Sports & Outdo Mifo S ANC TWS Earphones
Introduction
This is my first time collaborating with Sports & Outdo, but they seem like a nice and reliable company. They brand themselves as S&O, and while their product offer is not super rich, they have a few good sets of TWS or True Wireless IEMs / Earphones, and they have good prices. They currently only accept Paypal payments, so you have good protection when ordering from them, but happily their products are also available on Amazon and other outlets. Instead of creating the Apple replica number one hundred and twenty one, they go for unique designs, which I think is a step forward compared to trying to plunder the popularity of other products. Shipping from the company to me was quick, quicker than most packages I have incoming.
It should be noted that I have absolutely no affiliation with Sports & Outdo / S&O, I am not receiving any incentive for this review or to sweeten things out. I’d like to thank S&O for providing the sample for this review. Every opinion expressed is mine and I stand by it. The purpose of this review is to help those interested in Sports & Outdo Mifo S TWS IEMs find their next music companion.
Build Quality/Aesthetics/Fit/Comfort
Starting with the outer design, this is one edgy, cool-looking TWS IEM with super build quality. The carry / charge case is heavy, but has a reliable build quality, and although it has a glossy surface, it didn’t get any scratches during my testing and photo shooting, being quite good at staying classy. The IEMs also have that edgy / cool design, and they come with an ergonomic design that features ear hooks. Those are made for running and jogging, so it is extremely good to notice no driver flex, and an outstanding comfort, the TWS IEMS being incredibly light and small, yet staying snug in my ears. I actually love wearing the S&O Mifo S, so much so, that I’m sometimes grabbing them instead of better sounding but much less comfortable TWS IEMs. The weight is 3.5 grams per earbud, a weight you quite literally won’t notice. The company also includes anti-bacterial tips that are super comfortable, softer like Spinfit tips, but not so sticky like Spinfit.
The sound is provided by a single Balanced Armature driver, but as we’ll explore it is one of the sounding Balanced Armatures, rather than dry and analytical like sounding ones. The battery life is good, rated by the company at 6 hours for the TWS IEMS (I could get around 4 and a half at max volume), and the case has 6 extra charges. The case also has Type-C charging and charges rather quickly.
The IEMs are IP67 Waterproof, which is great since those are made for sport. We have Wireless Bluetooth 5.2 algorithms, which is good, but they only have AAC codecs, wit no aptX or LDAC. Signal strength is super strong, no running, jogging, or even having the phone in a different room can cut the signal between my and Mifo S. I only tested the battery life with ANC turned off, as turning it on can steal a bit more from the batteries of Mifo S.
The controls of Mifo S are touch screen, but I got far less mis-touches than with most TWS IEMs that have touch. You need to keep the button pressed to turn them on (not noted in the manual), otherwise your smartphone won’t see them. All in all, I love the comfort, design and overall usage, this is a TWS IEM I like wearing and using.
Sound Quality
It is good to keep in mind that TWS usually have lower sonic quality than their wired counterparts, at least in the micro detail and clarity, and since Mifo S has only AAC, my expectations were quite low to begin with. This all being said, even the company warned me that they might not sound as good as audiophile standards imply, but they actually sound quite nice. The sound is a classic V-Shaped presentation, with a strong, slightly boomy bass, but with good sub-bass extension, and a pretty impactful treble too. Clarity and detail are good too, although the midrange is fairly recessed and the upper midrange and lower treble emphasis is quite strong too.
Mifo S has ANC or active noise canceling, and it does a pretty good job at isolating the listener from the outside noise. There’s a bit of extra sound added by the ANC, and it can change the music slightly, but nothing that would make it unusable, and it actually works well when you need to isolate a bit from the outside noise. They also have a passthrough mode, which allows you to mix your music with what is happening outside, as they provide a good 20 dB of passive noise isolation without any ANC turned on. The company quotes the ANC at 30 dB, which is about fair for what I could hear.
To describe the sound, Mifo S has a pretty strong and slightly overwhelming bass. The bass is deep, with good sub-bass extension and impact. For a TWS IEM this small, they can totally convey the low end well, and the bass is fairly smooth and has a slow decay, which helps create the feeling of space for bassier tracks. Mifo S surely sounds much better with Electronic, EDM and Pop music than they sound with Metal and Rock, but they’re still fine for most music styles, providing a basshead low end presentation. The Maximum volume of Mifo S is a big plus too as they can get pretty loud and are pretty punchy, staying fairly distortion-free at maximum.
The midrange of Mifo S is clean, fairly recessed and super smooth in presentation. In fact, their entire sound has a specific smoothness to it, which may feel like low resolution at times, because both micro details and details can be quite quiet compared to what you typically see in Chifi IEMS, but for a relaxing, non-stressful signature, Mifo S is pretty nice. The soundstage is rather intimate, and although the voices are pushed somewhat back in the staging, they go for a listening experience that brings voices and instruments closer to the listener. The instrument separation is fair and the stereo imaging is very good.
We also have a pretty smoothly textured treble that’s never fatiguing, although there is a specific peak around 6kHz, and another one around 10 – 11 kHz, avoiding the hot and sharp treble at 8-9kHz, somehow providing a pretty strong treble, but having a specific recess on the main cymbal crashes. It is interesting to note that this whole signature works really well for physical activities, which was the original design of Mifo S, and when running and jogging or doing gym, the sonic signature is super pleasing and helps you focus, delivers the low end you need, and a bit of treble sparkle to accompany it. It works well for very commercial music, for example Haggard and Dope sound really natural and clean, while Dance Gavin Dance sounds amazing if you go for recent albums. The kind of music you’d typically hear in a Gym Workout playlist is just super nice played through Mifo S, they’re basically made and tuned for that type of music and to hype you up for a workout.