Buzz
DESIGN, COMFORT, AND BATTERY LIFE
The QCY T13 boasts a simple design and feels well-built for its budget-friendly price. The earbuds come in entirely white and have a compact form factor. The oval-shaped part sits comfortably in your ears, not feeling too bulky (for average-sized ears). You can wear them for several hours at a stretch, and they stay snug enough for running or working out with them. While QCY doesn't provide an IP rating, their sleek design and minimal ports should make them resilient to rain.
The T13's battery life is impressive—it offers up to 7.5 hours of playtime on a single charge. That's a remarkable score for this price range, outperforming competing rivals like the Edifier X3 and Mpow Mbit S, and many pricier in-ear earbuds.
The charging case can fully recharge the earbuds three times before needing a new power source via the included USB-C. Alternatively, you can juice up the buds in the case for 10 minutes—it'll instantly give you an extra 2 hours of listening time.
The charging case is the least exciting part, it has all the basic elements but lacks compactness, very bulky when put in a pocket.
CONNECTIVITY AND CONTROLS
The QCY T13 features touch controls on the top of the earbuds, providing good responsiveness to your input. The control scheme is very straightforward:
- Double-tap L or R to play/pause
- Hold R to skip to the next track
- Hold L to go back to the previous track
- Triple-tap R to (un)activate low-latency gaming mode
- Triple-tap L to activate voice assistant
In the standard scheme, you can't directly adjust the volume from the earbuds. However, you can customize the controls through the free QCY app. Since the T13 doesn't support a single tap, you can't have both at the same time. However: you won't accidentally trigger controls just by adjusting the earbuds slightly – that's really great.
The connection on the T13 is very solid. Bluetooth 5.1 keeps a strong signal between your device up to 9-10 meters and seamlessly switches between listening from one to two earbuds at any time. There might be slight crackling between the left and right buds, but it's rare.
APP SUPPORT FOR QCY T13
The free QCY app provides T13 with some additional features, still quite insane at this price point. The app doesn't require you to set up an account, although you may need to put the earbuds in the case and then take them out once more to make all the app's features work. Those features are:
- Update the headphone's firmware
- View pop-up menu with battery life on both earbuds
- Customize controls
- Select different equalizer presets
- Find your earbuds on the map
- Clean up pairing records
Like previous QCY models, it's great to have app support, but don't expect anything from the different sound equalizer presets. Whether you choose Pop, Bass, Rock, Soft, Classic, or set your own sound profile through the 10-band equalizer: any changes in the sound rule will immediately eliminate other frequencies, taking away the balance and vibrancy of the T13.
SOUND QUALITY OF QCY T13: CAPTIVATING
The QCY T13 might have the largest soundstage you'll encounter on a pair of very cheap wireless earbuds.
That means music feels surrounding you. Vocals upfront and individual instruments and details surrounding you. For instance: in classical music, the violin might appear from a distance – and in rock songs, the drum strings might shift from left to right. It's easy to separate layers in music and also position instruments. Listening to a high-quality recording of a blues or jazz song can feel like you're in a bar attending a live performance – a remarkable achievement for earbuds at this price point.
Fortunately, QCY T13 also delivers the basics.
QCY T13 boosts lower frequencies, bringing warm and cozy sound. The bass is most significantly lifted. Its enhanced performance brings modern music genres like dance, pop, and electronic music, booming bass notes. It can be a bit generous at times, and it lacks tightness, but deep and powerful hits surely provide energy to the song.
High female and slightly higher male vocals are brought forward and stand out against the surrounding instruments, but the mid and high frequencies remain in control. Unlike other recent QCY models, the high frequencies come in quite early and never sound too bright or piercing. Typically, penetrating sounds like clapping and cymbals don't pierce your ears.
Because these earbuds forward both vocals and lower frequencies, there's less room left for the midrange. Guitars and pianos don't sound as natural or detailed as they could on pricier audiophile headphones, and lower male vocals might sound a bit subdued. Mids sound slightly warmer than average – but that's a safe bet, as they're at least easy on the ears.
QCY T13 combines energetic and warm sound with a remarkably wide stage, making it an impressive performer in tight budget conditions.
OVERVIEW
Impressive battery life, excellent sound quality, and suitable performance for video calls and phone conversations. QCY T13 is a steal for its $25 price tag.
