Umi Voix headphones review
Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
At this price you can’t go wrong: and Umi certainly doesn’t. If you can find them, at £8 to £14 the Umi Voix offers style, audio quality and excellent build quality at a staggeringly low price. Recommended.
TheUmi Voixis a super-cheap in-ear binauralheadphoneset with microphone. With a standard 3.5mm jack the Umi Voix works with virtually all smartphones, tablets and audio players, offering a good value option for commuters who like to listen. Also see:Best budget headphones 2015/2016andbest budget Bluetooth speakers 2015/2016.
Umi Voix review: UK price, value and availability
The Umi Voix is not widely available – the listing on Amazon UK is out of stock at the moment, for instance. But head over toTomtopand you can pick up the Umi Voix for the low low price of £8.49. £8.49! You pay that for a pint in the pub over the road from PC Advisor towers.
Elsewhere we found the Umi Voix retailing for £13 or £14. But availability is limited. If you can get it, though, there is value to be had here. Because although – as we shall see – the Umi Voix are far from stellar, they are a lot better than you have any right to expect for that price. See allheadphone reviews.
Umi Voix review: build and design
In part this is because the design and build is high quality. Or at least, it seems that way to us. The Umi Voix has a stylish smokey grey chrome finish. This is tipped with red highlights. The lengthy cable is flat, which is always good for headphone longevity and the avoidance of tangles. The 3.5mm jack is gold plated, and rubber is used judiciously to protect the delicate parts of the Umi Voix. We used and abused the Umi Voix for several weeks with no defects.
On the wire is a remote. It has a multi-function single button, which is a good feature that works well. But this is the only part of the Umi Voix that felt cheap to us.
The Umi Voix’s earbuds are not the smallest, but we found it very comfortable in our ears. Even when running (drenched in man sweat) they sat comfortably and firmly in our lugs. And we found that the drivers directed audio down into our eardrums – avoiding a common pitfall of cheap headphones. Audio leakage was there none. Or very little at high volume.
Overall then we think the Umi Voix looks and feels like a much more expensive set of headphones. But how does it sound? Also see:Best headphones 2015/2016.
Umi Voix review: audio quality
Pretty good. Certainly good enough for the casual listener to digital music, podcasts, radio and the like. Umi tells us that technically the Voix sports a ‘true sound audio curve’ as well as a helical aluminum sound chamber. It has 13mm drivers – that much we do know. And the end result is bassy. Strong, clear, bass. Which most people will enjoy. Some may find it overpowering when listening to very bassy music.
The top end is not as impressive. At times we heard a little distortion on trebles when we were playing heavy guitar music turned up to 11. It isn’t a major flaw, but it is there.
But in general the listening experience is very good, whether it be music of virtually all genres, or podcasts and talk radio.
Read next:Best headphones for kids
Specs
UMI Voix: Specs
Author: Matt Egan, Global Content Director, Foundry
Matt Egan is Global Content Director of Foundry, publisher of Tech Advisor, and a passionate technology fan who writes on subjects as diverse as smartphones, internet security, social media and Windows.
