Meizu HD50 review


meizu hd50 review

Featuring a wonderful round design, silver finish and comfortable fit, how do the Meizu HD50 headphones feel ears on?

When I set eyes on the Meizu HD50 earphones I knew I had to get a pair. Design wise they look much more modern and clean when compared to Xiaomi’s flagship headphones, and I was excited to see how Meizu would do in the headphone space after trying numerous models from Chinese manufacturers throughout 2015.

Meizu HD50 Review – Design

Meizu have really gone all out to get impress you out of the box, actually before you even open the box the packaging itself is quite nice.

meizu hd50 review

Under the tight-fitting lid there is a clear plastic cover and under that there’s a padded carry case that the HD50 can fold up and sit in safety. Unzipping the case reveals the sliver HD50 headphones, the detachable cable and a couple of adaptors for use on an airplane or more upmarket audio equipment.

meizu hd50 review

People are going to want to compare to the Meizu HD50 with Xiaomi’s headphones, but they really couldn’t be any different. The silver finish and modern design of the Meizu headphones, is much easier to live with than the garish gold body of the Xiaomi’s.

The Meizu doesn’t have an open back design which helps to prevent sound leakage, and the Meizu HD50 cable connects in to just the right ear cup rather than splitting in two and connecting to each ear individually.

meizu hd50 review

Meizu have used a thick rubber isolated wire rather than a Kevlar cable, with a chunky metal remote to adjust the volume and switch between songs. The remote works fine with all Android products I’ve tested them with but isn’t compatible with iOS.

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meizu hd50 review

The Meizu HD50 are much lighter than they look and thanks to all the available adjustment and the very generously padding they are extremely comfortable to wear.

So Meizu have made a comfortable, great looking and modern set of headphones, but how do they sound?

Meizu HD50 Review – Sound

meizu hd50 review

My first day of testing the Meizu HD50 I went straight to my Roni Size collection for a taste of Drum and Bass and I was immediately underwhelmed. Bass wasn’t there, and the sound stage of each track was dead and disconnected.

My next day of testing I went for some rap and RNB, listening to tracks from Snoop Dogg and Erykah Badu. This is where the Meizu HD50 came to life. Bass just seemed more rich in these tracks and the sound stage was more immersive.

With that said though I never felt fully immersed in a track with the HD50, they are a good set of headphones and look great, but there are headphones out there which will give you are more detailed and personal experience.

Meizu HD50 Review – Gallery

Meizu HD50 Review – Conclusion

Meizu have hit the nail on the head in terms of build and design. The Meizu HD50 are a beautiful set of headphones and they are extremely comfortable to wear. Sound quality is average though, so the serious audiophile will want to look at more established headphones.

If you are looking for something that looks amazing and sounds good then the Meizu HD50 are worth a look, especially if you enjoy rap and RNB. But if you are looking to fully immerse yourself in your music then you will need to keep searching.

The Meizu HD50 will set you back $59.99 through online reseller Gearbest.

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

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86 Comments

  1. Aldrex Chama
    January 5, 2016

    Did you give them a few days to burn in?

    • frddds
      January 5, 2016

      do you own one? m considering on getting it….what is burn in? and how long would it require to burn in?

      • balcobomber25
        January 5, 2016

        To burn them in you play music on them for a number of hours straight. I have never done it myself and from those I know that have done it, it has been mixed results. As many people that say it is required, just as many will say it is BS.

        • xi7
          January 5, 2016

          hey balco, i have the mx5 today, how to start slow motion video and 1080p @ 60fps , help ? flyme 4.5.2

        • Dante
          January 6, 2016

          not required , and the difference to you may be minimal or close to none , it really depends man , i mostly put it my gear on burn in for like 70 hours non stop on pink noise/special tracks

        • xi7
          January 6, 2016

          hey balco, i have the mx5 with flyme 4.2.5c , i have downloaded last flyme 5.1.2.0G , but not work -update.zip root directory. how to install last version ?

    • January 6, 2016

      I didn’t burn them in no, I don’t subscribe to this at all, but others will

  2. January 5, 2016

    I recommend Brainwavz HM5 or Takstar Pro-80:)
    You can’t go wrong.

    • balcobomber25
      January 5, 2016

      Brainwavz are good but they are also a $100 more. For a $50 set, the Meizu’s are very good.

      • January 5, 2016

        Takstars are around $50, i doubt these Meizus are better.
        Have a lookie on Head-fi.

        • balcobomber25
          January 5, 2016

          I am happy with the Meizu’s for $50, actually like them better than the Sennheiser 598’s I had before them.

          • January 5, 2016

            In not sure why you’re comparing these Meizus which are on ear, closed back headphones with audiophile, on ear, open back Sennheiser ones.
            Anyway, depends of your needs.
            I need higher ohm on ear headphones for my DAP so the Meizu ones wouldn’t do.

