Competition between brands is a healthy win-win for everyone, especially buyers! Competition not only stimulates creativity and narrows the gap between budget and expensive, but it also means that as a buyer, you get more value for your money. For example, the SuperEQ S2 is a relatively unknown and affordable pair of on-ear headphones with a flagship spec sheet. Specs include memory foam earpads, metal bands, USB-C charging, and active noise cancellation (ANC), as well as Bluetooth audio and wired audio functionality. Shop from the official store
Design and build quality
SuperEQ S2 ANC Bluetooth Headphones Not only are they a pleasure to wear and offer excellent sound reproduction, but they are also one of the lightest and most compact ANC headphones available. It is one of the best on-ear headphones for traveling. The ergonomically designed 90° swivel ear cups and adjustable headband conform to the shape of your head for a seamless fit. You can take it with you on business or travel. Turn off the ANC feature to avoid power consumption when the Bluetooth headphones are not in use.
These wireless headphones come with professional protein ear pads, comfortable around-ear fit, light, soft, and wonderfully comfortable to wear all day. You can enjoy your company without noise for a long time. SuperEQ S2 ANC Bluetooth headphones can be used for about 45 hours (ANC ONLY) and have up to 25 hours of audio playback time per charge in Bluetooth mode. No need to worry about running out of power during long trips.
The S2’s controls are divided between the left and right earcups. On the right side, you’ll find the primary controls. These include volume controls, as well as the power button. The volume buttons can also be used to answer and end phone calls, making them suitable not only for music but also for hands-free calling. In addition to these buttons, you will also find the 3.5mm aux port. There is an aux cable included, which we will talk more about in a moment. There is also a USB Type-C cable for charging.
On the left earcup, you will find the corresponding USB charging port. There is also a button to turn the ANC function on and off. Be careful with this, though. The ANC mode works separately from the regular power. The advantage is that you can block out background noise even when your music is off. The downside is that your battery runs out quickly if you forget to turn off the ANC switch. So if you use ANC, make sure you turn off both the main power and the ANC switch.
Connectivity options
The S2 headphones use the Bluetooth 5.0 wireless protocol. This is the most common version of Bluetooth, supported by almost all modern smartphones and other devices. It is a noticeable improvement over the Bluetooth 4.2 protocol for three reasons. First of all, the system is more stable. This means that you will experience fewer dropped calls, and your music will no longer be randomly interrupted. It also has a higher bandwidth to listen to files with a higher bit rate along the same lines. Finally, Bluetooth 5.0 has relatively low latency. This doesn’t make much difference for music; however, it ensures that video and audio stay synchronized for movies and games. When the S2 is connected via Bluetooth, you can pair it with two devices at once. You can play music on your phone while leaving your business phone open for calls.
Alternatively, you can connect your phone with the 3.5mm aux cable. This has its advantages and disadvantages. That means you don’t have to worry about your batteries since your phone provides the power, and the disadvantage is that your phone’s battery will run down faster. You also can’t use the built-in controls, so hands-free operation is out of the question.
Audio Quality
The S2’s drivers are 40 mm in diameter, making them large enough for rich and powerful bass. Indeed, you get incredible performance across the sound spectrum. We had no complaints. The bass is as advertised, with enough power to drive dance music and low, rumbling sound effects. The high frequencies are glossy, with plenty of sparkles without sacrificing texture. Finally, the mids are well-positioned and not muddied by the bass or polluted with sibilance.
We also appreciated the wide soundstage. This means that there is a good separation between different instruments. When you listen to music, it sounds like you are in an actual room, listening to real instruments. Compare this to other budget headphones, where the sound can seem compressed. There is an excellent bass response, which gets even more profound when ANC is enabled. The SuperEQ S2 drivers deliver clean highs and clear mids, giving you good separation between instruments.
An audible beep is generated when the maximum volume is reached; however, no beep when ANC is enabled. While playing audio at 100% volume, there is some sound leakage, which is standard with on-ear headphones.
ANC
The built-in ANC chip provides pretty good noise reduction. Overall, you experience a noise reduction of about 25 decibels. This is a significant reduction, similar to reducing a scream to a soft murmur. You can still hear loud sounds, but they are considerably muffled. More even lower sounds such as engine noise will virtually disappear. As with all ANC, it responds better to constant sounds than sudden ones. Car horns and screeching train brakes do come through, at least briefly.
The S2 headphones don’t just suppress noise while listening to music, and it also reduces interference during phone calls. The CVC 8.0 microphone separates your voice from the surrounding background noise. This makes sure that the other person hears what you are saying, even in a noisy environment. Keep in mind that these microphones only work on your side of the conversation. How well you hear the other person depends on the type of microphone they are using.
Battery life and charging
The S2’s internal battery has enough charge for several hours of use. How long depends on what exactly you are doing. If you’re using the S2 as regular headphones, it will last about 25 hours at medium volume. At full volume, that’s still over 20 hours. With the ANC enabled, this drops to 18 hours or less. That’s still not bad, especially for ANC headphones. Finally, if you use ANC alone, you can get as much as 45 hours of use. This is ideal for travel if you are trying to sleep during multiple stages of a long trip. No matter how you look at it, these batteries are more than reasonably powerful.
Charging is relatively easy and takes only two hours from a fully depleted battery. You can plug them into any USB port or charger, so the juice is never far away. And two hours is far less than the average person sleeps each night. For all practical purposes, you should never run out of battery.
Final words
So, are the SuperEQ S2 ANC Bluetooth headphones worth buying? That depends on what’s important to you. In terms of audio quality, you get some pretty good performance. Considering the modest price, the low, high, and mid frequencies all sound fantastic. We were pleasantly surprised by the sound. The same goes for the ANC feature, which is not the most powerful, but still does a good job. Add in CVC 8.0 noise cancellation, and you have excellent all-around audio.
