TLDR: An absolutely amazing IEM with a very warm and extremely pleasant sound signature. Worth every penny of the asking price and then some, aside from a few potential quirks with the comfort it is an absolutely revolutionary product that I urge everyone to at least try!

Comfort

I had to try a bunch of ear tips before I found the right ones. Although I must say the stock tips worked surprisingly well for my ears and sealed fine, they just weren't all that comfortable in the long run. Though I am sure given a couple of hours they'd soften up, however, I must mention after giving the pair to some others to try they found it wouldn't fit no matter what. I blame this on the shorter nozzle and overall shape. It can be resolved by placing some washers at the base of the nozzle to prevent the eartip from sinking all the way down. For me, these are perfectly comfortable out of the box and the nozzle length is just right. I can wear them for the entire day without any fatigue or need to adjust (seated at my desk where I use any wired headset). All this is to say in terms of comfort your mileage may vary.

The tips I ended up using were the stock tips that came with my Panasonic RPHJE120K. These tips had the perfect insertion depth for my ears and were plenty soft and made a great seal. I tried various tips such as the foam tips provided with the WF-1000XM3 as well as the ones provided with the WF-1000X. I also tried about 10 different silicone tips from all sorts of other earphones but settled on the Panasonic ones as they were the best for my ears (Consistently are on almost every headphone I use with a few exceptions). Overall the seal on the headphones is average and lets in a fair bit of sound most likely due to the shape of the enclosures.

The cable is not great, it feels flimsy and tangles easily. I had no comfort issues with it and did not find the hooks too stiff. It is plenty light and perfectly serviceable. I have ordered a replacement cable which I am yet to receive. I will update the review as to whether the cable makes any difference to sound quality after receiving it.



Build

Build quality is excellent these headphones feel truly premium and sturdy. They have a very appealing design in my opinion are very unique. The finish gives off a mirror-like effect, I have no doubt that the shell will last the test of time. Whether the drivers hold up, in the long run, remains to be seen. After a month of using them, I cannot see any scratches or flaws in the finish. The two-pin connectors feel adequate and not likely to break off, the nozzle is made of the same kirsite material as the body and is seamless with the body ensuring rigidity. There is a decent weight to the unit so as to not feel cheap in the hand but not heavy in the ears either. The included pouch is a nice touch and can be used to keep the unit in scratch-free condition. While the pouch is nothing to rave about it serves its purpose well. Overall I have no complaints about the build quality. It is well-built while being both nice to look at and wear.

Sound

Wow, this IEM is truly magical! It has a luscious warm sound that manages to bring plenty of detail and space to songs without ever sounding harsh or sibilant. Typically headphones with a similar signature tend to have a veiled top end or boomy bass but to my ears, all is balanced well. The sound never gets fatiguing and can be listened to at relatively low volumes without really feeling the need to crank it. The highs are well controlled, female vocals offer just enough air without sounding sibilant. Male vocals have grunt and depth when needed. Treble may not extend as much as your typical monitor headphone but this is a good thing in my book as this ensures they are pleasant to listen to across a multitude of genres. Mids are very full-bodied and clear in the mix offering a well-controlled natural timbre, they are well resolved and forward usually taking center stage. There is an exception to this unfortunately as the bass can sometimes muddy up the midrange on complex tracks that would benefit from a faster and tighter bass response. Instances, where this happens, are few and far between in the music I listen to. Aside from this, the bass is very smooth and deep but never rattles the unit. It never feels tiring or boomy like many other headphones with similar tuning. What you get is not especially tight or fast but overall suits the signature of the headphone and adds to the overall warmth. The soundstage is large and extends well past your head, vocals are close up and intimate. The rest of the mix takes a step back with subtleties filling more than just your headspace. I wouldn't call the imaging perfectly accurate but what you get keeps it sounding interesting and fun. The sound space has verticality and 3 Dimensionality. Sounds travel out and around your head, it's honestly quite unique and I haven't heard anything quite like it in any other IEM. Separation is good with instruments being distinguishable from each other, but thanks to the diffuse soundstage it can sound a bit odd at times with some instruments or even vocals coming from seemingly behind or above (Happens pretty rarely but for an example, Country Road [Violin Version] by Yoko Honna starts with the vocal a bit higher than I am used to). Micro/Macro detail is sufficiently present but won't stand out nearly as many headphones tuned to have a more elevated treble response. Instruments sound excellent with real weight and impact to them. The only exception would be cymbal crashes sometimes sounding a little unnatural as the tuning doesn't allow for enough decay. Overall it's an extremely pleasant sound suitable for long hours of listening. No other headphone I have heard offers such a cohesive and balanced sound while offering the amount of warmth and depth that this does.

I listen to a variety of music genres such as indie, pop, folk, rock, country and Vocaloid to name a few I will briefly list off a few songs alongside things I noticed when listening to these headphones.