            • balcobomber25
              January 5, 2016

              I am comparing them because I owned both and I like the Meizu’s better. Not hard to understand at all. I don’t consider Senn 598’s audiophile headphones, they are not even close to being that good. The Senn 850’s are true audiophile headphones with a price tag to match.

            • January 5, 2016

              Open back and closed back headphones are quite different, have different sound structure and are used for different purposes, but whatever man, you can compare them to Apple earbuds even.

            • balcobomber25
              January 5, 2016

              Again I compared two products I owned, one sounds better than the other. Just like I prefer a porterhouse steak to a lobster, the steak tastes better to me. You can’t seem to understand what an opinion is. No amount of trying to explain to me the difference (and I am well aware of closed vs open back) is going to change my opinion. Sennheiser 598’s are a value headphone for people who can’t afford true audiophile headphones. You can compare them to any headphones, just like I compared beef to seafood, that’s called being a consumer.

            • January 5, 2016

              Like i said, you can compare whatever you like, I don’t cos of some key differences in sound signature and built.
              Open headphones will never isolate sound as well as closed. Closed will naver have as wide soundstage as open ones. That’s why i dont compare them.
              I dont compare fps and rpg games either.
              They are games, but very different.

            • balcobomber25
              January 6, 2016

              You don’t compare FPS and RPG, but plenty of people do, including virtually every video game review site that exists. They judge games in their individual categories and overall for a platform. I compare products I actually use. I have both a Windows Phone (work) and an Android Phone. Two phones that are built on entirely different platforms and used for different purposes. My Android phone is infinitely better. I can make that comparison because I have owned both of them. The 598 the sound is flat and lifeless. Listening to the same songs on the HD50s the music sounds a lot better. You can go into full detail about the differences between headphones, but the above lines are not going to change.

          • Dante
            January 6, 2016

            nooo wayy man , the 598 have a so much better soundstage , and the bass is very extended for an open design hp

            • balcobomber25
              January 6, 2016

              Again I disagree. We all have different ideas though of what sounds good.

            • balcobomber25
              January 6, 2016

              I have owned 3 pairs of Sennheiser headphones and the 598’s were among the worst. I actually loved the brand up until these, the sound is often flat and lifeless.

            • Dante
              January 7, 2016

              i guess not all are purists in audio , lol but you are right in one way or another most people have their own as preferences , most of the kids want just bass these days honestly i sometimes wonder if they know whats detail mids or soundstage , just give them a cheap set of bassy headphones and they find their “beats killer” (by their own words lol)

  3. Andrew P
    January 5, 2016

    “Sound quality is average”
    “Sound quality – 8/10”

    It seems like you do not agree with yourself in this review. 8/10 is not average.

  4. balcobomber25
    January 5, 2016

    I have had them for about 2 weeks now and I love them! They aren’t the best headphones or the best sounding but for the price they are excellent. And they are incredibly comfortable on my ears. As for sound immersion could just be we listen to different types of music but I never had any issues with feeling immersed.

    • Saqib Majumder
      January 5, 2016

      what is your music source?

      • MaxPower
        January 5, 2016

        Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga

        • Tajwar
          January 5, 2016

          Babymetal

        • Saqib Majumder
          January 6, 2016

          lmao

        • balcobomber25
          January 6, 2016

          I LOVE ME SOME TSwizzle!!!!

      • balcobomber25
        January 6, 2016

        I use a variety from FLAC to MP3 to streaming music from Google.

        • Saqib Majumder
          January 6, 2016

          source as in from where do you play music? cellphone? ipod? laptop?dap?

          • balcobomber25
            January 6, 2016

            Oh I use these exclusively with my phone, which coincidentally is also a Meizu. These are the first two Meizu products I owned and I have been very impressed with both.

            • Saqib Majumder
              January 6, 2016

              yeah. my pair has arrived since we last had that over/on ear argument about these headphones. They look great and sound great but only when paired with dac/amp or a phone with good dac. Meizu phones seem to do the trick as well, going by your words. Well balanced headphones.

  5. Guest
    January 5, 2016

    This comment was deleted.

    • Guest
      January 5, 2016

      do you own one? m considering on getting it….what is burn in? and how long would it require to burn in?

    • balcobomber25
      January 5, 2016

      To burn them in you play music on them for a number of hours straight. I have never done it myself and from those I know that have done it, it has been mixed results. As many people that say it is required, just as many will say it is BS.

    • Dante
      January 6, 2016

      not required , and the difference to you may be minimal or close to none , it really depends man , i mostly put it my gear on burn in for like 70 hours non stop on pink noise/special tracks

    • Andi Sykes
      January 6, 2016

      I didn’t burn them in no, I don’t subscribe to this at all, but others will

  6. MUG3NHC
    January 5, 2016

    I recommend Brainwavz HM5 or Takstar Pro-80:)
    You can’t go wrong.

