If you frequent TikTok on the regular, you’ll have no doubt noticed the influx of people selling and reviewing tech products (and non-tech products). Now, I’m not here to gate keep the idea of reviewing consumer products. I started doing this one day after a day working in a phone shop. It’s not something to be gate kept. But I am against people saying crud is good. More and more videos are appearing from people with decent followings trying to promote products that are a waste of money. I wanted to steer clear, but that just creates a review quality vacuum.
That’s what I’ve started a series called “Commission Not Paid”. The idea is completely true reviews where I don’t really care if you buy anything or not. I’ve been doing free reviews for years. There’s very little money in this, let me tell you, so I can happily review a pair of headphones without caring where you buy them or not.
And on that note, here’s a review of the Q2-ANC Headphones, available on TikTok Shop from CarPlayOle Ireland.
First Impressions
The packaging is as basic as you’d expect at this price point. That price point varies from €20 to €50 depending on offers. Straight out of the box, the headphones feel plasticky and a bit cheap, though there’s a surprisingly decent metal headband wrapped in faux leather that’s elevating the overall quality feel of the headphones.
They swivel but don’t fold, despite the box suggesting otherwise. The box also says ANC, which I was sceptical about. ANC means active noise-cancelling. Normally, active noise cancellation requires over-ear cups with enough space for microphones and internal trickery to block sound. These don’t have proper cups, just pads, and for the price, I’m not expecting any ANC whatsoever.
Back to the box, there is some vague wording suggesting these headphones are Bluetooth 5.4 and that they will last for 45 hours. In the box you also get a USB-A to USB-C charger, which is actually pretty cool. It’s heralding the official end of micro-USB products randomly appearing for me.
Switching the Headphones On
They are charged out of the box which is a pleasant surprise. Straight away, I wanted to test the ANC claims. I just didn’t believe there would be any.
I test ANC at home with background fans or kitchen extractor fans. These simulate similar background noise to jet engines. A great use case for noise-cancelling.
Switching them on, they did cancel a little background noise. I’d even go so far as to say considerably more than I expected for €20, but nowhere near the level of proper ANC headphones. If you’ve ever used Sony’s WH-1000XM5, you’ll know the difference is night and day. There is no grading system for ANC, but I wouldn’t want to be depending on these for a long haul flight.
If you gave these to me 5 years ago and said they cost €20, my mind would have been blown. Today, I’d be looking to stretch my budget to something better.
Sound Quality
Once I fired up some music, the verdict came quickly. The treble is woeful, mids are thin, bass is passable. I’m not an audio snob, believe it or not. There are some reviewers that will rip something like this apart. For me, the headphones just aren’t enjoyable once you turn them on.
They are light. They sit nice on your head. All of that is ok. But the ANC is not good, and now the sound quality is kinda bad.
Controls are basic but functional, and pairing over Bluetooth 5.x worked fine.
Value for Money
At €15 to €20, maybe picked up at a market stall, you could argue they’re worth a punt. There’s a little bit of ANC to make you realise something happened, but headphones with pads, not cups, pushing ANC as a major feature is just bizarre. It’s one of those things that makes a tech reviewer say “huh?”.
At €30+ with delivery, they’re hard to recommend. These headphones go up and down in price regularly, with free delivery only on higher spends with the seller. I just can’t recommend you spending anythings more than €20 on these. Even at that, I wouldn’t spend it myself.
At €49, it’s a hard no from me. Absolutely not. These headphones look and feel like the €20 product they are. The headband is surprisingly comfortable, the ANC technically works (just barely), and the sound is “meh” at best.
How Does TikTok Shop Work?
What blows my mind about TikTok shop is that I’ve seen creators full on saying these are the best headphones in the world. They are selling out their followers for a whopping €2.37 in commission if you buy them through TikTok Shop.
Some products are sent to reviewers for free, but others are purchased and only refunded after a set number of sales. As you can imagine, this encourages people to “sell” the product in their videos. Again, undermining how impressed some people may be with products.
This is why I started “Commission Not Paid”. I don’t care if you buy through my link because a lot of products on TikTok shop just aren’t that good.
If you buy these, buyer beware.
Shop around, and get your opinions from outside where people are being paid to promote a product. Check AliExpress and TEMU too because a lot of products are just coming from there anyway and adding some extra cost. I’m going to be spinning our TikTok Shop reviews into written articles too in the hope that people are Googling and researching.
They’re not great. If you do, buy through my link, I guess!
