I was impressed with Sudio‘s first foray into Bluetooth earphones last year, and had a similar positive experience with their over-ear Regent headphones, so when the Swedish audio firm announced they were making a sports headphones called Sudio Tre – I was keen to get a pair to try out.
Those that follow this blog and its sister new music blog know that I spent a lot of my time in earphones listening to a pretty eclectic selection of music and podcasts. Music is a large part of my life and good quality headphones are a must – so how do the Sudio Tres compare?
Look & feel
Sudio has has demonstrated their talent for Scandinavian minimal design in their previous headphones, and the Tres follow the same path. I chose a black pair, so the earphones and non-tangle flat connecting cable are all an understated rubberised matte black, with the base of the earphones and remote buttons a dark gun-metal grey.
On the right side of the cable is the remote, with three small buttons and a micro-USB charging port, with an identical size and weight battery on the other, making the headphones well-balanced in your ears. The earbuds covered in the same matte black rubber and feature a wingtip design, which gives them a firm fit in the ears and make the Tres ideal for sport.
I found the medium-sized wingtips the best fit for my ears, and the earbuds always stayed firmly in place no matter how much running and jumping I did. I did find the shape a little less comfortable than a traditional earbud, but that is what you get from such a tight and secure fit. They were perfectly comfortable enough to wear for a two hour workout, but everyone’s ears are different and your comfort level may vary.
Also in the box are a selection of rubber wingtips, a clasp, an instruction booklet, and a smart black leather case so you can make sure your earphones are protected while shoved into your pocket.
Setup
It is pretty straight forward to get the Bluetooth setup and paired with your smartphone – with Sudio sticking to the same simple setup routine of their other headphones. There are just three steps:
- Turn off the Bluetooth on the smartphone
- Press and hold the centre (play/pause) button on the earphone remote until the red and blue lights are blinking (around five seconds)
- Switch on Bluetooth on the smartphone and select “Sudio Tre” and connect
That’s it.
Sound quality
I have long been impressed by Sudio’s commitment to accurate sound reproduction in their earphones, and the Tres are no different. Music sounds warm and welcoming, with a strong but tight bass and clear middle and top end – a similar profile to the popular Sennheiser CX500s. Folk, EDM, and indie all sounded great and spoken-word/comedy podcasts are came trough nice and clear.
Unlike traditional earbud designs, where the idea is to get as tight a fit into the ear as possible in order to block out external sounds, wingtips are different by design. Wingtip earphones like the Tres let in more sounds from the world, which makes them better for use cycling or jogging on the street where you might want to hear the sound of cars or other vehicles, but not quite as good at blocking out the world.
In Use
I’ve used the Tres for the past week, while at the gym, running in the park, walking the streets, and on London infamous night buses – so I have put them through their paces.
When running or working out at the gym the Tres have been fantastic – a very secure fit that doesn’t budge no matter how intense the movement. The music comes through clearly and keeps you motivated, while hearing a bit more of the world definitely makes you a bit safer and less oblivious to whats happening around you. The Tres are my new go-to headphones for exercise already.
They work pretty well in the other situations too, but the wingtips make them a bit more bulky in your pocket than traditional earbuds, and when you’re sat on a night bus you do want as much of the outside world blocked out as possible, so I would still probably choose a different pair for day-to-day use.
The earphones offer an impressive nine hours of battery life (up to 10 days on standby), and the ability to quick charge them in just 10 minutes is a life-saver when you have forgotten to charge them and want to get out for a run after work before you lose enthusiasm.
Conclusion
The Sudio Tres are designed to be sport earphones, and they excel in that regard – the sound quality is accurate and top notch for the price, wile the wingtips stay firmly in place while running and jumping around. The battery life is good, and the Bluetooth connection is reliable and stable.
The downside of the wingtips is that they do not block out as much sound are are a little less comfortable than traditional earbuds, but that is the downside of such a firm and secure fit in the ear.
Specifications
- Driver Type: 15.2mm dynamic speaker
- Driver Sensitivity: 103 ± 3dB SPL @ 1kHz 178mV
- Driver Impedance: 32 Ohm ± 15% @ 1kHz
- Driver Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
- Housing: Composite, Aluminum
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1 (aptX)
- Weight: 35g
- Range: 15 meters
- Battery time: 9 hours (active), 10 days (standby)
- Charging time: 10 minutes (quick), 120 minutes (full)
Buy
Price at time of review: £79
We managed convince Sudio to offer our readers a 15% discount on the Sudio Tre earphones with the discount code “techfruit”
