Preface
Sudio may seem like a lesser known earphone brand but do not let that fool you or you could be in for a pleasant surprise.
Little background story:
Sudio hails from Sweden (Stockholm) and its company philosophy can be pretty much summed up to style meets substance; at an affordable price.
Currently, the Tre and Vasa Blå are the only 2 wireless options that Sudio offers at time of writing.
Note:
- In this review, the Tre version reviewed is Tre Black and the Vasa Blå version is Vasa Blå – Rose Gold White. For ease of identification, the Black earphone is the Tre model and the White earphone is the Vasa Blå model.
- The earphones were tested on the Huawei P20 Pro, Samsung S9+, Apple iPad Pro 9.7, Apple iPhone 6s and Ulephone S7 Plus.
Click HERE to skip to & see the exclusive 15% discount code for all Sudio earphones (including the Tre and Vasa Blå models)!
Packaging & First Impressions
This is what the earphone will come with as shown below.
- Packaging looks attractive and has a premium feel to it.
- The complementary leather case is made of vegan leather (synthetic material).
- The leather case is of decent quality and should withstand day-to-day abuse without issue.
- Both earphones feel relatively well-balanced with the battery compartment on the left and the control unit on the right.
- No issues with tangling of wires due to the excellent flat wire used.
- The Left & Right earphones are clearly marked on both models.
Front:
Back:
Sides:
Bottom:
Box Contents:
Quick Overview (Manufacturer Specifications)
The following specifications shall be mentioned with the Tre first, followed by the Vasa Blå.
- Body Material: Composite & Aluminum / Composite & Aluminum
- Weight: 35g / 14g
- Battery
- Usage Time per charge: 9h / 9h
- Standby Time per charge: 10days / 10days
- Charging Duration
- Quick Charge: 10min / 10min
- Full Charge: 2h / 2h
- Microphone: Yes, Built-in mic / Yes, Built-in mic
- Bluetooth: 4.1 with aptX codec/ 4.1 with aptX codec
- Bluetooth Range: 10m / 10m
- Driver: 15.2mm (Dynamic) / 10.2mm (Dynamic)
- Sensitivity: 103 dB SPL/mW / 112 dB SPL/mW
- Impedance: 32 Ohm/mW / 32 Ohm/mW
- Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz / 18 Hz – 23 kHz
- Accessories Included:
- 3*Wing Tips (Different Size) / 4*Ear Tips (Different Size)
- 1*Metal Clip / 1*Metal Clip
- 1*Micro-USB Cable / 1*Micro-USB Cable
- 1*Leather Carrying Case / 1*Leather Carrying Case
- MSRP: $99 (S$149) / $79 (S$119) – Click HERE to see our exclusive 15% discount code (price includes express shipping)
- Comes with 1 year International Warranty
- Colors Available for Tre
- Black
- White
- Classic Blue
- Pink
- Colors Available for Vasa Blå
- Rose Gold Black
- Rose Gold White
- Blue
- Pink
Note: Check if your device is aptX-compatible by clicking HERE.
UI (User Interface)
Both the Sudio Tre and Vasa Blå comes with a 3 button earphone control unit (right side of earphone) that makes the operation process rather intuitive and straightforward.
First Connection/Pairing
The following instruction would guide you through the simple process to connect the Sudio Tre or Vasa Blå 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 (right side of earphone) till the RED indicator blinks.
- Select the name of the earphone (Sudio Tre / Sudio VASA BLA) 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.
Subsequent Connection/Pairing
The following instruction would guide you through the simple process to connect the Sudio Tre or Vasa Blå to the Bluetooth-compatible device after the first pairing.
- Switch ON Bluetooth on Bluetooth-compatible device.
- Switch ON Earphone: HOLD the middle button on the earphone control unit till the BLUE indicator blinks. If you are wearing the earphone, a chime will be heard.
- The earphone should connect with the Bluetooth-compatible device almost immediately. If you are wearing the earphone, a chime will be heard.
- If Step 3 does not occur, 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 till the RED indicator blinks. If you are still wearing the earphone when switching OFF, a chime will be heard as well.
Normal Operation
The following instruction would guide you through the simple process of operating the Sudio Tre or Vasa Blå 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.
