VIVO TWS Neo Review - The sound of perfection
VIVO is a leading company in the field of technology in its country of origin, namely China, but for a few weeks it has also entered our market, proposing a reduced but decidedly interesting line up of smartphones, but above all it has begun to plant the “seed” that will make its ecosystem grow, combining its TWS headphones with its devices.
VIVO TWS Neo are immediately distinguished by a particularly elegant design, a competitive price, without sacrificing comfort, touch controls and a sound of the highest quality and fidelity. So let's find out together in this complete review.
The packaging of these Bluetooth headsets is neat, showing the image of the product on the front, while on the back we have some key specifications and various certifications but also the possible QR Code for the application to be used on non-VIVO branded Android smartphones. The sales package naturally includes the VIVO TWS Neo and its charging box, as well as manuals (in the Italian language) and the USB-Type-C charging cable.
If VIVO wanted to capture attention, with the design of these TWS earphones it has certainly succeeded in a positive way. We are faced with a beautiful charging case that looks like a precious gem, thanks to the Starry Blue gradient coloring, of a metallic and shiny type, almost recreating the smoothing effect of the sea waves on a precious stone. However, we are talking about a construction mainly made of polycarbonate, but of excellent quality and robustness, although something more could be done for the lid hinge, which does not remain fixed once opened, but closes immediately with a small shake.
Speaking of the lid, this has a magnetic closure that is very firmly attached to the rest of the case body, where we find the Type-C input on the bottom for charging the integrated battery while on the front we have a small button that will serve for coupling of VIVO TWS Neo with smartphones of other brands, a small LED status indicator and the stylized company logo.
Opening the charging socket, we find the VIVO TWS Neo housed in a vertical position, which remain anchored to the charging seat by means of 3 small but powerful magnets, positioned on the terminal part of the stem, where we also find the hole for the main microphone.
A second auxiliary microphone is found instead in the upper part of the stem of the TWS headphones, which boast a touch surface for managing music and / or call commands. Semi in-ear design that is very comfortable in everyday wear and that hides a sensor that I could not define if of the pressure or proximity type, but in any case its function is to play or pause the multimedia content when the earphone is inserted or removed from the ear.
VIVO TWS Neo have IP54 certification which therefore allows us to use it even during sports activities, although sweat in contact with the smooth and shiny surface of the earphones could probably cause them to slip out of the ear. From an aesthetic point of view, VIVO earphones are as beautiful as they hold fingerprints and dirt, due to the glossy paint that probably does not offer any oleophobic treatment.
We mentioned it poco it does and therefore better to remove the tooth, even if in this case it is a pleasure. In fact, the TWS headphones under examination offer a great autonomy that settles on about 4 hours with a single charge for consecutive use of music listening at maximum volume, reaching about 21 hours with the charging case which therefore allows the earphones to be recharged for 5 times. Definitely a superb value if we consider the small size and weight of the earphones which individually settle on a value of 4,6 grams, while with the attached case the value reaches only 44 grams. More in detail, the earphones integrate a 25 mAh battery while the case reaches a value of 400 mAh but poco it matters given the goodness of services related to the duration that are offered to us.
The best of them these Bluetooth headphones give it with VIVO smartphones, but only for the fact that we can enjoy an Apple Airpods-style pop up animation, where the percentage of residual charge of the case and the auriuculars will be shown. For the other Android smartphones we can still count on the customization of the touch controls by downloading the Vivo Earphone application from the Play Store, while for the devices of the bitten apple (iOS) we can make the pairing but the companion app is not available to support, having however the possibility of using the main touch controls.
On VIVO smartphones, pairing takes place simply by opening the lid of the charging case while for all the others it will be necessary, with headphones inserted in the charging box, to press and hold the button on the front for about 2 seconds. At this point the LED will turn white, showing that the headphones have entered pairing mode and therefore visible from the Android / iOS smartphone.
The status LED, however, turns green when the headphones are inserted in charging or red, for charging the case itself. That said. The VIVO TWS Neo offer a management of music or calls via touch controls, by means of the surface that pushes over the entire stem of the headphones. We can increase / decrease the volume simply by swiping up / down, or we can skip to the next track or return to the previous one with a double TAP, a function that we can customize with the choice of calling the voice assistant (only for Android), or with the Play / Pause command, although this is already available by simply inserting or removing the earphones from the ear, also a function that can be activated or deactivated from the app settings.
For example, we could decide to enable the skip of the track on the right earpiece with double TAP and perhaps with the same command, on the left, call up the virtual assistant. The touch controls were always responsive and particularly simple to perform. Another positive thing to report is the fact that the individual earphones can be used separately, although in this case we should decide which touch control to prefer.
Ok, nice design and touch & feel but on balance how do these wireless headphones sound? First of all it must be said that the VIVO TWS Neo offer 14,2 mm drivers with an impedance of 32Ω and a practically zero latency, in fact we are talking about a value of only 88 ms, which allows us through the Bluetooth 5.2 connection compatible with HFP protocols / AVRCP / A2DP and Qualcomm's integrated chipset with support for the APT-X Adaptive / AAC / SBC codec to enjoy exceptional sound as well as being able to take advantage of the small earphones even for gaming sessions. Powerful sound without ever distorting at maximum listening volumes, a presence of bass but without exaggerating, overall a harmony of the frequencies of the sound spectrum that materializes in a balance of the same.
But the VIVO TWS Neo not only sound good but allow you to take advantage of the aforementioned qualities even for calls, returning a crystal clear sound and free of noise and / or background rustles, also avoiding the annoying distance effect typical of this category of products. Of course, given the conformity of the design of the drivers, there is no sort of active noise cancellation, even if the particularly noisy backgrounds are not perceived during the call phase, thanks to the beamforming microphones, present on each headset, equipped with AI noise canceling technology and cVc.
Finally, the transmission distance in open field of 15 meters is particularly appreciable, but even inside my home I have not seen any problems, for example, moving to the balcony of the house to smoke a cigarette, leaving the smartphone with active music on the desk in the dining room. , divided from the balcony by 1 room and window, left closed so as not to let smoke into the house.
VIVO landed in Italy has given the exclusive sale of its products to the Euronics distribution chain, which offers these TWS headphones at the price of 129 euros, in line with the quality and functions offered by the product, but not particularly aggressive and competitive. But fortunately we can find the VIVO TWS Neo on store like Gearbest e Banggood who offer them at a much lower price than the Italian market. In fact, we go down to about 55 euros for the first store or 70 euros for the second via Coupon.
Conclusions
Overall, VIVO TWS Neo are positioned in a market practically crowded with more or less valid headphones. On the plus side, we have the possibility to exploit all the potentialities even with smartphones of a brand different from the VIVO brand but also with iOS, although in this case we do not have the application with which to customize the touch controls. Unique and beautiful design, simple and functional touch controls, excellent autonomy and really high quality sound certainly push us to recommend and promote you with flying colors, especially considering the price offered by the stores Gearbest e Banggood.
