UGREEN has launched its latest 2021 earbuds for their flagship HiTune X series lineup, the HiTune X6. This earbud features the latest in active noise-canceling technology, elegant design, better communication performance, and a sound quality that should be better than its predecessors.
Without further ado, let’s get right into it:
Article Content:
UGREEN HiTune X6 Hybrid ANC Earbuds
Specification
| Core Specs | |
|---|---|
| ANC: | 35dB Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation |
| Microphone: | 6 Microphones and RCV v4.0 Noise Cancelling Technology |
| Protection: | IPX5 |
| Bluetooth: | Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Codec: | A2DP/AVRCP/HFP/HSP | SBC/AAC |
| Frequency Response: | 20Hz-20KHz |
| Range: | 33feet(10m) |
| Profile: | HSP, HFP, AVRCP, A2DP |
| Battery | 500mAh (case), 50mAh (each earbud) |
| Full Charge: | 2 hrs (case), 1.5 hrs (earbuds), 26 hours playtime |
| Playtime: | 6hrs (earbuds) + 21hrs (charging case) |
| Game Mode: | 50ms-low latency |
| Dimension: | 61.5*42.9*28.5mm |
| Weight: | 5g (earbud), 50g (with case) |
| Accessories: | 3 x Interchangeable Ear Caps (3 pairs) |
| Port: | USB Type-C |
| Driver: | 10mm Diamond Carbon Drive |
| Controls: | Touch Panel |
Where to buy
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Unboxing – UGREEN HiTune X6 Hybrid ANC Earbuds
The UGREEN HiTune X6 comes in a black-ish packaging box that highlights the X6 marking series. The packaging itself is quite sturdy which is nice for traveling. It also highlights the actual picture of the product as well as its active noise canceling feature.
The backside of the packaging highlights the main features of the earbud and a detailed product specification. Unfortunately, there’s not much else to show including each side of the box. So let’s go ahead and open the box.
Opening the box reveals a protective cover made of Karton. It also contains information about the control functionality of the earbuds. A nice touch here UGREEN, more reasons not to read the user manual. Flipping over the cover reveals the charging case, a compartment containing the charging cable, extra pairs of ear tips, and the manual which is tucked inside the cover of the box. I’m digging this packaging personally, it already feels premium overall but preference will still play and major factor here.
Taking all the contents out, you will get a free USB Type-C cable for charging the case and the earbud with the case and a user manual. Other than that, you will get 2 extra pieces of silicone ear tips in different sizes to accommodate a wide variety of ear sizes.
Closer-Look – UGREEN HiTune X6 Hybrid ANC Earbuds
The HiTune X6 comes in a dual-color tone of matte gray and glossy black. You will, however, find a section inside the case with matte black but the overall color theme is gray/black. UGREEN might be aiming for a sophisticated elegance design for opting for this color scheme.
The case is sturdy and doesn’t feel cheap. Its cover doesn’t wiggle which is a sign of quality in a product. It doesn’t feel cheap at all and the overall build quality is exceptional. At the front side of the case, you will find a concave-shaped LED that acts as the battery and status indicator display.
On the backside, you will find the reset button and on the bottom is the USB Type-C port for charging both the case and the earbud, a design that seems to be retained and carried over from the HiTune X5.
And lastly, the top highlights the branding logo.
Opening the case after taking it out of its packaging box reveals the earbud pieces. The first thing we noticed is that the positioning of the earbuds inside the case is not for sweaty hands. We had a little trouble taking them out and trying to take the earbuds out by turning the case over will not work since both pieces are intact in place by a magnet.
The case has a total weight of 50g including both earbuds stored inside. It has an oval shape all throughout the case with flat surfaces found at the top and bottom of the case.
For size reference, here’s my hand while holding one piece of the earbud and the case. The earbud has a cool-looking glossy design and it uses an in-ear ear tip which is to our liking.
Taking both the earbud out reveals the golden pin connectors that charge both earbud pieces. Additionally, you will find the battery capacity as well as the input/output charging rate of the case under its cover.
A closer look at the outer surface of the earbud shows a dot design that with a nice aesthetic overall. The surface is glossy and an LED indicator is also present at this side of the earbud.
