REVIEW – Dude, it’s 2023. Wired earphones? Seriously? Reasonably priced, with marvelous sound, no batteries to recharge, and a comfortable fit, KZ-ZXV earphones are an enthusiastic “Yes” for me!
What is it?
KZ Acoustics KZ-ZVX earphones are earphones with a wide dynamic range, replaceable tips, and a removable cord.
Hardware specs
- Model: KZ-ZVX
- Impedance: 25±3Ω
- Sensitivity: 109±3dB
- Frequency: 20-40000Hz
- Plug type: 3.5mm
- Pin type: 0.75mm (C-Pin)
- Cable length: 120+5cm
- Cable type: OFC flat cable
- Wearing type: In-ear
What’s in the box?
- KZ-ZVX earphones
- Small, medium, and large ear tips
- User manual
Design and features
Bluetooth headphones have become wildly popular for filling ears with audio, but there are plenty of reasons to have a corded set handy. Airplane entertainment systems still use them, there are no codecs to compromise quality, and battery life is as long as your audio source lasts.
Some might argue that cords encumber movement and can break. That’s true, but if an earbud pops out of your ear, its companion acts as a tether so isn’t likely to fall into a dark abyss never to be seen again, or take a bad bounce and be gruesomely consumed by voracious lawnmower blades. Long live corded earphones!
KZ, short for Knowledge Zenith, makes a gaggle of reasonably priced headphones to fit a wide range of needs and tastes. A pair of ZVX earphones made it my way for review. They arrived in a black-and-white box.
The earbuds are protected in a plastic egg crate.
The first thing that struck me when pulled them out of the box is that the cord can be detached. This is a huge advantage because if I accidentally drop them on the floor and my pet rabbit decides they are a morning treat, I should still be able to get a replacement. I’ve also experienced situations when a movie’s left and right audio channels have been reversed making for an awkward listening experience. Likewise, there are times when I only want to wear the earbud on one side but listen to the opposite channel. Since the ZVX’s cord can be exchanged freely between sides, there’s no limitation.
The opposite end of the cable terminates in a 1/8-inch, 3.5mm stereo plug. Yeah, I know… your iPhone doesn’t have one of these. There are adapters audio (with and without simultaneous charging) available for a few dollars.
Once attached to the earbuds, the cord portion nearest to your noggin should be routed behind your auricle. It’s flexible, but I wish this were a tad more rigid to help keep the ZVXs more secure. (Thank you to my Mrs for being my ear model!)
My wife and I both have small ears so the inclusion of three sizes of tips was welcomed. They are made of squishy memory foam. During testing, I found smooshing them and quickly stuffing the earbuds into my auditory canals worked well for maximum sound isolation. The more ambient sound that’s blocked out, the better the audio.
The housings are metal and feel very solid. Inside are “10mm dual-cavity dynamic drivers” which is fancy talk for “stuff inside that makes ‘um sound good.” There’s a better description on KZ’s website here. Despite feeling somewhat hefty, they are comfortable to wear. After several hours of continuous use, my ears were still happy… in more ways than just comfort.
I ran several frequency sweep tests and was astonished at the results. For low frequencies, the ZVXs had no trouble reproducing crystal clear, unmuddied audio at 20Hz. I even ran tests at 10, 12, and 15Hz (below the specified frequency range) and was shocked that the earbuds can reproduce these sounds, albeit with some crackling. Again, this is outside the frequency range specs and even better than my go-to Etymotic ER-4s that have a low end at about 28Hz. Moving through the range of 20Hz to 13kHz was exceptionally clear. Above that is beyond the hearing range of my old man ears. Well done, KZ!
Moving forward to something more meaningful, at the 12:59 minute mark in my recording of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Russian Easter Festival Overture,” there are some underlying bass tones that many earphones have difficulty reproducing. I had listened to this piece hundreds of times but had not been able to hear them until I got a high-end pair. I’ve used this selection as a test ever since. I’m thrilled to say that the ZVXs had no problems reproducing these notes, along with super-sounding bass from Pink Floyd, Skillet, Superchic[k], and many more. Mid and high-treble tones were equally soaring. Cranking up “Dolls Polyphony” and other selections from Geinoh Yamashirogumi’s “Akira” soundtrack was like hearing the music for the first time. Just thrilling! It caused me to stop my typical multitasking and immerse myself in the music with my eyes closed. Takio drums with the ZXVs were simply breathtaking, especially for earbuds that don’t cost an arm and a leg.
What I like
- Excellent sound!
- Detachable cord
- Comfortable
- Inexpensive
What I would change
- Maybe stiffen the ear hooks for better retention.
Final thoughts
To be honest, I didn’t expect to gush so much about the KZ-ZVXs, but it’s always lovely to be so pleasantly surprised. Frequency response, clarity, and comfort were outstanding, especially for earphones that are about $20. Very well done and thank you, Knowledge Zenith!
Price: $19.90 from AliExpress
Where to buy: AliExpress
Source: The sample for this review was supplied by KZ Acoustics.
