It seems as if there are two distinct schools of thought in terms of how to consume audio on the go; three if you include the totally obnoxious, speaker-on-the-bus-caring-little-for-others brigade.
For the most part though, if you’re listening to music, taking in a podcast, watching YouTube or – more increasingly – playing games, your audio will probably be sorted in one of two ways – flashy huge cans, or discreet little buds. If it’s the latter that is your bag, you’d do extremely well to grab for a pair of Mixx’ StreamBuds Solo 1 True Wireless Earbuds. These are about as small, as delicate and as unobtrusive as you are likely to get.
We’ve used a ton of earbuds over the years, mostly as our Game Pass on-the-go mobile play has picked up. In recent weeks though we’ve ditched our Status Between 3ANC Wireless for the Solo 1. Mostly, we’ve been very impressed too.
The StreamBuds Solo from Mixx come in three distinct forms. The smallest are the Solo 1 and their teeny, tiny capsule design; the version we are reviewing here. But alternatively there are the Solo 2 (hybrid design, silicone free) and the Solo 3 (similar but with a silicone tip). All will set you back a mere £25, pushed to market in various colours. In our opinion, that price means these are stupidly good value for money. More so when you consider how well they work.
For that low price, you may think that Mixx have just created some cheap and cheerful buds. And you’d be right, but if we didn’t know that price point beforehand, we’d have happily considered dropping double, maybe triple, that asking price. Yes, they aren’t as accomplished as some much more expensive earbuds and there are no fancy noise cancelling or equaliser features included, but that’s not what you’ll be coming to the Solo range for.
What you will come for is the cracking sound. The StreamBuds Solo 1’s have consistently pumped out some seriously bassy sound, no matter what type of audio has been consumed. We’ve been shocked by just how deep that audio is, in fact, coming in extremely well with our own personal tastes. But that’s not to say it’s ever too overpowering, mids and highs are equally well catered for and a range of audio delights have seemingly worked well.
Fitment is great too, at least for us. Highly subjective, it’s hard to say that the Solo 1 will be perfect for all, but we’ve had a tight seal come about pretty much immediately upon use. It’s helped that three different silicone tips are included in the box, but for us it’s the default option that has worked best. And whilst we wouldn’t recommend using these when you need to be aware of your surroundings, for a set of buds that can be grabbed at for some corner-of-the-room solo play, you’ll not be left wanting. Comfort has been spot on too, usable for a good few hours at a time without hassle.
In terms of power, the Solo 1 earbuds are okay, but far from mind-blowing. We’ve not had any issues with battery power, finding them with plenty of juice at all times, but Mixx do state that these should come in with about five hours of wireless play from a single use, an extra thirteen then stored in a fully charged case. We’ve never been ones for counting minutes and hours, but that all feels about right through our use. Like we say, some eighteen hours in total is nothing to go mad about, but it’s all okay. Throughout that time, connection to our devices has been super solid; once in place, we’ve not had a single drop-out occur.
So what about that case? Well, it’s – in the words of my daughter – ‘pretty cute’. I’d go further and say that it’s fairly compact and super easy to slip into the pocket of any jeans. It is unique in the grand scheme of things too – a plastic outer body houses a couple of magnets that ensure the buds slip in fine, attaching easily. From there, a silicone flap folds over, again, magnetically held on the front. It feels strange to not have a fully hard case holding the Solo 1 buds in place, and initially we thought it may be a tad too easy to accidentally open. In use, that’s never been the case and things have been kept safe. That said, that silicone flap does attract a ton of dirt and dust; it won’t be looking pristine for long, gathering up any bits that are at the bottom of your pocket.
The case itself charges via USB-C, with a short USB-A to USB-C cable included in the box. That’s fine, but we’ve preferred to just grab for any of a plethora of USB-C cables that are ready to roll.
But it’s here where we feel we must get on to some negatives. How much weight you’ll stick behind them will probably be pretty personal. It’s not stopped us from using the StreamBuds Solo 1 earbuds on the daily, but there are things you need to be aware of.
Firstly, and we’ll say it again – the Solo 1 buds are super small. And that means it can be fiddly to get them out of the ear and back into their case. Numerous times we’ve been left grabbing for a bud, missing, struggling to have it removed from the ear; worse when out in cold weather. And nearly as many times we’ve then been a little frustrated in trying to twist the bud the correct way for charging in the case; the magnets are powerful enough to help, and whilst it’s something you may just about get used to, early doors, it’s an annoyance.
Similar, making the most of the on-bud controls. Touch the buds and you’ll be able to do the usual things – adjust volume (up with a press on the right, down with a tap on the left), double tap to pause etc. But due to the size of the Solo 1, there’s a bit of a knack to it, with it being all too simple to miss the bud entirely. It’s not helped that there’s a tiny bit of lag between the press and the action happening, meaning at times, you won’t know if you’re successful in pulling off the action required. We’ve paused tracks on YouTube Music, when all we wanted to do was adjust the volume, more times than we care to remember. We can’t help but think that the slightly larger, stemmed, Solo 2 or Solo 3 (especially) may be a better choice if you have sausage fingers.
Aside from that, we’ve been impressed by the Mixx StreamBuds Solo 1 True Wireless; even more when you take the price into consideration. If you like your audio to be bass-fuelled and are in the market for some of the tiniest, most inconspicuous of earbuds, whether that be for music or gaming, you’ll need these on a wishlist at the very least.
Huge thanks go out to Mixx for providing us with the StreamBuds Solo 1 True Wireless Earbuds for review. Hit up Mixx direct if you fancy purchasing a pair. And remember, there are the Solo 2 and Solo 3 versions available too.
