Doboly Q18

| Dynamic Driver |

? As you may have noticed from the photo, the Doboly Q18 earphones have an odd looking design but lets try not to judge by its book cover and see how they perform through out our review. Doboly has made some earphones so far, so they are not an out of nowhere brand regarding earphones (We are working on the reviews of other Doboly earphones: Doboly Q6, Doboly Z18, Doboly S16). Doboly seems to have a tendency to manufacture some original and sometimes odd looking products. To be honest, though the Doboly Q18 have a strange design we happen to like it.

To be honest, though the Doboly Q18 have a strange design we happen to like it

The Q18 are translucent, so you can see the guts of them. Inside you can see a simple design with a single dynamic driver with an unknown diameter but from what we can see we can estimate that it is something around 8mm to 10mm. The housing is made entirely of plastic which makes them very light but they do not feel cheap. The cable is rubberized to help with tangling issues. The first section of the cable (from the plug to the bifurcation of the cable) is very thick and robust which gives the impression that it will last for a good while without any problem, the second section of the cable, instead, is much thinner and feels more fragile. You can get the Doboly Q18 either with or without a single button control and inline microphone.

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Doboly Q18 - Review

Tests & Scores

Weight

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Accessories & Packaging

Doboly packed the Q18 in a very (as not to say “way too”) simple packaging; you will get the earphones packed inside a branded zipper bag with no accessories at all. We are sorry, but this is a truly deserved 2.0_/10 score.

^2.0_/10

Bass & Sub Bass

The Doboly Q18 have a nice punchy midbass with very good sub depth, they will fit very well for fun listening sessions and energetic music. An eq can add lot of punch and subbass depth but mids and vocals will get too recessed for our taste.

the Doboly Q18 will welcome you with excellent punch and depth and will even present a very worthy basshead impact and rumble

When putting the Doboly Q18 under our standarized extreme basshead test they were able to manage 51% max power of a Fiio E12 portable amplifier when set to high gain and with bass boost turned on (a custom basshead eq was applied to the testing conditions). As a result the Doboly Q18 will welcome you with excellent punch and depth and will even present a very worthy basshead impact and rumble (only if amping the the very maximum, below max handling power they will not show any basshead impact) The basshead level of the Doboly Q18 is above the Vots QT100, Xiaomi Mi Pro HD and way below the Plextone X41M, Sony MDR-XB50AP, Sony MDR-7550/EX800ST, Xiaomi Mi Quantie Pro Hybrid, , KZ ZS2, KZ ZST, Senfer 4in1 and distorted.

^8.75_/10

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Mids & Vocals

Vocals are warm and laid back, lower mids are recessed by midbass bleeding. Mids are never harsh. An eq will help to clear up mids and vocals muddiness but you will have to trade it for boxy sound being introduced to vocals.

^7.25_/10

Highs & Treble

The highs of the Doboly are Q18 have some detail and definition but they are recessed and not the brightest by any means. They are not piercing nor sibilant at all (you may get some piercing highs only if you are listening to something like a piccolo solo and when the piccolo reaches very high notes) Equalizing will add brightness and some detail but things will start to become piercing and sibilant.

^7.5_/10

Sound Leak

People near you will be able to hear mediumly high levels of sound coming from the Doboly Q18 if you happen to be listening at medium or high volume.

^6_/10

Sound Isolation

The Doboly are able to isolate from noises but they do not excel at it, they offer a slight below average performance.

^6_/10

Comfort

The Doboly Q18 may seem big and chunky but they are not that big and the angled nozzle gives them a very nice deep fit. Being made entirely of plastic the Q18 are very light. Their odd design offers the possibility to wear them in a sport/custom-earphone like fit with the cable up and around the ear or in the classic straight way. We recommend you to opt for the sport/custom fitting style as it offers better bass response, isolation, comfort and secure and tight fit.

We recommend you to opt for the sport/custom fitting style

The Q18 are very comfortable if you wear them on the sport way but if you have fairly small ears the rear part of the housing may be a bit uncomfortable for you. Overall they offer a very tight fit that will ensure they will not fall from your ears while doing any activities, even if you want to use them for sports.

^7_/10

Response to Equalization

The Doboly Q18 have a mixed response to equalization; if we see their capability to respond to a custom eq for mids and highs you may get a bit turned off, but their response to bass is great (considering that you are planning to amplify them) Mids will open up and remove some the of the recession of the lower mids and vocals but everything will start to sound boxy. Highs will gain some detail and definition but sibilance will start to get noticeable and piercing highs will be present. Bass gains a lot of punch and depth but mids/vocals will get recessed, an amplifier will offer the Doboly Q18 the opportunity to show off their basshead potential.

^7.25_/10

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Scores

• Accessories - 2/10
  2/10
• Design - 9.5/10
  9.5/10
• Bass - 8.75/10
  8.8/10
• Mids - 7.25/10
  7.3/10
• Highs - 7.5/10
  7.5/10
• Sound Leak - 6/10
  6/10
• Sound Isolation - 6/10
  6/10
• Comfort - 8/10
  8/10
• Response to EQ - 7.25/10
  7.3/10
• Value for Money - 9.5/10
  9.5/10

Summary

AWARDS

Pros

• Good sub-bass basshead level
• Great tight fit
• Punchy, warm, fun and energetic bassy sound (may be a negative aspect if you dislike bassy sound signatures)

Cons

• Mids and vocals may feel too laid back for people searching for very clear mids and forward vocals
• Not a good choice if you are looking for a flat sound signature

Notes

The Doboly Q18 offer a truly unique design with a cool see-through housing and a good basshead impact and rumble at a ridiculously low selling price. It might not be the perfect earphone for an audiophile or someone searching for an extremely detailed earphones but they will satisfy anyone looking for a fun sounding earphone with lots of bass and fair enough highs and mids.

7.2/10

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Photos

Doboly Q18

7.2

SCORE

7.2/10

Buy the Doboly Q18