Turning on the side that goes in the ears, you will find a solid metal mesh that protects the driver from debris.
Both earbuds are also marked with L or R that indicates which earbud goes to what ear. At the bottom, you will find 2 golden pins used for charging them. Inbetween the pins is one of the built-in microphones. There are a total of 6 microphones spread out on the earbud. These microphones feature the ENC noise cancellation enabled, the advanced CVC 8.0 (Clear Voice Capture) algorithm. UGREEN claims that it filters out 91% ambient sound and that this ensures crystal-clear calls even in a noisy environment.
Performance – UGREEN HiTune X6 Hybrid ANC Earbuds
Sound Quality and Performance
Out of the box, the sound quality of the HiTune X6 is surprisingly good. The audio quality is crisp and solid with detailed highs to mids and has a strong bass overall. We’re surprised that despite the lack of equalization modes to configure the sound to your preference, the bass packs a punch. A feature that’s not easily achieved by most earbuds at this price range.
Considering its features, functionality, and sound quality, this earbud is definitely one of the best earbuds of 2021. It has excellent sound quality overall that places the earbud on a league of its own. The sound quality is detailed, loud, clear, crisp, and solid overall and it does not lack any form of audio tones.
Surprisingly, the earbud is capable of handling audio at a maximum level which is outstanding. A definitive improvement over the HiTune x5.
Overall, everything is there and is a well-round mix from all tones. It offers superb sound quality like no other.
The pairing was incredibly fast with the HiTune X6. The moment I opened the charging case, my Windows PC and Smartphone already asked me if I want to pair it with the HiTune X6 which is excellent. I didn’t have to perform any steps to set the device in pairing mode. However, the earbud does not support multiple connections which is a bummer. It also can only be paired to 1 device based on our test.
Microphone Quality and Performance
To test the microphone quality, we made a recording of our voice. The quality that you will hear from our recording is a good benchmark for the microphone. What this means is that the quality that you will hear from listening to our recording is the quality that you can expect if you use this earbud for phone calls, video chat, and any form of voice communication.
If you listen to our recording, our voice was clear and crisp. It’s by far exceptional as the built-in microphone was able to record our voice clearly.
To test the earbud’s advanced 6 ENC microphone noise-canceling technology, we made a short recording involving everyday environmental noises such as fans, animal noise, vehicular noise, and such.
For our noise-canceling test, we can confirm that the HiTune X6 is capable enough to eliminate electric fan noise including the wind but it’s not capable enough to at least dampen the tonal noise and animal noise.
Comfort & Fitting: Is it good for Sports?
The HiTune X6 comes with a great fitting out of the box. It really fits well and it’s a great thing that UGREEN went for an in-ear design. It’s is capable to hold itself on our ear canal while we walk and listen to music. It is also quite comfortable to use as it doesn’t induce fatigue after long periods of use.
Fortunately, it comes with 2 additional pairs of silicone ear tips. If the default ear tips are a bit too large for you or too small, you can replace them with the included pairs to find your preference. If comfort is still an issue after trying them all out, then we recommend getting yourself foam ear tips instead.
For sports and outdoor activity, the UGREEN HiTune X6 can hold itself for minor fast phase movements such as fast walking, minor exercises, or biking. However, extreme sports or activities such as running, jogging, wall climbing, swimming, extreme workouts in the gym can be a problem. The earbud holds itself on your ear through the pressure it exerts in your ear canal. So once you start sweating, the earbuds start to easily fall out of your ears. So it’s best to keep that in mind if you’re looking for an earbud for the gym. Other than that, there’s nothing else that will support the earbud to stay in its place that’s why it’s not ideal for heavy sports or workouts.
Ease of Use: Functions of the Earbuds
One functionality that most consumers would prefer to have on the earbuds out of the box is the ability to adjust the volume. Most earbuds on the market have neglected such functionality and opted for something else. Fortunately, the UGREEN HiTune X6 comes with volume control.
For more functionality control, refer to the table below.
If there’s one function that this earbud is missing, it would be the equalizer. We’ve tested a number of earbuds in the past and some of those have a functionality set for an equalizer through an app.
