Zendure ZenPods True Wireless Earphones Review

We best know Zendure for creating products that help keep our devices charged, several of which I use every day, so when they reached out to let me know they were launching a whole new product I was intrigued to find out how their first attempt at wireless earphones would turn out.

Zendure sent us over a set of their  ZenPods which are launching today and I’ve been using them daily for the last 2 weeks to find out how they measure up against the competition.

What’s in the box

Inside the box you get a small pill-shaped charging case, a USB C charging cable, some silicone ear tips and the ZenPods themselves.

The Charging Case

The charging case is small and neat. The top flips open to reveal the ZenPods which are magnetically held in place and charged via two small pins on their stems. The case has an LED which flashes red to indicate it’s charging and solid white when charged. The case thankfully uses a USB C connection (are we finally seeing the end of Micro USB?).

When fully charged, the case can add an additional 18 hours of playtime to the ZenPods. It took roughly 70 minutes for us to fully charge the case from dead.

Once the ZenPods need to be charged they take a similar amount of time to charge as the case and you will be good for around 6 hours listening time at medium volumes. If you like listening to your music a little louder you can expect that time to reduce accordingly.

ZenPods Design and Specs

The Zendure ZenPods don’t stray too far from the norm when it comes to design. They will be available in a number of different colours but the set we have for review are white.

The ZenPods have a fairly small earbud with a short white stem that houses the microphones.

It was very easy to fit the ZenPods in my ears and as the body of the earbud is quite small they are comfortable to wear for extended periods. Something that I find all too often when reviewing solid plastic earphones like these is that the size of the driver chamber is excessive and the hard plastic can press against parts of your ear causing discomfort, especially when you smile or laugh but I had no such issues with the ZenPods.

They also stayed in my ear without issue. The obligatory violent headshake was performed to try and dislodge them but they stayed in place without any drama.

The ZenPods are very light at just 4 grams which helps make them so comfortable to wear.

The ZenPods use Bluetooth 5.0 to connect. When you remove them from their case they automatically go into pairing mode. Once paired with a device, they will automatically pair to it once removed from their case again. We experienced no issues with pairing or with connection drops during our time reviewing them. I could get up and walk around the office leaving my phone on the desk and continue listening without issue.

The ZenPods have an IP5X rating for water resistance meaning you can use them in the gym without worrying but they are not suitable for use while swimming.

What do they sound like

The ZenPods use a 13mm dynamic driver to create sound. I’m a big fan of large dynamic drivers in earphones such as these and Zendure have done a great job here with the ZenPods.

The sound is clear, without any hint of distortion even at high volumes. The large driver can deliver tight, rumbling bass without ever being too much and they sound great across the whole dynamic range.

At their price point (more on that below) the sound quality produced exceeds expectations and they compete firmly with many other earphones that are far more expensive.

ANC & ENC

Both Active Noise Cancellation and Environment Noise Cancellation are present in the ZenPods. The ZenPods can also allow outside sound to pass through for when you need to be more aware of your surroundings.

Environment Noise Cancellation is a feature designed to make calls clearer by removing background noise. I made a number of test calls while using the ZenPods and people reported the sound was clear but the volume was a little on the low side.

The specs claim that ANC is capable of reducing the ambient noise by 28dB. I’ll be honest and say I haven’t been on any noisey public transport lately and the office is also pretty quiet these days too due to the pandemic so I haven’t given this function the use it deserves before giving my full opinion.

I did step into a server room which had several fans running and toggled the ANC on and off and there is definitely a perceptible drop in the outside noise you can hear. In fairness the fact that you are inserting silicon buds into your ears acts as the main barrier to outside noise but the added active noise cancellation will allow you to listen to music at a lower volume level which is good for your ears.

Price

The Early Bird pricing for the Zenpods on Indiegogo will be $65 which will rise to $119 at retail.

Zendure ZenPods Conclusion

I would say I have been sent about 30 sets of wireless earphones to review over the last year with many not making it to review due to one issue or another. The market is flooded now with models at every price point, often offering a poor quality experience but the ZenPods stand out as an excellent set of true wireless earphones at a great early bird price. I have no issue with highly recommending the Zendure ZenPods.

The ZenPods are launching on Indiegogo today for $65. For any future iPhone 12 owners, Zendure are offering a special bundle which includes the ZenPods and their Supermini Power Bank for $119.

Find out more on Indiegogo here: https://bit.ly/3o2e1NX

(Please note, Zendure supplied us with the ZenPods at no cost for the purpose of a review. They have had no input into this review and we do not earn any commission should you chose to buy any of their products)