Impressive sound, good comfort, gaming-mode and more! My new favorite QCY?
They don’t have aptX, but the sound is still surprisingly good.
Let’s have a closer look at them, do a latency test, microphone test, and more.
Review continues under the video.
In the video review we go through all content of the box, we have a close look at the case and the earphones, we show how media controls work, test the microphone and the latency in games. We also try them on. Check it out!
Get one here
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_d6D…
Banggood – https://bit.ly/QCYT4Banggood
Gearbest – https://bit.ly/QCYT4Gearbest
QCY T4 Review
QCY is known for making good tws earphones at a budget price. So how will the QCY T4 perform? Let’s find out!
In the box
The T4 comes in the same type of box as other QCY models. On the front we have a picture of the product itself, and a coloured shape that looks like a guitar. In the box we get the charging case and the typical accessories that we usually get from QCY.
This case does not have a USB type C, so again we’re stuck with a micro usb to USB-A cable for charging. Here’s also two extra sets of cone shaped soft rubber buds in different sizes. These do a good job sealing the surrounding sounds, and they are comfortable to wear. We also have a well written user manual, and it comes in both Chinese and English language. In the top left section there’s a QR code that you can scan to download the QCY app, but more about that later. Here’s instructions for how to set it up, how to use the controls, how to reset them if needed, and so on.
The Case
The case itself is made of plastic, and the rounded design reminds of a lot of the Haylou cases we have seen earlier. It’s a simple and clean looking design, and I like how it looks in this black colour.
Around on the back is the micro usb connector for charging, and under we have some specifications. This case has a 380 mAh battery, and they say it can recharge the earphones up to four times. I did some tests and I was able to recharge the earphones a little bit less than 4 times, so it’s not too far off. This case feels well built, and even the hinge on the magnetic lid feels solid and nice, so i don’t think this will break easily.
To charge we can use 5V chargers, up to 2.1 Amps. It does NOT support fast charging, so for your own safety don’t even try using one.
There’s also a light on the front of the case, to show you if it’s still charging. This light will be constant white at 100%, and under 60% it blinks red. Meaning if you have more than half the battery remaining, it will blink red.. Which is a bit strange and misleading in my opinion, since we should have charged it enough to get two full recharges. Anyway, i guess it doesn’t matter, because this light will ONLY light up when we’re charging the case itself, and NOT when charging the earphones or opening the lid. So it’s not possible to check how much power is remaining in the case, unless the case is connected to a charger. I wish it had a battery indicator that we could use at any time, but that’s sadly not how it works on the T4.
The Earphones
The earphones may look a little bit like the QCY QS1, but in my opinion they have a much better design. The shape is more ergonomic, and they have a short tunnel to the speaker, so they don’t go as deep into the ears as some other in-ear earphones. If you look at the back, you can see that it’s shaped to fit into the ears cavity, instead of just being a square box like the QS1. This makes them sit better in the ears, and it makes them more comfortable.
They may look a bit boxy, but they’re quite compact and they do fit very well into the ear without sticking much out. They’re also light, with a weight of only 4.5 grams each.
The battery in here is informed to last 4.5 hours per charge, and in my tests I did actually get from 4 to 4.5 hours every time, and that’s when playing music with loud volume. So, it’s not bad at all. The rubber buds are the same as we have seen before, and they are very easy to take on and off. And, I really can’t say it enough, you really should try the different sizes so you’ll get the best fit for your own ears. On the front is a physical button, so there’s no touch control on these, but more about the buttons a bit later. The earphones are of course held in the case by magnets, to make sure they don’t move while charging, and they do have charging lights. These lights will switch off when they’re done charging.
Wearing these earphones is a pleasure, as they sit very well in the ears, and I find them to be very comfortable even for long periods at a time. The ergonomic design works very well, and they don’t move while wearing them. The short tunnel that goes into the ear also makes it more comfortable compared to the ones that goes deeper.
