Divoix DV99 earbuds

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Very decent everyday earbuds

I was sent these Divoix DV99 earphones for review and I think they are very good - and at the current price of under a tenner they are excellent value.

The earphones are very neatly packaged in a small, stylish tin, which makes a good, portable carry case. There is a choice of three sizes of silicone tips so you can position them comfortably in your ears.  They fit well into my ears and are stable and comfortable for pretty long periods.  They are well made in a red and black rubberized material which looks and feels good to me.  The red-and-black flat ribbon cable is also stylish, it doesn't tangle much and the friction noise isn't bad.  They also have a proper gold-plated plug and decent strain relief so I'd expect them to last well.

Functionally they work well, with a microphone and a basic control button for the phone on the lead for accept/reject calls and pause/play.

The sound is good for earphones at this price.  They're not high-end earphones, obviously, but they do very well, with good, clear articulation, no distortion and very clear treble and middles.  The bass seemed a bit weak when I first tried them, but I found it developed significantly after a few hours playing time, so make sure you give it a chance. It's still not the strongest I've heard, but the overall sound is pretty well balanced for me. I have a Test Playlist which I use for audio products beginning with 15th Century choral music, ending up with London Grammar and going through most things in between; these performed pretty well throughout, although anything which needs a really powerful bass response, like Sibelius's Karelia Suite or London Grammar's Hey Now do suffer a bit.

(If you're looking for a real bass kick you may prefer the Divoix DV110s which are a similar price.  They deliver amazing bass for the size and price, but I found trebles a bit flat and articulation not so good in classical music.  It depends on what you're looking for.)

In summary, these are very good earphones at this price, giving generally good, balanced sound with a slightly de-emphasised bass.  If that's a sound profile which suits you, these will serve very well as an everyday set of earbuds – you'll struggle to do much better at this price, I think.  I can recommend them.