Enacfire E18 Bluetooth Earbuds Review – Perfectly Designed

Ever since Apple first introduced the Airpods, back in 2016, Bluetooth wireless headphones and earbuds have become somewhat of a fad. Whether they are commuting, jogging or working out; people only want to be seen wearing wireless earphones. As exciting as the trend is, unfortunately, not everyone can afford to fork over the money Airpods demand.

Seeing this as a gap in the market, many companies have come up with their own iteration of Airpod inspired Bluetooth enabled earphones, at a much more convenient price tag. And today, I am gonna talk to you about a product curated from the same inspiration. So, let’s not drag this too much and directly get into Enacfire E18 Bluetooth Earbuds review.

Inside the Box

You get the earbuds in a rather simple black matte finish cardboard box with Enacfire branding on top. Inside the box you get, a standard micro USB cable for charging, a couple of extra earbud covers, an operational manual, a feedback and a thank you card, and of course earbuds inside a beautiful charging case.

While most of the contents of the box are pretty standard, I really liked the inclusion of a thank you card and a feedback card. It shows that, unlike most companies, Enacfire appreciates their customers and wants to improve the quality of their products. And, yes, I was a bit disappointed to see the micro USB cable because I was expecting a type C; but for the price these are available, a type C is maybe asking for too much.

Build Quality and Design

The pill shaped case is made out of plastic, has a matte finish on the bottom half and glossy black finish on the top. It seems to have a strong and sturdy built as compared to the Jaybird X3 sports Bluetooth in ear headphones. But I haven’t conducted any drop test and, in all honesty, I do not intend to do so anytime in the future because why risk it, right?

As you pop open the case you will find the earbuds resting peacefully inside. They come in two colors, black or white. I personally, have never been a fan of white colored smartphone accessories and bought these in black. The finish is more of a stealth black color, which makes the earbuds look more like a spy gadget and given their size, they can easily qualify to be one.

The buds are teardrop shaped and have an LED ring surrounding a circular button, on both pieces. The ring indicates connectivity and call alerts. Although these earbuds are very small, they fit really snuggly in ears. As far as quality goes, the earbuds feel really good in hand and seemingly ensure that Enacfire did not try to cut any corners here.

Something that has been bothering me ever since I got them is why there is a mic on only one of the earbuds, namely the left one. Now, I have had no complains about the call quality in that regard, which I will discuss a little later in the review but, it was something I felt, should be out there.

Connectivity and Compatibility

I have quite a few things to share about the device’s connectivity with you guys. For one, I was really happy that they offer compatibility to devices using Bluetooth 5.0 and below. Pairing of the earbuds also seems to smooth and fast. But legacy compatibility was never an issue for me and neither was the pairing.

Once paired, the earbuds connect as soon as they are removed from their case. However, it is their range of operation that I have issues with. I mean they offer wireless connectivity up to a distance of almost 10 meters easily. But this is only if you are in a confined indoor space, like your apartment or office. Outdoors, I found the connection to break at mere 10 meters or so. While they do connect automatically, once the connection is dropped, it becomes a bit of bother and you have to have the phone on you at all times if you wish to avoid this from happening.

The Control Button

The E18 offers a unique single button controls system that performs almost every function you can expect from it except one. To control your playlist, you need to press the button (on either of the earbud) once or twice, depending on the action you wish to perform. Single press pauses your current track while double press skips the track entirely.

Long pressing the button on the right earbud will turn it off while doing the same on the left one turns off both. Volume controls are missing here and you will have to reach out to your phone, or whatever device you wish to use these with, to adjust it. If you can live with that, well, you will not have a problem with these.

Sound Output and Call Quality

The main purpose behind our purchase of any kind of earphones is to enjoy good quality music through it and that is E18’s strong point. Regardless of all of its shortcomings, the Enacfire does not disappoint with its output quality.

Now, it can in no way be compared to Apple Airpods, but considering the price they come at, they are not value for money－they are a steal. The base and treble are very balanced and the overall clarity is surprising great. Their cozy fit also works in their advantage and blocks any outside sound from disturbing you once you press the play button.

Let’s talk a little about the call quality and especially the mic on these earbuds. Voice calls can easily and clearly be heard on these but I had some of friends complain about my voice. Almost all of them had a hard time hearing me and found themselves to be distracted by the sounds of my surrounding environment. This did not come as a surprise to me as the E18 has only one microphone (on the left earpiece, remember?) and considering the size of these earbuds, the mic is quite a distance away from the mouth. As far as I am concerned, I will not be using them for calls.

Battery Life

Here, I have some good news and some bad news. I’ll start with the bad first. These earbuds never lasted for more than 2 hours and 30 to 40 minutes for me, on constant use. But the good news is the charging case has its own battery built into it that holds the power of another 15 hours charge.

In simple terms, as long as your case is charged, you can charge the E18s by placing them inside the case, no USB cable needed.

Final Thoughts

I’ll give you my final verdict without beating about the bush. If you are looking to buy wireless earphones to feed your craving for Airpods, the E18 is a good choice. It’s sleek, smart, small and looks like something out of a “Mission Impossible” movie. However, they are not, in any case and scenario, recommended for voice calls in an open air environment. And the price they are available for, is just amazing. If you already own a pair of these I’d like hear your thoughts on them. And if you find my Enacfire E18 Bluetooth earbuds review useful, share the post with your friends.