Preface
The Sudio Elva is Sudio’s first wireless earphones that includes a Bluetooth Adapter (Sudio Flyg) and Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) feature.
Let’s check out the merits and demerits of this new Sudio Elva model.
Note: The earphone was tested on the Huawei P30 Pro, Mate 20 Pro, P20 Pro, Samsung S11+, Apple iPad Pro 9.7, Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, XS Max, XS, X, 6s and Ulephone S7 Plus.
Click HERE to skip to & see the exclusive 15% discount code for all Sudio earphone models!
Note: The complimentary Sudio Card Holder featured in this review comes with the Elva and is available while stock lasts.
Packaging & First Impressionss
This is what the earphone will come with as shown below.
- Shipping packaging feature a stylish presentation.
- Sudio Sphere features an extended warranty of 18 months (up from 12 months) for customers who register their purchased Sudio products.
- Earphone’s box packaging comes shrink-wrapped, looks attractive and has a premium feel to it, especially with the slide out feature.
- Both earphones feel relatively well-balanced with the battery compartment and control unit resting on on the left and right.
- No issues with tangling of wires due to the excellent flat wire used.
- The Left & Right earphones are clearly marked.
- There is no case provided for the earphone and Flyg.
- Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) feature has been added (with the option to switch ON or OFF).
Shipping Packaging:
Front:
Back:
Sides:
Bottom:
Box Contents:
Quick Overview (Manufacturer Specifications)
- Weight: 28g
- Battery
- Usage Time per charge (without ANC – Transparency Mode): 11h
- Usage Time per charge (with ANC – ANC Mode): 10h
- Microphone: Yes, Built-in mic on LEFT & RIGHT Earbuds
- Bluetooth: 5.0
- Bluetooth Range: 10m
- Driver Size: 10mm
- Sensitivity: 93 dB SPL/mW (TBC)
- Impedance: 32 Ohm/mW (TBC)
- Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz (TBC)
- Waterproof Rating: IPX5
- Accessories Included:
- 1*Sudio Flyg
- 6*Ear Tips (XXS, XS, S, M, L & XL)
- 1*USB-C Cable (for Sudio Flyg)
- 1*USB-C Cable (for Sudio Elva)
- MSRP: $129 (S$199) – Click HERE to see our exclusive 15% discount code (price includes express shipping)
- Comes with 1 year International Warranty (register on Sudio Sphere to get the extended 18 months warranty)
- Colors Available
- Black
- Off-White
UI (User Interface)
The Sudio Elva has a 3 button earphone control unit (left side of earphone) that makes the operation process rather intuitive and straightforward.
First Connection/Pairing
The following instructions would guide you through the simple process to connect the Sudio Elva to a Bluetooth-compatible device for the first time.
- Switch ON Bluetooth on Bluetooth-compatible device (phone, tablet, computer or etc.).
- From OFF, HOLD the middle button on the earphone control unit (left side of earphone) till the RED & WHITE indicator blinks. If you are wearing the earbuds, “Power On” and “Pairing” will be heard on both Left & Right Earbuds.
- Select the name of the earphone (Sudio Elva) on the Bluetooth-compatible device to connect.
- The earphone is now connected to the Bluetooth-compatible device & all audio/phone call will now play on the earphone directly. “Pairing Successful” will be heard on either the Left or Right Earbud.
- Switch OFF Earphone: HOLD the middle button on the earphone control unit (left side of earphone) till the RED indicator flash. If you are wearing the earbuds, “Power Off” will be heard.
Subsequent Connection/Pairing
The following instruction would guide you through the simple process to connect the Sudio Elva to the Bluetooth-compatible device after the first pairing.
- Switch ON Bluetooth on Bluetooth-compatible device.
- From OFF, HOLD the middle button on the earphone control unit (left side of earphone) till the WHITE indicator blinks. If you are wearing the earbuds, “Power On” and “Pairing Successful” will be heard on both Left & Right Earbuds.
- If Step 2 does not occur automatically, manually tap to connect on the device’s Bluetooth menu.
- The earphone is now connected to the Bluetooth-compatible device & all audio/phone call will now play on the earphone directly.
- Switch OFF Earphone: HOLD the middle button on the earphone control unit (left side of earphone) till the RED indicator flash. If you are wearing the earbuds, “Power Off” will be heard.
Normal Operation
The following instruction would guide you through the simple process of operating the Sudio Elva after being paired to the Bluetooth-compatible device.
Play/Pause OR Accept/End Calls
- Play OR Accept Calls: Press the Middle Button once.
- Pause OR End Calls: Press the Middle Button once.
- Reject Calls: Press & Hold the Middle button for ~2 secs.
Volume Up/Down
- Increase Volume: Press the 1st Button (closest to left ear bud when wearing earphone) once. Repeated presses will increase the volume.
