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Rovking V1 Headphones Review

Tested using Methodology v0.9
Reviewed Aug 01, 2016 at 11:54 am
Rovking V1 Picture
6.2
Mixed Usage
5.2
Critical Listening
6.4
Commute/Travel
6.7
Sports/Fitness
6.3
Office
6.4
Home Theater

The Rovking V1 are basic in-ear headphones. They're lightweight, compact, and stable enough for sports use. However, they feel cheaply made and not durable. They have subpar sound and poorly block the ambient noise of loud environments.

Our Verdict

6.2 Mixed Usage

Decent for mixed usage. Although they have a poor sound reproduction, they're lightweight, compact, and stable enough for sports use and regular everyday activities.

Pros
  • Minimal leakage.
  • Lightweight and stable design.
Cons
  • Cheap build quality.
  • Poor audio reproduction.
  • In-ear fit not comfortable for everyone.
5.2 Critical Listening

Not designed for the critical listener. They have a poor sound quality, a closed in-ear design that limits soundstage, and they're way too bass-heavy.

6.4 Commute/Travel

Average for commuting. They don't block as much noise as some other in-ear headphones but, depending on the volume at which you play your audio, the passive isolation could be sufficient.

6.7 Sports/Fitness

Above-average budget sports headphones. They lack a decent control scheme, but they're small and easy to carry around on your person, wherever you go. They also have a stable ear hook design that prevents them from easily falling out of your ears during exercise.

6.3 Office

Decent for office use. They have weak noise isolation and will only block some of the office chatter. However, they won't be audible to the people around you even at higher volumes.

6.4 Home Theater

Decent for home theater use. They have no latency but a short audio cable. This means the lack of range won't be ideal for watching TVs on your couch unless you have an audio cable extension cord. They also have a below-average sound that's a bit too bass-heavy and drowns out voices when watching videos.

  • 6.2 Mixed Usage
  • 5.2 Critical Listening
  • 6.4 Commute/Travel
  • 6.7 Sports/Fitness
  • 6.3 Office
  • 6.4 Home Theater
  1. Updated Aug 01, 2016: Review published.
  2. Updated Jul 30, 2016: Our testers have started testing this product.
  3. Updated Jun 27, 2016: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Test Results

Design
Design
Style
Type In-ear
Enclosure Closed-Back
Wireless No
Transducer Dynamic
Mic Yes

The Rovking V1 are simple and straightforward in-ear headphones. They come in an understated all-black color scheme and have a hook design that gives them a more sporty appeal. However, the hooks, like the build quality of these headphones, look thin and a little cheap.

6.5
Design
Comfort
Weight 0.04 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs

The Rovking V1 have a regular in-ear fit that may not be comfortable for everyone. Their ear-hook-like design means the audio cable will go behind your ears, but it's very thin and does not affect their comfort level. However, the tips will put a little pressure on the ear canal, which can get bothersome during long listening sessions.

5.0
Design
Controls
Ease of use N/A
Feedback N/A
Call/Music Control Yes
Volume Control No
Noise Canceling Control N/A
Talk-Through N/A
Additional Buttons N/A

The Rovking V1 have a decent control scheme that provides a call/music button and a volume switch. It's not optimized for all phones, but the switch remembers your previous volume level on iOS devices. Unfortunately, this doesn't give you full control over the volume, which can be a little frustrating. Also, the buttons are a little small.

7.0
Design
Stability

The Rovking V1 are above-average stable headphones. They have an ear-hook design that provides a bit more stability than standard in-ear models. Sadly, the hook design is as thin as the cable, which may not be sturdy enough to keep the headphones attached to your ears during high-intensity exercises at the gym.

8.5
Design
Portability
L 3.74"
W 1.57"
H 1.18"
Volume 6.98 in³
Stand required N/A

The Rovking V1 are very portable headphones. They easily fit in most pockets, bags, or purses, and they're small enough to carry on your person without hassle. Their hook design doesn't add much bulk to headphones when folded. They don't come with a case or pouch, which is slightly disappointing.

0
Design
Case
Type No case
6.0
Design
Build Quality

Build quality is average. These headphones are sufficiently lightweight, and the earbuds are dense enough to handle a couple of drops without getting damaged. However, the audio cable is ordinary and of average thickness, which may not be as durable as some of the rubberized or flat cables that other in-ear models have. Their ear-hook design is also very thin and cheap.

8.9
Design
Breathability
Avg.Temp.Difference 1.1 °C
Design
Cable
Detachable No
Length 4.13 ft
Connection 1/8" TRS
Design
Front
Design
Angled
Design
Side
Design
Rear
Design
Top
Design
In The Box

  • Rovking V1 headphones
  • 4x earbud tips
  • Manual

Sound
4.8
Sound
Bass
Std. Err.
7.74 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
10 Hz
Low-Bass
10.24 dB
Bass
8.31 dB
High-Bass
6.09 dB
5.4
Sound
Mid
Std. Err.
6.14 dB
Low-Mid
1.12 dB
Mid
-5.57 dB
High-Mid
-8.7 dB
4.6
Sound
Treble
Std. Err.
6.37 dB
Low-Treble
-5.6 dB
Treble
-3.76 dB
High-Treble
-6.79 dB
2.2
Sound
Soundstage
PRTF Error
12 dB
Openness
4.2
Acoustic Space Excitation
1.8
Correlated Crosstalk
-0.36 dB
7.9
Sound
Imaging
Phase Error
28.49°
Driver Mismatch (Amplitude)
1.37 dB
Driver Mismatch (Frequency)
1.82 dB
Driver Mismatch (Phase)
9.9°
9.9
Sound
Total Harmonic Distortion
Weighted THD @ 90
0.018
Weighted THD @ 100
0.006
Isolation
7.3
Isolation
Noise Isolation
Overall Attenuation
-17.94 dB
Noise-Cancelling No
Bass
-4.14 dB
Mid
-17.77 dB
Treble
-34.9 dB
Self-Noise
0 dB

Average isolation. Since these in-ears don't have active noise cancellation, the provided passive isolation is quite impressive. They achieve good isolation in the treble range and above-average isolation in the mid range. In the bass range, they achieve about 4dB of isolation, which, although quite impressive for a passive design, is noticeably inferior to what high-end active noise cancelling headphones can achieve.

8.2
Isolation
Leakage
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
32.17 dB

Excellent leakage performance. The majority of the leakage is happening between 2KHz and 7KHz, which is on the wide side compared to most in-ears. However, the overall level of leakage is so low that it wouldn't be an issue in almost all situations.

Active Features
0
Active Features
Wireless
Type
N/A
Obstructed Range
N/A
Line of Sight Range
N/A
NFC
No
10
Active Features
Latency
Base Latency
0 ms
aptX Latency
N/A
aptX(LL) Latency
N/A
not tested
Active Features
Battery
Battery Type
N/A
Battery Life
N/A
Charge Time
N/A
Auto-off
N/A
Audio while charging
N/A
Passive Playback
N/A
0
Active Features
App Support

No compatible app.