Our Verdict
The QY9 are geared towards sports, but they're fairly versatile and have a compact, wireless design. This makes them decent mixed usage headphones. Unfortunately, they have worse isolation than the QY8 and a mediocre-at-best sound quality.
- Low leakage.
- Stable in-ear fit.
- The in-ear fit is uncomfortable for some.
- Cramped audio controls.
- Poor noise isolation.
Not made for critical listening. They have closed-back in-ear buds, which can't create a spacious soundstage. That coupled with their mediocre-at-best sound and their sometimes uncomfortable in-ear fit makes them not ideal for critical listening.
Mediocre for commuting. They're compact and fit into most pockets. Sadly, their isolation is weaker than the QY8, which makes them less suitable for loud environments.
The QY9 are good headphones for sports. They have a stable in-ear fit, and They're wireless and small enough to carry around on your person wherever you go. However, they're not comfortable for everyone, and their control scheme could be improved.
Mediocre for office use. They don't leak much but won't block the chatter of a loud office.
Mediocre-at-best for home theater use. They have a lot of latency even with aptX enabled, which is not ideal for watching videos they're also not as comfortable to wear for long listening sessions.
Changelog
- Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Aug 18, 2016: Review published.
- Updated Aug 16, 2016: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jun 27, 2016: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Check Price
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 QY9 are stylish-looking wireless in-ear headphones. They have a similar format to the QY8, but the earbud's design is a little sleeker and moves the play/call button to a better location than on the previous model. They have a simple matte black color scheme, and they're relatively large for in-ear headphones. However, they do not stick out of your ears like the SoundPeats Q8's design.
These headphones have a typical in-ear fit, which may not be comfortable for everyone. On the upside, the QY9 fixes the issue the QY8 had with the call/music button placement. The button no longer causes listeners to push the earbuds deeper into the ear canal, which was uncomfortable. They also come with a variety of tips to help you find a more comfortable fit.
The QY9 has a decent control scheme that provides call/music, track skipping, and volume controls. The buttons feel a little cramped on the earbud, but it's a slight improvement over the QY8's layout. However, tactile feedback is mediocre and may take some time to get used to.
The QY9 are very stable headphones. They won't easily fall out of your ears while exercising at the gym. They're lightweight, and the in-ear design is inherently stable. They also have a wireless design, which means the likelihood that the audio cable gets tangled or hooked by something is low. That plus the additional tips provided to improve stability makes these headphones good for sports use.
The QY9, like the QY8, are also amazingly portable headphones. The in-ear buds are a little larger than usual earbuds, to house the wireless electronics. However, they're still small enough to comfortably fit into a pocket, bag or purse.
Comes with a soft case that will protect the QY9 from falls and scratches. The soft case will not protect the headphones from water damage or heavy physical stress like accidently stepping on it. It also adds a little bulk to the headphones but it's till small enough to fit into pockets and has sufficient space to carry all the provided headphone accessories.
Build quality is decent. The earbuds are lightweight and dense enough to handle a couple of drops without damage. The flat audio cable is thick and rubberized, which makes it less tangle prone and a bit more durable. Unfortunately, on some units, the audio cable has snapped relatively easily. This issue won't happen with all units but should be something you take into consideration before buying these headphones.
- SoundPeats QY9 Headphones
- Earbud tips (x3 sizes)
- Stability tips (x4 sizes)
- USB charging cable
- Carrying case
- Manual
Poor isolation. Unlike the QY8 which outperformed some ANC headphones, the QY9 shows moderate amounts of isolation. There is little to no isolation present in the Bass Range, and the isolation provided in the Mid Range is just above average. However, there is more than 40dB of isolation provided in the Treble Range which is excellent.
Good leakage. The QY9 has low amounts of leakage. The majority of the leakage happens above 2KHz which is good and the overall level of the leakage is quite low too.
The QY9 have the best wireless range out of the Soundpeats QY series. They maintained a stable connection up to 30ft when the Bluetooth source was placed in another room. They also have a decent line of sight range which makes them a good wireless option for moderately sized offices, as long as there are not too many obstructing walls between the headphones and the source. Unfortunately, they don't offer NFC and their hold to pair procedure is slightly tedious even if they do provide good auditory feedback when pairing.
The QY9 have a decent battery life for small wireless in-ear headphones. However, it won't be enough for, particularly long road trips as you will have to charge them at least once through the day especially if used continuously. Luckily they don't take too long to charge but you can't play audio while charging and they have no power saving feature, which means they will run out relatively quickly if left connected to your bluetooth device.