Sudio E2 review: Spatial audio with hybrid ANC earbuds that lean heavily on bass

We have reviewed many different brands of earbuds, from Sennheiser to Skullcandy, so it’s always a treat to get something new in the office. Sudio is a brand I had never heard of, and I love that they exist; why? Having a choice is a good thing, and the Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds are yet another choice in a sea of audio that you can get your hands on.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

That being said, like nearly everything we review, audio is a subjective thing. What I like may not be what you like. The Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds are not entirely up my alley, but our senior editor Jason Bouwmeester would eat these up. Read on and find out why the Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds sound wasn’t my personal favorite, but they have a lot of other redeeming qualities.

Specifications

The Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds have the following features and specifications:

• Driver type: Dynamic
• Buttons: Touch panel
• Type: In-ear – True Wireless
• Microphone: 3 per side – 6 in total
• Weight:
  • Earphone: 5g
  • Charging case: 41g
  • Together: 51g
• Water protection level: IPX4
• Compatibility: Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows, Linux
• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Play Time:
  • Up to 6.5 hours (5.5 hours with Dirac Virtuo™)
  • Up to 30 hours (25 hours with Dirac Virtuo™)
• ANC + Music:
  • 4.4 hours (4 hours with Dirac Virtuo™)
  • 20 hours (18 with Dirac Virtuo™)
• Quick Charge: 10-minutes for 2-hours
• Time to full charge (mins):
  • Earphones: 60 min
  • Charging case: 60 min
  • Both together: 60 minutes
• Min/max environment temperature: 0~45°C
• Driver size: 10mm
• Impedance: 16Ω
• Sensitivity: 99dB @1.0KHz

What’s In The Box

• Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds
• Charging Cable
• Eartips
• Cleaning Cloth
• Owners Manual and Documentation

Design

Let’s start with the pill-shaped charging case. The case is similar in size to many other TWS earbuds on the market. It is very pocketable and weighs almost nothing. The Sudio branding is on the front, and there is a small LED light under that. You’ll find a reset button and USB-C charging port on the back. The hinge looks and feels sturdy, and it should hold up to plenty of opening and closing. The material feels like soft plastic, and it doesn’t seem to pick up fingerprints too bad.

Opening the case up, you’re presented with the Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds. The E2s are shaped similarly to another pair of earbuds from the fruit company. I love this design. While they are similar, they differ because the E2s still have a stem that holds the ear tip. The company includes various sizes to find the right fit; the stock tips worked perfectly for me.

Our black Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds had a lovely chrome accent that doubles as the touch controls; more on those later. The Sudio branding is on each earbud, and the buds are labeled left and right clearly.

One of the most remarkable things about the Sudio E2 earbuds is how comfortable they are. The stock ear tips were perfect for my ears; the great fit also helps with the ANC by creating an excellent seal in your ears. Another design aspect I appreciated was that the placement of the touch controls is ideal; I didn’t find myself accidentally triggering a control when adjusting or putting the earbuds in.

Overall, the design, fit, and finish are my favorite things about the Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds. These are the closest in comfort that I have used to the fruit company’s Pro earbuds.

Ease of Use

The Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds are super simple to use. There is an app included, more on that later, but you can pair these to your device without it, and they will work. Pairing is identical to most every other Bluetooth device; opening the case, remove the earbuds, look for them in your Bluetooth device list, and pair them.

The E2 earbuds employ a touch control method accessible via the chrome strip on each earbud, and here is what those controls do.

Music/video playback

• Touch once on either earbud (left or right) to play or pause
• Touch twice on the left earbud to rewind
• Touch twice on the right earbud to go forward
• Touch three times on the left earbud to decrease the volume
• Touch three times on the right earbud to increase the volume
• Touch (hold) for two seconds on the left earbud to turn Dirac spatial audio on/off. After 2 seconds, the listening mode will change, followed by 🔈 Spatial On.

Incoming phone calls

• Touch once on either earbud (left or right) to accept a phone call
• Touch (hold) for two seconds on either earbud (left or right) to reject or end a phone call*

*It’s not possible to end a call using the touch controls while using third-party conference software due to different software protocols. 

Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode

• Touch (hold) for two seconds on the right earbud to cycle between Normal mode, Active Noise Cancellation mode, and Transparency mode.

Overall, using the Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds is straightforward, and most people should have zero issues setting them up or operating them. It is important to note that the company strongly suggests fully charging the earbuds and case before using them. You should also know that plastic strips cover the charging terminals of the earbuds, and those need to be removed before use.

Sound

Let’s roll into what the Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds sound like; they are not for everyone. We’ll get a bit into the app later, but there is an app that attempts to help tune the sound to your ears.

Out of the box, the E2 earbuds are bass-heavy. I’m not a fan of overdriving the bass frequencies, and that’s what I got out of these earbuds, out of the box. If you download the app, you can choose from a handful of presets and an EQ.

There is also the option to create a sound profile, like SoundID, where the app will play a series of tones and ask you to tap the screen when you hear them. This will create a profile based on your hearing, which is supposed to be ideal for you.

I used the preset, “balanced,” to see how that sounded, and while the mids and treble frequencies improved, there was still a vast breadth of the bass present. I poked around more of the presets but found none that suited me. I also used the EQ to try and tune some of the frequencies, and again, there was some improvement, but I felt the bass was still more robust than I preferred.

I switched to creating a sound profile, and this option also gave me the same results. Some improvements in mids and treble, but still bassier than I like.

The sound from the Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds is full, and the volume is excellent. I believe those who prefer a push on the bass side will love the sound. It will likely complement rap, hip-hop, and dance music. For my taste, though, the E2 earbuds fell short.

I will give props to the hybrid ANC, Spatial Audio, and Dirac Virtuo. I think these all helped provide the soundstage with a boost, and users will like these features.

Overall, these earbuds didn’t fall into my sound preferences. I do think they will please those who are fans of bass-heavy music. I wanted the various app features to smooth things out for me, but they just did not.

Headphone Playlist

App

We went over the app in the sound section for a bit. We covered most of the features in that section, but I did want to touch on this briefly.

The app is well designed, and it does provide a lot of tools to make the earbuds your own. For me, those tools did not produce the results I wanted.

That aside, the app’s EQ feature, presets, feature, and sound profile feature are all excellent tools for users to tune the earbuds how they want them. If you want a completely flat soundstage, you won’t get it here; the bass frequencies seem to color everything.

Reception/Call Quality

Bluetooth reception is pretty standard, and I had no issues with this. The standard parameters apply here; you can only get around 30-40 feet from the source before experiencing a breakup. That distance is shortened if you get behind walls and other obstacles. The call quality is excellent; the snug fit helps block unwanted noise. The earbuds employ something called VividVoice to help make calls clearer. Overall, no issues in this category.

Battery Life

Battery life claims for the Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds are as follows:

• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Play Time:
  • Up to 6.5 hours (5.5 hours with Dirac Virtuo™)
  • Up to 30 hours (25 hours with Dirac Virtuo™)
• ANC + Music:
  • 4.4 hours (4 hours with Dirac Virtuo™)
  • 20 hours (18 with Dirac Virtuo™)
• Quick Charge: 10-minutes for 2-hours
• Time to full charge (mins):
• Earphones: 60 min
• Charging case: 60 min
• Both together: 60 minutes

I used the Sudio E2 earbuds with ANC and Dirac on all of the time and listened to music at between 40% and 60% volume. It is important to note that volume level and distance from your Bluetooth source affect battery life.

I was consistently getting over 4 hours with everything switched on, so the company’s claims are accurate. Wireless charging is included in the case, which is a huge plus. You can also quick charge the case and get 2-hours of playtime with 10-minutes of charge time.

Overall, the battery life is on par with the competition, no complaints here.

Sudio E2 Hybrid ANC Earbuds Gallery

Price/Value

The Sudio E2 hybrid ANC earbuds are priced at US$129. This is a fairly standard price point for earbuds of this quality. I think those who like more bass in their sound will be gaining a lot of value from these earbuds.

Wrap Up

This wrap up is pretty simple for me:

• Buy these if you love bass and want a great design, comfort, ANC, Dirac, Spatial Sound, and excellent battery life.
• Don’t buy these if you don’t want the bass to overtake your music.

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