UGREEN HiTune Max5c (HP203) is a budget wireless full-size headphone with advanced music (LDAC), powerful noise cancellation (ANC) and 75 hours of operation for an incredibly low price of $30.
After spending about 2 weeks with these interesting headphones I’m ready to share my impressions with you, and believe me, there is a lot to tell about, because I frankly declare that I liked them and I will willingly keep them in my collection, because the pluses in them are much more than the minuses, but I suggest to start the review with a short list of features of these headphones.
Here’s what the manufacturer claims:
- Long life time – 75 hours without ANC and 45 hours with ANC enabled.
- Powerful noise cancellation (ANC) with an intensity of 43dB and 4 preset settings.
- The latest version of Bluetooth 5.4, which brings with it greater power efficiency and communication stability.
- Latency of 60ms when gaming mode is enabled and around 100ms in normal mode.
- Support for spatial audio, LDAC codec and wired USB connection using internal DAC.
- Availability of a proprietary app with extensive headphone customization options.
I’ll talk about each of these points in the details of the UGREEN HiTune Max5c review and compare them to competitors (and not so competitors) in the full-size wireless headphone class:
- HAYLOU S30 ($35)
- Sennheiser-Momentum 4 Wireless ($350)
SOUND
For the sound in UGREEN HiTune Max5c is responsible for the 40mm dynamic driver, which although a little damped to pump up the bass, but did it quite tasty, heartily pouring bass so that the headphones will definitely go bassheads, and I want to mark it as their thing, but note! The pumping is not due to oversaturation of space with shapeless bass with overlapping on the midrange, as sometimes can be found in competitors in the budget segment, it is rather promoted by the closed design of ear cushions made under the skin, which are not very breathable, but with a good fit provide a "hermetic" spatial chamber, which allows you to get "juicy and rich woofers", but there are also comments on the fit, which I will describe in the section below.
The headphones have support for AAC, SBC and LDAC codecs (about it separately).
You can and should listen to them through AAC and SBC, especially after adjusting the AFC curve to your taste (EQ preset "Classic") and taking into account some peculiarities of sound with these codecs, which will be described below.
But LDAC codec became a discovery, though after some tambourine dancing I managed to listen to it. As it turned out, the LDAC codec is activated by a separate button in the Ugreen Home app only on Android, so the app is a necessary part of getting a full-fledged experience from UGREEN HiTune Max5c. Unfortunately Apple doesn't see fit to use anything other than AAC, but I'll note that it's not easy here either, because with Macs and iPhones AAC does sound somehow particularly good.
Back to LDAC - everything is incredibly good here, the stage is filled with details, open high frequencies, spatiality and aftersounds so harmoniously complementing the MF and HF range that you stop perceiving them as bassheads.
And the most interesting thing is that with LDAC codec the emotional pumping starts to appear, and the resolution is enough to play Black Metal without affecting the separation of instruments and stage space.
I'm not talking about lighter genres at all, everything is very good here, except for a little more transparency, like in cable listening mode.
So I'll note that the UGREEN HiTune Max5c has support for digital USB cable connection, which is a definite plus for these headphones, and it was in this mode that I used them for most of the time spent at work. This mode is ultimatum in terms of sound quality (slightly better than LDAC) and functionality, as it works ANC, transparency, even key control, that is, the basic functionality does not suffer in any way, which is a significant plus.
But now it's not about that, let's return to the sound and answer the main question - how do they sound?
And they sound moderately loud, the volume range ends just at the very end of the comfortable spectrum of perception, which is quite enough, and if it is not enough, please do not hesitate and make an appointment with your doctor.
As for me, most of the time they played in the range of 80-90% volume because firstly: I believe that music should be played loudly, and secondly: it is in the range after 80% that all the magic of manifestation of the scene and space occurs, it is here that the headphones open up to the full, and it is at high volume that the music begins to fill with all the colors of life, and without exaggeration, in this mode I get the most pleasure from them, as the dynamics they reproduce really tasty, filling the space first of all with massive low frequencies, to
In short for stage, detail and naturalness of sound - very good as for $30
- Detail is spot on, especially as for the $30 price point. AAC codec is quite enough for comfortable listening to any music with pleasure, instruments are felt absolutely clear and full, and most importantly – sound natural, perhaps a little simplistic closer to the HF, but it is quite compensated by a luxurious MF and very good woofers, which boldly pull these headphones to the role of a daily driver!
