Linsoul KZ S2 True Wireless Earbuds REVIEW

Budget-friendly headphones with a premium listening experience.

My 17-year-old step-daughter is constantly riding around on her hoverboard in the house wearing a single earbud. She is either always on the phone or listening to music. I usually prefer over-ear headphones, but I definitely see the merit of not being 100% isolated from the outside world by using a decent set of earbuds. Unfortunately, I’ve only really found exceptional quality with the overly expensive wireless earbuds. At this point in time, I just want something that works — without it breaking the bank. Linsoul’s KZ T2 Wireless Earbuds provide high-quality sound at a budget price. 

DETAILS 

The KZ S2 earbuds were designed for the active lifestyle. They are ‘true wireless’ in ear monitors that feature high-fidelity audio. They are built with the latest TWS technology to provide top-quality audio. The earbuds have the latest Realtek 8763 chip, which delivered one of the most accurate signal responses on the market today. The headphones also have a polymer-polymer diaphragm that was ‘made for powerful sound.’ The earbuds also feature CVC noise cancelling and are paired with the S2 silicone microphone so that background noise is cancelled out during phone calls. Bluetooth 5.0 is incorporated into the KZ S2s for increased connectivity and range. 

SPECS

• Chip: Realtek 8763
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Frequency Response: 10Hz-20kHz
• Earbud Battery: 40mA
• Earbud Charge TIme: 2 hours
• Bluetooth Codec: AAC
• Bluetooth Range: 15+ meters
• IPX Rating: IPX5
• Case Battery: 500mA
• Case Charge Time: 2 hours

USER EXPERIENCE

The KZ S2 earbuds are packaged in a simple white cardboard box. There is an outline illustration of the product on the cover along with the product name in English and Chinese. The back of the box provides the name and location of the manufacturer. While there is no real information about the product on the outside of the box, there is a warning that reads: 

“In order to ensure the service life and safety of the equipment, do not. Use fast charger for charging.” 

It’s important to note here that the headphones come with a charging case, USB-C charging cable, user manual, and one set of replacement ear gels. The ear gels are the same size as the ones that come pre-installed on the earbuds. So, different sizes of ear gels are not included with the earbuds. This was a disappointment for me as I almost always need to use ‘small’ size ear gels for a comfortable listening experience. 

The pairing/set-up experience was painless. The earbuds arrive pre-charged (mine were more than 60% charged) and can be used right out of the box. The user manual provides “First Fast Use of S2” instructions. These directions tell the user to remove the left and right earbuds from the charging case and turn on the Bluetooth pairing option on your mobile phone. I followed the instructions to a tee and the KZ S2 earbuds paired to my iPhone within a few seconds. 

A couple of observations I made right away: 

1. It’s easy to place the earbuds into your ear and not have a solid fit. 
2. The earbuds are lightweight. 
3. You can use one earbud at a time. 

There are two big things I look for when I test out headphones — sound quality and comfort. As for comfort, I have to grade the earbuds down a bit. I was disappointed that different sizes of ear gels were included as I feel that would have helped with the fit and thus made my experience more comfortable. Additionally, I listened to music and watched several video clips within the course of about 2 hours and towards the end of the time period, my ears started to ache. Even though the earbuds are very lightweight, I could still feel them in my ears. In addition to the pain I started to feel, the earbuds did eventually work their way out of my ears the longer I wore them. 

The sound quality was above average. I would quite rate them as ‘premium’ quality, but they were much stronger and had purer quality that other earbuds in their price range. For about and hour after first pairing them, I watched a few video clips and listened to some music on my iPhone and thought that the sound was clear and that audio was well-defined, but there was some bass depth that was lost. I sort of shrugged my shoulders because I was sort of expecting that type of listening experience from budget-friendly earbuds. Just as I was about the write the earbuds off, I readjusted them and they seemed to have a tighter fit. They were nestled inside my ear better and so I turned on “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 2.” It’s one of the video clips I watched when I test new headphones so I knew exactly what it should sound like. The sound was deep and rich like it should be. So, I revisited the video clips and music I listened to earlier and found that with the ‘better’ fit, the sound quality was in the ‘premium’ range. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’ve always been one of those people who believes that you can’t judge a book by its cover and after trying out these earbuds, I can say that my opinion of inexpensive earbuds has been changed. The KZ S2 earbuds are high-quality through and through. I would like to see different sizes of ear gels included with them, but aside from that my listening experience was very good. 

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