** As an affiliate, I make money when readers purchase items through my links. **
Once upon a time, I was scrolling through Amazon looking for the next pair of earbuds to review. Then I saw something that stopped me in my tracks…
Yes, folks, you read that right. Over 9000 of these bad boys sold in the past month with a 4.5-star average rating from over 7600 reviews!
They must be the best earbuds ever made, especially for the value-to-cost ratio. Or so I hoped.
The specs are compelling, too:
- 60 hours of playtime (versus the 50 hours from the previous generation)
- LED power display
- USB C and wireless charging
- Touch control
- ‘Sweatproof’ IPX5 rating
Honestly, except for the wireless charging, those specs aren’t that compelling, but alas, for $30, they’re decent features at this price point.
So I bought a pair of these mysterious Zingbird X15 wireless earbuds and patiently awaited the day Amazon delivered them to my door.
Unboxing and First Impressions
The earbuds arrived in a small box which I actually appreciate (I have a ton of headphone and earbud boxes and they take up a lot of room).
Inside the box, I found a fancy reflective warranty card, the case and earbuds, a user manual, a short USB C to USB A charging cable, and small and large size ear tip replacements (the mediums are already on the earbuds). It’s the typical contents of a basic set of earbuds.
If you’re particular about smudge marks and fingerprints on your case, then you’re going to be sorely disappointed in these. The case is made from probably the most fingerprint-prone plastic I’ve ever seen. I tried so hard to keep my fingerprints off them to take a good picture but it was impossible.
However, I liked seeing the charging percentage of the case and the indication that both earbuds are charging. It’s a subtle yet convenient feature.
Design and Build Quality
The earbuds look like a sleek, futuristic version of AirPods Pro (which I prefer over the boringly drab white of all Apple’s AirPods).
The case feels OK, considering I expected a much lower quality of plastic. This one feels sturdy enough considering the price.
As for the earbuds themselves, the black portion that makes up most of each bud feels like the same plastic the case is made of. The gray section that goes down the front of the buds has a nice texture to it. Fortunately, that’s where the touch sensors are so no complaints from me.
The USB C charging port is on the bottom of the case so if you have a charging stand for your phone that has an area for earbuds, these will sit nicely.
Comfort and Fit
I fully expected the X15s to immediately fall out of my ears the moment I wore them. This style of earbud never stays in my ears for some reason. I know what you’re thinking, but no, I don’t have misshapen ears. It’s because my ear canals hate me. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when I see my daughter wearing her AirPods all day and I feel jealous.
Surprisingly, these stayed in my ears while I tested them out at my desk. So far, so good.
But then I got a call.
About a minute into talking to my grandmother, the left bud fell out. Then the right. So I’m pretty sure if you’re a monk, quiet stoic, or have taken a vow of silence, these are perfect for you. Otherwise, the second your jaw moves to talk, you’re going to spend time looking for them on the floor like I did. I wouldn’t even dream of wearing these at the gym, office, etc.
Sound Quality
Apart from whether any given earbud stays in my ear, the sound quality is the most important aspect of assessing headphones and earbuds. Here was a chance for these Zingbird X15s to shine.
After reading these reviews, I started putting these earbuds on a pedestal. They must sound great/good/fantastic/nice!
So I paired them to my phone (an iPhone 14). Damn, they paired quickly! No joke – I was impressed.
Now for the sound test. I have a few test tracks I use on a Spotify playlist, so I put the earbuds in my ears, hit the shuffle button on Spotify, and waited to be ‘wowed’.
And waited.
And waited.
Three songs later, I realized I’d been duped.
But wait! Spotify has an EQ customizer! I’ve adjusted EQ in the past and turned some mediocre-sounding earbuds and headphones into great/good/fantastic/nice ones. Maybe that’s all it would take to get these performing well…
So did the EQ changes work? Heck no.
The highs and mids sounded like my music was being run through a cheese grater. Ok, I’m exaggerating a bit but goodness gracious these are probably the worst pair of earbuds I’ve ever listened to. The bass wasn’t bad – boy was there a ton of bass. Of course, the worst-sounding earbuds and headphones seem to always overcompensate with deep bass.
