- Bass
- Treble
- Midrange
- Microphone
- Comfort and ease of use
While there are many headphones on the market, few that are cost effective are any good. And even fewer are those that truly create a unified user experience. The M6P headphones that MEElectronics sent us answer the first charge but falls short of the second.
PACKAGING
To start with, the packaging of these headphones is pretty straightforward. Like almost all headphones out there, these come inside an impenetrable plastic force field that one can only open using a handy pair of scissors. Once fully gutted, the prized innards amount to a set of headphones, a multitude of ear tips, a handy little case to house the items above and of course, directions. At this day and age one would think directions for something so rudimentary would not be needed but I guess the lawyers would not yield.
AESTHETICS
Before performance comes the look and feel. These particular headphones are the “wrap behind ear” model. In essence they are buds that have an added layer of “staying in your ear” protection in that they wrap around the top of your ears and dangle behind them. Unlike many buds of this type, these did not come with a rigid plastic hook but instead, had the first few inches of wire nearest the ear buds wrapped in an extra layer so that a user may stiffen the cord according to their comfort level (more on this in the next section.) The ear buds come with 6 different types of ear tips. One thing to their credit, MEElectronics certainly took into account that there are many different ear types out there, sometimes on the same person, and more than adequately addressed this issue. Lastly, the pouch is the perfect size to protect these headphones and can easily slip onto a pair of jean pockets.
FEEL
As mentioned above, the lack of a rigid structure near the buds presents an opportunity for each user to create a “unique” set of headphones for their personal use. While customizable, I found this a little awkward to maneuver. I would try to put on my headphones and found it wasn’t as easy as others I have tried. I kept bending them out of shape and this would force me to reshape them every time. This practice became a lot easier and faster the more I used the headphones, but I kept finding myself slightly irked by it regardless. Other than this slight problem with the feel, I liked these headphones. They are light and even give you a clip to attach to your clothes in times of high activity such as running.
SOUND
The sound is where these headphones will surprise you. Not only are they quite good at noise-canceling, the bass they provide thumps along to provide a very deep rhythm. I didn’t expect such a strong bass when I went on my first run. And in fact, the bass can sometimes be a bit on the heavy side depending on the type of music you listen to and I found the vibrating bass overkill on some songs that should have stood out for their treble. Midrange was pretty good. Nothing to blow you away but these headphones do the job when it comes midrange. What was nice with these headphones was the fact that I didn’t need to crank up the volume; I found that listening to music on a low setting was more than enough to provide a pleasant audial experience and drown out the noise on the street.
MICROPHONE AND OTHER FEATURES
Unfortunately, while this pair of headphones comes with an inline microphone it is not very good. Many time I tried to speak while moving and the person on the other end of the call could only hear bits and pieces. Once in
a standstill this problem didn’t truly go away. The only time the microphone worked the way it should was when I held it close to my mouth and let’s face it that defeats the whole purpose: if I need to stop and hold a mic up to my mouth, might as well pull out my phone.
The microphone button can stop the music and answer calls or play the next song on your playlist. I was highly disappointed that MEElectronics didn’t include any way to control the music volume with the microphone. For a set of headphones that are “built” to stay in your ear, presumably during high activity, the lack of this function really affects the functionality because it forces the user to take out their audio device and change the volume at its source.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Driver: 9mm drivers with neodymium magnets
- Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20KHz
- Sensitivity: 98 dB (1mW @ 1KHz)
- Impedance: 16 ohms
- Connector: 3.5mm gold plated, right angle connector
- Cable: 1.3m cord (4.27 ft) with attached shirt clip
- Accessories: 5 sets of silicone eartips (small/medium/large/bi-flange/triple-flange), 1 clamshell case
- Compatible Accessories: Comply T-500 eartips
- Dimension: 0.65 in. H x 0.75 in. W x 1 in. L
- Ship Weight: 0.5 lb
FINAL VERDICT
In the end, while these headphones have a lot of good features such as customizability and bass sound, they fall short of a truly wonderful audial experience.
PROS: The customizability of the way these headphones wrap around your ear and the variety of different ear tips that come with it make the M6P a unique pair. If bass is your thing, these will not disappoint and their noise canceling abilities are not exaggerated.
CONS: The hassle of putting these headphones on can get a bit annoying. The bass on these headphones is on a whole separate level than the rest of the audio qualities and when taking into account the overall sound experience in that context, these headphones leave one wishing MEElectronics had spent as much time on their treble and midrange as they did on perfecting their bass. The microphone doesn’t work well and there is no external control over the volume.
MSRP: List price is $54.99 but can be found for $17.99 on Amazon.
