Kiwi Ears Ardor Review – Wireless Dual-Driver Headphones with Hybrid ANC and Ultra-Long Battery Life
The new Kiwi Ears Ardor combines high-fidelity sound with the latest wireless technology, making it the ideal choice on the go. Featuring dual dynamic drivers, it delivers rich bass, clear mids, and detailed treble, with a spacious soundstage.
Its hybrid ANC technology reduces external noise by up to 35dB, ensuring an immersive, interruption-free experience. Meanwhile, its spatial audio support adds dimension to your music. With up to 140 hours of playback and fast-charging capabilities, the Ardor is designed for all-day listening without worry. Plus, its lightweight, foldable design and vegan-leather ear pads provide ultimate comfort and portability, whether you’re traveling, working, or gaming.
Kiwi Ears’ Ardor headphones offer wireless connectivity with advanced Bluetooth 5.4 technology. This ensures ultra-low latency, making it perfect for seamless video and gaming experiences. With an 8-10m signal range, you can enjoy high-quality audio without interruption. The Ardor also supports simultaneous connections to two devices, simplifying multitasking and streamlining your workflow.
The Ardor features an advanced hybrid ANC system that uses a precise 5-microphone array. It efficiently detects and neutralizes ambient sounds, providing a quiet, uninterrupted environment for high-quality audio.
The Ardor is engineered with two dynamic drivers in a coaxial arrangement to provide exceptional sound quality. A 40mm driver delivers deep bass, natural mids, and crisp treble, while a dedicated 10mm driver enhances clarity and broadens the soundstage.
Equipped with a 1100mAh high-capacity battery, the Ardor delivers impressive playback times—up to 140 hours with ANC off and 72 hours with ANC on. If you’re in a rush, a 10-minute charge gives you 8 hours of playback, ensuring that your music experience continues without interruptions. Perfect for long trips, commutes, or extended listening sessions, the Ardor keeps you connected to your music all day long.
You can enable the spatial audio function on the Ardor to fully immerse yourself in a three-dimensional sound environment. This feature elevates your audio experience, creating the sensation that sound is emanating from all directions, similar to a live performance or a cinematic setting. Whether you are listening to music, playing games, or viewing films.
In addition to wireless capabilities, the Ardor also offers USB-C connectivity for high-resolution (24/96) music playback with its built-in DAC/AMP chipset.
Crafted for portability and comfort, the Ardor boasts a foldable, lightweight design that easily fits into your backpack. The soft vegan-leather ear pads ensure long-lasting comfort, allowing you to enjoy hours of music without discomfort.
Specs
- Bluetooth: 5.4
- Drivers: Dynamic 40mm + 10mm (Coaxial)
- Audio Codecs: SBC, AAC
- Noise Cancellation: Hybrid ANC, Noise reduction depth -32dB±3dB
- Battery Capacity: 1100mAh
- Playback Time: 72 hours (ANC on), 140 hours (ANC off)
- Fast Charging: 10 mins = 8 hours playback
- Impedance: 32Ω±10% @1K Hz
- Sensitivity: 100±3dB @1KHz 1mW
- Price: $99
Disclaimer: Kiwi Ears Ardor was kindly provided by Linsoul for review.
Unboxing
Connectivity
Bluetooth
The Kiwi Ears Ardor’s BT 5.4 is capable of connecting to dual devices, as most are in this category. Latency while watching videos or movies on my PC is non-existent.
The dual connectivity allowed for quick switching between my phone and computer when called upon. Once a call was completed, the music started again without issue.
The initial pairing was straightforward, and it wasn’t until I realized that the Ardor would automatically connect to more than one device (after the initial connection) that I changed from connecting every time by purposely using the connect feature to simply connecting a single device.
USB-C
Paired this way, the USB-C to USB-C still uses the DSP of the Ardor. By using the onboard chip, the quality is ensured for accurate sound production. Immediately apparent was the disparity in volume between BT and the source, running in this manner.
After equalizing the volume to what I had with the BT level (by ear only), I found the sound through the USB-C to be quite extraordinary, mimicking a cabled closed-back headphone at this level.
The micro-details spoken about above became more evident (and not unexpected) and pronounced. The upper midrange push-up and forward were still there, but the added detail allowed for a more even, neutral signature. Bass became a bit more controlled as well.
Sound
The Ardor has a balanced and natural sound signature, following the renowned Harman tuning as a reference for optimal sound. Its bass is deep and powerful, but quickly limited in the midrange to avoid any bloat. The treble is tuned to align with the perceived human hearing curve, delivering a comfortable and precise listening experience.
The Kiwi Ears Ardor showcases a dominant bass presence that contributes to its rich and full-bodied sound signature. While there is some bleed into the lower midrange, this can also be seen as a skillful way to enhance the weight of the lower mids, effectively concealing what could be perceived as an overly pronounced upper bass area. This substantial low-end presence results in significant rumble when needed.
The upper midrange and treble notes provide a clear and detailed sound, maintaining a balance that is neither overly light nor excessively prolonged in attack or decay. The top end is characterized by a concise nature, offering a predominantly open sound signature that enhances spatiality.
The Ardor sound signature features a hint of airiness, achieved with a gentle push forward and upward in the upper midrange. This adds a touch of lightness to an otherwise smooth signature, while also enhancing the richness and warmth of the overall sound.
When ANC is fully activated, I notice that the bass can occasionally sound overly resonant and encroach upon the lower midrange, yet it delivers a solid presence during both the attack and decay phases. This results in a sound signature that is musically precise, albeit slightly heavy in terms of note weight.
The warmth contributes depth to the timbre, while also allowing room for the upper midrange and treble notes to create the lift and openness I perceive. This might appear counterintuitive, but often, that foundational bass clears the way for the reach of the upper midrange and treble. Naturally, in certain genres, the pronounced bass can appear to overshadow the signature, resulting in an even warmer sound.
The soundstage is more elevated than it is broad and profound, yet none of the three dimensions is deficient. The sound signature possesses a natural quality that enables note weight to contribute to the distribution across all three dimensions. This distribution also facilitates the blending of layers, obscuring a distinct separation of the instrumental components.
Punctuating treble notes contributes positively to dynamics, aiding in the separation of those layers. I have never found any of the sections to be deficient, yet I desire slightly improved micro-detail in the signature. The treble note is beneficial, but I believe a little more would be welcomed.
Macro-details remain quite good, especially with ANC on; however, the lack of micro-details can be somewhat mitigated by using the included cables or turning ANC off for a more open listening experience.
Sum-Up
If you choose to use the 3.5mm cable, the Kiwi Ears Ardor is a highly capable wireless headphone that can stand up to numerous competitors in the wired category. This speaks a lot about the tuning characteristics provided by the Ardor, making it one of the best wireless headphones I have tested within this price bracket.