GeekRover iEPW020/021

| 10 mm Driver | Neodymium Magnet |

? Probably you have never heard of GeekRover, and that would be fair as they are not easy to find and when you do sellers use the model name without nominating the brand. When seeing the selling price of the GeekRover iEPW020 you might think: “oh, another wood imitation earphone that probably sounds like crap”, this usually happens with earphones with very low price tags but the GeekRover iEPW020 has some pretty neat specs: a Neodymium N48 Magnet with a slightly big 10mm driver and a real natural cherry wood housing.

the GeekRover iEPW020 has some pretty neat specs: a Neodymium N48 Magnet with a slightly big 10mm driver and a real cherry wood housing.

The housing is mainly made of cherry wood with a metallic back and a plastic front and nozzle. The cable is round and rubbery to lower the chances of tangling and has a inline microphone with a 1-button control. GeekRover has 2 models of this earphone that are named differently according to the color of the cable and plastic parts: the iEPW021 is the black version (black cable and black plastic housing front/nozzle and eatips) and the iEPW020 were the plastic components are white.

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GeekRover iEPW020/021 - Review

Tests & Scores

Weight

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Accessories & Packaging

The iEPW020 come in a very basic cardboard box (similar to the QCY QY8 plackaging) that may not add much confidence to what to expect from an earphone of this price, inside there are 3 eartips (white if buying the iEPW020 and black for the iEPW021)

^6_/10

Bass & Sub Bass

The GeekRover iEPW020/021’s 10mm dynamic driver combined with the strong N48 neodymium magnet and the wood housing perform incredibly delivering a delightfully fun bass with rich punchy mid-bass and very deep sub-bass.

fun bass with rich punchy mid-bass and very deep sub-bass

A custom eq adds even more sub-bass depth but mid-bass will not change much and mids/vocals will get recessed. When connecting the iEPW020/021 to a Fiio E12 amplifier (with bass boost on and in high gain) and applying a custom basshead equalization they were able to take 45% of the Fiio’s maximum power. As a result, the GeekRover get greatly enhanced mid-bass punch as well as the depth of sub-bass frequencies. They were even able to provide a respectable basshead rumble and impact (remember the price!) stronger than the KZ ATE, JBMMJ MJ007 and below the Vots QT100.

^_7.75/10

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Mids & Vocals

Mids are smooth and warm with some recession on lower mids because of mid-bass bleeding into them but they are not overall extremely muffled, just warm and congested due to mid-bass bleed. There is no presence of harshness at any time. A custom eq makes mids even more lovely sounding and clearer.

^_8/10

Highs & Treble

Highs have slight brightness with some detail and definition. Slight piercing highs may happen from time to time but not too much as well as with sibilance. An eq brings up lot of detail and definition but at the cost of enhancing sibilant and piercing highs.

^7_/10

Sound Leak

The sound that leaks out of these earphones a bit worse than average but nothing terribly bad. The sort of open back design that they have does not help on this topic, something similar that happens with other open back design earphones like the Elephone E1.

^6.5_/10

Sound Isolation

Noise isolation is very good with a performance above average earphones, allowing to block noises without needing to use highly elevated volume.

^7.75_/10

Comfort

The real wood housing is a pleasure to grab and touch, they do not get cold in winter or hot in summer, they are light and they fit very well being comfortable and easing the use for prolonged time.

^8_/10

Response to Equalization

The GeekRover iEPW020/021 have a great response to custom equalization; mids can be cleared up without becoming boxy or harsh, highs can be brightened and deliver much more detail but it has to be done with care as sibilance will get emphasized. Bass responds very well to a custom eq, if done correctly sub-bass will gain a lot more of depth, it is better not to enhance mid-bass as they will step over mids/vocals and muffle them.

^8_/10

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Scores

• Accessories - 6/10
  6/10
• Design - 9/10
  9/10
• Bass - 7.75/10
  7.8/10
• Mids - 8/10
  8/10
• Highs - 7/10
  7/10
• Sound Leak - 6.5/10
  6.5/10
• Sound Isolation - 7.75/10
  7.8/10
• Comfort - 8/10
  8/10
• Response to EQ - 8/10
  8/10
• Value for Money - 10/10
  10/10

Summary

AWARDS

Pros

• Delightful full, punchy and deep bass
• Smooth and warm mids and vocals
• Real cherry wood and neodymium N48 magnet at a ridiculously cheap price

Cons

• Sound leak might be marginally worse than an average earphone

Conclusion

The GeekRover iEPW020/021 offer some spectacular specs for the price that they sell but we were skeptic because of the very low price. Fortunately they resulted to be an good performing earphone that has nice warm/smooth mids, fun bass and detailed enough highs and can even marginally step on basshead territory when managed correctly. With that price, specs and sound quality they are an absolutely safe to recommend earphone to everybody.

7.8/10

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GeekRover iEPW020 / GeekRover iEPW021 Frequency Response

GeekRover iEPW020 / GeekRover iEPW021

Photos

GeekRover iEPW020

7.8

SCORE

7.8/10