Sudio has been making truly wireless earbuds for a while now – starting from Niva, then Tolv, and now the Fem. Each iteration brings about more improvements over the previous model. With improvements, the price also see slight increments.
The Sudio Fem retails at S$219 (inclusive of shipping) at the official website which comes with 12 months international warranty but could be extended to 18 months.
Unboxing
The Sudio Fem comes in four different colors – black, white, navy, pink. The one I have is the black model. The Sudio Fem comes in their typical minimalistic white box, and inside it contains the following:
- Sudio Fem earbuds
- Charging case
- Ear tips x5 (XS, S, M, L, XL)
- USB-C cable
- Guarantee certificate
- Manual & quick start guide
Every Sudio purchase comes with 12-months international warranty with your guarantee card and a valid proof of purchase. And if you join Sudio Sphere, you can get an extended warranty totalling 18 months!
Tech specs
- Bluetooth version: 5.0
- Codecs: SBC, AAC
- Charging time: 90 minutes (Quick charge 15 minutes for 1 hour playtime)
- Music playtime: 6.0 hours per full charge (20 hours in charging case)
- IPX5 waterproof rating
- Weight: 5.5g (each earbud)
Build quality and features
The charging case has a round shape that you can hold comfortably with one hand. The plastic used feels smooth to touch and has a sleek rubberised feel. The case has a leather strap attached to the side for easy carrying since it can be a little too big to put it in your jeans pocket. To open the case, there is a small groove for you finger to lift the lid up. I wished there was a button to press, like on the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 5100, as I find it a bit cumbersome lifting the lid at times.
The Sudio Fem earbuds also feature the same texture and feel from the case. The earbuds are rated at IPX5 water-proof rating so you can be confident bringing them out for runs or wearing them in light rain. By now you would have noticed that the Sudio Fem has a pretty unique design because of that little microphone stem that sticks out (we’ll get into the microphone quality later).
As for controls, the Sudio Fem utilises touch controls instead of physical buttons. A single tap for play/pause, two taps for skipping of tracks, three taps for volume change, and tap & hold for triggering voice assistant. I find play/pause and skipping of tracks works well, but it is the changing of volume that gets a little tricky at times as the earbuds can’t seem to detect 3 taps.
Battery life
You can get around 5 to 6 hours of playtime per full charge, which is the average standard for most true wireless earbuds. The Fem’s case has an additional 20 hours which is about average extra battery life in truly wireless earbuds’ charging case. 20 hours should be more than sufficient to last a week or two.
A nice feature that Sudio Fem has is the quick charge feature, where you can get an hour of playtime from just 15 minutes of charging. Do note that the battery life of the case can only be checked if you open the case since the LED indicators are inside.
Thankfully, Sudio Fem uses USB-C for charging.
Fit
The fit of the Sudio Fem is really good. The fit is very similar to the Creative Outlier Air (which to date has one of the best fit on me). This is largely because of the contoured grooves which is meant to sit snuggly on the grooves of your ears. Much like the Outlier Air, the ear tips used are also flat and low profile which means they rest nicely in your ear canals while creating a very good seal.
Furthermore, the Sudio Fem comes with 4 extra sets of ear tips – giving you a total of 5 pairs of ear tips to choose from (XS, S, M, L, XL)! This is really appreciated and you will definitely be able to find a fit for your ears.
Overall, the Sudio Fem earbuds is incredibly comfortable to wear – it fits snug and sits nicely in your ears without feeling much weight. For me, it ranks as one the top few in terms of comfort.
Pairing and connectivity
Pairing the Sudio Fem to your phone is fairly easy. You remove the both earbuds and the name ‘Sudio Fem’ should appear in your Bluetooth settings. The earbuds are seen as one unit in your Bluetooth settings.
Having Bluetooth 5.0, the connection was really stable and I barely experienced any audio dropouts. And if you want to use just one earbud, you can use either side of the earbuds.
Sound quality
The Sudio Fem has a bright sound signature that is well-balanced with good amount of bass.
Bass is tight and punchy, and has good presence without sounding too overpowered. It has less of the nice reverberating boomy effect on the Creative Outlier Air, but is enough to support the frequencies. Midrange has a decent amount detail, and tuned towards a slightly warmer sound. As for treble, it is bright and managed well so it sparkles without sounding too harsh on upper-end frequencies. Lonesone Lover by Max Roach exemplifies the level of treble detail and extension delivering the hi-hats and saxophones effectively. The Sudio Fem is clearly tuned towards more crisp and clear sounding than bass focused.
Soundstaging is pretty good on the Sudio Fem. You can expect a relatively airy space and openness to it. The sound of the Sudio Fem comes pretty close to the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 5100 but with slightly lesser bass and extended clarity in the highs.
Audio-Video sync & Microphone quality
Audio video sync seems to have a very slight lag while watching from the YouTube app tested on my iPhone 11.
The Sudio Fem a stem sticking out which holds a microphone. And when you wear the earbuds, the microphone will then be aiming more towards your mouth, picking up your vocals more clearly. As for my tests, the microphone did pick up my voice a little better than most of the other true wireless earbuds that I have tried, but it cannot really clean out all the background noise. Your voice will sound more focused rather than mixed in the background, which is a good thing. Overall, it a commendable effort.
Conclusion
The Sudio Fem has a sound signature that it is different from its predecessors where bass is more of the focus. Instead, the Sudio Fem is tuned to sound bright with good treble clarity. It is has a well-balanced sound that plays well with many genres and good for long hours of listening.
With IPX5 rating, the Sudio is more versatile than just looking good in your ears. Furthermore, the comfortable fit of the Sudio Fem is a selling point itself!
Where to buy
You can purchase the Sudio direct from Sudio. Enjoy 15% off by using the code TECHJIO at checkout, meaning you only pay S$186!
15% off promo code
Also, get a FREE Sudio crossbody pouch with every purchase! Get this good deal now if you want, don’t say bojio!