SENSO ActivBuds S-250
HEADPHONES REVIEW

The Senso Bluetooth Headphones have a decent looking sporty aesthetic. They have thick and flexible ear-hooks similar to to the SoundPeats Q9A. The earbuds have a matte finish that doesn't quite look as premium as the Anker SoundBuds Curve, but the red highlights of the branding logo and multipurpose buttons make them a bit more recognizable at a distance. They also have flat audio cables which look than that of the Ankers. Unfortunately, they do not come in as many color schemes as some of the other sports-oriented headsets like the Jaybird X3, however, their understated look will work for most.

The Senso Bluetooth Headphones are decently comfortable wireless in-ears with an ear-hook design. The tips do not enter as deeply into the ear canal, which makes them a bit more comfortable than typical in-ears during long listening sessions. They also come with 4 silicone tips and a pair of memory foam tips to help you find the right fit. However, since they do not have as many tip options as the Anker SoundBuds Curve, they may not be as comfortable for everyone. Also if you're not a big fan of in-ear designs, then you may have some of the issues with these headphones.

The Senso ActivBuds S-250 have a fairly simple control scheme with good feedback. They have a multi-purpose button on the right earbud to play and pause your audio as well as answer and end calls. It also doubles as the Bluetooth pairing button when switching on the headphones. On the top side of the right earbud, they provide a volume rocker that also skips and rewind tracks, when you press and hold either the volume up or down buttons respectively.

These headphones, like most in-ears, are very breathable and won't make you sweat more than average even during more intense workout routines. They do not cover the outer ear, which remains relatively cool when running or exercising. Their ear-hook design does cover a bit more surface area than typical in-ears but it's a very negligible difference that won't raise the overall temperature of your ear by much.

The Senso ActivBuds S-250 are portable and easy-to-carry around on your person. Their ear hook design makes them a bit less compact than typical in-ears but they're still fairly small, and you can fold them to easily fit into your pockets. They also come with a decent carrying case.

The Senso Bluetooth Headphones come with a decent hard case that will protect them from minor impacts, scratches, and falls. However, the case shell is not as hard as some of the other hard cases we've tested but on the upside, it's compact and can fit into a pocket.

These headphones have a decent build quality but feel a bit cheaply made when compared to the Anker Soundbuds curve. The earbuds and ear-hooks are fairly dense and relatively sturdy, and they have flat cables that are less tangle-prone than the Ankers. However, the build quality of the earbuds feels a bit cheaper and closer to the Soundpeats Q9A than to the Curve.

The Senso Bluetooth Headphones have a stable ear-hook design that's suitable for sports. They won't easily fall off your ears thanks to the hooks. However, the tips do tend to slide out a little when running or doing more intense workouts so you may have to push them back in occasionally. On the upside, they come with a pair of memory foam tips that fit better within the ear canal, which may reduce that issue.

These headphones come with only one micro-USB charging cable.

The Senso Bluetooth headphone has a sub-par bass. LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 17Hz, which is very well-extended. Also, low-bass, responsible for thump and rumble, is within 2dB of our neutral target, which is great. However, mid-bass and high-bass are overemphasized by 6dB and 13dB respectively, which is quite poor. This makes the overall sound excessively bass-heavy and boomy.

The mid-range is poor sounding. The overall response is even and consistent, but with a 15dB tilt favoring low-mid. This makes vocals quite thick and unclear, and the overall mix muddy and cluttered sounding.

The treble of the Senso Bluetooth headphones is terrible. The response throughout the range is relatively even and flat, but consistently under out neutral target by about 10dB. This makes the treble of the ActiveBuds S-250 quite dark and lacking in detail and presence, especially when considering their heavy bass and mid ranges.

The Senso Bluetooth Headphones have excellent frequency response consistency. If the user is able to achieve a proper fit and an air-tight seal using the assortment of tips that come with the headphones, they should be able to get consistent bass and treble delivery every time they use the headphones. But, if the user fails to achieved a proper and air-tight seal, they could experience a drop in bass.

The imaging performance is average. The weighted group delay is at 0.21, which is quite good. The GD graph also shows that the group delay response never crosses the audibility threshold, suggesting a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were well-matched in amplitude and frequency response. However, we measured a big mismatch in the phase response, which could skew the stereo image and create holes in it.

Like most other in-ears, the soundstage of the Senso Bluetooth Headphones is poor. This is because in-ears bypass the pinna (outer ear) and don't interact with it, while activating the resonances of the pinna is one of the key factors in creating a speaker-like and out-of-head soundstage.

The harmonic distortion of the ActivBuds S-250 is about average. The overall amount of THD is elevated, especially in the mid and treble ranges. This could make the sound of those frequencies a bit of harsh and brittle which will mostly affect vocals and cymbals.

The isolation performance of the Senso Bluetooth Headphones is sub-par. In the bass range, where the rumble of airplane and bus engines sit, they don't achieve any isolation. In the mid-range, important for blocking out speech, they isolate by about 8dB, which is about average. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts, they isolate by about 21dB of reduction.

The leakage performance is excellent. The significant portion of their leakage is spread over a very narrow range in the treble range, around 2KHz and 6KHz. This makes their leakage very thin and sharp sounding. The overall level of their leakage is also very low. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage averages around 28dB SPL, and peaks at around 40db SPL, which is way below the noise floor of the average office.

The microphone of the Senso Bluetooth Headphones has a sub-par recording quality. LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 20Hz, which is good, but the bump in mid-bass can make this mic prone to pops and rumbling noises. The dip around 200Hz makes speech recorded/transmitted with this mic a tad thin sounding. The HFE (high-frequency extension) of 1.6KHz is sub-par, making speech noticeably muffled and lacking in detail. This will negatively affect the intelligibility of speech.

The microphone is mediocre at noise handling. In our SpNR test, this mic achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of 12dB, indicating it is best suited for quiet environments, and they will struggle to separate speech from ambient noise in moderate or loud situations.

The Senso Bluetooth headphones have above-average battery life for a wireless in-ear and do not take too long to charge. This makes them a decent option for casual and heavy users, but the lack of power saving features means they will stay paired to your device until the battery runs out or they are out of range. If you forget to switch them off, the battery will continue to drain which is not ideal.

These headphones do not come with a compatible app for added customization options.

The Senso Bluetooth headphones do not have multi-device pairing or NFC support. On the upside, their hold-to-pair procedure is not difficult to use and they automatically pair to the last synced device. Unfortunately, this auto pairing procedure can be a bit too aggressive which prevents the headphones from entering the pairing state so that you can connect them to another Bluetooth device.

The Senso ActivBuds S-250 have no wired option. If you want a decent sounding, wired design with a universal in-line remote, then check out the 1More Triple Driver In-Ear.

These in-ear buds do not have a dock. If you want a headphone that's versatile and has a dock, try the SteelSeries Arctis 7. However, they won't be as compact and easy-to-carry around on your person.

The ActivBuds S-250 have a surprisingly good wireless range wireless range. They reached up to 35ft when the Bluetooth source was obstructed and up to 118ft in direct line of sight. They should have enough range for most use cases, especially if you keep your phone on you.

The Senso Bluetooth Headphones have a decent latency performance for a Bluetooth headset, but unfortunately, it's still a bit too high to be suitable for watching movies and gaming.