Volume Up/Down
- Increase Volume: Press the 1st Button (closest to right ear when wearing earphone) once. Repeated presses will increase the volume.
- Decrease Volume: Press the 3rd Button (furthest from right ear when wearing earphone) once. Repeated presses will decrease the volume.
Previous/Next Track
- Next Track: HOLD the 1st Button (closest to right ear when wearing earphone) for ~1.5 sec.
- Previous Track: HOLD the 3rd Button (furthest from right ear when wearing earphone) for ~1.5 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.
Connectivity
Both the Sudio Tre and Vasa Blå uses the Bluetooth 4.1 with aptX codec. To check if your device is aptX-compatible, click HERE.
Without going into the technical details, aptX codec helps to transfer “CD-like quality” over Bluetooth as compared to the conventional SBC (sub-band coding) codec. Assuming that the audio and earphone quality are good, an aptX setup would sound noticeably better when compared to the conventional SBC one. Hence, it is recommended to use this earphone with an aptX-compatible device to get the most out of the earphone.
After the first pairing/connection, the earphone would connect to the Bluetooth-compatible device almost instantly through our tests.
No drop outs or disconnection occurred when placing the Bluetooth-compatible device in the pocket or bag.
The claimed Bluetooth range is 10m and both earphones were still connected to the Bluetooth-compatible devices slightly beyond the 10m mark even. For our review sample, the Vasa Blå had the slight edge over the Tre in terms of Bluetooth range. Both earphones will still remain connected even in an adjourning room (separated by a concrete wall), although this decreases the Bluetooth range to about half.
Wearing Comfort/Form Factor
Sudio Tre
The design of the Tre was such that it caters to people who lead a more active lifestyle.
It might appear a little large for the ears at first sight. With the correct-sized wing tips fitted, they held the earphones sturdily even when doing more vigorous activity (eg jogging/running); at no time did the earphones feel like it was about to fall off. We had no issues wearing the earphones for ~5 hours on one sitting and experienced no discomfort throughout.
The battery pack at the left side does help balance out the earphone with the right side control unit. However, they do tend to flop around slightly when engaging in more vigorous activity.
The following pictures shows one of our team members wearing the Sudio Tre model.
Pictures of the Sudio Tre can be seen below:
Sudio Vasa Blå
The Vasa Blå was not designed for an active lifestyle user but they definitely surprised us here.
With the correct-sized ear tips fitted, they held the earphones rather sturdily even when doing more vigorous activity (eg jogging/running); at no time did the earphones feel like it was about to fall off. We had no issues wearing the earphones for ~5 hours on one sitting and experienced no discomfort throughout.
The battery pack at the left side does help balance out the earphone with the right side control unit. However, they do tend to flop around slightly when engaging in more vigorous activity.
The following pictures shows one of our team members wearing the Sudio Vasa Blå model.
Pictures of the Sudio Vasa Blå can be seen below:
Sudio Tre & Sudio Vasa Blå
Comfort-wise – The Tre is the clear winner here. Between the 2 earphones, the Vasa Blå was the one that required special positioning when wearing to prevent any ear fatigue after prolonged usage; with the Tre being comfortable in almost every position when worn. That said, the Vasa Blå is a comfortable earphone once it is worn in the correct position – the sweet spot seems to be when the earphones’ cables lies on the back of the Intertragic Notch of the ear. The below photo of the outer ear is courtesy of Anatomy Human Charts.
The Tre’s cable has a longer overall length than the Vasa Blå’s cable. However, the Tre has a shorter cable length from the earphone to battery compartment/control unit when compared to the Vasa Blå – which helps prevent the battery compartment/control unit from flopping around too much when engaging in more vigorous activities.
Both earphones come with a nice matching color & fairly-fitting vegan leather (synthetic material) case. The case does a great job of keeping the earphones protected during transport and when not in use. Its opening might seem a little small for the earphones but winding the earphone cables neatly would ensure an easy ingress and egress from the case.
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: Apple Music (no Equalizer activated)
- Audio used: Royals by Lorde (in Repeat mode)
- Volume of Audio: ~50%
With the above parameters in place, the Tre outlasted the Vasa Blå a full ~15 minutes when operated from a full charge. The results were rather close to the 9 hours claimed by Sudio, as we got close to 8.5 hours for the Tre model.
