BQEYZ Summer Review 1

Who Doesn’t Love Summer?

Reviews
4 min read

BQEYZ Summer Review

BQEYZ Summer is the 3rd flagship IEM from the maker. First two were Spring 1 and Spring 2 which were also hybrid IEMs with 1 dynamic driver, 1 balanced armature driver, and 1 piezoelectric driver. BQEYZ makes no changes as drivers but changes the specs of course, like the diaphragm of the dynamic driver or the layers in the piezo driver. (7 for Spring 1, 9 for Spring 2, and 5 for the Summer). I don’t have the Spring 2 but I know it’s the retuned version of Spring 1 according to customer’s opinions and people liked it a lot. I have Spring 1, which I already like very much, so I skipped the 2nd Spring and waited for the Summer.

BQEYZ Summer Review

BQEYZ Spring models have metal shells. In the first contact with the Summer, it naturally feels cheaper in hand. They say it’s made from resin but again it feels like a cheaper plastic. But also is lighter, apart from cheap feel, feels better when you put them in your ears. The shells of Summer are slightly bigger than the Spring’s, but its weight makes it more comfortable while listening. I think BQEYZ made Summer this way on purpose to make some cut from the price (Spring 1 came with 149$ and Spring 2 came with 169$ price tags If don’t remember wrong), for 129$ Summer seems very attractive on paper as an hybrid IEM. As the price goes higher the competition gets tougher for sure.

BQEYZ Summer Review

BQEYZ Summer comes with two types and 6 pairs of ear tips. I find the stock tips very satisfying and used the white tips for the review. The cable that came with is also very nice, 8-core braided, crystal copper silver plated. Which is soft enough for comfortable wear and no tangle issues or whatsoever. The connector type of the cable can be selected from 3.5mm single-ended to 2.5mm and 4.4mm balanced while ordering the Summer, which I find very useful. The leather-like carrying case looks good and sturdy.

BQEYZ Summer Review

BQEYZ Summer Review

Specs:

Hybrid: Coaxial 13mm dynamic driver with PU+LCP diaphragm, a new version (compared to Spring’s) balanced armature customized unit, and 5-layer piezoelectric unit.
Impedance: 32 Ω
Sensitivity: 107dB
Frequency: 7-40KHz
Cable Length: 1.2m
Pin Type: 0.78mm-2 Pin
BQEYZ Summer Review Sound For the Masses 9
Spring 1 vs Summer
On paper, the BQEYZ Summer seems an easy-to-drive IEM. But for its true potential to show I advise a powerful source. I used my trusted Khadas Tone2 DAC/AMP, Summer connected to 4.4mm balanced output.
BQEYZ Summer Review

Yes I color modded my Spring 1’s, in case you wanna read about it,

https://androidbrick.com/bqeyz-spring-1-color-mod/

Sound

Bass
Lows are kicking nice and strong, they are fast, also feel wide and smooth. The low end of BQEYZ Summer is the definitely highlight of the IEM. Many will like Summer’s bass performance for sure.
I personally like bass that can go deeper than strong kick, and more texture than being faster, for example. I personally like lows that go a little more deeper. But again this all depends on your taste, if you like strong impact on your lows, you’ll like Summer a lot. I just wish that it had more rumble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjfBY3C4UQ0
A good example for this may be the track from Phil Collins – That’s Just The Way It Is, which starts with very deep bass notes and continues in the background while Phil starts to sing. Lows are very dominant from start to end in this track and at some point, you start to think that the bass on Summer might sound flatter, for example, compared to its brother the Spring 1.
Mids
The midrange is warm and has a weight brought from the lows. The transition between lows and mids is quite smooth. Lower mids have presence and body. Male vocals sound so close to natural. There is an improvement in clarity, detail and dynamics comparing to Spring 1. On Spring 1 mids sounded like there was a curtain in front of your ears, on Summer mids are more forward and that’s a good thing, at least to my ears. Female vocals stand out with a good presence. So in general vocals and instruments sound very natural. Timbre is also very good but not the best out there. Tonality is good for the price for sure.
Treble
Most of the time, the highs sound rich, fast, defined, even quite very well extended. But unlike Spring 1, because of the tuning (extended highs), on some tracks you come across the dangerous zone where you can face some minor sibilance. Some electro guitar solos, some piano notes, and some vocals with high octave notes. For me, it was not a big issue because I love the clarity in treble. That is the exchange for better detail retrieval, for better timbre and tonality we might say. But needs to be pointed out for some treble-sensitive users out there.

Imaging and soundstage
Imaging is actually quite nice, you can pinpoint certain instruments. The soundstage is definitely wide and spacious. This might be the result of being a hybrid IEM, different kinds of drivers are serving for lows, mids and treble, which are well-separated in tuning (like the other Spring models).

BQEYZ Summer Review Sound For the Masses 19

 

Conclusion

I think this combo for hybrid IEMs has very good potential, dynamic drivers for lows, balanced armature for mids, and Piezoelectric for trebles. In the end, it all matters how these are tuned. BQEYZ Spring 1 was my first hybrid IEM and I liked it a lot but was not perfect, Summer gave me the clarity that I want which was lacking in Spring 1. Maybe I like a darker sound signature, so let’s wait for the Winter to come 🙂

Joke aside BQEYZ Summer is a very successful IEM and definitely worth the asking price of 129$.
I would like to thank Elle Zhou for the review unit, it’s been an honest and joyful journey.