So many QCY melobuds it’s hard to keep track but in the spirit of being thorough I had to get my hands on this, the QCY melobuds N20. In hand, it’s very similar to the Melobuds N70, but I guess you can say that about pretty much any QCY bud seeing they’ve stuck to a particular design style.
In this review I’m gonna get down dirty with it to see how good it is and how it stacks up to QCY’s expansive range of similar looking, similar-performing TWS earbuds.
Design
The N20 is certainly different, more than anything this looks like the Melobuds N70. It’s the same form factor but I can tell very quickly that the quality of the build material is different – from first impressions it seems like lower quality stuff.
It’s not terrible but as someone who owns the Melobuds N70, N60, N50 etc… I can tell you that this, for me, looks like QCYs cheapest feeling bud. Again, it’s not terrible, in fact I’ll pick this over the Soundpeats C30 if I were to choose, just that I know QCY does better.
Stacked up against my Melobuds N70 so you can that the joints between the panels are more visible on the N20. You can also see how smooth the joints are on the N70, and when you look at the glossy side panel trim on the N70 you can see that it’s well rounded off compared to the N20, in person it even feels even feels rougher to touch.
Then there’s a hole somewhere on the bottom side of the stalk of the N20 and it goes through and through, not sure what exactly is the thought behind that but for me it makes the buds look cheap. You can check out the YouTube video to see that particular hole.
The carry case is standard issue QCY carry case practically the same thing you’d get on the N60 and N50, only this time they’ve stuck with a full plastic top cover compared to the glossy finish on the N60. I didn’t really like the glossy finish on the N60 when I first had that bud but with both in hand now I can see the appeal.
Somehow it feels sturdier and more durable and the look has sort of grown on me. All I’m trying to say is the glossy panel is deffo better and QCY probably just cheaped out on the N20 by opting for this regular top cover.
Fit and comfortability
The fit on the N20 is pretty snug and you’d expect that since this is essentially a copy of the N70’s form factor.
Comfortability, great as well. These buds weigh about 4.8g that’s 0.4g lesser than the N70 and probably one of QCY’s lightest buds. They seat in ear nicely and ear fatigue with them on is minimal at worst.
Feature list
On these buds you’re getting:
- Active noise cancellation
- An IPX4 rating
- Bluetooth 6.0
- Touch controls
Two major things missing here: Support for hifi audio codec, typically that’s LDAC on QCY buds and fast pair tech. These are stuff you’d find on current gen buds like the N70 and N60 and considering this is supposed to be part of the current generation QCY buds, sort of a let down.
Personally I really love fast pair tech, so it’s something I sorta look out for on buds I buy and plan to use. It just makes using the bud much more intuitive. LDAC audio you need a compatible device to truly enjoy the benefits I guess but on paper that’s also something you want on your bud.
Now unto what these buds have starting with ANC.
Active noise cancellation
Per QCY this houses a 50dB system that’s better than the 46dB system on the Melobuds Pro, at least on paper. In the real world however I had a hard time picking up any difference in the ANC performance between both.
Overall it’s a solid system tho. Does a great job of silencing background noise in my living room, that’s including the TV in background at about 70% volume, some talk on and about and my very noisy robo vac. I can still hear the robo vac but it’s definitely more tolerable.
Outdoors ANC performance is great as well, comparable to and probably matching the stuff you’d get on Melobuds N70, which are pretty good with outdoor ANC. So you can expect this to block random background chatter, traffic noise, light machinery, all of that stuff to a reasonable extent.
Very impressively this did a great job at essentially blocking out the background hum from the AC unit in my studio, something I’ve not been able to replicate on a couple buds I’ve been testing recently.
So as far as ANC goes these are one of the best buds to get at this price point in my opinion.
IPX4 rating
IPX4 means these are only rated to handle some level of water ingress the kind that’ll happen if you accidentally dip them in a cup of water, or expose them to your sweat while on a workout routine, that kinda stuff. X in the IPX4 means they’re not rated to be dust proof in any way.
Most buds on the market come with better IP ratings these days, the Soundpeats C30 for all its flaws is IP54 rated, and the fancy guys CMF have, I think, IP55 protection on all their stuff. So this is someplace QCY is definitely lagging behind, because this IPX4 rating is what you’d get on pretty much all their buds, including the N70.
As far as the practicality of it goes what I’ll say is I’ve had my Melobuds Pro which has the same IPX4 rating as the N20 for more than 6 months now and I’ve pretty much subjected it to the same water and dust treatment as the other buds with better ratings (maybe even more cos I use the Melobuds Pro more). It has taken everything to the chin and is still working perfectly just like the other buds with a higher rating.
Touch controls
The N20 spots QCY’s now very familiar touch control system and what’s good about QCY’s system is it’s very responsive and very accurate – literally every intentional touch gets registered and is registered exactly how you intended it to be.
So one touch to pause gets picked as one touch to pause and when you double tap to change the song, it doesn’t think it’s a single tap sometimes like you’d find on some cheap buds.