The battery indicator for the earphones jumps in increments of 20% (I.e. 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%). We highly recommend charging the earphones once it hits 40%. While the 40% battery percentage might last rather long, the drop from 40% to 20% to 0% will occur under a span of 5 minutes – leaving the user without any audio.
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 both earphones – it is not exactly noticeable till you actually look for it. Hence, video editing is definitely not possible with these earphones.
Sudio Tre
As mentioned previously, the Sudio Tre was designed for an active lifestyle user in mind. Hence, clarity, soundstage and most of the music quality that audiophiles look for, are often overlooked.
Soundstage: The soundstage is fairly narrow and is probably due to the adjusted treble.
Treble: The treble sounds a little overboosted but for an earphone promoted for an active lifestyle user, it is understandable why it was done.
Mids: The mids are slightly recessed.
Bass: The bass is actually boosted like the treble is. However, it sounds slightly subdued instead, due to the design of the earphone – to ensure the user is able to hear their surroundings whilst listening to their audio.
Overall, this is what we would have expected from an earphone aimed for active lifestyle users.
Note: We often found ourselves turning up the volume as compared to the Vasa Blå, due to the above mentioned design of the earphone.
Sudio Vasa Blå
The Vasa Blå is what Sudio says as studio quality sound and we have rather high hopes for this one.
Soundstage: The soundstage is fairly narrow and is probably due to the adjusted treble.
Treble: The treble is slightly boosted.
Mids: The mids are slightly recessed but sounds better than the Tre model.
Bass: The bass is slightly boosted and sounds slightly muddy.
Overall, this isn’t what we would expect from an earphone marketed as studio quality sound. Nonetheless, factoring the cost of the earphone, the sound is very much bang-for-the buck for better than general listening purposes.
Microphone Sound Quality
Both earphones have a decent in-built microphone. The parties on the other side of the line were able to hear our voices clearly, despite being in a noisier environment.
Charging Process
With the provided Micro-USB Cables, both earphones’ batteries were charging at 0.08A.
The RED indicator depicts charging in progress and BLUE indicator depicts charging has completed.
Waterproofness
As there is no official IP rating for the earphones except mentioning that it is sweatproof, they were subjected to being sprinkled with room temperature water (to best mimic light showers and sweat) whilst switched ON.
No signs of water intrusion in the earphones, charging port or battery pack was seen. Nonetheless, the ear tips/wing 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 these earphones, it is a definite YES if their sound quality/signature are what you are looking for.
The decent battery lifespan per charge, rather equalized weight distribution between the battery compartment & earphone control unit, sweatproof, fairly lightweight and ear comfort when wearing them – are all positive points for both earphones.
However, what separates them apart the most (besides their length differences), are their sound signatures. For everyday usage, the Vasa Blå is the one to go for – suiting most genres of audio for general listening. On the other hand, the Tre is like the all-rounder earphone – suiting users that lead an active lifestyle, by ensuring that they are able to hear their surroundings no matter how loud their audio is.
As with all gears, two is one and one is none.
Stay safe,
The Lite Review
Disclaimer: Earphones and tote bag were provided for by Sudio (manufacturer) for this review. No other compensation was provided.
Where to Buy Links
Sudio Sweden has very kindly provided us with an exclusive 15% discount code! Simply enter the discount code “thelitereview” to enjoy this special promotion.
**This discount code should work worldwide and applies for all models in Sudio Sweden range – Contact Us if there is any issues with the discount code.**
Sudio Sweden is currently having a pre-summer promotion till 30th June 2018 – a FREE special edition canvas tote bag will be included with every purchase from their website. We have tested the tote bag and it definitely can stand up to some abuse (holds a ~1.5kg laptop, Apple iPad Pro 9.7 and their corresponding charging devices without snapping).
Sudio Sweden
Sudio Tre Black: Click Here
Sudio Vasa BLÅ – Rose Gold White: Click Here
** Remember to key in the exclusive 15% discount code! **
Free worldwide shipping (usually Express) is provided for all Sudio products purchased on their Sudio Sweden website. Shipping generally takes around 3-5 days for arrival.
Available Discount Coupon Codes
- Click HERE to view our complete list of discount Coupon Codes.