For what is perhaps the first time ever a QCY bud ships with wireless charging, you can take that to be QCY saying this is different, the Melobuds N70 is not just another run of the mill in ear TWS earbud from our sweatshop.
I bought this along with the N60 and when it arrived with a similar packaging and look to the N60 (the same packaging and look practically all recent gen QCY buds have) I’d concluded that this was just another minor upgrade but boy was I wrong.
Design
It starts with the design, pretty much all QCY buds I’ve tested before this have just been good looking and well made, you could tell that somehow the manufacturer was trying to cut costs if you looked closely enough. With Melobuds N70 however the story is entirely different, these are genuinely one of the most premium looking buds on the market in this category now, certainly the most premium looking in ear bud from QCY.
And it’s all about the details, the design is base point QCY in ear bud design but look at the black of this two tone design with its cool satin like finish. Even the glossy finish has a new level of exactness to it Then take a look at this contact points for charging before they were essentially after thoughts but now with the placement and the finish you can tell they’re an intentional design element on the N70.
In hand they feel premium too. The form factor for these buds is now more compact not as chunky as the N60 even though both weigh the same 5.3g.
Nowhere is the overhaul in design to more premium levels more apparent than on the carry case. Never thought Id see a QCY carry case that was this smooth in my lifetime it’s approaching and probably matching Soundcore levels of good. Again they applied the satin finish to the case, and this matte silver stripe running round just accentuates the premium feel even better. And did I mention these have wireless charging, yeah I did but more on that later.
You can tell that QCY really went to town with the N70 because for the first time in recent time, you get QCY branding on both the buds and the carry case. I actually hate brand lettering on my buds but no way QCY staying ambiguous with who made this bud this time, so they get a pass from me this time.
Fit and comfortability
Given the refreshed form factor I couldn’t wait to try these on. The good news is they fit even more securely than your typical QCY bud. Using them at home and I didn’t have to tug them in every other hour or so when I had them on for prolonged periods. Even when walking, no issues, they stay put.
Now even though form factor for these buds seem trimmed down at least compared to something like the Melobuds N50 or 1More’s Q21 they still feel full in ear. Certainly not as comfortable as the Soundcore liberty 5 or any of the open ear buds I’ve tested so far.
You’d expect that feeling of fullness to overt ear fatigue over time and that’s exactly what happens. If you have these on for anything above 3 hours you’re gonna get ear fatigue or some form of it at the very least.
Features
The N70 packs an impressive for the price feature list. You’re getting:
- HiRes LDAC audio
- Active noise cancelation
- IPX5 rating
- Touch controls
- Wireless charging
- Proximity sensing
- Bluetooth 6.0
- Fast pair technology
The inclusion of wireless charging pretty much makes this the most feature full in ear buds at this price point above buds like Soundcore’s Liberty 5 or Haylou’s Mori Pro. But which of these features actually improve the user experience of the N70 and make them better off than those two other options for instance?
Fast pair tech
Wasn’t really offered on previous gen QCY buds like the N50 so refreshing to see it here – you can also get it on the N60. It allows the buds to contextually pair to nearby devices with intuitive prompts. It just makes using these buds all the more smoother.
With the buds close to my Pixel 9 Pro automatically there’s a prompt asking me to connect for the first time because they’re closeby. Afterwards I can seamlessly connect them to any of my other Android devices with one touch provided they’re on the same Google account.
LDAC Audio
Support for LDAC audio means these buds are capable of streaming audio with high bitrates up to 990kbps for even above tier audio quality. This impact of this is very apparent in how these buds perform sound wise but more on that soon.
Proximity sensing/touch controls
Both proximity sensing and touch controls are what you’d expect on a bud at this price point and they work flawlessly on the N70. Proximity sensing means the buds can detect when they’re in ear or not and appropriately pause or resume playback. Touch controls on the N70, as it is for most QCY buds is simple and intuitive, more importantly it works 99% of the time.
IPX5 rating
An IPX5 means this can handle some light exposure to water, so sweat, light rainfall, maybe an accidental splash all covered. Here’s me spritzing them down continuously for a minute or so. Cleaned them up and they were for good for use immediately after.