    • balcobomber25
      January 5, 2016

      Brainwavz are good but they are also a $100 more. For a $50 set, the Meizu’s are very good.

    • MUG3NHC
      January 5, 2016

      Takstars are around $50, i doubt these Meizus are better.
      Have a lookie on Head-fi.

    • balcobomber25
      January 5, 2016

      I am happy with the Meizu’s for $50, actually like them better than the Sennheiser 598’s I had before them.

    • MUG3NHC
      January 5, 2016

      In not sure why you’re comparing these Meizus which are on ear, closed back headphones with audiophile, on ear, open back Sennheiser ones.
      Anyway, depends of your needs.
      I need higher ohm on ear headphones for my DAP so the Meizu ones wouldn’t do.

    • balcobomber25
      January 5, 2016

      I am comparing them because I owned both and I like the Meizu’s better. Not hard to understand at all. I don’t consider Senn 598’s audiophile headphones, they are not even close to being that good. The Senn 850’s are true audiophile headphones with a price tag to match.

    • MUG3NHC
      January 5, 2016

      Open back and closed back headphones are quite different, have different sound structure and are used for different purposes, but whatever man, you can compare them to Apple earbuds even.

    • balcobomber25
      January 5, 2016

      Again I compared two products I owned, one sounds better than the other. Just like I prefer a porterhouse steak to a lobster, the steak tastes better to me. You can’t seem to understand what an opinion is. No amount of trying to explain to me the difference (and I am well aware of closed vs open back) is going to change my opinion. Sennheiser 598’s are a value headphone for people who can’t afford true audiophile headphones. You can compare them to any headphones, just like I compared beef to seafood, that’s called being a consumer.

    • MUG3NHC
      January 5, 2016

      Like i said, you can compare whatever you like, I don’t cos of some key differences in sound signature and built.
      Open headphones will never isolate sound as well as closed. Closed will naver have as wide soundstage as open ones. That’s why i dont compare them.
      I dont compare fps and rpg games either.
      They are games, but very different.

    • Dante
      January 6, 2016

      nooo wayy man , the 598 have a so much better soundstage , and the bass is very extended for an open design hp

    • balcobomber25
      January 6, 2016

      Again I disagree. We all have different ideas though of what sounds good.

    • balcobomber25
      January 6, 2016

      I have owned 3 pairs of Sennheiser headphones and the 598’s were among the worst. I actually loved the brand up until these, the sound is often flat and lifeless.

    • balcobomber25
      January 6, 2016

      You don’t compare FPS and RPG, but plenty of people do, including virtually every video game review site that exists. They judge games in their individual categories and overall for a platform. I compare products I actually use. I have both a Windows Phone (work) and an Android Phone. Two phones that are built on entirely different platforms and used for different purposes. My Android phone is infinitely better. I can make that comparison because I have owned both of them. The 598 the sound is flat and lifeless. Listening to the same songs on the HD50s the music sounds a lot better. You can go into full detail about the differences between headphones, but the above lines are not going to change.

    • Dante
      January 7, 2016

      i guess not all are purists in audio , lol but you are right in one way or another most people have their own as preferences , most of the kids want just bass these days honestly i sometimes wonder if they know whats detail mids or soundstage , just give them a cheap set of bassy headphones and they find their “beats killer” (by their own words lol)

  7. Witte
    January 5, 2016

    Are they on ear or over ear? Looks like a nice kit for the price if its over ear…

    I can’t stand on ear headphones.

    • balcobomber25
      January 6, 2016

      Technically they are on-ear, but they do completely cover your ears. I have used some very good on ear and some terrible over ear, so it really depends on each individual set and the user in question.

      • Witte
        January 8, 2016

        Exactly, but i have yet to come across of cans that can match my sennheiser cans of beyerdynamic cans, which are all over ear.

        • balcobomber25
          January 8, 2016

          That depends which Sennheiser you have. I have used some very very good Senns and some which were average at best.

  8. Andrew P
    January 5, 2016

    “Sound quality is average”
    “Sound quality – 8/10”

    This review does not make any sense. How 8/10 can be average ?

  9. balcobomber25
    January 5, 2016

    I have had them for about 2 weeks now and I love them! They aren’t the best headphones or the best sounding but for the price they are excellent. And they are incredibly comfortable on my ears. As for sound immersion could just be we listen to different types of music but I never had any issues with feeling immersed.

    • Saqib Majumder
      January 5, 2016

      what is your music source?

    • MaxPower
      January 5, 2016

      Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga

    • Tajwar
      January 6, 2016

      Babymetal

    • balcobomber25
      January 6, 2016

      I use a variety from FLAC to MP3 to streaming music from Google.