- Decrease Volume: Press the 3rd Button (furthest from left ear bud when wearing earphone) once. Repeated presses will decrease the volume.
Previous/Next Track
- Next Track: HOLD the 1st Button (closest to left ear bud when wearing earphone) for ~2 sec.
- Previous Track: HOLD the 3rd Button (furthest from left ear bud when wearing earphone) for ~2 sec.
- If the current track is already playing for a few seconds or more, HOLD the 3rd Button will restart the same track only.
- Immediately HOLD the 3rd Button again, to get to Previous Track.
Active Noise Cancelling (ANC)
- Switch ON – ANC (ANC Mode): Press the Middle Button 2 times. If you are wearing the earphone, “Noise Cancelling” will be heard on both Left and Right Earbuds.
- Switch OFF – ANC (Transparency Mode): Press the Middle Button 2 times. There is no voice prompt but 2 beeps can be heard when the earphone switches to Transparency Mode.
Activating Siri or Google Assistance
- Dependent on Apple or Android device, Siri or Google Assistance can be activated respectively.
- HOLD the Middle Button (~1 second) – To activate Siri or Google Assistance.
Factory Reset
On the rare occasion that the Elva is unable to pair with the Bluetooth device, the following instruction would guide you through the process of resetting the Sudio Elva.
- Switch OFF & ON Bluetooth on Bluetooth device.
- Select “Forget” option for “Sudio Elva” device on the Bluetooth menu.
- If the Sudio Elva has been connected to several Bluetooth devices, repeat Step 1 and 2 for all of those Bluetooth devices.
- HOLD both the 1st and 3rd Button on the Sudio Elva for at least 5 seconds, the Factory Reset function has been completed.
Sudio Flyg Operation
Connection/Pairing
The following instructions would guide you through the simple process to connect the Sudio Elva to a Bluetooth-compatible device for the first time.
- Plug Flyg into the analogue audio device’s 3.5mm headphone jack (use the Flyg’s main pin – the one that is labelled with a single dash) or dual 3.5mm flight audio socket.
- Switch ON Sudio Elva to pairing mode: Hold the Middle Button for ~7 seconds.
- Switch ON Sudio Flyg to pairing mode: Hold the Button for ~5 seconds (LED will start flashing).
- When the pairing is successful, “Pairing Successful” will be heard on both Left and Right Earbuds. The Sudio Flyg’s LED will stop flashing.
- Switch OFF Flyg: Once the Sudio Elva is switched OFF and the Sudio Flyg is unplugged from the analogue audio device, it will automatically switch OFF after there is no transmission/pairing.
Battery/Pairing
When the Flyg is switched ON, press the button once and the LED flashing will show the current battery level:
- White: 50% to 100%
- White & Red: 10% to 49%
- Red: <10%, do recharge immediately.
Connectivity
The Sudio Elva uses the Bluetooth 5.0 version. Interestingly, Sudio did not bring over the aptX codex they had in their Tre Black & Vasa Blå models in this wireless earphone still.
After the first pairing/connection, the earphone would connect to the Bluetooth-compatible device almost instantly through our tests.
No disconnection occurred when placing the Bluetooth-compatible device in the pocket or bag. However, there are repeated split second disruptions in both left & right earbuds occurred and it has occurred repeatedly in our extended tests (probably some interference with nearby Wi-Fi radio signals). Note: We believe this might be limited to our review sample only.
The claimed Bluetooth range is 10m and the earphone is still connected to the Bluetooth-compatible devices up to the ~11m mark, beyond that the earphone will suffer from intermittent drop outs. The earphones will still remain connected even in an adjourning room (separated by a concrete wall), although this decreases the Bluetooth range to about half. There is a noticeable improvement in connectivity range with the Bluetooth 5.0 used.
When connecting with the Sudio Flyg, the Bluetooth range is about 5m and beyond that earphone will suffer from intermittent drop outs. The earphones will drop out if used in an adjourning room (separated by a concrete wall).
Wearing Comfort/Form Factor
The design of the Elva is fairly good for those looking for a wireless earphone option.
Due to the even weight between the left and right (battery and control unit) portions, the Elva will rest rather comfortably on one’s neck. The rubber style magnet on the flat earbud cable/wire helps to prevent any possible entangling between the left and right earbuds.
When worn, the Elva’s earbuds sit fairly flush to the ears. With the correct-sized ear tips fitted, the earbuds held sturdily even when doing more vigorous activity (eg jogging/running); at no time did the earbuds feel like it was about to fall off.
Comfort-wise, the earphone felt comfortable in almost every position when worn, especially with the clearly labelled sizes provided. We had no issues wearing the earbuds for ~8 hours on one sitting and experienced no discomfort throughout.
The following pictures shows one of our team members wearing the Sudio Elva model.
