The SENSO ActivBuds S-250 are good sports headphones but subpar for most other use cases due to their poor sound quality. They're stable and portable so you can have them on you at all times. They also have decent build quality for their price and come with a lot of accessories. Unfortunately, their poor sound will be a deal-breaker for most, even if you just need a cheap headset for working out.
Our Verdict
Below-average for mixed usage. These headphones are stable enough for sports and sufficiently compact so that you can have them on you at all times. This makes them a good choice for sports and a somewhat decent option for commuting. However, their poor isolation will let a lot of ambient noise seep into your audio, and their muddy, cluttered sound quality will be a deal-breaker for most listeners.
- Stable for sports.
- Easy-to-use controls.
- Decent build quality.
- Deal breaker sound quality.
- Poor noise isolation.
Sub-par for neutral listening. These headphones have a poorly balanced sound with an excessive amount of high bass and low mid that makes them sound muddy and cluttered. They also lack a lot of trebles which further emphasizes their dark sound profile. Their small closed earbuds also cannot create a spacious soundstage which, combined with their poor audio reproduction, makes them a poor choice for neutral listening and most likely a deal breaker even for casual listeners.
Average for commuting. They're easy-to-carry around and the low leakage can compensate for the poor noise isolation by playing your audio at higher volumes. However, they have a sub par sound quality and since they don't block much noise they shouldn't be your first choice for loud, noisy commutes.
Good for sports. The stable ear-hook design and compact, portable size makes them suitable to use while running or exercising. They're also wireless and a bit more comfortable than some other in-ear headphones. Unfortunately, their audio reproduction may be a deal breaker even if you sound quality is not that important for you.
Average at best for office use. These headphones will let a bit of the office chatter seep into your audio due to their poor isolation. However, since they don't leak much and won't be audible to anyone around you and you can mask some of the noise by turning your volume up. Unfortunately, their sound quality will be a deal-breaker for most, especially if you like to listen to music while you work.
Below-average for gaming. They have a mediocre-at-best microphone and a bit too much latency to be suitable for gaming. They also have no companion app so they won't be as customizable as most gaming headsets and their Bluetooth connection is not compatible with consoles.
Changelog
- Updated Dec 16, 2022: We've renamed these headphones from SENSO ActivBuds S-250 Bluetooth Headphones to SENSO ActivBuds S-250 across the site.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated May 03, 2018: Review published.
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Popular Headphones Comparisons
The SENSO ActivBuds S-250 are straightforward wireless in-ears with an ear-hook design. They're decently well-built and comfortable, and they're stable enough for the gym and sufficiently portable to carry on your person at all times. They're a good option for sports, but unfortunately, their poor sound quality makes them unsuitable for most use cases even if you don't care much about sound. See our recommendations for the best earbuds for bass, the best earbuds under $50, and the best cheap earbuds.
The Anker SoundBuds Sport are much better headphones than the SENSO ActivBuds S-250. The SENSO have a more stable ear-hook design and much longer battery life than the Anker. The SENSO are also a bit more comfortable than the Ankers, but not by much. On the other hand, the Ankers have a better sound quality, even if they sound dark and poorly balanced. The Anker also isolate much better in noisy conditions, which makes them a bit more suitable for commute and travel, and are a bit more portable, although they come with a pouch instead of a case like the SENSO.
We've upgraded our Headphones Test Bench to 2.0! This update brings several key changes to our tests and usages, making it easier than ever to interpret our sound results based on your personal preferences. You'll also find a brand-new interactive graph tool featuring multiple targets (including our own!) for you to explore and compare.
For a full breakdown, check out our changelog, which includes detailed commentary from our test designer explaining the rationale behind our update.
We'd also love to hear your thoughts: your feedback helps us keep improving, so join us in the comments!
Test Results
The SENSO ActivBuds S-250 have a decent-looking sporty aesthetic. They have thick and flexible ear-hooks similar to the SoundPeats Q9A Wireless. The earbuds have a matte finish that doesn't quite look as premium as the Anker SoundBuds Curve Wireless, 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 like that of the Ankers. Unfortunately, they don't come in as many color schemes as some of the other sports-oriented headsets like the Jaybird X3 Wireless. However, their understated look will work for most.
They're decently comfortable wireless in-ears with an ear-hook design. The tips don't 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 four silicone tips and a pair of memory foam tips to help you find the right fit. However, since they don't have as many tip options as the Anker, 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 can skip 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 don't 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.
They 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 cheap.
The SENSO ActivBuds S-250 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.
- SENSO ActivBuds S-250 headphones
- Earbud tips (x4)
- USB charging cable
- Carrying case
- Cable management clip
- Dual port USB car charger
- Manual
The SENSO ActivBuds S-250 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 achieve a proper and air-tight seal, they could experience a drop in bass.
The SENSO ActivBuds S-250 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 ActivBuds S-250 is terrible. The response throughout the range is relatively even and flat but consistently under our 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 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 ActivBuds S-250 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 isolation performance of the SENSO ActivBuds S-250 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. A 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 integrated microphone of these headphones is sub-par. In quiet environments, speech recorded or transmitted with this mic will sound a bit thin, but it'll also be prone to pops and rumbling noises. It will also sound quite muffled and lacking in detail, which could make it a bit difficult to understand. In noisy situations, they will struggle to separate speech from background noise even in moderately loud places, like a busy street.
The microphone of the SENSO ActivBuds S-250 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's best suited for quiet environments, and they will struggle to separate speech from ambient noise in moderate or loud situations.
The SENSO ActivBuds S-250 have above-average battery life for a wireless in-ear and don't 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're out of range. If you forget to switch them off, the battery will continue to drain which is not ideal.
These headphones don't come with a compatible app for added customization options.
The SENSO ActivBuds S-250 don't 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.
They 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.
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.
These in-ear buds don't have a dock. If you want a headphone that's versatile and has a dock, try the SteelSeries Arctis 7 Wireless 2017. However, they won't be as compact and easy-to-carry around on your person.