Detail in them at the level – a little more than enough for pleasure, here you and the clarity and massiveness of the double bass, the after-sound of the membranes of percussion instruments, driving, screaming guitar and deep female vocals, the only thing that the HF is a little simplified, but it does not interfere with listening. - The stage is small, placed in the boundaries of the head, but without visible frames, which expands it spatially in all directions, in this I see a definite plus.
Sounds have a good length and do not disappear instantly, adding atmospheric composition. - Naturalness is close to a high level, which is a very cool indicator for this class of headphones. Though bass prevails in AFC, but it doesn’t ramble, having a good texture, very close to the real one, the same with drums, each drum can be recognized and distinguished, iron sounds quite natural, you can distinguish saxophone from trumpet even at a distance, and what’s important, they don’t have synthetic or sandy sound, and guitar is revealed in all its glory, you believe every note, as well as in the case of vocals, which are also reproduced at a rather high level.
- With LDAC codec we multiply all of the above by 1.5X, because it fills all the gaps, as if blurring the already full picture, adds flavor and perfection.
That’s why I advise you to listen to headphones with it, but I would like to note that you can easily get pleasure from AAC as well.
Briefly on the frequencies: sub-bass dominates, not preventing all other frequencies from opening up beautifully
The AFC is shaped like a soft waterfall with dominant woofers, active, driving mids and comfortable highs. With LDAC, the slope of the waterfall flattens out a bit, harmonizing the entire spectrum of the AFC.
- The woofers are plentiful, but at the level of appropriateness, do not interfere with other bands and instruments sound, create a deep atmosphere absorbing the listener, all the while having a fairly clear texture.
- MF is a little less than LF, their disclosure does not interfere with anything, so they create a balanced atmosphere in harmony with other ranges perfectly disclosing both string instruments together with synths and vocals, creating a pleasant, atmospheric sound.
- HF range is the least developed here, it is flatter than MF and especially LF, but you can say that it balances at the extremes of sufficiency, which definitely does not allow you to complain about its absence, as well as to focus on HF. The cymbals ring out purely so as not to scare off HF-phobes and provide a comfortable sound without collapsing into mush and lack of informativeness.
Sound in games and latency in "Game mode"
- UGREEN HiTune Max5c has a game mode, which is activated in the app, or by long pressing the ANC button on the right bowl of the headphones (key configuration can be changed in the app).
- The delay with “Game mode” is about 60 ms, which coincides with the manufacturer’s statements, in most games it is not noticeable, and is not felt in any way.
- I can safely recommend these headphones for games, they create a great atmosphere, for example, in PUBG feels every sound organically and spatially correct.
Sound over cable
The secret is that the wired connection here is purely digital, and to convert the digits into sound waves, the headphones' DAC is used exclusively, bypassing the quality limitations of Bluetooth codecs (note that the effect of listening with LDAC is very similar to the wired connection due to a higher bitrate than in AAC / SBC).
It was this mode that bought me 100%, because all of the above described can be safely multiplied by 2, approximately so significant increase in sound quality is observed with wired connection relative to Bluetooth with AAC / SBC codec, with LDAC the difference is less, but it is noticeable.
What exactly are we talking about: the detail and fullness of space increases, as well as the saturation of instruments, especially noticeable in the HF range, cymbals began to sound metallically clear and pleasant. The woofer range did not become more active (where else?), but the images got clearer forms, the control of both bass and the whole frequency range improved, which brought us more resolution, a better sense of the stage and stereo effect. The stage, by the way, has also grown, not critically, but pleasantly, adding a bit of transparency and naturalness to the timbres, which is felt by raising the level 2 heads higher!
I really enjoy the music fully on the cable, so I would recommend this particular listening mode, especially if it fits into your usage scenario.
Sound conclusions
UGREEN HiTune Max5c can absolutely easily satisfy both unpretentious listener and experienced audiophile, having a wide arsenal of application options, these headphones will absolutely be recommended for the role of multimedia to a computer or smartphone, as well as they will suit gamers, and what is wrong with the soul, music in them to listen to not only can but also need!
