BGVP Q2

disclaimer:  The BGVP Q2 was provided for review by Begin Audio.  I have no affiliation or financial interest in BGVP or Begin Audio.   For more information on BGVP, see their website or facebook page.   For more information on Begin Audio, see their website.

Unboxing / Packaging:

The Q2 comes packaged in a slipcover style box with the name, logo, and a photo of the earpiece on the front and the specs on the reverse.  Inside the box you find the earpieces in a foam surround and the charging case on the top layer and the rest of the kit hidden beneath.  The full kit includes the earpieces, cable, charging case, a pouch,  charging cable,  6 sets of silicone tips (2 styles in SML) and a pair of memory foams.   Instructions in Chinese and English as well as a one page “how to wear” and the QA card round out the package.   For an earphone at this price point, the kit is more complete than most and well appreciated.

Build/Fit:

The earpieces themselves are shaped in the now standard semi-custom shape and are not dissimilar to the DM6 in most dimensions.  The most notable feature is the mmcx jack immediately above what appears to be a small vent but in actuality is to expose the LED on the bluetooth board to the exterior of the shell.  Shells are a 3 part design with a touch sensitive opaque faceplate and a transparent inner shell with a metal nozzle affixed.   Nozzles have 2 sound bores with no grill over the bores and a pronounced lip for tip holding.     The seam between the faceplate and inner shell is visible due to the difference in materials used but is well done and difficult to feel with no slop or glue evident.   The left earpiece on my test set does have a small air pocket under one edge of the faceplate that is visible in some of the photos but doesn’t impact performance.    The semi-custom shape lends itself well to extended wear and the Q2 is about the same size as its wired counterparts so doesn’t present the fit issues for small ears that some other bluetooth models do.     I had no issues with comfort when wearing the Q2 and suspect most will find them comfortable unless your ears are smaller than average.     The one caveat here is that the touch sensors on the faceplates make it very easy to turn them on or off while attempting to adjust them.  Once you learn to touch only the outer edges to adjust, this isnt an issue, but it will take some getting used to.

Internals:

The Q2 is a dual balanced armature design with a Knowles 32873 handling the low end and some of the mids at which point a 33518 takes over and contributes the top end.  Both of these drivers are fairly commonly seen in other models so neither is groundbreaking in that respect, but the tuning in play does give the Q2 a bit different signature than some others with the same drivers.   It is also very common to see the 33518 paired with a dynamic driver in dual driver configurations so the Q2 takes the slightly different path of using a balanced armature for the low end.   Nominal impedance is listed as 18Ω with a sensitivity of 108dB/mW.   These numbers suggest a very easy to drive in-ear and the Q2 indeed pairs well with low powered sources and doesn’t scale much quantitatively with higher powered sources.   Obviously when using bluetooth, the sources output power is basically negated as the internal circuitry handles the conversion of the signal to analog and is responsible for providing power for that process.

Connectivity:

The Q2 is somewhat unique in that it provides both mmcx connectors for use with the bluetooth modules powered off which is somewhat uncommon for a TWS.   Bluetooth 5.0 is implemented, but only AAC and SBC are supported.  The addition of AptX HD would be welcomed here as I did find that devices without AAC support had all the usual problems associated with audio over SBC.    When connected using AAC, I found range to be about average with break ups being common after roughly 10 yards or when a barrier was introduced.     The Q2 is designed to auto-pair when removed from the case and to remember the last pairing if previously paired and automatically reconnect on removal from the case.    While all this sounds good, in practice, I found it less than perfect.  During my testing, I had problems with one side failing to pair so I had either left or right connected but never both.  I found a procedure to resync the two earpieces but found it ineffective in doing so and continued to have either one side or the other pairing.  I left them out of the case powered on to completely drain the battery to see if I could force them to clear any memory they had and resync, but here again was unsuccessful in resolving the issue.   I finished my listening using them as a wired model due to the ongoing connectivity issues.

Cable:

The provided cable uses a 3.5mm straight jack with a silver slightly rounded barrel housing before the cable exits with a short strain relief.  The cable is a 4 wire double twist with a tight twist up to the splitter which is a matching rounded barrel.  Above the splitter, two looser twists of two wires each exit and head north to preformed earhooks and mmcx connectors.  Here the housings are flat black metal rather than the silver barrels of the other fixtures.   the cable is well made and not dissimilar to that packaged with other BGVP models.   A velcro tie is provided for storage when not in use but does tend to attach itself to the cloth storage bag provided with the Q2.

Battery:

The case is smaller than most but fairly tall so may present an issue when stored in a front jeans pocket.   The soft-touch coating makes for a more solid feel in the hand than many.   Charging is done via USB-C connector on the rear of the case.  A single LED on the front of the case blinks during charging and stays on solid when fully charged.    Earphone batteries are listed as 50mAh while the case is rated at 350mAh.   Battery life is listed as 7 hours which I found a bit optimistic with 5 hours being much more achievable.  Charging time from dead to full charge when placed in the case was roughly 2 hours.  Both of these numbers are fairly good for a TWS and if not for the connectivity issues would place this in the top end of the group.

Sound:

Bass:

Bass is about what one expects from a balanced armature, well defined and with good speed and texture but lacking a bit in depth and rumble.  Sub-bass while present is certainly not accentuated with roll-off becoming obvious in the mid 40s.  Mid-bass is well controlled with no bleed and good slam but is near neutral so doesn’t dominate the overall signature.  Mid bass is more defined by texture and speed than punch and impact.

Mids:

The lower mids transition very cleanly from the mid-bass with no bleed or obstruction and no recess.  Overall the mids are quite well detailed and clean if a touch lean.  Vocals are well rendered with good timble and tonality as well but lack a little weight at times.   Strings are well voiced too which is a tough order for any iem but a true rarity in the TWS segment.   Here again, the mids are defined by speed with fast transients and equally quick decay.

Treble:

The lower treble climbs from the mid-bass and is pushed forward fairly substantially which gives vocals a step forward on the stage, but can also lead to a bit of harshness at times.  Those who are particularly sensitive to treble will find the Q2 a bit much in this department as the treble really does stay forward of the rest of the signature all the way through its range.  Those with a bit more tolerance will find the treble energetic and well extended with good detail.  Air and sparkle are good, but cymbals can come off a bit metallic.

Soundstage / Imaging:

This is one thing the Q2 really got right, stage is large with above average depth and width for a TWS design.  Width is admittedly a bit larger than depth but both are fairly large.   This makes seating the orchestra fairly straight forward as instrument separation is above average as well.    Imaging is also above average for the class with spatial cues being easily identified and isolated.   Layering is quite good as well with no tendency to get muddy as tracks get busier.

Thoughts / Conclusion:

5

Packaging

5.0/10

Build Quality

5.0/10

Accessories

5.0/10

Sound Quality

5.0/10

Connectivity

5.0/10