Sound quality
How’s the sound performance on the cheapest QCY bud you can buy right now – the Melobuds N20? Short answer great. But you’re here for the long answer so let’s get into that.
Pretty balanced sound profile, all things considered and you’ll come to expect that from most of the stuff QCY puts out. So this has a healthy mix of bass, trebles and mids, nothing is overshadowing the other.
Bass is awesome. Very punchy and very filling and by filling I mean its deep of the variety that will make your favorite hip hop song or for me, Amanpiano song come off with enough umphh to make you ‘feel’ the song.
Mids are decent, these buds have a good enough representation of low and high mids so that most songs come off with very engaging instrumentals and a vocal note that really realistic.
That said you can definitely see why this is priced cheaper than the Melobuds Pro or the N60 because it doesn’t have as smooth or warm a rendition of mids as either of those two buds. Don’t get me wrong the N20 is as engaging and immersive as you’d expect for a budget TWS earbud, certainly better than the Soundpeats C30 but if you’ve been spoiled by the absolute peach that is the Pro, or the N60 or N70 you will notice a little teeny weeny bit of thinness on your favorite songs.
The clarity or separation of the overall soundstage is also not quite at the level of the Melobuds Pro. But it is still way past acceptable levels and nice enough these carry on with QCY’s trademark impressive surround sound and detail. Presence on these buds is great, paired to that superb detail and surround sound these buds every time took me into the zone with detail heavy songs like Labor by Paris Poloma.
On that particular song there’s a hook midway I like to reference in most of my reviews and on this bud the presentation is not as warm or woody as what you’d get on the Melobuds Pro or N60 but it’s still silky smooth and still very immersive.
Call quality
QCY says this ship with an AI powered six mic system. No info on what AI powered actually means or does but I can count only two mics. They always put six mics on the product pages for these buds but I’ve never been able to count actual six mics.
Anyways, these are good buds for taking calls. That superb ANC system on board does wells to block off background noise when in call and even though I counted only two mics they work very well to pick up voice audio regardless of the setting. They’re good in noisy environments, in traffic and pretty everywhere else you’d need to take a call.
You can check out the YouTube vid for samples of how the Mic sounds.
The QCY app
When I first downloaded the QCY app the only real complaint I had was they required you to sign up and provide an email before using the app. Now though, I’ve used the app for months and I can tell you that it’s the worst companion app out there. Like, it really is the worst.
First off I can count how many times this app just crashed out of nowhere. I’m using my phone, doing other stuff and all of a sudden I’m getting notifications saying the QCY app has crashed. I wasn’t even connected to a QCY bud, why is the app running in the background and why is it running and crashing when I’m not connected to a QCY bud!
If you want to do sneaky things, do it without getting caught.
Secondly, I can count the number of time I connected my devices via bluetooth and moved on to the app to maybe change a setting only for me to see that the app hasn’t recognized the device. The next thing is I have to play a game of cat and mouse to get the app to recognize the frigging device. Very annoying.
Eventually it will recognize the device but I’d rather spend my time bashing buds from soundpeats than troubleshooting QCY connection issues.
The only good news is these issues have sorta stoped the last few weeks. No idea why, but if you do get a QCY bud and encounter them don’t be surprised.
Now the app itself when it’s working like it should is not bad. You get a;
- Status tab that provides an overview of the bud’s current state
- Sound tab where you can customize the EQ, noise cancellation mode and sound left right sound balance
- Settings tab that provides even more granular control, you can configure the touch inputs and map then to your preferred action, find your earbuds if they get missing, enable sleep mode or gaming mode and perform software updates.
I’ve already talked about the fact that they make you provide your email before you can use the app which is a practice all earbud manufacturers should ditch.
Battery life
Battey life on the N20 is great. On a single charge you can expect up to 6 hours of active listening time if you’ve got ANC turned on. With ANC off you can get up to 8 hours of active listening time.
No wireless charging not that anyone expected these to come with wireless charging anyway.
What’s good, what’s bad
All that said what’s good and what’s bad on the N20
What’s good
- Good audio quality
- Good design and build even though it’s one step below buds like the N70
- Comfortable buds all things said
- Good battery life
What’s bad
- That trashy QCY app
- No fast pair tech.
Should you buy the QCY melobuds N20?
So the issue is if I was on a budget and I needed great sounding buds, my first thought would be the QCY Melobuds Pro. Better sounding buds and slightly better build quality in my opinion.
However, I don’t know if it was my review or the many others out there praising the Pro but somehow that bud now costs north of $30 a piece last time I checked. Which is not bad, it’s worth that money but a time not so long ago you could snatch one off AliExpress for about $20 bucks.
The new $20 budget bud on the market is the N20 and if I were to buy a cheap earbud and I didn’t have the extra 10 bucks for the Melobuds pro then yeah, I’d get this. If you have the extra money please buy the Pro, it’s better than this and in many ways you’d definitely notice over time.
