Headphone review for bass lovers Aukey EP-N7

There are a couple of true wireless earbuds with noise cancellation under $100, but none can beat the Aukey EP-N7.

These buds provide a rather impressive ANC, noticeably reducing environmental noise to a high degree.

On top of that, their microphones can pick up your voice with good clarity, making them more than suitable for taking phone calls.

Sadly, they do a bit worse in sound quality since the bass easily overpowers the mix.

Find out all about them in the full Aukey EP-N7 true wireless earbuds review down below.

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

Earbuds are surprisingly comfy, despite weirdly shaped housing. Fit is pretty great, too, although they will eventually slide out of your ears.

Size-wise, these aren’t too big. The inner side of the earbud has a bulky, pill-shaped form factor with a stem design that might look uncomfortable. Fortunately, that’s far from the truth.

In fact, you can wear these for hours. They fit quite nicely, but if you plan to use them for fitness and sports, they will start losing grip. That might be due to a gentler seal.

You get 3 pairs of silicone ear tips with an oval shape to better contour ear canals. They don’t go too deep, which is why you don’t feel any pressure during use.

Of course, that also means that any dirt or small residue of ear wax can start pushing them out.

But in general, they’re stable enough for outdoor walking.

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 4.0 Great

The Aukey EP-N7 seal off your ear canal well, blocking most of the ambient sound.

Even though ear tips barely go into the ear canal, you can’t complain about passive isolation.

Of course, there are earbuds that can do better in this regard. But they also hurt the overall comfort, which nobody wants.

As long as you’re playing music, you shouldn’t be bothered by the surrounding noise.

In case you want to hear ambient sound but like to keep earbuds in your ears, they offer a Transparency mode.

It delivers decent clarity and volume but far from what you get in premium models. Also, there’s quite a lot of white noise, but it’s primarily audible if you’re somewhere quiet.

Noise Cancellation

Star Rating 4.0 Great

Considering the price tag, they do an excellent job removing the majority of ambient noise.

So far, I haven’t encountered better true wireless earbuds under $100 market. Especially when it comes to noise cancelling performance.

Aukey EP-N7 are very effective in eliminating low-end hum and constant noises. The result is more than noticeable. Similar to the best budget noise cancelling headphones.

Even traffic noises are well-dampened, which is why they’re perfect for frequent commuters and travelers.

Of course, higher frequencies do pass through. But compared to other options at this price range, these block the most.

There are 2 microphones on each side that pick up the sounds from all directions. As soon as you cover one of them (when using touch controls), the ANC effect breaks for a split second.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 3.0 Good

The Bluetooth range is a bit shorter than the competition, and with no multipoint or compelling audio codec, they’re quite average.

While the Bluetooth 5.0 connection stays reliable with no weird cut-offs, the range is somewhat shorter than expected.

Normally, true wireless earbuds with 5.0 Bluetooth version easily pass 2 brick walls before starting to stutter.

However, with Aukey EP-N7, the audio cuts start right when you’re about to pass the second wall.

That isn’t a dealbreaker if you keep your source device close. But if you plan to walk around your house freely, you might experience some audio skipping.

Multipoint?

Like the Aukey EP-N5, these also don’t have the option to connect 2 devices at once.

What Bluetooth Codecs They Use?

Only SBC and AAC. Thankfully, that is enough to cover both Android and iOS user needs.

Is There a Video Lag?

I’m using an Android smartphone, and since the default Bluetooth codec is AAC, the lag is annoyingly noticeable.

More about why AAC works better on iOS in our separate article about Bluetooth codecs.

To fix the issue with YouTube latency, you have to force your phone to use SBC. You can do that in the Developer options.

To change the codec on Android you have to go in Settings and search for “build number.”

When you find the build number, start tapping on it. A pop-up message will tell you that developer options are unlocked (“You’re now a developer!”).

Usually, you find them on the first page inside Settings.

Inside Developer options, scroll down until you see “Bluetooth audio codec.”

Don’t worry, changing codecs cuts the audio for a second before continuing the playback.

Battery

Star Rating 3.5

Earbuds have an average battery life of 5 hours per charge (5 hours and 23 minutes in our test), with an additional 20 hours waiting in the case.

Many earbuds now come with fast-charging or Qi wireless charging. However, Aukey decided to skip all of that with EP-N7.

Compared to the competition, the battery is pretty good. With ANC, they can stay alive for around 5 hours and 23 minutes before needing a refill.

A small charging case holds another 20 hours of charge, and it charges via USB-C cable.

It takes 1.5 hours to recharge the battery from 0 to 100%.

Durability

Star Rating 4.0 Great

Earbuds seem robust and well built, with an IPX5 rating of water resistance. The latter meaning, they can survive rain and splashes of water.

The housing of Aukey EP-N7 is made of hard plastic that has a soft finish. That way, it feels better in hand and, most importantly, inside ears.

Sweating doesn’t pose a problem since earbuds come with an IPX5 rating. Besides sweat, they can also survive rain if you ever get caught in it.

The case is well-built, too. It’s small and very pocketable, with the same soft finish as the earbuds.

The lid is made of thin plastic, which could be a problem if you throw the case around too much. Otherwise, it doesn’t wobble, and it closes down securely with a magnet.

Features

Star Rating 4.0 Great

You get active noise cancellation, Ambient mode, and basic touch controls. At least microphones offer great call quality.

Maybe I got spoiled by other budget offerings with aptX codecs and wireless charging, so it feels a bit underwhelming to look at Aukey EP-N7.

Earbuds operate via pretty basic touch controls. All you can do is tap to play or pause, double-tap to skip or repeat a song, and answer calls.

A long press shuffles between ANC, Ambient, and normal mode. Strangely, you don’t get a volume control, so you need to reach for your smartphone regularly.

Sound

Star Rating 3.0 Good

They’re very bass-heavy with relaxed midrange and treble. While their tuning is non-fatiguing, they lack detail and clarity to balance out the meaty bass.

Aukey earbuds are no stranger of favoring the low-end over the rest of the spectrum.

While products like EP-T32 have a moderate boost, the EP-N7 8mm drivers take the bass to another level.

Even though EP-N5 also had a noticeable boost in the bass, they felt a bit clearer in the mids. And that’s what I miss in Aukey EP-N7. But let’s start from the beginning.

There’s a strong bass presence. It isn’t as ridiculous as some old Beats or Skullcandy’s, but powerful enough to flavor the whole frequency response.

It’s punchy but not very controlled. And because there’s so much of it, bass guitars get easily lost in the mix. Foam tips would only make it worse.

The midrange is very warm and balanced, with decent vocal clarity. Since the bass bleeds into the mids, details get buried underneath.

There is some sparkle and air at the high-end, which helps the sound from feeling too congested.

The soundstage is about average, and you can hear things slightly out of your head.

That being said, Aukey EP-N7 don’t sound terrible. However, they colorize the sound way too much for my liking.

Also, earbuds like TaoTronics Soundliberty 97, for $20 less, can output better audio performance.

Regardless, casual users might find them good enough for various music genres. The bass is usually the first thing people want in their headphones.