REVIEW: Meizu HD50 is a great alternative to expensive brand headphones

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Choosing headphones is almost like a husband or wife. The choice is huge, but which one is right for you? But the portable closed headphones Meizu HD50, apparently, will continue to act as the standard of the model that everyone wants for a very long time. Let's take a closer look.

Literally for a couple of days, on-ear headphones came to me for "test and check out". This company is still little known in Russia under its own name. For the first time on the Russian market, it appeared with, which received good recognition for good sound quality, lossless support and constantly updated firmware. After that, the company switched to the production of touchphones and smartphones on its own OS, which today has turned into an Android add-on.

The latest Meizu smartphones are famous for almost the best sound quality on the market, for which users are very fond of the MX3 and MX4 Pro models (objectively, in terms of hardware, their only competitor is considered to be the products of the Chinese company Vivo, which are practically unavailable in Russia). The HD50 headphones continue the manufacturer's policy: high quality sound for a minimum of money. Of course, $ 60 headphones are hardly cheap today. On the other hand, execution and advertising campaigns hint that this model is positioned as a competitor to the Beats over-ear headphones, which have a much higher value (and, looking ahead, worse sound quality).

Meizu HD50 specifications

Type of	wired headset with on-ear headphones
Design	folding swivel
frequency range	20 Hz - 20 kHz
Sensitivity	103 ± 3dB
CNI	≤0, 5%
Impedance	32 Ω
Materials (edit)	metal and artificial leather
The weight	228 g
Available colors	and
Contents of delivery	headphones, 1, 2-meter detachable cable with a remote control and a microphone, an adapter for a 6, 3 mm jack, an adapter for connecting to an audio card, a case for transportation

Design and equipment

In a box, strong enough for transportation by "Russian Post", with an indication of all the specifications and even the frequency response, a small carrying case is hidden. It contains the headphones themselves, a detachable cable and a pair of adapters: from a 3.5 mm mini-jack to a 6, 3 mm jack and from a headset jack to two separate outputs for headphones and a microphone. Useful when used with a computer audio card.

Headphones, or rather a headset, have a foldable design. The cups rotate 90 degrees and fold inward. The frame of the gray-black Meizu HD50 we reviewed is made of brushed metal, due to which the headphones look very stylish, but at the same time they have significant weight. When worn, it is practically not felt - the headband is designed very well. It does not pinch the ears, while keeping the cups tightly pressed. You don't have to worry - people around you will not hear the music. So, despite the portable form factor, the Meizu HD50 headphones can be used as full-size headphones. The cups and headband at the contact points are covered with a sufficiently high-quality black leatherette. The ear cushions are very high quality and have a memory effect.

All controls and microphone are located on the detachable cable control panel. The cable, by the way, is very durable, made with high-quality Kevlar braid (inside of which there is pure copper) and excellent all-metal (gold-plated) plugs, like the remote control itself. The remote is equipped with three fully functional Android buttons with embossed labels for blind use. The buttons are large, and their movement is distinct - there is no doubt about pressing.

Sound

The main feature of the Meizu HD50 is the use of 40-mm drivers with a proprietary unique (???) design, due to which the headphones should sound much better than their comrades. The manufacturer claims that the sound quality is at the level of 50 mm drivers, while similar ones are installed on larger models, including monitor ones. Looking ahead, I will say: this move was justified. By the way, the membranes are made from certain microbiological fibers and are designed to provide maximum efficiency. The cups that house the speakers are with patented dual sound chambers (there is quite a lot to theorize here).

Testing headphones at home is a highly subjective process. You cannot build a dummy for taking the frequency response, phase difference and other parameters of headphones without tools and materials, it is extremely difficult to allocate a room for it. The source was Meizu MX4 Pro, a reference in its sound, and a desktop computer with an Emu 0404 sound card. All audio material familiar to each note is FLAC, 48 kHz.

Everyone's favorite warm-up was carried out on the politically incorrect DubBuk albums - "Idu Na Vi" (2002), Nocturnal Mortum - "Worldview" (2005) and the Drudkh group. To say they sound good is to say nothing. Despite the fact that the drums in these albums strive to merge with the bass guitar, and the vocals on some audio devices completely hammer the guitars, the Meizu HD50 did not disappoint. All instruments are clearly audible, the music is not interrupted by vocals and does not interrupt it. Sibilants (unpleasant whistles), which almost always accompany such music, are absent. The following was tested by listening to Therion - Secret Of The Runes (2002), neoclassical with a small portion of metal. The vocals sound great, everything else is how the orchestra should sound.

The headphones showed themselves very nicely when playing various types of alternative music. So, for example, the very harsh-sounding Saikho Namchylak does not hit the ears at all, while the headphones fully reveal the range of her voice. Limp Bizkit, Godsmack and other similar bands sound somewhat unexpected, but just as pleasant: there are a lot of bass frequencies, but they do not merge, do not blur, providing the listener with a complete picture. Motograter and Godflesh rock. There is no other word for it - the purest bass without distortion, tearing the membranes to shreds. And against its background - excellent sounding high frequencies.

Hip-hop, which was tested on the albums of Ricochet, Cypress Hill, Everlast and Biohazard, sounds the same - good detail without dips in individual frequencies.

A variety of rock and roll, and even rockabilly (psychobilly) sounds great. Many models of modern headphones with high frequencies of the bass range turn the sound of a double bass into a kind of unpleasant rumble. Fortunately, the Meizu HD50 does not suffer from this drawback and makes it possible to clearly hear the position of the palm that changes during slap play when tapping on the body. And this with rather dense, "dirty" guitars even of such bands as Mad Sin and Horrorpops, not to mention the more traditional Stray Cats.

Blues and jazz sound great in the new Meizu, although it may seem to some that the bass is still overpriced, and the saxophones sound a little different from what they should. This sensation disappears when getting used to (or warming up - as you like) and does not return.

Results and competitors

Meizu managed to release very good headphones at a dumping price - the closest competitors are much more expensive. Yes, of course, the HD50 has a clear bias in the low frequencies, but with the equalizer turned on (to reduce the lowest frequencies), these headphones will suit any style of music. Sound detail and stage width when listening to music in this model are excellent, really at the level of larger models. And thanks to the beautiful design of the Meizu HD50, you can take it with you without fear of breaking (perhaps these are the most durable headphones that I have ever held in my hands). They also add up.

Among the competitors are Xiaomi Mi Headphones. However, they are $ 20-30 more expensive, made of cheaper materials and, judging by the available data, are not worth the money. Other close analogs can be called and. Both models, in my opinion, are made of less sturdy materials and have less versatility. The Philips Fidelio line sounds just as good, but now costs significantly more. The notorious sound much worse, failing, unlike the Meizu HD50, at high frequencies and not having such a crystal clear sound, and at the same time cost 3 times more (at the time of writing the review, the cost of headphones from Meizu was $ 60, and the cost of Beats Solo 2 was more than $ 150 when purchased in Russia).