I tried listening to hip-hop, classic rock, classical, and much more, to see if there was one genre these things excelled at. None sounded remotely enjoyable. The soundstage is non-existent. Instrument separation? Ha! Yeah right.
Oh, and these don’t have any noise cancelation. Nor do they include an app to customize the sound experience. Again, for $30, I wouldn’t expect them to.
Battery Life and Connectivity
Finally, an area where the Zingbird X15s stand out (in a good way)! According to the manufacturer (or at least their Amazon product page), the earbuds should last 5 hours on a single charge (outside of the charging case). You can use the case to recharge the battery up to 5 times before you need to recharge the case itself. That’s a total of 60 hours of use between case charges.
Not bad!
Normally I’d spend a couple of hours testing the manufacturer’s claims for battery life, but with this pair of earbuds turning out to be so lackluster, I chose to forgo the test as a needless waste of time.
As for Bluetooth connectivity, the X15s impressed me. I had no issues connecting them to my phone for the first time. All I had to do was open the case lid, open the Bluetooth settings on my phone, select ‘X15’ as the device to pair with, and I was off to the races.
I previously mentioned how quickly they paired with my iPhone and each time I opened the case lid, they’d reconnect just as fast.
Another surprise was how easy it was to talk to Siri. You shouldn’t have any issues with giving voice commands to your favorite virtual assistant. I assumed that meant the microphones sounded good, but I had to test them to confirm. First I called my wife briefly to make sure she could actually hear me. I must have sounded normal because she couldn’t tell I was using a Bluetooth connection. Next, I spoke with my grandmother and that call went well, too (except for when the earbuds both fell out).
Functionality and Controls
According to the user manual, here are the controls:
Power On/Off
The earbuds automatically power on when you open the case lid (assuming they’re still in the case). Once you put both earbuds in the case and close the lid the earbuds power off automatically.
You can manually power these on by ‘long tapping’ on the touch control area for 2 seconds. Basically what that means is you touch the space directly under the oval side speaker on each earbud and hold that touch down for at least 2 seconds. To power them off manually, use the same process but instead of 2 seconds, you have to hold that touch for 5 seconds until they flash red then power off.
Pairing
For two-earbud (typical) use, simply open the case and then go to the Bluetooth settings on your phone. Look for a device called ‘X15’ and pair it with them. That’s it.
If you only want to use a single earbud, take that earbud out of the case and close the case lid. Follow the same process as above by going to your phone’s Bluetooth settings and add the ‘X15’ device.
Phone Call Control
To answer or end calls, simply double-tap on either earbud. To reject a call, long press on either earbud for 2 seconds.
Music
Music control is fairly straightforward:
- Play/pause: Single tap on either earbud.
- Volume up: Long press on the right earbud.
- Volume down: Long press on the left earbud.
- Voice assistant: Quick triple-tap on either earbud.
- Next track: Double tap on the right earbud.
- Previous track: Double tap on the left earbud.
X15 vs. Tozo Tonal Dots (T12)
If you’re going to spend around $30 on a pair of earbuds, you might as well get the best ones for the money. Therefore, I cannot in good faith recommend the X15s when there is an assortment of Tozo earbuds to choose from. My current recommendation is the Tozo Tonal Dots (T12). Actually, Tozo has been and continues to be my favorite earbud brand. They fit an amazing amount of modern features for the price and they sound great.
| Zingbird X15 | Tozo Tonal Dots | |
| Earbud Charging Interval | 5 hours | 15 hours |
| Custom EQ App | No | Yes |
| Waterproof Rating | IPX5 | IPX8 |
| Sound Quality | Poor | Great |
| Average Amazon Price | $30 | $35 |
Final Verdict
It’s probably obvious where my verdict lands with these Zingbird X15s. Epic fail. Except for wireless charging, they offer the most basic of features on earbuds. They sound terrible. The case always looks dirty. I have no idea how these things reached the Best Seller list on Amazon (for earbuds). How can 9000 people possibly be satisfied with these every month?
Hopefully, they’ll find this article and website in the future so I can help them get much more value for their money. Until the next review, thanks for reading!
If, for some reason, you love lousy earbuds, you can grab a pair on Amazon here! 🤣