    • Saqib Majumder
      January 6, 2016

      lmao

    • Saqib Majumder
      January 6, 2016

      source as in from where do you play music? cellphone? ipod? laptop?dap?

    • balcobomber25
      January 6, 2016

      Oh I use these exclusively with my phone, which coincidentally is also a Meizu. These are the first two Meizu products I owned and I have been very impressed with both.

    • Saqib Majumder
      January 6, 2016

      yeah. my pair has arrived since we last had that over/on ear argument about these headphones. They look great and sound great but only when paired with dac/amp or a phone with good dac. Meizu phones seem to do the trick as well, going by your words. Well balanced headphones.

    • balcobomber25
      January 6, 2016

      I LOVE ME SOME TSwizzle!!!! Don’t forget the Beibs and OneD either!!!!

  10. Witte
    January 5, 2016

    Are they on ear or over ear? Looks like a nice kit for the price if its over ear…

    I can’t stand on ear headphones.

    edit: Did some digging. They are on ear. on my scale on ear can only reach 7/10 (maximum) … even with active noise cancelation.

    • balcobomber25
      January 6, 2016

      Technically they are on-ear, but they do completely cover your ears. I have used some very good on ear and some terrible over ear, so it really depends on each individual set and the user in question.

    • Witte
      January 8, 2016

      Exactly, but i have yet to come across of cans that can match my sennheiser cans of beyerdynamic cans, which are all over ear.

    • balcobomber25
      January 8, 2016

      That depends which Sennheiser you have. I have used some very very good Senns and some which were average at best.

  11. Maxiao
    January 6, 2016

    Andy – What would you recommend instead for better audio quality at the price range? I like the Takstar HI2050 and the JVC S500 but think the Meizu pair are pretty good – if anything I’ve say too much emphasis on bass. Would love to know your recommendations! Cheers!

    • January 6, 2016

      Hi, I’ve not tried either. The Meizu are a good headphone, and I’m happy to keep using them but they aren’t a super immersive unit. Audio is always a difficult one to review and recommend. While I think the Meizu are good, others will love them. I’d say if you wanted a well made, great looking pair of headphones go for them.

      • Maxiao
        January 6, 2016

        Thanks for your reply Andy! One big thing in Meizu’s favor is that there aren’t too many good looking and sounding on the ear portable headphones with remote. Lots of great phones around but not many which tick all those boxes. Cheers!

    • balcobomber25
      January 7, 2016

      I agree with Andi it is very tough to recommend Audio products. Everyone hears things differently and everyone has a different opinion of what sounds good and what sounds bad. I have been using these for about two weeks now (since right before Christmas) and I love them. They aren’t the greatest headphone but for the price they are excellent. But that is just my opinion, someone else might think something different.

  12. Guest
    January 6, 2016

    Andy – What would you recommend instead for better audio quality at the price range? I like the Takstar HI2050 and the JVC S500 but think the Meizu pair are pretty good – if anything I’ve say too much emphasis on bass. Would love to know your recommendations! Cheers!

    • Andi Sykes
      January 6, 2016

      Hi, I’ve not tried either. The Meizu are a good headphone, and I’m happy to keep using them but they aren’t a super immersive unit. Audio is always a difficult one to review and recommend. While I think the Meizu are good, others will love them. I’d say if you wanted a well made, great looking pair of headphones go for them.

    • Guest
      January 6, 2016

      Thanks for your reply Andy! One big thing in Meizu’s favor is that there aren’t too many good looking and sounding on the ear portable headphones with remote. Lots of great phones around but not many which tick all those boxes. Cheers!

    • balcobomber25
      January 7, 2016

      I agree with Andi it is very tough to recommend Audio products. Everyone hears things differently and everyone has a different opinion of what sounds good and what sounds bad. I have been using these for about two weeks now (since right before Christmas) and I love them. They aren’t the greatest headphone but for the price they are excellent. But that is just my opinion, someone else might think something different.

  13. Jay
    January 6, 2016

    @Gizchina:disqus, is the cable detachable?

    • balcobomber25
      January 7, 2016

      Yes it is.

  14. Jay
    January 6, 2016

    @Gizchina:disqus, is the cable detachable?

    • balcobomber25
      January 7, 2016

      Yes it is.

  15. Jim
    January 31, 2016

    Hello, Thank you for the review. How is it comparing with Creative Labs Auvarna Live (CAL!)? Both are same price tag and both use bio-diaphragm. I have no doubt Meizu HD 50 beats CAL in terms of build quality and portability. How about sound quality? Love to hear your thoughts. Thank you.

  16. Jim
    January 31, 2016

    Hello, Thank you for the review. How is it comparing with Creative Labs Auvarna Live (CAL!)? Both are same price tag and both use bio-diaphragm. I have no doubt Meizu HD 50 beats CAL in terms of build quality and portability. How about sound quality? Love to hear your thoughts. Thank you.