I’m a reluctant Apple fanboy. I don’t buy every latest generation of their products, but I’m deep in the ecosystem. I have a MacBook Air for work on-the-go, a Mac Mini as my main workstation at home, an iPad, an iPhone, AirPods Pro, and the most recent addition was an Apple Watch SE. The seamless transfer of information from one to another (like copying text on the browser from my Mac Mini, then pasting it on my Notes in the iPhone) and the almighty AirDrop got me hook, line, and sinker.
I’ve heard about the Ugreen HiTune Max5C a couple of years ago. At the time, I didn’t pay much attention to it because my thought was “how can this charger brand be good in the audio game?” I’m an avid fan of their chargers, cables, and extension ports but headphones, especially true-wireless ones? That’s too far from their expertise, it can’t be good.
My opinion changed when members of a local audiophile group I’m a part of began raving about it. They’re saying it sounds good, build quality is okay, and most importantly – it’s cheap. I had my doubts as this same group has failed me before in the audio game. What they regarded as good is subpar to me. Still, my desire to listen to noise while my wife is sleeping, combined with a Lazada sale, and a recent paycheck from a writing gig prompted me to finally give up PHP 849 pesos for it.
The build and finish of the headphone is typical of Ugreen. It’s made of high-grade plastic, has a matte finish, and has a substantial weight for a good feel. Not too light to be disregarded, not too heavy to be cumbersome. Even the bendable joint for the ear cups are made of plastic. The headband has a slim stainless reinforcement though. Ugreen made sure it’s tough where it’s crucial. Time will tell though if the faux leather earcups will last long.
Aside from the weight, I immediately liked the feel of the headphones on my big head. It has the right amount of clamp for a secure seal, while the cups are big and deep enough to cover your whole ear. The clamp, combined with the light weight, helps maintain its placement. I am yet to experience the headphone digging into my head like the other true-wireless headphones I’ve tried.
Connecting is surprisingly quick. I turned it on, looked for it on my Mac, and it’s off to the races. Only you have to disconnect it from a working device if you want to use it with a second device. I disconnected it from my Mac so I can use it with my iPhone because – you can only download the app on a mobile device and not on a desktop.
The app initially wants you to register but you can use it without an account. There, you can set the headphone’s preset equalizer, noise cancelling setting, what the headphone’s button does, and activate Dual Link. Having it on means you can switch from 2 devices without disconnecting. Once that was good, it was almost Apple-ish in its jump from Mac to iPhone and vice-versa. You won’t even have to bother with it again.
Now for the star of the show – sound quality. It was bass heavy by default as the equalizer was set to Bass. There’s no customizable graphic equalizer but “Classical” is the closest to a flat EQ. It’s not Audio Technica M50x flat but it’s close. For once, the audio group has recommended a really good product.
It went through my usual suspects. Bad Guy by Billie Eilish had the punchy kick, a warm bass synth, without losing details for the accents. Bleed by Meshuggah didn’t sound like a mess despite the consistent double-pedal assault, while Pantera’s Domination wasn’t fatiguing to listen to with its crispy cymbals in the recording. It also went through more layered music like Daft Punk’s Contact and Dream Theater’s Stream of Consciousness and in both scenarios, everything was clear.
Every song I played sounded really good and it’s all because Ugreen decided to focus on a thing that many “cheap” brands miss – soundstage. Where others sound like everything is happening just outside your ears, the HiTune sounds like you’re listening to speakers that are an arm’s length away. Take note, I did not activate the Spatial thingy since any bells will mean shorter battery life. Still, it has a naturally good sound stage. The only downside to this is you can now differentiate between good and bad audio especially when listening to podcasts. You’ll hear the ones who do not use good mics. I think that means welcome to the audiophile club.
Speaking of, the mic is decent at best. It picks up a lot of background noise although the voice of the user still comes out on top. If you’re in a room, then it would definitely sound better but outdoors, you’ll need to increase the volume a bit. I haven’t tested it with jeepneys and tricked out motorcycles so experience with those will vary.
Movies, anime, and series also sound great. It’s not surround-sound good but it has flawless implementation of stereo sound. Cars zooming past you will go from left to right or vice-versa, and minute details are heard despite the explosions.
As for battery life, I haven’t even charged this yet. It came with 70% charge out of the box and now, after 6-8 hours of total usage (sorry I lost count), is still at 60%. Take note I’m not using the Artificial Noise Cancellation as well as Spatial Audio.
All things considered, I think the Ugreen HiTune Max5C is a great headphone for the price. It’s true-wireless, very light on the head, has a great sound quality, and a usable mic for those emergency calls that we need to take. Any imperfections you might notice will induce guilt as the value for the price is too high. It’s no AirPods Max but I’m not gassed for one after having this. Best of all, you can fold this one unlike that handbag from Apple.
