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BQEYZ Summer Review: Smooth Breeze With Powerful Bass

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BQEYZ has been in the audio gear game for quite some time now specializing in high-resolution IEMs and cables. While the brand focuses primarily on the budget segment of audio…
BQEYZ Summer-12

BQEYZ has been in the audio gear game for quite some time now specializing in high-resolution IEMs and cables. While the brand focuses primarily on the budget segment of audio gears, they grabbed a lot of attention for the Spring series of in-ear monitors. The series got two products, Spring 1 and Spring 2. Both of which are quite identical with premium metallic shells and a tribrid driver configuration. Both the pairs received multiple positive feedbacks for their excellent performance around the 200$ price range. But the Spring series was just the first chapter of the Seasons series by BQEYZ. Earlier this year BQEYZ announced the second chapter in the Season series, the BQEYZ Summer.

BQEYZ Summer-1

BQEYZ Summer is the latest IEM set featuring a tribrid driver configuration consisting of a 13mm DD unit, a BA unit, and a five-layered piezo-electric unit. This driver configuration is similar to that on the Spring series only difference being the Piezo driver in Spring 1/2 has a 9 layer configuration while the one in Summer has five layers. Other than this the primary difference between Summer and Spring is the shell material, Summer features simple acrylic resin ear shells while Spring features full metallic shells. This also resulted in a lower cost for Summer, It is available to purchase from BQEYZ Store on Aliexpress for just 129$. Where does the Summer stand in the industry? Is it worth the 129$? Well, we are gonna find out today.

Disclaimer:-

I was provided this unit of BQEYZ Summer free of cost in return for my honest opinion by Elle Zhou from BQEYZ Audio. I would like to thank her for this opportunity, all thoughts in this review are completely my own based on my own experience with the pair over the past few weeks.

BQEYZ Summer-2

Packaging & Accessories:-

Summer comes in simple packaging with a light purple slip-on cover over a black box. The slip-on has BQEYZ Summer branding on the front and detailed technical specifications on the back. Below this slip-on cover, we have a book-open style shimmery black box with BQEYZ branding on the top. Inside we have BQEYZ Summer earphones sitting on the top portion of the box in a simple foam layer. The lower portion is being covered by a plain black sheet below which lies the BQEYZ branded carry case.  While the cable is inside the carry case, ear tips are placed right below the earphone layer. The packaging is quite simple yet reflects the Summer season with the light purple cool tone of the outer slip-on cover.

BQEYZ Summer-3

Package Contents:-

>BQEYZ Summer earphones.

>One Two-pin connector cable with a 3.5mm termination plug.

>Six pairs of silicone tips(three black, three greys).

>Cleaning brush.

>Quality Certificate.

>User guide.

BQEYZ Summer-5

Build Quality & Fit:-

The earpieces here have a very simple look with acrylic Resin material cavities and a metallic nozzle. They look finely built with a slight bit of transparency inside the shell(when in a properly lit situation). I got the purplish-black color of Summer that looks pretty elegant. On the top we have recessed two-pin connectors, face panels have an elevated pattern that looks like fish gills. The right earpiece has Summer printed at the bottom, the left one has BQEYZ printed at the same place. In terms of build quality, the resin shells come nowhere near the premium, rich finish of the metallic shells in the Spring 1/2, but at their own place, they are built quite decently with a perfect finish.

BQEYZ Summer-6

The pair has an ergonomic shape with lightweight aesthetics that allows the pair to sit firmly in my ears and provide a very comfortable fit. With the included tips the fit was okayish, I find my perfect fit on the Summer with Final Audio Type-E ear tips. They cover my ear canal completely and block all the outside noise providing a good level of noise isolation. I once used them while riding my scooter at around average volume level, the pair blocked environmental noises quite effectively.

Bringing The Sun Up(Powering The Summer):-

With a low impedance rating of 32 ohms and a high sensitivity rating of 107dB/mW, the Summer is very easy to power. It can be driven right off a smartphone such as Honor View 10(though needs to be pushed to near full volume). For the purpose of this review, I used my Cayin N3 Pro and Shanling M3X to power up the Summer.

BQEYZ Summer-7

BQEYZ Summer & Shanling M3X:-

Shanling M3X drives the Summer at an adequate listening level at around 65/100 volume on low gain mode. The pair has a clean presentation here with no noticeable background hiss, pretty good extensions, and good clarity between the instruments.

BQEYZ Summer-8

BQEYZ Summer & Cayin N3 Pro:-

Cayin N3 Pro features three different sound modes, Tube UL, Tube Triode, and Solid-State. I mostly use UL tube mode for most of my sessions and my impressions are based on that. Summer shows a warm tonality here(taste of N3 Pro), it is easily driven at like 51/100 volume level on medium gain, I like the thick tonal touch to the instruments and vocals by N3 Pro here.

