Devialet Gemini - II Wireless Bluetooth In-Ear Earbuds - Matte Black

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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Oh my gosh, Superfly, baby the best in the market

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  • Verified Purchaser
  • My Best Buy® Member
  • Owned for less than 1 week

  These are the best earbuds that I have ever heard. I am in music craze listen to many headsets and air buds. These are far number one and probably will be number one until something else comes out better. It may be pricey but it is well worth it. Why waste your money on something that won’t give you 100% the sound will blow your mind. The base on this is so smooth the clarity the instruments everything on this again it is pricey but well worth it do not listen to negative comments about this. I am one that will take back something that is not quality or doesn’t sound right this just blows my mind. 

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  Joelove Posted 1 year ago

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Bassy and Crisp Sound

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  • My Best Buy® Member
  • Owned for 1 year

  One of the best sound Quality earbuds I’ve ever owned the sound is crisp and bassy. The fitment on average is not the best nor is the sound cancellation.

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  JulietaP Posted 1 year ago

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  It's worth it, audio performance justify the price

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  Devialet has been known as a European audio powerhouse. Its big name is synchronous to high cost and quality products. The French has an interesting take on audio products, with focus on design and function, but it’s not at all surprising considering that European countries have been the bastion of quality but not so affordable audio products. Aside of its hefty price, the design of Gemini II true wireless earbuds (TWS) hits many points. The case is compact and yet classy with conspicuous metal trimming. It also supports wireless charging and pairing is as easy as hitting the button on the back of the case. Gemini II supports the typical features you would expect from a high end TWS earbuds: the latest Bluetooth tech connection, transparency mode, ANC, earbuds touch control, multipoint connection, voice assistant compatibility, aptX supports, and of course an app that enables you to fine tune your listening experience by giving you control of the six frequencies in the equalizer. The ability to control those six frequencies is important because of individual preferences: some people like bass-heavy sound signature, some would prefer more treble or a bit more kick in the middle frequency. It’s nice to have these options available. Also, important to note that these earbuds have 10mm titanium coated drivers and they are design to actively reduce wind noise. Battery life is acceptable for TWS earbuds with the case able to provide ample of conserve juice. Before using the earbuds any further, it is very important to download the app and update the firmware to the latest one. It’s no big secret in the industry that audio products got better audio performance with firmware updates so be sure to update to the latest one. Also, make sure to get the correct size of the eartips by trying on different sizes. Putting on the correct eartip size will block most of the sound outside our ears and more importantly it will unleash the true potential of the earbuds. Once it’s done, fitting should be very comfortable as the earbuds are lightweight and fits really well into our ears. The correct position of the earbuds should be slightly tilted so that they would rest comfortably in our ears. Now onto the most exciting parts: the sound quality. For the test, I’ve been listening to streamed music from Apple Music and alternatively playing lossless audio format directly from a phone. I used both a high end android phone and the latest and the best iOS phone. So here’s a full disclosure of my testing method: FLAC/ lossless audio format, android phone with player capable to play FLAC/ lossless audio format and capable of processing 32-bit audio transmission. MP3 files with standard bitrate and corresponding android music player app Apple music streaming from both Android and iOS device including streaming lossless music files from the app Devialet App’s Equalizer set to Dynamic Transparency mode in most of the testings It is very important to point out that I’m getting much better audio performance using high-end android device capable of outputting 32-bit audio than when using my high-end iPhone to test the Gemini II. The problem here is that even the newest and the best iPhone out there are locked to AAC codec and one would need to get an external DAC to bypass such limitation, which I did not find the need to do so in my testing. In contrast, my high-end android device performs really well in processing higher bit rate audio files and transmitting them to the earbuds. Is Gemini II technically capable of receiving higher bitrate audio? Well, it can process aptX as per spec sheet and in my real world testing of playing different types of audio files, there’s a significant difference in terms of audio impressions when listening to low bitrate music files and higher bitrates ones. Sure, it would be better if Gemini II supports LDAC, however, even without it the earbuds seem to be able to process higher bit rate audio well and whatever digital audio chip and sauce Devialet is using on Gemini II to process audio, it works well. There’s also significant difference in audio quality when I stream music from Apple Music using both my iOS and Android