Battery: Playtime & Charging
The UGREEN HiTune X6 comes with an overall battery capacity of 600mAh in which 500mAh for the case and 50mAh for each earbud. At 0% capacity for both the earbud and the charging case, it took us about 2 hours and 20 minutes to achieve 100% full charge for all devices. For our charging test, we used a charging power brick that’s capable of fast charging and supports quick charge technology as well as Power Delivery technology.
For usage capacity, the HiTune X6 is rated to last up to 6 hours of single-use but of course, to achieve the given rating of the manufacturer, you have to meet certain factors to achieve it. In this case, the earbuds were rated with 80% volume. In our test, it lasted us 5 hours and 10 minutes but this is given that the distance between the device and the earbud is changing constantly.
UGREEN HiTune X6 for Gaming
In the case of every earbud, most manufacturer markets them with ‘Gaming’ term enabling consumers to believe that the earbuds are ideal for gaming. That’s not the case. For manufacturers to achieve this so-called gaming performance, they have to achieve a latency between the earbud and device of nothing more than 100ms and that’s really pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable. In the case of HiTune X5, the predecessor of the HiTune X6, it features Qualcomm’s low latency aptX technology to achieve such feat. For the HiTune X6, which lacks the support of Qualcomm technology, we’re not certain how UGREEN achieved such feat on its own but the HiTune X6 does come with a gaming mode. They also claim a low latency of 50ms which is already exceptional without the aptX technology.
To fully test the capability of the HiTune X6 when it comes to gaming, we tested it in different scenarios and setups including playing on a Windows PC, on a Nintendo Switch using a Bluetooth transmitter, and on a smartphone. Our test also includes testing the earbuds in multiplayer mode to saturate the audio transmission rate.
Much of our expectation, given our experience with the HiTune X5 and how well it performed in this test, the UGREEN HiTune X6 performed outstandingly. Out of the box, the latency of the audio in normal/music mode is noticeable. No matter what platform you play with, you’ll definitely notice the delay of audio from visual actions made in-game. Once you switch to the gaming mode, things started to become different. The audio and visual action made in-game are almost at sync about 98% or so which is acceptable in every case, it’s just us being nit-picky in the case. This goes to show that gaming mode works and we can really tell the difference between each mode. What we cannot tell is the difference in audio quality. Not certain what is sacrificed to achieve low latency for gaming mode but there has to be something to achieve this.
We performed the test playing games such as Overwatch and New World with voice chat on our Windows PC as well as popular games in Nintendo Switch. This test also includes PUBG Mobile, Hot Drift, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Breath of Fire 3 on our Huawei P30. In all tests, the earbuds performed really well.
Final Thoughts
Coming from the HiTune X5 experience that we definitely had the pleasure to use as our daily driver, the HiTune X6 brings in a new challenge. What we can certainly tell is that the HiTune X6 is mostly aimed toward professional usage for consumers that makes a lot of phone calls with a certain feature for gaming as an added formulae. Its elegant and more sophisticated-looking design tells that it’s for professional and business-minded in mind but don’t let that be a deal-breaker for you.
All in all, the HiTune X6 is an excellent earbud. Retailed at ₱2,999 on LAZADA, it’s an earbud that we can say has all the things you would want and need for an earbud. Its active noise canceling is excellent, 6 noise-canceling microphone technology works, has a gaming mode that works, and an audio quality that outmatches 90% of the earbuds on the market.
But it’s far from perfect. The only issue we had so far after having to use the HiTune X6 for a week is that it lacks the Qualcomm aptX support which we prefer overall and branding consumer reliance, it has no application support for controlling the feature of the earbuds, no equalizer support to adjust the audio quality to your personal preference, and we find it odd to use an older version of Bluetooth, Bluetooth 5.1, compared to HiTune X5, Bluetooth 5.2. Lastly, don’t expect the quality of active noise canceling to be on par or at least almost there compared to the XM4.
Overall, we highly recommend checking out the UGREEN HiTune X6 AND Hybrid earbuds. If you find this earbud interesting, better check them out on October 10th on LAZADA for discounts and grab one for less.