Although they are more tailored for lovers of rich bass, but you can live with them, adjusting the right fit, I'll write about it below.
And in terms of sound, Max5c definitely exceed expectations from headphones for 30$, reproducing comfortable, timbral natural, live sound, although with a skew in the bass, but it is with such a sound you can comfortably listen to anything for hours!
- Thesound in the segment of wireless full-sizers under $50 is a solid 9 out of 10.
- Sound in thesub-$500 wireless full-size segment is a 6.5 out of 10.
How do I improve the sound of the UGREEN HiTune Max5c?
- Use the LDAC codec, it does improve resolution at the expense of a higher bitrate. Read more about the difference between SBC, AptX and LDAC.
- Use a wired connection, it’s top notch here.
- Use the proprietary app and try tweaking the sound to your liking with the equalizer (Download on Android, iOS) / Read more about tweaking the equalizer.
- File and Streaming Quality. Using higher bitrate files will provide better sound quality, as will the quality of the streaming service. Read more about file quality.
- Warm-up. The result will be noticeable in 2-5 hours from the start of use. But these particular headphones I advise you to give at least 10 hours! Instructions for warming up the headphones.
Microphone
The microphone in the UGREEN HiTune Max5c is pretty good, a 7 out of 10, made at a fairly high level both in class and overall.
I liked the voice recording, so you can safely take them and for long phone conversations, you will definitely be heard and understand what you say, both on a noisy street and in a quiet room.
In quiet environments:
In noisy conditions:
Comparison with competitors
For the test UGREEN HiTune Max5c competitors were selected both as similar as possible, and vice versa, from a radically different, more expensive niche
- HAYLOU S30 Pro ($35) - a direct competitor of the heroes of the review in terms of price, but not a competitor at all in terms of feel and quality of the product. They feel like a Chinese (in a bad sense) copy of branded headphones, ANC mode somehow works strangely on one ear, the sound though has a more open, light and light profile, which is inherently good, but turns out to be both a plus and a minus due to poor implementation.
The HF range sounds cheap, flat, with the echo of plastic and lots of sibilants. This is relative to the sound on bluetooth, with cable, analog connection everything is much better, but the already mentioned problems with HF, although they have become less, but not disappeared, although this model may well be considered for use just on the wire, otherwise - not advised.
Rated 5 out of 10, to take only in case of intolerance to bass, here the AFC is more even than in UGREEN HiTune Max5c, well, not bad purely in terms of wired use. - Sennheiser-Momentum 4 Wireless ($350) - here the situation is much more interesting, because this model from the Olympus of wireless headphones gives you much more everything, space, details, calibrated AFC throughout the range, and one of the best ANC implementations that I have heard, and in your hands you hold and realize that this is a THING that is worth its money!
But, even here there is a point where UGREEN HiTune Max5c shows itself better, it's dynamics and naturalness of material presentation.
The UGREENs do it as naturally and honestly as possible, if a beat is sharp and clear, it will be reproduced that way. Unfortunately, in Sennheiser the presentation has softened and made more "toothless and average", so that the sharp sound does not scare the unprepared listener.
Rated 8 out of 10, the headphones are top, especially for quiet genres, I recommend.
Key differences:
- UGREEN HiTune Max5c - great sound that over Bluetooth, especially LDAC!, that over cable, have analog naturalness and a noticeable focus on lovers of woofer. The sound is comfortable and soft, you can listen for hours.
- HAYLOU S30 Pro - cool volumetric and open stage presentation exclusively on cable, sound with emphasis on the MF and HF, but the plastic muttering ruins the potential of the HF, making them flat and adding cheapness to the sound, which spoils the impression.
- Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless - balanced and calibrated delivery with the most versatile but moderately "toothless" sound, awesome noise-modifier, cool application, a great option if they fit into the budget!
All three models deserve attention, but have their own strengths and weaknesses, so I would choose UGREEN HiTune Max5c as a more universal option for the criterion "more sound for your money" and for the naturalness of the sound, but I can not complain about the functionality and runtime, so I can safely advise.
