Mivi recently debuted a new pair of budget TWS earbuds, called the DuoPods K1 that are offered at Rs 999 which is quite a cheap price tag for wireless earbuds. However, such pairs of earbuds are generally inferior in terms of overall quality but can Mivi make a difference in the segment and be considered over competitors such as those from Noise, BoAt, Boult Audio and more? Let’s try to find that out with our review of the Mivi DuoPods K1.
Mivi DuoPods K1: Build Quality & Design
The DuoPods K1 from Mivi come within a cobble-shaped case that has the Mivi branding on the top with four small LED lights on the front. The case is entirely made of plastic as the case is with most earbuds out there. However, the quality, fit and finish of the material used feels cheap and I wouldn’t expect anything better at this price point.
The lid of the case is loose enough to close automatically if the case is tilted even slightly. The buds themselves are small and are more comfortable than I imagined they would be. They fit well inside the ear and do not fall out easily. They also have touch controls for controlling the music playback and even the volume.
Inside the box, you get a micro-USB cable to charge the earbuds and two pairs of eartips, both small and large in size. The medium one is equipped out of the box that fits me the best. What’s disappointing though, is using micro-USB standard for charging the earbuds and not USB-C. Even cheaper earbuds nowadays have USB-C for charging but Mivi opted to go old school. Lastly for build quality, the brand claims that the earbuds are IPX4 rated also.
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Mivi DuoPods K1: Performance
The Mivi DuoPods K1 pack 10.5 mm drivers and have Bluetooth 5.3 technology, allowing an operating range of audio connection up to 10m/30 feet away from your device. The K1 supports AAC and SBC audio codecs and has AI ENC noise cancellation that enhances the voice quality and clarity of your calls.
The new buds from Mivi offer a decent audio quality for the price. Bass lovers out there would love what the DuoPods K1 has to offer. It gets so bass heavy at times that the lyrics get overshadowed. The mid-range is decent with the treble and vocals taking a backseat in most tracks.
Another issue which we think is limited to our unit, was the imbalance between the volume of each of the earbuds. It was always sounding as if the right earbud had a higher volume than the left one, resulting in poor balance. On the bright side, the buds do get loud enough even at 60% volume so there’s that.
Mivi claims that the earbuds can offer up to 42 hours of playtime when paired with the charging-cum-carrying case and during our usage, the number seemed achievable but at lower volumes. The buds, along with the case, should easily be able to last you a week or so, before the case requires a recharge.
Next, there’s also a gaming mode that certainly reduces the Latency and we liked it. There were no sorts of connection delays or lags, both while listening to music or while playing games. Call quality, however, was below average as the earbuds struggle to pick up your voice in a noisy environment. Even indoors, my voice echoed for the other person, resulting in a poor experience.