XePort 7010-9 in-ear headphones review
More often than not, a brand name is one of the main factors that compel a buyer to purchase a product. In order to have a well recognized brand name, a lot of marketing and endorsement are required. That extra cost for marketing then goes into the final price you pay for the product. Why am I saying all this? Today, we’ll be taking a look at headphones from a little known company called XePort (pronounced Z-Port). The 7010 headphones cost $20 but you might be surprised by our conclusions.
Features
- Ceramic housing made in color black
- 1.2m Nylon braided cables with extra durability and flexibility
- Wide and smooth frequency response from low to high to give the most realistic reproduction of original music
- Three sets of ear tips to support the best fit and noise isolation
- Line stopper to avoid cable tangling
- Meeting all ROHS requirements
Our Impressions
The 7010-9’s have a sort of curved seamless design that makes them feel pretty high end. One might even compare the looks to Apple’s very own In-Ear Headphones but with an even more “liquidy” appearance. The plastic earbuds are finished in a dark chrome and tiny (barely noticeable) XePort logos are etched on the sides. R and L indicators are embossed in the bit of plastic between the headphones and the cable. The silicone tips slide onto long chrome cylinders which house the drivers. We’d say that the headphones feel pretty durable, with a braided nylon cable that isn’t too thick but doesn’t feel like it’s going to break either. (both the jack area and earbud connectors are reinforced). The gold plated 3.5 mm headphone jack is bent and quite compact; you shouldn’t have any issues fitting it into most devices but it is in fact too wide for the original iPhone’s recessed jack. The long and short of it is that we really like the way these headphones look and feel. It was definitely more than we expected and a pleasant surprise at that.
Sound quality on $20 headphones usually isn’t a strong point: clarity isn’t great, not to mention totally very inaccurate sound. We have to say we’re pretty blown away by what the 7010’s have to offer. The first thing you’ll notice is the powerful bass with these in-ears. We say powerful in a good way too, not the overpowering lows of other lower end headphones. Vocals and other instrumentals came in clearly although the emphasis is definitely on the crisp bassline. The included silicone tips should be able to fit in your ears for extended periods of times without any discomfort, with three sizes to fit your ear canals. Noise cancellation is actually pretty impressive with the stock tips. Even at low volumes, they blocked out a significant amount of ambient noise.
Overall
All in all, we’re really happy with the XePort 7010 headphones. The exterior design is appealing and build quality is very good. Sound quality is very impressive, especially if you enjoy a healthy serving of bass with your music. These headphones are very fun to listen to and at $20, they’re a steal. Perhaps we’d like to see a version with iPhone-compatible inline controls and mic in the future?
Pro’s
- affordable pricing
- great sound
- well designed
Con’s
- n/a
Where to buy
XePort / Amazon — MSRP: $19.95
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This review was done by Jason Tsay, who was provided the 7010-9 headphones by XePort.