AGM mobile is a brand you might recognise as being one of the leading rugged phone vendors where we have reviewed devices such as AGM A10 & AGM M7 rugged phones. Well, they have now expanded into accessories and have launched the AGM Buds that the vendor announced last month,
We have been lucky to have had the chance to review these over the last few weeks and they come in handy when I caught covid and enjoyed some podcasts using these buds in my time of rest.
Who is AGM?
AGM was started in 2008 after a group of tech enthusiasts identified a space in the rugged phone market. The products they design are for those with a love of the outdoors and create products that can handle all the daily challenges you expect in the toughest environments.
First Impressions
The AGM Buds fit in that budget range of the TWS market cost £49.99 and are AGM first attempt at creating true wireless earbuds. Overall they look good and offer an IPX5 rating meaning the buds are waterproof and sweatproof.
The buds give you provide you with 4 hours of playtime with additional hours stored in the charging case to give you 20 hours in total. They also offer the master/slave feature meaning you can use just one bud at a time if you wish nice if you want to listen to your music and keep your awareness at the same time.
Design
The AGM buds are a similar design to the Apple Airpods and provide a budget-friendly alternative. The style of the buds is similar to that of the 1More Comfobuds 2 which only cost a few pounds more at £59.99.
They come in a silver colour and offer a simplistic design with the controls via touch with no physical buttons. The touch controls are also quite simple with Play/Pause, Track control and call answer or reject. You will notice there is no volume control so you will need to control that via your phone. There is no smart assistant offered in these buds which was a little surprise as brands like 1More and Sudio offer that feature and are available at similar prices.
The buds offer a stylish design and are lightweight at 3 grams per bud and come with that charging case. The charging case survived the shake test and the buds remained in the case. The shape of the case is pebble-like with the AGM logo on the front and 4 LED’s which indicate how much battery life is remaining in the case. The LED’s indicate 25 to 100% battery life.
Moving to the rear of the case you have a small button which when pressed indicates how much battery life. And at the bottom of the charging case is that USB-C charging port.
Finally the battery life you get 4 hours of playtime as well as 16 hours within the charging case to give you a total of 20 hours. This is respectable for AGM’s first attempt but hardly groundbreaking considering a pair of Edifier TWS 1 Pro comes with 14 hours playback with a charging case that gives you a total charging time of 42 hours. You can see AGM have some work to do in the battery department.
If you are only using these buds for your trip to work as I have I had no compliments. Just something to consider the buds are not Qi-enabled so to charge the case you need a USB-C cable to hand.
Connection
The buds feature soft curves with no angular edges which help with the comfort and ergonomic design for the user. They are connected using Bluetooth 5.0 with a range of 10m.
In terms of pairing the buds regardless of the device you use when you take them out of the charging case for the first time, they will go into pairing mode automatically. You then go into your Bluetooth page on your phone’s settings and select AGM BUDS and then they are connected.
Audio Quality
The AGM buds don’t offer any codecs as far as I can see so if you’re looking to listen to high-def audio that you might listen to on audio streaming sites like Tidal look elsewhere. However, considering the cost these are designed for more general users than those who want more high def audio.
Moving to the audio quality I have been testing these for a few weeks now and I found they provide clear audio with effortless separation. The lows offer a punchy bass however, the midrange just feels like something is missing it comes out a little thin.
The vocals do come out crisp and bring some height to the overall sound so that makes up for the lack of midrange. Finally, the highs are the best part of the overall audio quality and make listening worthwhile. The treble makes a big impact and keeps the sound engaging. This gives the highs a greater layer of texture which adds character.
Moving to instrumentals in the tracks we have listened to and the AGM buds offers an extra layer of clarity without being over dominant.
Verdict
The AGM Buds are a good pair of true wireless earbuds that focus on that ergonomic design to provide a decent level of comfort. The master & Slave technology is a really useful feature that allows you to listen to one bud at any one time.
I also found the battery life was acceptable for those who want to use them for their daily commute. It was a good first attempt from a company not known for products in this area. However, moving forward I suggest AGM try to increase the battery life.
The audio quality is for those who listen to music on the way to work or for hitting the gym. The audio quality provides decent sound. The IPX5 rating will also offer extra protection against getting caught in the rain or if you work hard in the gym and get all sweaty these buds will serve you well.
The only negative I could say about the sound is the mid-range being a little on the thin side. The average listener won’t notice. Apart from that, I could mention the fact they are not Qi-compatible. So you would have to charge them by the USB-C cable instead of a wireless charging dock but this is just me looking for fault.
So if your looking for a budget-friendly pair of TWS earbuds then the AGM Buds won’t provide any concerns to the pocket they are budget-friendly. They sound decent and do come with fairly simple touch controls. So if you want fairly basic earbuds without any particular requirements like ANC then these are for you.
Product Rating:
Design: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Connection: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Sound Quality: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Value for Money: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars – 4.5 Stars
AGM Buds Cost £49.99 from AGMmobile.co.uk
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