Awei S980Hi

| 13.5 mm Driver |

? The Awei S980Hi is the first earphone from this brand that we are reviewing, Awei is brand from Hong Kong that produces a crazy amount of earphones with very friendly prices and attractive designs. The Awei S980Hi pack some interesting features such as a very big 13.5mm dynamic driver, all metal housings, nice quality flat cable and a mic/control with volume control.

The housings are solidly built with a respectable weight that gives confidence to their durability, the design of the housings has perfectly thought ergonomics…

The housings are solidly built with a respectable weight that gives confidence to their durability, the design of the housings has perfectly thought ergonomics that makes the rear part very easy to grab and handle. The cable is flat and rubbery allowing them to do a very good job against tangling, the cable holds an inline mic and control with 1 button to play/pause/skip tracks/answer-reject calls and a sliding volume control that allows you to control volume levels by sliding it up or down. The benefit of this volume control system is that drastically changing volume can be done quickly with just a sliding movement and also there are no compatibility issues with any brand of smartphone, tablet or device/computer; the volume control will 100% work with all devices. The Awei S980Hi are sold in a variety of colors: black with red details and cable; rose gold with red details and black cable, silver with black details and greenish cable and an all black version (exactly like the unit that we own)

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Awei S980Hi - Review

Tests & Scores

Weight

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Accessories & Packaging

The S980Hi come inside a box with a magnetic cover, something that we have seen on the Vots QT100 and Vots DQ100 packaging. Inside there are 3 extra eartips provided.

^6.5_/10

Bass & Sub Bass

Immediately after playing our bass testing tracks it was crystal clear how strong the bass from Awei S98oHi’s 13.5mm DD was; sub-bass is so deep that makes their mid-bass punch feel less powerful but actually they are very punchy too. The Awei S980Hi have “fun” written all over their lower frequencies style; bass is warm, impacting and so energetic that will make happy any bass lover.

The Awei S980Hi have “fun” written all over their lower frequencies style…

It is important to notice that setting the right position and fitting them as deep as possible makes a gigantic change in bass and is indispensable if you want the bass response to be as powerful as we mentioned. An EQ makes the Awei S980Hi gain an incredible extra amount of depth, mid-bass gets enhanced noticeably too but most of all the crazy empowering happens on sub-bass frequencies. Time for the extreme bass test results, considering the performance so far we expect a new Top Chart Basshead; the Awei S980Hi were able to handle 40% of the maximum power of a Fiio E12 amplifier gaining much more punch and a lot of extra depth. While cranking up the power of the Fiio E12 and controlling the level of enhancement of their sub-bass the Awei S980Hi seemed that they were reaching basshead rumbling levels but right above 40% power their driver started to crackle. As a result, the Awei S980Hi could only achieve a very mild impact and rumble below the KZ ATE, VJJB K1s, KZ ED12, JBMMJ MJ8600, JVC HA-FX1X or the Skullcandy INK’D 2.0 and more inline with the KZ ATR or the KZ ZS3.

^8_/10

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Mids & Vocals

Mids of the Awei S980Hi are warm and lower mids are clear enough, they have some recession on the lowest section but it is not excessive, higher mids are not recessed at all and become harsh with high notes. With an EQ every trace of lower recession was removed, they did not show boxy sounding mids but harshness become much stronger; it is advised not feeding up higher mids.

^7.25_/10

Highs & Treble

Highs are bright and have a slight level of detail, with higher peaks they become piercing, sibilant highs are frequently perceived with the Awei S980Hi. Due to the presence of piercing and sibilant highs their listening can be fatiguing after a while, treble sensitive people will not be too happy about this. An EQ makes them much brighter and a bit more detailed but not by much, piercing highs remain similar but sibilance gets stronger and becomes more frequent.

^7.25_/10

Sound Leak

The sound that leaks out of the Awei S980Hi is very low. They are a good companion if you intend to use it at libraries or want to keep private what you are listening to.

^8.25_/10

Sound Isolation

Their sound isolation is up to the standards of many average earphones. Sound surrounding you will get reduced but no absolute isolation will be achieved unless high volume levels are used.

^_7/10

Comfort

Although they seem heavy because of their buff design, the Awei S980Hi are very comfortable with a solid fit that holds in place. The all metal construction adds toughness and the back housings have very well thought ergonomics that are a piece of cake to grab. It is fair to point out that their drivers flex frequently while manipulating them with your fingers but their drivers flex is not as strong sounding as the XKDUN CK-660 or the Tiger Zipper.

^8_/10

Response to Equalization

The Awei S980Hi were able to respond fairly well to custom EQ, bass gained an outstanding quantity of depth with not much issues, mid frequencies removed their slight lower recession but became much harsher on the higher mids, highs gained substantial brightness but sibilance was enhanced too much.

^7.75_/10

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Scores

• Accessories - 6.5/10
  6.5/10
• Design - 9/10
  9/10
• Bass - 8/10
  8/10
• Mids - 7.5/10
  7.5/10
• Highs - 7.25/10
  7.3/10
• Sound Leak - 8.25/10
  8.3/10
• Sound Isolation - 7/10
  7/10
• Comfort - 8/10
  8/10
• Response to EQ - 7.75/10
  7.8/10
• Value for Money - 9/10
  9/10

Summary

AWARDS

Pros

✅ Outstanding bass depth

✅ Excellent for bass lovers that do not intend to amplify much or anything at all

✅ Mids and highs have respectable quality

✅ Very good comfort, construction and fit

✅ Value for money relation is exceptional

Cons

❌ Sibilant highs and higher mids harshness can be an issue for treble sensitive people

❌ Drivers suffer from flexing

❌ Earpieces were inverted (left was right and right was left)

❌ Will disappoint expert bassheads that intend to apply extreme amplification to them

Conclusion

The Awei S980Hi are very toughly built earphones with all metal construction, that have great ergonomics and a very handy control with a sliding volume system. Audio quality was outstanding regarding bass, specially their sub-bass depth and at the same time mids and highs had good quality. Their strong bass right out of the box allows them to fulfill the desire of bass lovers. Treble sensitive people could be unadvised to get them.
They can be recommended to normal users that enjoy strong bass and do not want to depend on equalizers or amplification to achieve powerful bass or to bass lovers that are not intending to apply too much amplification.

7.8/10

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AWEI S980Hi Frequency Response

AWEI S980Hi

Photos

Awei S980Hi

7.8

SCORE

7.8/10