R A Y - Ethereal Dreams (Good separation, a neutral presentation with a full-bodied sound)

Alaina Castillo - Ocean Waves (Authorative bass, clean and clear. Great separation with sounds coming from all over. Vocals very forward and well detailed)

Susan Wong - Vincent (Clear and detailed vocals with an almost live presentation. Deep and clean bassline with a very nice backing track. Great overall balance)

CYN - I'll Still Have Me (Sounds great with plenty of high-frequency energy. clean, open, clear presentation)

Aquilo - Thin (Nice natural sound, with a decent amount of detail. Bass, is punchy and tight, vocals are somewhat veiled)

Ella Vos - Little Brother (Sounds pleasant but bass lacks the punch required and seems to be bleeding into the vocals. The track lacks the typical energetic presentation it usually has)

Eric Clapton - Signe (Decent soundstage with instruments separated well, imaging is a little lackluster and a lot of the main instruments get pushed towards the center. Lacks detail and authority in the bass. An overall pleasing and enjoyable listen, just not very technically accurate)

Angus Stone/Julia Stone - Santa Monica Dream - All details present with a decent soundstage and clear vocals. This song does not stand out too much as the vocals here do sound a bit veiled, not unnatural in any way just a little muffled.

Low Roar - Bones (This song is usually very hard to get right and typically has the vocals sounding very muffled on a lot of gear I've tried it on. Not with the BL03, clean and clear vocals with great texture and detail the bassline that follows is authoritative and clean, decay is a little bit quicker than it should be but everything about the bassline is done right)

Dillon Francis - Bruk Bruk (I Need Your Lovin) - Powerful, well-controlled, and defined bass. Energetic treble presentation with a lot of finer detail present. A little bit laidback than what this song should sound but not unpleasant in the slightest.

FINNEAS - I Lost a Friend (Perhaps the best I've heard his voice sound, very natural timbre with all the micro detail present. One of the better sounding tracks on the BL03)

N-buna/Sarah Furukawa - Silence (Expansive soundstage with sounds coming from the far corners. Powerful but not particularly defined bassline. Focus on the vocals without overpowering the rest of the track)

Yorushika - Eat The Wind (Large soundstage, good detail throughout with fast and clean bass response. Vocals can sound a bit veiled but still very natural)

Yorushika - Hitchcock (Unlike the previous song vocals are extremely forward and well detailed and very lively sounding. The song has plenty of energy with a wide and open presentation. Great balance of bass and highs that never overpower the vocals. An overall very good sounding song on the BL03)

Deco*27/Hatsune Miku - Heart A La Mode (Wide presentation with tight and clean bass, clear focus on vocals)

Kotringo - Kanashiku te Yarikirenai (Good sense of space, clear and intelligible vocals. Lacks some resolution therefore vocals come off sounding slightly veiled.)


Wow for $200 these really hold their own against all the other similarly priced headphones I've used. Wait only they aren't $200, They are $26!!! At this price, they are a no-brainer, and even if you own much more expensive equipment I urge you to try this set, it has a signature that is extremely hard to match at any price point. Don't get me wrong they don't have the technical ability of more expensive headphones or even some other budget offerings. When A/B testing you could easily point out their flaws, whether it be the comparatively flabby bass response or the lack of extension in the high frequencies leading to a loss in perceived resolution. The BLON-03 are not perfect, but then again no headphone is. What they lack in technical ability they more than makeup for in enjoyability. This to me is the right combination of compromises to give a completely engrossing and unique experience. The fact that these only cost $26 is astonishing and when reviewing these I completely put aside the price point and looked at them objectively, yet they held their own. These are the perfect entry point into the world of hi-fidelity sound and well worth the asking price. A truly remarkable achievement at this price point. The only thing to be wary of is the fit as there is a chance they won't fit your ears as well as they fit mine (Which can be remedied with a bit of extra effort). To put it in perspective I have a couple of open-back headphones that I use such as the DT990 Pro and AKG K612 yet I find myself wanting to reach for these instead, and finding it much more difficult to stop listening once they are on. I honestly cannot stress enough how good these sound and absolutely recommend these IEMs!




Equipment Used

I tested the headphones on various devices to see how they faired and I can confidently say they never sounded bad. For the purposes of this review, I primarily ran them from the Line Out of a Creative Soundblaster X G6 as it was the most natural and clean sounding out of all the sources I tried.

Creative Soundblaster X G6 Headphone Out (Low Gain) - The headphone out on this unit can be hit or miss as it is not transparent. The bass almost doubled in output which for a headphone that has plenty of bass energy was somewhat unnecessary. This aggregated the issue of muddying the mid-range and made smaller details harder to hear. The vocals leaped forward and became very prominent.

Creative Soundblaster X G6 Line out fed into Fiio E12K - Mids were very forward, the detail was well presented and the bass was well controlled. However, they lacked a level of warmth found in other sources and were a little dry for my taste. Still a very nice presentation and perhaps a better presentation for those looking for a more articulate sound.

Topping D10 Line out fed into Fiio E12K - Clear and concise, plenty of detail but a somewhat dryer sound than what I have come to expect out of the BL03.

Tempotec Sonata - Accentuated highs but good overall balance in all other frequencies. Soundstage remained wide and open and is honestly not a bad option for portable use.

Realtek Desktop Motherboard (ALC887) - Clear reduction in resolution and soundstage collapses to be mostly 2 dimensional. Tonally very satisfying and much of the details are preserved.

Samsung Galaxy S10 (Exynos) - V-shaped sound signature with the vocals being really highlighted, the soundstage is still wide but even more diffuse. Tonally very pleasant but leaning towards bright.