Active noise cancellation
The N70 is rated to effectively handle noises below the 56dB range. This means these buds should be able to suppress most of the noise you’d encounter in the common listening environments you’d find yourself with them on – a busy marketplace, busy outdoor settings, a noisy room and the likes.
In my relatively noisy living room thanks to my TV, I can barely hear any of the audio out of the TV even with the volume at up to 70%, when it gets above 70% some it does leak through.
Out in the park and it pretty much isolates me from whatever is going on in the background sound wise. This is with the ANC setting on Adaptive. You can set it to transparent which allows some of the background audio in so you’re contextually aware of your surroundings.
Sound quality
The N70 has what I’ll describe as QCY’s most balanced soundstage yet with full on representation of bass, trebles, mids all in very equal parts. Refreshing to experience because somehow they managed to upstage the bass on its immediate predecessor, the N60 and I had a feeling that would extend to the N70. Thankfully they didn’t, not that the N60 is a bad sounding bud anyway.
This is also QCY’s bud with the highest quality in detail, the bass is super deep and punchy, you can literally hear the mids piercing through that bass with pristine.. crispness, and trebles just come off extraordinarily precise you can feel the notes hit… exactly how the artist intended to deliver them.
Here’s me listening to Bad Romance and what these buds do with vocals is just ethereal and that’s for both male and female voices. I was literally in the zone with Lady Gaga. Same case with Can’t feel my face by The WeekNd, the detail is so clear you’re paced and in sync with the artist almost as if you’re in the same room listening to them perform.
Part of what makes the details on these buds shine through is just how separated the soundstage or better put the level of clarity on each component of the soundstage. So bass doesn’t get tangled up with the mids, nor do the mids interfere with the trebles and this consistent across all volume levels – there’s practically no distortion in the sound out put even when you crank these up to 100% and that’s saying a lot for a bud at this price point.
Surround sound is crazy good which is something you’ll come to expect from QCY buds, that’s one of their forte. The spatial distribution of sound is on a whole other level with these in ear it’s like you’ve got two extra speakers pointing forwards at you from the back, it really is that good.
Call quality
Making and receiving calls with the N70 was great all things considered. The superb ANC on these means you can receive a call in pretty much any setting regardless of the level of background noise. And the audio quality in call is very very good so much that I’d say the buds themselves do some sort of amplification to make it up.
Per the official QCY page for these, the mic count is now 3 down from 6 on buds like the N60. I didn’t notice any depreciation in the audio output anyway.
Battery life
QCY says this will go a whole 7 hours of active listening at the minimum. I was able to replicate that but not every time, most times these thing died off at the 6 hour mark if I’m actively listening to music. On standby, they can stay on for up to 48 hours in my experience.
Overall very good numbers. But the cherry topping the cake here is the fact that these come with support for wireless charging. Pretty much unheard of in a bud at this price point so big ups to QCY here.
What’s bad, what’s good
What’s good
- Premium design
- Great sound quality
- Decent battery life
- Wireless charging on board
- Fair pricing
What’s bad
- Not too comfortable – These are one of QCY’s heaviest buds, they weigh a sizable 5.3grams. For context the Melobuds Pro from QCY too weighs just 4.3grams and if you take Soundcore’s Liberty 5 those weigh 4.2grams. Unsurprisingly that extra weight just puts some strain on your ear, you’ll consistently get ear fatigue if you use these for long enough.
Should you buy the QCY Melobuds N70?
These are arguably the most feature packed and competent buds on the market at this price point currently. Impressive design, upgrades in practically every department, sound, quality of life, battery life you name it and very impressively support for wireless charging.
It’s hard to find another bud to recommend above it, maybe the Soundcore Liberty 5 but I prefer the soundstage on these compared to those.
It has to be said however that these will set you back by a handsome 40 bucks or so. If you’ve got the money and want the creme de la creme of the budget in ear TWS earbud marketplace then yeah these are your buds.
If you save a few bucks then you should check out the 1More Q21 or the Melobuds Pro solid value for money contenders with a sound performance that comes close to matching what you’d get on the N70.
