The Kinera YH802 is a limited edition TWS earphone. It features a handpainted design, hybrid active noise cancellation and a 10mm dynamic driver. The price is $149.
Disclaimer: This sample was provided by HiFiGo for the purpose of an honest review. All observations and opinions here are my own based on my experience with the product.
Kinera YH802
Specifications
- Driver size: 10mm.
- Bluetooth Version: 5.0.
- Bluetooth Range: up to 10m.
- Codecs: AAC & SBC.
- Battery life: up to 8 hours on a single charge, up to 24 hours with charging case.
Package and Accessories
- Kinera YH802 TWS earphones
- Charging case
- 3x pairs of silicone eartips
- USB-C charging cable
- Documentation
Design
If there’s one thing Kinera is known for, it’s their stunning hand-painted designs. Few other brands show such artistry in their IEM creations and this is something that has helped Kinera gain such popularity over time.
The earphones are made of matte black plastic but the stems have a gorgeous blue and gold design under a resin cover. The end result is beautiful and not only do you get a stunning design but a unique one as well courtesy of the individually hand-painted units.
The YH802 has Airpod styled shells with a straight stem, oval-shaped housings and angled nozzles. I usually find this type of shell comfortable and that is the case here as well. The earphones give me a stable fit and feel secure enough to move about without fear of them falling out of my ears. You won’t need to worry about rain or sweat either, thanks to the IPX4 water-resistance rating.
The charging case is small and oval-shaped with a flat bottom. Not only is this case small and pocketable but it can stand up as well, making it easier to take the earphones out or put them back into the case.
A single LED on the front of the case gives you some vague indication of the battery status. There’s a USB-C port on the back of the case for charging. When it comes to battery life, the YH802 earphones are good for around 8 hours on a single charge. The total battery life including the charging case is 24 hours.
Controls and Bluetooth Connectivity
The Bluetooth version present on the YH802 is 5.0, so it’s stable and has fairly low latency. For some reason, the only wireless codecs available are SBC and AAC. I expect to see some form of aptX on any TWS earphones at this price so the absence of it here is disappointing.
I found the touch controls consistent and responsive. The controls are straightforward and work as follows:
Left Side
- Single tap: Play & Pause music / Answer & Hang up a phone call
- Double tap: Previous track
- Triple tap: Switch between Active Noise Cancellation ON / OFF & Transparency mode
- Long press: Decrease volume
Right Side
- Single tap: Play & Pause music / Answer & Hang up a phone call
- Double tap: Next track
- Triple tap: Switch between Active Noise Cancellation ON / OFF & Transparency mode
- Long press: Increase volume
Calls, Video and Gaming Performance
The microphone on the Kinera YH802 is nice and clear but could be a bit louder. It works great for calls and online conferencing.
Video and gaming performance is good. There are no sync issues when watching videos on YouTube. The gaming performance is excellent with hardly any latency whatsoever, even when playing fast-paced shooters.
Active Noise Cancellation
The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) function works quite well. It does a good job of blocking out the noise of the air conditioner and computer in my room. I found the transparency mode less convincing but it works to some degree so long as there’s no music playing.
Sound
With such stunning artwork on the shells, one would hope that the YH802 has an audio quality to match. Well, I can say with certainty that these earphones have a colourful sound but the tuning leaves a lot to be desired.
There are some positives though and we’ll start with those. First of all, the soundstage dimensions are good, as is the spacing between instruments on less complex recordings.
The overall tonality is V-shaped with slightly lifted bass, a warm albeit recessed midrange and treble with the juxtaposed effect of being laid-back and splashy at the same time. The bass is fairly textured and reasonably fast. It’s a bit lacking in impact, even on songs like Polynation’s “Hanging D” where I expect to hear the thumping kick drum.
The lower midrange is boomy because of the bloated core vocal range. This provides rich, saturated male vocals but causes congestion on busier tracks. Adversely, female vocals are laid-back and lack energy. The midrange lacks clarity too – a result of the bloated lower midrange and subdued upper treble.
YH802 has a slightly lifted lower treble that peaks at 8kHz before falling off dramatically and then peaks again in the upper midrange. This results in a mixture of smooth treble notes and thin, artificial ones. The overall treble timbre doesn’t sound quite right and has an artificial tone to it. Because of this treble tuning, the midrange lacks clarity and the overall detail retrieval is below average.
Verdict
The Kinera YH802 is one of the most visually appealing TWS earphones that I’ve seen. Kinera’s team of artists have done an amazing job with the hand-painted shells. The fit is good and the touch controls are a pleasure to use. Furthermore, the microphone delivers excellent clear voice quality for calls.
Sadly the audio quality doesn’t come close to the premium aesthetic of the earphones. The tuning and resulting tonality are not on the same level as similarly priced or even cheaper TWS earbuds. If you want the best looking TWS this is probably it but if you want great sound you’ll need to look elsewhere.