I also tried it with my Honor View 10 smartphone just to check how it performs with regular smartphones, the pair was driven easily at my adequate listening level though at full volume on the phone. But as always I recommend using portable USB DAC/AMPs or Digital Audio Players for best output quality.

How Does The Sun Shines In Summer(Sound Impressions):-

There are only a few IEMs that leave an impact on the very first song we play on them, the BQEYZ Summer is one of them. On my first listen I played my favorite track, Hotel California by Eagles from their Hell Freezes Over album, the acoustic guitar during the first 30 seconds was legendary. During my first sessions with the pair, It held me onto it with excellent detailing, punchy deep bass, spacious soundstage. While most of the time the pair sounded smooth to me but I felt the treble portion to have a slight bit of extra sparkle in some complex tracks such as In The End by Linkin Park. It was not piercing but it was being noticed easily. I gave the pair a suggested burn-in period of 100 hours(8-9 hours random music playback for the next 10-12 days).

BQEYZ Summer-9

After this burn-in period, I can’t say much whether it is a placebo effect or an actual effect on the pair, but I find it to have a smoother response than my initial listen with it. Now the presentation is actually much smoother. Summer has an intimate, engaging presentation with a W-shape sound profile. I personally loved its punchy bass response that hits right at the moment, feels so energetic and engaging. Vocals, both male and female have a full-bodied presentation with a hint of warmth. The Piezo ceramic driver does its magic with a sparkly treble response that shows good detail retrieval. Now let’s discuss the frequency-wise sound response of Summer.

Bass:-

As stated earlier, Summer leaves its impact with every single bass drop in the music. No it’s not overpowering that would please a bass head but it is fast, it is deep, and it hits hard. Billie Eilish is such a bliss to listen with the Summer with its wonderful mid-bass slams and powerful sub-bass rumble. I always enjoy a deep, punchy bass response, and I get it with the Summer. It is an instant favorite for me.

Mids:-

Mid frequencies have a smooth presentation. The vocals are rich and full-bodied. Instruments such as acoustic guitar, bass guitar, piano have a good tonality and a natural timbre. I like this engaging presentation of instruments that makes the music sound lively and exciting. I couldn’t hear any muddiness. When I listen to acoustic guitar in Tell Her You Love Her By Echosmith & Mat Kearney, the separation between the strings being played can be felt with a good sense of weight for each string.

Treble:-

Summer delivers a sparkly treble frequency response with a bright tonality. Every instrument is presented clearly with good energy. Electric guitars, violins, cymbals have a neutral, detailed, and properly extended presentation. The piezo ceramic driver is doing its magic here. Treble-oriented tracks such as Californication or Hey Oh by Red Hot Chilli Pepper sound engaging shows good dynamics and separation of instruments on the pair. While everything else is perfect there is a brightness to the treble region that might trouble treble sensitive people especially with bright sources such as a Topping NX4. I am also sensitive to harsh treble, but both my sources, N3 Pro and Shanling M3X have warm and neutral tonality that provides a good smooth synergy with the Summer.

Soundstage & Separation:-

BQEYZ Summer produces a wide soundstage with a good sense of depth and height. It gives ample space for our music to shine even for complex tracks such as Crawling by Linkin Park where multiple instruments and vocals are being presented at the same time. The separation of instruments is pretty good, they also show good layering and detail.

BQEYZ Summer-10

Comparisons:-

See Audio Anou/Yume Vs BQEYZ Summer:-

See Audio Anou(Mainland China version of Yume) used to be my default recommendation for the under 200$ price segment just because of its rich tonality. The only issue I had with it was the fact that it lacks somewhat of an impact in the lower end. Here is my comparison of BQEYZ Summer and See Audio Anou(Anou is from my memory I reviewed it earlier this year).

>BQEYZ Summer produces a much better lower-end response, great speed, great punch.

>Micro-detailing was better on Anou but I find the energy of Summer to be better.

>Sound presentation of Summer is more intimate, engaging, & lively in comparison to Anou.

>Summer has a brighter tonality out of the two.

>While both the pairs produce a wide spacious soundstage, Anou sounded has an airier presentation.

BQEYZ Summer-11

Final Words:-

BQEYZ Summer has quite an engaging and smooth presentation that keeps one hooked on to it for hours. My previous recommendation around this budget used to be the See Audio Yume, but the Summer provides a better lower-end response which according to my preferences hits the bullseye. I love how it handles different genres played on it with good clarity and precise detail retrieval. This is gonna be my default recommendation for the 150-200$ price range!! Simply said, I Loved it.

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