Kicker EB400 - Review 2022

Kicker is known for its contributions to the car audio realm—and notably, the car subwoofer realm. So it'south no surprise the company's latest Bluetooth earphones pack a serious bass punch. At $99.95, Kicker'south EB400 earphones also characteristic a water-resistant design geared toward the gym crowd. The in-ear fit feels very secure, and if bass helps motivate yous during your workouts, you won't be disappointed. If you want a fiddling more than high frequency definition with your deep bass, or just a somewhat even balance between lows and highs, however, this is probably not the pair for you.

Design

The EB400's pattern is largely a success. The matte black surface is coated in Liquipel and is IPX7-rated, and then the earphones tin be submerged up to one meter without issue, and they'll definitely exist able to handle rain, sweat, and being rinsed off. The earpieces are rather large, but lightweight, and this serves to make them fit more than securely during exercise. The band is also rigid and moldable around the ear, making a secure, stable fit even easier to reach, while the included cable cinch allows you to arrange slack so information technology'due south not bouncing around while y'all exercise.

Kicker EB400 inline The inline remote control and mic compartment is located closest to the right earpiece. It has three buttons—a central power push that also controls playback and call direction, and plus/minus buttons that control volume (the volume levels piece of work in conjunction with your mobile device'due south master levels) equally well as track navigation (if you concur them downwardly). This is not our favorite layout for controls, equally information technology increases the chance of accidentally skipping a track when you meant to accommodate the volume.

Three pairs of silicone eartips ship with the earphones, color-coded for small, medium, and large sizes. A short micro USB cable connects to the inline remote control compartment, with a snap-shut cover to protect it from moisture. The comprehend can be a pain to close at times, but it's necessary for it to be fully sealed in order to ensure water resistance.

The mic offers mediocre intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we were able to understand every word nosotros recorded, merely the overall quality was weak, with audio artifacts making consonants fuzzy. This is more or less par for the course with Bluetooth mics on earphones, merely we've heard better.

Kicker estimates battery life to be roughly eight hours, but your results will vary based on your volume levels.

Performance

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Pocketknife's "Silent Shout," the earphones evangelize thunderous, additional deep bass. At top volumes, the lows do non distort, and at moderate volumes, they withal pack some serious dial. This is a very boosted audio that volition likely appeal to bass lovers and scare off purists.

Bill Callahan'due south "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the overall sound signature. The drums on this track get an extra helping of deep bass, giving them a thunderous quality that isn't the most intense we've heard, but is firmly rooted in the bass-forward category. Callahan'southward baritone vocals as well get a pronounced bass boost, which pushes their richness and depth up a level. Everything could apply a little more high-mid presence—from Callahan'south vocals, to the percussive attacks and guitar strums. Things aren't so bereft of high-mids that they sound muddy, simply there'south a lack of crispness here, and when you combine that with heavy bass response, things can sound unbalanced.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West'due south "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop's attack could definitely utilize more loftier-mid edge; instead, information technology's the loop's sustain that gets a heavy dollop of added bass depth, emphasizing the thump of the loop and toning down the set on'due south treble presence. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate this beat out are delivered with serious bass depth, though they actually lack the oomph we hear in the drum loop's bass response—so the boosting is happening in the lows and depression-mids more so than the sub-bass realm (though it is still quite boosted there). This makes for a difficult backdrop for vocals to thrive over. The 3 vocals on this track aren't lost in the mix, just the brightness and clarity that they often get from crisper audio signatures feels suppressed.

Orchestral tracks, similar the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel Co-ordinate to the Other Mary, audio almost comically bass-boosted hither. Information technology's unlikely Kicker had classical music in listen when designing these earphones, so we won't linger on this also long—but fifty-fifty if you like a little added bass depth when listening to orchestral tracks, this is pretty intense.

Conclusions

Then, who is Kicker's EB400 earphones for? I'd say do-focused bass-lovers—peculiarly those motivated by some added bass thump while working out and don't need it to be matched by crisp high-end definition. In this price range, however, there are plenty of excellent, practise-friendly options that offering a bit more high frequency clarity and still deliver some serious bass punch. Consider the JBL Reflect Mini BT, the Jam Comfort Buds, the Skullcandy Method Wireless, or the less expensive 808 Audio Ear Canz. Kicker gets the gym-friendly pattern right, and the sound signature will work for booming bass aficionados, only anyone seeking accuracy or balance will want to await elsewhere.