Haylou Flowbuds N55 REVIEW – Second Coming

The $39.90 (street $29.90) Haylou Flowbuds N55 earphone has been provided by the company for my review – and I thank them for that. You can get it from amazon.com and aliexpress. The Haylow Flowbuds N55 are good and unique sounding budget earphones if you apply the app settings given below. PROS Decent sound with a good volume after some fiddling with the app settings App can generate relaxing sounds (wind, rain…) Small, nifty case Good build CONS Most sound presets in the app are terrible Not the loudest volume output in most settings ANC not as good as claimed Have to register for the app Marketing in the free app Introduction The brave and ambitious people at Haylou had been struggling through last year catching up with their competitors. They released the decent ANC headphone Haylou S40 recently (our 2 reviews here), and even one of our friends found very much pleasure with it. The company, however, is still the underdog compared to the more established SOUNDPEATS, Earfun, etc. The Flowbuds N55 sounded meh to my ears out of the box/case, but only initially. Either I had missed the right insertion or these little rascals needed a break-in, but after some time, they sound actually quite good…with the right settings. As is the case with any of these TWS earphones, their sonic signature strongly relies on the associated free app. First, what’s annoying is the signing-up procedure…yes, to have to tell them everything about yourself, at least that’s how it appeared to me. No signing up/in, no surrender of your email address = no app. Specifications Flowbuds N55 Choose these settings for optimal results. Wearing style: In-ear Driver: 2.4mm Titanium-coated composite diaphragm Frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz SNR: 65dB Impedance(Ω:) 32Ω Microphone: MEMS, sensitivity -38dB Chipset: JL7096D6 Transmission range: 360°, over 10 m (open, unobstructed space) Connectivity: Bluetooth 6.0 Control type: Touch Buttons Buttons: 2 MFB touch controls on earbuds, 1 physical button on charging case Functions: Call control, play/pause… Charging case battery capacity: 475 mAh (charging time 2.5h) Earbud battery capacity: 60mAh (charging time 1.5h) Playtime: up to 10 h (60 h total) Tested at: $39.99 USD Product page: haylou.com Purchase Link 1: amazon.com Purchase Link 2: aliexpress Physicals, Sonics, and ANC Next, the password craze upon registering…whatever I did, the app would not accept it. Same with the S40 previously. Am I stupid? In the end, it worked somehow. Once I was in, I noticed that the functionality is paired with marketing their other gear. The good: you have to specifically look for their marketing, it does not jump automatically in your face. The app offers first and foremost equalization: 9 EQ presets (Default, Bass, Soft, Rock, Classical, etc.). For DIY people, there is a 10-band parametric equalizer. As is typical for these apps, the “Default” presets work best for me but in this case it is “Pop”. Defaults sounds to my ears as somebody has removed the mids and poured concrete on the bass, the other presets don’t sound any more inspiring either. The parametric equalizer, in contrast, produced some kind of “underwater” sound as if I listened from an aquarium. Maybe I am just incompetent…but then again, my patience is limited. You’ll figure it out. But “Pop” works okay. There’s also secondary, additional settings under the label “Sound Market”: the “Soft and Immersive” setting at least enhances the volume while putting a thin veil over the sound, which increases depth. Without the Sound Market, the overall volume is rather quiet…no good for people with hearing impairments. In the box… The earpieces fit my ears well. As to listening with “Pop” and “Soft and Immersive”…it sounds, errr…soft and immersive…at least to some extent; in reality it has quite some pizzazz but no aggressive treble. I get a lot of headroom, a big stage in all directions, and a good holographic reproduction…actually a surprisingly good one. Haylou fudge this intelligently at the expense of a splashy however forward midrange and diminished midrange resolution. You turn the volume up and get a bit of a goo in terms of instrument separation whilst placement of players remains excellent. Bass is nice ‘n’ tight and delivers some punch without being overdone. I find it very pleasant on my eardrums. Sub bass digs down deep with a good vibrancy. On the top end, the treble is sweeter than nectar…or safe as milk as they say. Overall, you get a BIG, agreeable sound with these settings. To use an analogy, the Flowbuds N55 sound more like a turntable than a CD player. Nothing audiophile, everything pleasant. Without “Soft and Immersive”, you get less punch, as shallower stage, less rounded notes…and much less volume. Apart from tuning the Flowbuds N55, the app also offers unique soundscapes for relaxation such as wind, rain, old vinyl etc.The microphone works fine, too. Here a sound sample: Coming to the ANC, the app gives you the standard options of “ANC, Adaptive ANC, Off, and Transparency”. Haylou claims up to -54 dB noise reduction, which would be 25 dB higher than standard industrial earplugs. In fact, almost all competitors claim such a number…that is unrealistic. And indeed, when using the ANC outside the house, it does not suppress the traffic noise very well at all, like most of their competitors. I’d rather claim the ANC is underwhelming. The current ANC industry leaders are the Apple AirPods Pro 3 that even beat the very best Bose headphones. For optimizing the Haylou Flowbuds N55’s sonic performance, I recommend the following simultaneous app settings: “Pop” AND “Soft and Immersive”. Concluding Remarks Overall, I quite like the Flowbuds N55, not because they are the last word in audiophilia – they are clearly not – but because they produce a very pleasant, non-fatiguing listening experience that also does NOT get boring after a while. IMPORTANT! While writing this, I have been listening to them all the time – and enjoyed them. In fact, I took them on my 3-week trip to Europe as the only TWS earphones…and they did a good job for me. Most importantly, they are different from their competitors such as Earfun, etc., and come at a lower price. However, Haylou still has to do some homework by improving their EQ presets and the ANC. Overall, if you find them for $30 bucks somewhere, how could you resist?Until next time…keep on listening! Found this article useful? Share it on Social Media: 462 Reviews – A World Class Earphone DatabaseCheck out our other earphone reviews. Disclaimer Get it from XXX Store Our generic standard disclaimer. Click To Join Our FB Group! The post Haylou Flowbuds N55 REVIEW – Second Coming appeared first on Music For The Masses.