Raycon Earbuds (New) E25 Review: Should You Buy It?

Raycon earbuds first started propping up their advertising campaign on YouTube and other digital media in late 2019. At one point, everyone from small-time YouTubers to celebrities like Snoop Dog and Drake put in their good word for the brand. Raycon was everywhere to the point of becoming a meme as sponsored advertisements touted their line of audio products with “premium sound” and “compact designs.” Now that their media blitz has started to die down, are these wireless earbuds actually worth it?

Related: How Do Wireless Headphones Work?

Raycon Earbuds “Everyday Wear” E25 at a Glance

Before we start this review, we have to emphasize that there are two versions of the E25. The newer version of the E25 has also been called the “E25 Pro” version. Its original version was released in 2019, and an updated version in 2020. The 2020 version has two important identifiers, it has a USB Type-C connector and is wireless charging capable. This updated 2020 version is the one we are using for this Raycon earbuds review.

Now that we have that settled, looking at just its technical specifications, the E25 Raycon earbuds are a pretty decent deal. The E25 has IPX6 waterproofing, vivid voice technology, 8 hours of battery power with continuous playtime, Bluetooth 5.0, a USB Type-C connector, and wireless charging. These stats have to meet reality, however.

The E25 Raycon wireless earbuds have some issues when it comes to its build quality, its microphone, a lack of active noise cancellation, and random connectivity problems. Its worst flaw, however, is its speakers that fall into the cheap earphone trick of “bass-heaviness” to make up for its lacking sound definition. While a perfect fit for EDM and other “rave” genres, the E25s does not give much bang for its buck.

Get The Raycon earbuds E25 from Amazon

Get The Raycon earbuds E25 from the Raycon website

Design and Comfort

The E25 Raycon earbuds — also called the “Everyday Earbuds” — have a pretty standard design. It follows trends set by the Samsung Galaxy Buds that feature a lightweight pill-shaped earbud and a charging case capable of both wireless, and USB Type-C wired charging. The two components are made of plastic and rubber, which gives it a rather cheap feeling. Both the case and the earbuds themselves are rated for IPX6 waterproofing, though. While you cannot wear them while bathing, they will be fine in even the worst rains.

Aside from the case, the buds themselves look quite standard too. It is a little smaller than competing earbuds at just 2.1cm x 1.6cm x 2cm. Its small size assures that these Raycon earbuds will fit into even the smallest ears. Another feature is its included silicone earbuds ranging from small to extra-large to ensure a perfect fit.

When it comes to comfort, its small design and plastic construction is definitely a plus. Compared to other earbuds with aluminum, titanium, or similar heavy metal casing, the E25 is made of lightweight plastic and rubber. This means that it would not make your ears sore even with heavy and continuous use. Its different-sized buds help users find the most comfortable choice for their ear canals.

While it gets good grades for comfort and mediocre grades for design, we have to note a few problems with the E25. There are reports that the E25’s build quality and materials quickly degrade with continuous use. This means that, while comfortable at first, its thin silicone buds and plastic construction gets uncomfortable with time.

Sound Quality and Audio

The E25 Raycon earbuds took the easiest way in terms of audio quality with a bass-heavy sound. The E25s feature three sound profiles for listening: Pure Sound, Balanced Sound, and Bass Sound. This trend of favoring high frequency and deep bass sounds is present even after testing its three sound profiles. Sadly, the end result of these settings means that music with drums, bass guitars, horns, and other heavy instruments can still overwhelm listeners at higher volumes. While you can just as easily lower the volume to prevent that, it would drown out the softer sounds like singing instead.

When it comes to sound isolation, the E25 does a great job when paired with the right silicone bud for your ears. While it does not have active noise cancellation, the air seal is good enough for everyday use. We do have to warn those with sensitive ears that the E25s get pretty deep into your ear canal. This means the suction made by the air seal may be a bit irritating when taking it off.

The E25s also has an “Awareness mode,” a feature similar to “transparency mode” in other true wireless earbuds (TWE). This feature uses the microphone to let you hear the natural noises around you.

Speaking of microphones, Raycon advertises the E25s as having “Vivid Voice Technology” to let users have “crystal clear” voice calls. Contrary to this claim, though, the E25s are not much better than other in-ear TWEs in picking up their users’ voices during calls; a problem compounded by the E25s so-so passive noise cancellation.

Connection and Compatibility

The E25 Raycon earbuds have a straightforward take on their connections and compatibility. It runs on Bluetooth 5.0 technology and allows it to connect with any Bluetooth-compatible device. Compared to other devices, though, it does not have its own Android or iOS compatible settings app. It also does not have multipoint connectivity, which would have allowed users to automatically switch streams between two connections.

If you are wondering how to pair Raycon earbuds with your phone, it is quite simple. Similar to other TWEs, the earbud pair will connect with each other once taken out of the case. You would only need to turn on your phone or device’s Bluetooth and search for the E25 to pair. It will show up as “The Everyday Earbuds” on the search.

There are reports that the E25 has connectivity issues. These issues include non-responsive left or right earbuds and buggy Bluetooth pairing. Most error reports come 2-3 weeks after users started using their E25s. Some affected users have used Raycon’s one-year warranty for their units with the usual limitations on defects and the like.

Battery and Charging

As we mentioned earlier, the E25 actually has a pretty good battery capacity. The earbuds themselves have a continuous playtime of 8 hours. This is boosted with an added 32 hours of charging time from its carrying/charging case. While fully capable of wired charging through USB Type-C, the E25 can also wirelessly charge itself.

Also See: Best Ways To Preserve Your Phone Battery Lifespan

Controls and Features

The Raycon E25 does not feature advanced touch-based playback controls. Instead, the E25 has traditional buttons on each earbud (located on the Raycon logo). Since we already discussed its awareness mode and sound profiles, here’s a guide to the E25’s controls taken from the E25’s user manual.

A few other features of the E25 we have not talked about are the ability to pair to just one earpiece (if the other is in the case), automated assistant compatibility (Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant), and an automatic inactive standby mode when not in use.

Verdict: Are the Raycon E25 Worth It?

So, what do we think of the E25 Raycon earbuds? It has a decent battery life for its size, is lightweight at just 6.7 ounces, and comes in at under $100. All of these features are great, but they are out-shadowed by their poor audio quality. Even without the connectivity issues or button-based controls, its bass-skewed audio is a big turn-off. This isn’t even mentioning the lack of in-ear detection, which is starting to be standard for TWE models. Overall, Raycon’s E25 model would have been a tempting buy if it was closer to the $50 range than its current $80.

Since we basically wrote off the E25, what do we suggest instead? For someone looking for something in a similar price range, we suggest the Jabra Elite Active 65t. Aside from a similar IP56 rating, the 65t has a more balanced sound profile. If you don’t like its base equalizer settings, the 65t also comes with the Jabra Sound+ app, so you can tune it yourself!