Pictures of the Sudio Elva can be seen below:
Sudio Flyg (Bluetooth Adapter)
This Bluetooth Adapter converts any analogue audio device with a 3.5mm jack output into one that is a bluetooth-enabled device. In addition, it doubles up as a Bluetooth Flight Adapter (dual 3.5mm jack) too.
Once the Sudio Flyg is plugged into any of the above-mentioned devices, simply switch on the Sudio Flyg to pair with the Sudio Elva.
The runtime of this Sudio Flyg has consistently lasted longer than the Sudio Elva (when paired together), so on a long haul flight, the main limitation will be the Sudio Elva’s battery runtime.
Battery Runtime
There are a lot of factors that affect an earphone’s battery runtime – distance of earphone from Bluetooth-compatible device, Bluetooth-compatible device’s Bluetooth version, volume of audio, genre of music and more. Hence, we try to make as much as the above variables, as constants instead.
Here are the parameters for our unofficial runtime test:
- Bluetooth-compatible device used: Apple iPhone 6S, Airplane Mode activated, all background applications closed
- Distance of Earphone from Bluetooth-compatible device: Placed next to each other
- Bluetooth Version: 4.2
- Music Player used: Spotify (no Equalizer activated)
- Audio used: Royals by Lorde (in Repeat mode)
- Volume of Audio: ~50%
With the above parameters in place, the earphone lasted ~1 hour longer than the 11 hours (Transparency Mode) / 10 hours (ANC Mode) claimed by Sudio.
For this review sample, the earphone seems to have an extraordinary performing battery and we certainly hope that this is the case for all of the Sudio Elva made.
The 40% battery percentage might last fairly long. However, the drop from 40% to 30%, 20%, 10% and 0% will occur rather quickly – leaving the user without any audio. Hence, we recommend charging the earphones once it is 40%.
Sound Quality
There are many components to evaluate an earphone’s sound quality. We do not pretend to be true hardcore audiophiles but we will look into 4 of the more common characteristics that most audiophiles tend to look for. The following unofficial tests are made without an equalizer.
There is a split second audio delay with videos on the earphones (and is more pronounced with the Sudio Flyg) – it is not exactly noticeable till you actually look for it. Hence, video editing is definitely not possible with these earphones.
- Soundstage: The soundstage is fairly narrow and is probably due to the slightly adjusted bass.
- Treble: The treble is mildly boosted.
- Mids: The mids is slightly recessed.
- Bass: The bass is fairly boosted and may sound muddy at times.
The main selling point for this earphone – Sudio’s Active Noise Cancellation (ANC Mode) works rather well and helps block out a fair portion of external ambient noises, enabling for more engaging sounds and the option to listening at lower volumes in noisier environments. When using the ANC Mode, do ensure that the safety of others and oneself will not be compromised.
Microphone Sound Quality
Both earphone have in-built microphone on the left side and when taking a call, both earbuds can be used (sound/voice can be heard on both earbuds).
The parties on the other side of the line were able to hear our voices fairly clearly, despite being in a noisier environment.
Charging Process
Sudio Elva
With the provided USB-C Cable, the earphone was charging at ~0.10A.
The solid BLUE LED depicts charging in progress and when the BLUE LED switches OFF, it depicts charging has completed.
Sudio Flyg
With the provided USB-C Cable, the Flyg was charging at ~0.10A.
The solid RED LED depicts charging in progress and when the RED LED switches OFF, it depicts charging has completed.
Waterproofness
For the Sudio Elva, Sudio has received an official IP rating of IPX5.
Hence, the earphone was subjected to being under slow moving room temperature water (to best mimic light to medium showers and sweat) whilst switched ON.
No signs of water intrusion in the earbuds and charging port was seen. Nonetheless, the ear tips have to be removed to dry out the water (the basic post-water maintenance procedures are still required).
Scale Comparison (Ruler)
Summary
To sum up, we believe that the most important part of any review is if given the chance to purchase the same earphone for our own usage or to gift to our loved ones out from one’s pocket (wallet), would we still do it?
For this wireless earphone, it is a definite YES if the sound quality/signature is what you are looking for.
The inclusion of the Sudio Flyg (Bluetooth Flight Adapter), IPX5-rating, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) capability, ability to switch between ANC Mode and Transparency Mode, addition of “beep” notification when switched back to Transparency Mode, ear comfort when wearing them and addition of Voice Assistance (Siri or Google Assistance) – are all positive points for this earphone.
However, it would be nice if Sudio is able to incorporate aptX with their latest earphones as they did for the Tre Black & Vasa Blå models.
As with all gears, two is one and one is none.
Stay safe,
The Lite Review
Disclaimer: Earphone and Card Holder were provided for by Sudio (manufacturer) for this review. No other compensation was provided.
Where to Buy Links
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Sudio Elva
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