PADMATE S58 – The best AFFORDABLE HEADPHONES for SPORTS in 2024
Among the positive aspects (in a forced way) that the last Coronavirus pandemic has left as a legacy, we find the increase in people carrying out physical activity outdoors. But doing sport doesn't mean having to give up listening to music/podcasts nor having to give up having a conversation while running or walking in the open air. For this reason it is necessary to equip oneself with a pair of TWS earphones defined as open-ear, i.e. which leave the ear uncovered in order to remain alert to what is happening around the user. This type of earphones has been becoming very popular for about a year and I bring you the new Padmate S58 for review.
The design and appearance in general are clean and are very comfortable to wear, obtaining a perfect fit if we act on the silicone arch, which starts from the driver and simulates the shape of the ear. Once worn, the Padmate S58 will not fall out of your ears even if stressed, for example during physical activity both indoors and outdoors, but naturally these headphones can be used in any condition, even the classic one of relaxation on the sofa.
It should be underlined that due to the charging case, they are not headphones that I would define as portable, considering that the sleeve has quite generous dimensions and inserting it into a trouser pocket does not provide a comfortable solution. In any case, charging takes place via a USB Type-C cable while the lid does not offer the hall sensor, therefore pairing with the associated device will only take place when you remove the headphones from their seat. Inside the case there is a small LED display showing the charge status of the integrated battery at a numerical level. In this regard, we are talking about a 500 mAh unit while we go down to 70 mAh if we refer to the Padmate S58, obtaining full energy in about 1,5 hours. The battery life is not record-breaking, but capable of satisfying most needs, i.e. around 16 hours in total using the battery pack and around 5 hours on a single charge.
As already mentioned, among the many pairs of OWS-type earphones, these Padmate S58 were the most comfortable and performing to wear, both in standard situations and in more frenetic activities. On the external surface of each driver we find a touch surface with which to give commands to control music/film/podcast but also to manage incoming calls, counting on excellent connection stability by means of a Bluetooth 5.3 module as well as to ENC technology and dual microphone.
The sound is decidedly high level, which is released by large 16.2 mm drivers and considering the nature of the headphones, i.e. over-ear type, I was pleasantly surprised, as the sound that comes out is decidedly strong but above all with an equalization decidedly well balanced native. No metallic sound, no latency and no loss of quality at maximum volume levels and overall even the bass is quite pronounced without overpowering the mid/high tones and vice versa. Unfortunately, there is no support app that allows you to manage the commands or create an audio preset for listening to multimedia content.
Overall, the touch controls work well even if they lack the command to recall the smartphone's voice assistant and are slightly sensitive, as the microphones seem to be, which in normal conditions behave really well but if we answer a call while for example we are on a bike , the wind noise cannot be properly suppressed and therefore it will be difficult to have a clear and crystalline conversation.
I would say that we can draw conclusions about these Padmate S58, which net of a price of poco above 30 euros, we can define them as a must have if you are looking for a pair of earphones designed for sport, capable of offering decidedly high autonomy per single session, with very respectable quality standards for music listening.
