent body to their notes and their secondary harmonics do not sound splashy to my ears. Female vocalists, violin, etc. also sounds reasonably natural to the ear, In general anyways. I’m sure some tracks will make a liar out of me. However, extension is nice, and I don’t feel like I’m missing any info in the upper treble. There is a little bit of congestion on heavily treble laden tracks but for the most part separation is nice. All things considered, KZ tuned this set well and the treble plays a big part in that. Well, done KZ.
Downsides to the Treble Region
If I were to come up with any true downsides of the treble region it would be the fact that it isn’t boosted to treble head standards. I suppose. Of course, I don’t know what person is bullying a $39 tws for its treble head abilities. Actually, I do know how many people are rushing out to buy a $39 tws for this purpose, um… nobody. In fact, anyone thinking that any budget tws is going to have amazing treble is going to be sorely mistaken. Anyways, I suppose those who prefer an ultra-dark and rolled off treble may also not completely enjoy the stock tuning. Be that as it may, those folks can also EQ till their heart’s content. Honestly, once again I have nothing bad to say about the treble here. Nice work KZ.
Technicalities
Soundstage
I’d say the soundstage is about average for what you should expect. I certainly don’t think it’s some grand and cavernous stage. About average. However, as I always say, average is good. Congestion is bad. The Carol Pro’s soundstage is definitely not congested. Really, I don’t hear anything which feels cramped, and I’d even say that the soundstage is wide, and tall enough to help bring some semblance of air to the sound. I don’t perceive a ton of depth, but also, I wasn’t expecting that either. Yeah folks, the stage isn’t an issue at all.
Separation / Imaging
Instrument separation is also about what one should expect for a budget oriented true wireless set of iems which is tuned with a more musical sound. It’d be one thing if the Carol Pro was tuned with an analytical or more clinical sound. But that’s not the case. Full disclosure, I’m more than happy with the way the Carol Pro is tuned. I don’t need perfect instrument separation and I’m not critically listening with true wireless. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think anyone else is either. I will say this though, the Carol Pro fares pretty well in Instrument separation and even better in its ability to image the stage. I never hear anything out of place, vocals are dead square center, and every element of the stage seems to have its place. Really not bad at all.
Detail Retrieval
Detail retrieval is about average to above average. Actually, definitely above average for a under $50 true wireless. The sound is clean enough, with enough resolve and the stage is just vast enough that I don’t hear a lot of congestion. Notes have some room to breathe. Now, in bass heavy tracks there will be some masking happening. I don’t think we can get around that unless you EQ the bass to a lower level. However, I like the Carol Pro just as it is. Details aren’t bad.
Is it worth the asking price?
This is one of the easier no brainer I’ve had to answer. Absolutely yes. Of course, the Carol Pro is worth the $35 to $39 it takes to own it. In my opinion the Carol Pro is a true class act against the competition. One of the best you can buy. At least that I’ve heard and spent time with. No doubt there is plenty of competition, and the competition is all very good. Still, this set has too many features which coincide with awesome sound quality making it clearly one of the better buys in the price point for anyone seeking out a feature packed true wireless set. Now, there’s some awesome sets like the JBL Vibe, Jlab Go Pop, Tozo NC7, among many… many…others. Please trust that there’s far too many to name. Oh, and by the way, everyone has an opinion about it. Especially true wireless. However, I feel I’ve spent enough time with most of these sets and they honestly aren’t as complete as the Carol Pro for me. Most of the true wireless earbuds are not made and tuned to an audiophile standard like the KZ sets, or the Moondrop, Shanling, and a few others. They are universally tuned big bass, big treble, and simply not very clean sounding. Even the ones that receive ridiculously high praise. Folks, I don’t get it. Or the people doing the praising haven’t spent enough time with a solid and balanced sound in their life. At any rate, the KZ Carol Pro is a very well-done set in my opinion.
The Why…
Because the KZ Carol Pro is a well built and very well-designed stem style earbud. The clear housing, the black stem, it’s simply a cool look. Add to that the new and improved charging case. Which, by the way gets you 35 hours of battery life. Also, it too is dope looking. The Carol Pro is also feature packed folks. I should probably remind you all that this set costs a mere $39, give or take depending on where you shop. however, the Carol Pro carries a very nice ANC for the cost. It has a fairly natural sounding Transparency Mode which is nice to see. Latency is never a problem at all with KZ’s Game Mode. Coincidentally the Carol Pro is actually very nice for gaming on casual games. You get very solid great battery life of 7 hours per charge. Did I mention the Carol Pro comes equipped with LDAC audio codec providing you high-res bit-rates. Folks, there are so many good reasons why this set is fantastic for the cost. A true no-brainer. To put the icing on the cake, the Carol Pro actually sound very good. I really mean that. The tuning is great folks. It has a very smooth, inviting, fun, and very musically inclined sound. The bass digs deep, its punchy, yet it’s also tight. The midrange is very melodic, great presence, nice technically, and the midrange is very clean across the board. Also, the treble has that nice shimmer without the strident and bright sharpness which so many budget sets. Friends, the Carol Pro is absolutely loaded and carries the fine tuning. Without question it is worth every penny.
Conclusion
To conclude my full review and feature of the KZ Carol Pro, I first have to thank Jenny KZ, and KZ Audio for providing the Carol Pro in exchange for a full review of this unit. I have been very impressed with this set and have used them continuously for about a month. Without question KZ keeps incrementally getting better, set-by-set. This is true with their iems and their wireless gear. I am more than happy to offer high praise for the Carol Pro, and I certainly recommend them for anyone seeking out a tws under $50. In fact, it’ll be my first recommendation. Thank you, KZ! Also, I want to thank you, the reader, for clicking the link to mobileaudiophile.com and spending any time reading at our site. Folks, it means the world to us, and we greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
Other Perspectives
So, you’ve read my entire review of the KZ Carol Pro. Now, go and read someone else’s. Get a good idea about this set before you offer up the money to buy them. Granted, the Carol Pro is not an expensive set and the upsides are huge. However, not everyone thinks as I do. We are all so very different friends. It’ll pay to check out other thoughts. Anyways, I think I’m done folks. Please take good care, stay as safe as possible and always…God Bless!