The true wireless market is stacked with brands fighting for market share and in this review, we have turned our focus to the Mifo S made by audio brand Sport & Outdo. Now I know what you think I have made a typo with the word “OUTDO”? Wrong according to the manufacturer it expresses an attitude beyond the performance.
The Mifo S are a pair of TWS designed for those who do lots of sport and like working out in the gym regularly. These earbuds currently cost £129.99 and offer the following key features:
- Bluetooth 5.2
- ANC
- 40-hour battery
- IP7 rated
- 6 Mic Noise Cancellation
- Smart touch controls
- Auto Pairing
- Transparent Mode.
First Impressions/Design
The Mifo S are the smallest pair of earbuds with the smallest profile in the ear available on the market that I have tested to date.
The presentation box that the buds come in looks quite nice with an image of the buds and the case on the front and key features to the rear.
Take the cover off and you have a green box that inside has the charging case with buds inside, USB-A to USB-C charging cable, 3 pairs of interchangeable eartips and a user guide.
The case and buds are both covered in a metallic coating with sports words printed all over the case and buds such as Pingpong, Dance, Football, Skateboard, & Rock Climbing are printed on the case and the buds. This indicates the kind of sports you can do while listening to the buds.
The case and the buds really do draw attention and are much better than the plain black buds we have been sent so many times by other brands. The Mifo S also comes in the following colour options:
- Black
- Teal
- Dark Green
- White/Blue
- Black/Green- Sports print
The case is quite sturdy and includes a button to open the case at the front which also when held for 3 seconds starts the pairing process.
Inside the case, you have 3 LEDs that indicate the battery life on either side of the buds that sit in the case held by small magnets.
The buds are very compact and in fact, the ear tip is the biggest part of the buds, The Mifo S are fin-shaped and when placed in your ears they do not protrude at all. The buds measure in at 2.5 cm³ with each bud measuring in at 3.5g meaning not only are they small but very lightweight.
They are that small you could in theory go to sleep with them in your ears. They are that comfortable you won’t even notice they are in your ears even after long periods of use.
The fact these are designed for sports, it will come as no shock that the buds are IPX7 rated meaning they can handle sweat when working out and also they won’t be affected if you’re caught in the rain you won’t have to worry about dust either as they are dustproof.
Moving to the battery life you get up to 6 hours of battery life in the buds with the charging case providing 34 hours which is 3 additional full charges. This battery does reduce when ANC is used constantly. This also brings up another issue Mifo S are designed for sleeping as well as sport. However, the battery life won’t last as long as the average sleep which is about 8 hours and the buds in sleep mode only last 4 hours ideal for an hour nap.
Last but not least the case does not allow fast charging so when you need to give it a full charge it will take 2 hours to go from 0% to 100%.
Controls
The touch control panel is to the centre part of the bud, they are responsive without accidental activation of a function when it’s time to take the bud out of your ears. The touch controls include volume control, track selection, ANC mode and caller response.
Below is the full list of instructions:
| Control | Action |
| Double Tap Left or Right buds | Play/Pause Music |
| Single Tap Right Bud | Increase Volume |
| Single Tap Left Bud | Decrease Volume |
| Triple tap Right Bud | Skip track |
| Triple tap Left bud | Skip back a track |
| Hold either bud for a few seconds | Switch between ANC, Transparency Mode |
| Tap Left or Right bud 5 times | Activate or deactivate low latency gaming mode |
Unfortunately, the Mifo S does not allow you to activate your voice assistant which feels like a massive mistake considering it’s such a common feature to have in a pair of TWS. When I asked the manufacturer why this feature had been missed they explained it had been part of previous models such as the Mifo O5. However, they felt the actual experience you got for adding this feature was not as good as they hoped it would be so decided to not add a smart assistant to the Mifo S I expect due to the fact the only controls available would have been to tap 4 times which would have just been annoying to the user.
Connectivity
The Mifo S earbuds are connected via the latest Bluetooth 5.2 and they offer a 10-meter range. The connectivity has been very good in testing the only negative when it comes to the connectivity they don’t support multipoint connectivity.
Sound Quality
The audio quality from the Mifo S provides a dynamic sound that focuses on the bass and the highs. The bass has a solid mid-bass that adds some punch in tracks which are bass-heavy. For tracks without a strong bass, the Mifo S will pick up lower sounding instruments and add a light bass. If I could ask for one improvement it would be to make the bass a bit more precise.
Moving to the treble it’s handled quite well and helps push the vocals forward and gives enough presence to brighter instruments but at the same time keeping it bearable.
When listening to something like “Amigos Para Simepre by Katherine Jenkins and Mark Masri” the female vocals are never too sharp and you won’t find harsh volume peaks. The song overall uses the mids and highs and is engagingly forward and controlled. The lower mid-tones such as drums or electronic sounds really do hit well and add a bit of thickness to the overall sound. The Mifo S doesn’t just sound good when listening to music they also perform well when watching videos or listening to podcasts the sound is full and the vocals are crystal clear the whole time.
Active Noise Cancellation
When listening to music or a podcast you do not want that affected by unwanted outside noise. This is where ANC comes into play and the Mifo S comes with 3 ANC levels:
- Strong Noise Cancelling
- Mild Noise Cancelling
- Transparency Mode
When ANC has been switched off actually it’s on the mild noise-cancelling function as the buds use a level of passive noise cancelling. The buds do block out a level of unwanted noise due to the fit they have in your ears. When you switch on the ANC (Strong Noise Cancelling) – the Mifo S reduces the unwanted noise by dampening the darkest and brighter tones which will please users as the most unwanted sounds are reduced significantly.
Transparency mode – This mode is more commonly known as ambient mode and in testing, I will be honest I could not really tell it did much. Yes, the earbuds pick up brighter sounds around you and are helpful when at a train station and you need to listen out for a train announcement. I found the mode was not the best on the market but did allow you to get some outside noise in but it was somewhat insufficient to be able to hear conversations fully around you.
Phone calls/ Gaming
Most earbuds on the market allow you to make calls and the Mifo S is not different they provide acceptable call quality. Wind noise is always an issue when making calls outside but doesn’t impact the noise too much. In testing your voice was very clear with plenty of volume and the ANC helps reduce surrounding noises and allows you to have an uninterrupted call. I did notice the person I spoke to did sound a little soft so the best way around this is just to increase the volume and it will sound much better.
When the user wants to play online mobile games the Mifo S come with a low-latency mode. It works quite well but you may experience a slight delay in sound effects like gunshots if playing a war based game or the engine sounds on a racing game.
Verdict
The Mifo S are a very comfortable pair of TWS they are compact in fact they are the smallest pair of buds we have tested. The battery life is good for using them during the day but if you were to use these when sleeping only limit your sleep to a short nap as after 4 hours you will get a low battery notification which could be very annoying when you’re having 40 winks.
Connectivity-wise they come with the most current Bluetooth 5.2 offering meaning you will have no issues losing signal when listening to music or your favourite podcast. The Mifo S also provide an IP7 rating which means they are fully waterproof. They can handle being caught in the rain or when you work hard in the gym you could even go swimming in them if you wish.
My only real negative with these buds apart from the battery life when sleeping is the fact the Mifo S is missing the option to call up your phone’s smart assistant. Considering the cost and the other options on the market at this price point this is a big miss in the design but I understand why it was left out.
These buds minus their faults are an ideal option for someone who loves to get fit.
Product Rating:
Design: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Controls: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Sound Quality: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
ANC: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Battery Life: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Value For Money: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Overall Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Also available from Sport-Outdo.com – Want 20% off use code – mifoSSSS
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