Pairing and connection
There are two ways to pair the T4, and the first one is the most common way. Just take them out of the case, and make sure one of them stops blinking. Now select QCY-T4 in the list on the phone and we’re good to go. They will of course also reconnect automatically the next time you take them out of the case.
The second way, is to use QCYs own App, which is available in the app store.
After installing it, we can take the earphones out of the case and now it pops up on the screen here. Just click connect and we’re done. The next time we want to use the earphones, this screen will automatically pop up, and show us the remaining battery and so on.
The App – Yes there’s more in the QCY app
In the app we have some more options. We can for example change the button functions to play, skip, assistant or volume control. Both single tap and double tap can be changed. We have an equaliser that allows us to use some presets for pop, rock bass, soft and classic. But we can also make our own adjustments on the main screen by dragging points up or down.
Next we have a function for finding our earphones, and we have two ways of doing this. Clicking the green button will play an alarm sound through the earphones, which may help us find them if they are nearby and connected to the phone. It’s not very loud, but it may help if they’re close by. This app also uses the phone’s position to save the last location where you used the earphones. So by clicking it, we should get a map showing us where it was. My app crashes every time i click the map, so i guess there’s a bug, or maybe I didn’t set it up correctly? Some of the setup description in the app is only in Chinese language, so maybe I didn’t do it correctly.
At the top we can see the remaining battery for each earphone, and that’s about it for the app, so let’s move on.
Latency in games and video
For those who do gaming, these earphones are quite good. By triple clicking the right earphone, they will enter gaming mode, which has lower lag. There’s still a short delay, but it’s good enough even for some fast gaming. This also works while watching videos in YouTube, Netflix and apps like that, but it’s not really necessary, as the delay in videos isn’t noticeable. It works fine even with this mode switched off.
Check out the video in YouTube for samples from PUBG.
Microphone for calls
The T4 doesn’t have a stem going down the side, like the T3 and T5, so the microphone is located right under the front of the earphone. The mic quality isn’t fantastic though, but it’s ok for shorter calls.
Check out the YouTube review for microphone samples!
Music and call controls
Like I mentioned earlier, these earphones do not have touch controls. Instead we have physical buttons, but these are good buttons. They’re quite easy to click, without pushing the earphones further into the ears. They could be even softer, but there’s no discomfort when clicking them, so in my opinion they’re good enough.
For controlling calls, just click once to answer or hang up the call, or do a long press to reject it.
For controlling music we have the following commands.
Click once to play or pause. This works on both earphones.
Click twice on the right one to go to the next song.
Click twice on the left one to go back or to the previous song.
Long pressing will open the assistant.
Sound Quality
Regarding sound quality for music, these earphones did surprise me a bit. They don’t have aptX, so we only have AAC/SBC. Anyway, the sound is quite crisp and clear. It’s also spacious enough, so I don’t experience it as muffled at all. The highs are nice and comfortable, but to pick a bit, they sometimes sound a little bit emphasized. But I think that’s why they made the equalizer in the app. After activating it everything sounds very good. The highs and mids are nice, and do a good job with vocals and instruments, without going too high.
The bass is also good and punchy, with some low rumble, but I feel it’s a bit lacking in the lowest region when not using the equalizer.
Overall the sound is good and spacious, with nice bass, but in my opinion the mids and highs are a bit too emphasized. So to get the best result I had to open the equalizer and do some adjustments to correct the balance a bit. After doing that, i was able to raise the volume even more, which results in a better overall balance and a more powerful and deeper bass that sounds very good.
The volume on the T4 goes very loud , so I usually got up to 60-70% before it’s just too loud.
Overall they sound very good, they have good bass that goes very low and has a very good rumble, they’re very comfortable and they have good battery.
Here we get a lot for such a low price, so they get a thumbs up from me!
Get one here:
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_d6D…
Banggood – https://bit.ly/QCYT4Banggood
Gearbest – https://bit.ly/QCYT4Gearbest