Functions, controls and application
- Noise canceling (ANC) at 8 out of 10.
This is a strong point UGREEN HiTune Max5c, having a good protection from noise due to the design – closed acoustic chamber, adding noise modulation at 43dB, you can forget about extraneous noise, breaks through except the top of the HF range, which is easy to drown out by turning on the music even at minimum volume.
Having checked it in the gym I can confidently say that the realization of noise reduction here is almost at the level of Sennheiser Momentum 4, very well dampens monotonous noises, but also does not cut out of the surrounding world.
In the application you can choose one of 4 options for noise reduction settings: Gentle, General, Ultra and Adaptive.
As far as I’m concerned, the optimum is General – the middle mode, which doesn’t transport you into a vacuum, but also dampens most input noise well. - Transparency is an 8 out of 10.
The golden implementation of the transparency feature allows you to hear ambient sounds even stronger than without headphones, which is quite an interesting effect, but for the best effect you need to have your head turned to the sound source.
Speaking with transparency enabled is quite easy and pleasant, as if only the most important things are emphasized, without being distracted by unnecessary sounds. - The stability of Bluetooth connectivity is top-notch – 10 out of 10.
Bluetooth 5.4 technology provides maximum connection comfort, the headphones do not fall off even through 3 walls, which is quite critical.
- Battery life is an 8.5 out of 10.
75 hours with AAC/SBC and 45 hours with LDAC is pretty strong, but not class leading. They don't have auto shutoff, but they can afford it due to the large 600 mAh battery. Also the headphones have fast charging - 5 hours in 5 minutes, full charge in 1.5 hours, and do not have wireless, but it is not needed here in view of the already high operating time.
During a week of tests exclusively with Bluetooth battery discharged only to 70 percent, which is enough to live comfortably with recharging once every few weeks.
"Spatial Audio" or Spatial Sound mode
What I didn't understand at all in UGREEN HiTune Max5c is the Spatial Audio mode.
Having tried it out in many scenarios such as music, movies, games, the output didn't change one bit. It's a totally unnecessary feature just for these headphones, which could probably live in overhead but not isolation headphones.
Answering the question - So what is it, then Spatial Audio? I will say that it is a banal pumping of space, the sounds are filled with additional reverberations with imitation of playing somewhere in a large, empty hangar, mercilessly compressing the space and separation between instruments and sounds on stage to the state of thick muttering mush, which is frankly difficult to listen to.
Does space appear here - yes, by expanding the virtual stage.
Is it possible to listen to it - no, because the woofing is so saturated that you want to take off your headphones and sit in silence for a minute.
But I note, this technology can be applied in open-type overhead headphones or something similar to Koss Porta Pro, there with a high probability, the effect will not be so oversaturated.
Controls
Convenient control is provided by a block of 4 keys:
- - +/-volume that also allows you to switch tracks by pressing for 2 seconds
- headphone on/off button combines play / pause function and call acceptance / call canceling by short pressing
- ANC / Transparency button on a single press, which can be further customized in the application to enable Game Mode and Spatial Sound mode.
- Auto answer the call headphones do not have (and in general I do not think that someone uses it).
- The same with auto pause, the headphones do not have a sensor, but have a convenient physical button that is responsible for the pause.
Theimplementation is 9 out of 10, there is everything you need, but you need a little time to get used to it, and more details can be found in the complete manual.
App
The UGREEN Home(Android, iOS) app has almost everything these headphones need, namely:
- Battery Status.
- Noise reduction and transparency control unit with intensity settings.
- EQ preset setting, unfortunately there are only 8 presets to choose from, with no option to create your own.
I used the preset "Classic", with it distortion is minimal, I recommend it. - Buttons to enable game mode and spatial mode (Spatial sound).
- There is an option to enable and disable "Dual link" - Multipoint, with a list of paired devices, the function allows you to connect headphones to 2 devices at the same time, but in this mode will not be available connection via LDAC codec, you can configure it in the application.
- Hi-Res audio is the section where LDAC codec is enabled separately, turning off Multipoint mode in parallel, as they cannot work together
- In a separate menu you can customize the functions of the ANC button - specify actions for single, double and delayed press.