devices. Of course, this is not the same thing as saying the earbuds can natively process 32-bit audio but I’m only saying that the earbuds are technically capable to process higher bit rates audio if certain conditions are met, even though with some other technical limitations. The problem with wireless earbuds is that even when the phone’s hardware is able to process 32-bit audio, wireless earbuds will not receive the corresponding bitrate due to the limitation in Bluetooth protocol and the operating system. So, it’s ridiculous to judge the audio quality of a Bluetooth earbuds by using the same standards of wired earbuds. Why is it important to talk about this? Because we would want to make sure that those extra few hundred dollars is worth to spend for and we’re using sound judgement to make the determination. Audio impressions: Music sounds lively with excellent dynamic responses across the board. Audio performance is smooth and sounded very nice and detailed enough. Bass is smooth, not harsh and not overpowering. It’s a matter of taste, some people may require more kick at the low notes, however, this is probably as good bass performance as one could squeeze out of earbuds. These earbuds can get loud but only when your audio player permits. I test the earbuds with iOS device and they didn’t sound loud enough to my liking. In contrast, a high-end android phone was able to boost the volume significantly and the earbuds could sound very loud without being too noticeable in tearing apart the frequency responses. So, it’s good news for those who like to listen to their music loud. Just be careful, listening loud music for too long can impair your hearing. Separation of instruments are nice enough and definition is great for Bluetooth earbuds. Alan Menken’s ‘Harvest Dance’ from Aladdin’s FLAC soundtrack sounded very lively. The clarity, details and depths are there. Likely to be as good Bluetooth audio performance as you can get out of earbuds. Naomi Scott’s ‘Speechless (Part 2)’ FLAC music track is excellent and the performance was indeed for a moment made me speechless not because it’s the best audio quality out there, it’s just not possible with Bluetooth, but because the fact that they sounded really good and these are a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. The dynamics in Will Smith’s ‘Friend Like Me (End Title)’ FLAC music track is also somewhat extraordinary. What about regular streaming tracks? Well, Daft Punk’s ‘One More Time’ from Apple Music sounded nice. Highs and mids were being well defined, the bass was very much there. The track sounded detailed and the overall dynamics were just great and spot on. I really like how the track is making use of the stereo technique and the earbuds were able to capitalize it for a great listening experience. Listening to somewhat complex track like Daft Punk’s ‘Around the World’ did not make these earbuds to falter. Consistently, the dynamics, fidelity and bass performance were just great for a pair of Bluetooth earbuds. Is it all flowery? Well now is the interesting part. I feel that at the end of the day, earbuds can do so much but at the same time it has its own physical limitation. I don’t think there would be a pair of earbuds that can get pass the physical limitation of creating a soundstage that is tend to be more tight-and-centered leaning so the Gemini II is no different. Spatial audio feature like Dolby Atmos helps in making the soundstage more exciting but having said that earbuds are unlike over ear headphone that has the inherent advantage of creating wider and more natural soundstage due to the speaker position against the ear and the physical size of the driver. My testing in making calls and engaging in conversation did not yield in spectacular result. Microphone performance is not the best out there but it’s fine for conducting phone conversation. How do Gemini II’s audio performance stack against others? Well, I compared these earbuds to over ear Bluetooth headphones from another renowned European brand and Gemini II can still stand out in some aspects. And I do love the convenience and portability of the device, which is far more portable to carry around than any of my headphones. The Gemini II can easily point out the flaws in audio quality from standard audio file, something that not every good Bluetooth earbuds or even over ear BT headphone is able to do. My final take: in the world of audio enthusiasts, the sky is the limit in terms of how much money would a person is willing to spend to get the best audio performance out there. Devialet is a renowned European brand that is not shy in grabbing the mass market but with serious audio enthusiasm in mind. Devialet Gemini II is not cheap, but it is far from being the most expensive earbuds out there. For the kind of performance we would be getting out of Gemini II, the asking price is actually still reasonable because in the Bluetooth earbuds category, Devialet Gemini II successfully emerges to stand out from the crowd due to its accuracy, detailed and great audio performance across the board. At the end of the day, it is up to every individual to decide whether it is worth it to spend say twice the amount of money to get that bit of edge in terms of audio performance. So, who is these earbuds for? Anyone who can afford them. At this price level, however, it would be a shame not to maximize on the earbuds’ audio capabilities by pairing them with a decent phone, one that is capable of processing and outputting high bit rate audio. Your typical iOS or Android phone should work well and give you pleasing results but yeah if you’re into getting the best audio performance, you’d know what to do with the phone.

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  fudgear Posted 2 years ago