- In the third tab you can customize the name of the device, select the audio signals (in English or tone), update the firmware, reset the settings to default and read the manual.
After the first connection, the headphones had a set equalizer profile - Bass, so the first thing was to install the application and preset switched to Classic, so in fact, without the application there is no way, and in general it is quite convenient.
The only thing that is missing is the setting of its own EQ preset and fine-tuning for the user, which is now increasingly common in other manufacturers of audio devices, only for this I take points off, everything else is implemented at a fairly high level.
UGREEN Home application score is 8.5 points.
Design and usability
Looking at the UGREEN HiTune Max5c I have an analogy with Smart Casual clothing style, because the headphones look rather utilitarian and restrained.
They are in several colors and textures, namely black matte plastic, pleasant to the touch leather and cold aluminum hinge, which together looks much more expensive than the price of these headphones.
Complementing this composition is the quality of materials and assembly: softtachki plastic is pleasant to the touch, well assembled in a common with leather construction, it is pleasant to take in hand and not ashamed to wear on you.
In addition to black there is also a white version of the version, with cream leather, which accompanies well with white plastic and metal hinge, the look is very pleasant.
And to wear them is also pleasant (especially in temperatures below 26 degrees Celsius), the weight, as for me, is still within the concept of comfortable (about 250g), to fit probably on any head, no complaints about the fit or fit I have not noticed, sit quite well, except that they can slip when active movements.
Specially tested them in the harsh conditions of the gym, walking and running in them is not a problem, the only time I had to take them off is when doing exercises lying down.
The size of the ear cushions hints that there will be no problems with the fit over large ears with these headphones, and to adjust to the size of the head will allow you to expand the wishbone, quickly, easily and reliably.
I'll also tell you about the sound fine-tuning trick: if you choose a fit mode, where the lower parts of the ear cushions will not have a tight fit, and form a small hole, the design of the chamber will open up and slightly reduce the intensity of the bass, but it will not affect other frequencies, so the sound will change only for the better, giving more airflow and freedom of the scene.
On the quality of materials: for several weeks of active testing I noticed only small scuffs and scratches on one of the bowls, which do not catch the eye at all, otherwise - no complaints.
The same on the reliability side: the headphones by their appearance say that there is nothing to break here, and the metal hinge drives away the last doubts.
That's why the overall rating is 9 out of 10, deservedly so!
Features and equipment
- Model: UGREEN HiTune Max5c (HP203)
- Bluetooth Version: 5.4
- Wireless Profiles: HFP/AVRCP/A2DP/BLE/SPP
- Audio Codecs: AAC/SBCLDAC
- Transmission distance: up to 10 meters/33 feet
- Driver: 40mm
- Frequency range: 20-20 kHz
- Operating time: without ANC – 75 hours. with ANC – 45 hours.
- Battery: 600 mAh
- Charging time. about 1.5 hours.
- Dimensions: 163 x 199 x 23(wishbone) mm. Bowls – 105 x 80 mm.
What's in the box?
- 1 x UGREEN HiTune Max5c active noise canceling headphones
- 1 x USB A to USB C charging cable
- 1 x USB C to USB C audio cable (can also be used for charging)
- 1 x User Manual
Output
UGREEN HiTune Max5c is a great model relative to its price, from any angle you look at it, the model is balanced and well realizes all the tasks assigned to it, especially standing out in terms of reproduction of natural sound, perfectly working noise modulator, long runtime and fast call in game mode. And most importantly, a comfortable fit and moderate weight, capable of immersing you in the world of music, whether on long work sessions or jogging in the park, without causing any discomfort.
Their AFC profile with prominent woofers hints at hip-hop orientation, but I can safely say that UGREEN HiTune Max5c are omnivorous and I haven't heard a track that would sound frankly bad on them, because the magic of full-bodied space-filling woofers and mids works very well here, and there's plenty of tweeter, especially with LDAC codec.
And the killer feature here is the wired connection mode, which makes the sound even higher!
So my rating of UGREEN HiTune Max5c in the full-size bluetooth headphones segment is 8.1 out of 10.
This is, so far, the best that I have heard in this class under 50$, and given the constant promotions on Ali, they can easily be purchased at a price of about 25$, so strongli recommended!
