Muzen Trickle Clip-On Earbuds REVIEW (2) – Same As It Ever Was
The MUZEN Clip-On earbuds were sent for review purposes by https://muzenaudio.com/ We appreciate their patronage and courtesy.
I just finished watching the Netflix documentary of the Oklahoma City bombing, and as demented as he was, you gotta credit Timothy McVeigh for at least having the courage of his convictions—even when strapped in the electric chair he never expressed the slightest doubt or remorse about his actions. In contrast, our reigning Psychopath-in-Chief folded on his stupid tariffs approximately five minutes after proclaiming that would never back down. God Bless America.
Anyway, I was mildly stoked to receive the Muzen Trickle, which utilizes the same featherweight earring-style design as our beloved Tozo Open Earring (two reviews here) and Soundpeats PearlClip (two reviews here), but sport shiny metal earpieces which give them a more upscale look. Comfort, as expected, is outstanding and connectivity and call quality are just fine. There’s no app or EQ, which is a conspicuous omission at the $75 SRP, and battery life of 6hrs. is only fair.
Unfortunately, the Trickle epitomize the traditional weaknesses of open earbuds—lack of bass presence and muted dynamics. Volume, at least when pushed to the max, is good and technicalities are actually quite good on these—stereo spread and instrument placement is accurate, there’s no congestion between frequencies and high end resolution is noteworthy for an open-ear. Drums and cymbals have nice snap and transients are quick. However, compared to the aforesaid (and substantially cheaper) Tozo and Soundpeats they sound overbright, artificially lean and lacking in thump and presence, while the comparably-priced Baseus Eli, are louder, bassier, fuller-sounding and far closer to a traditional on-ear experience.
Jürgen does advise that pairing the Trickle with a DAP with Hiby player software makes the Trickle sound fuller and less bright, but like most folks I’d be using them without such enhancements. I do note that FWIW Amazon is replete with rave reviews for these, though substantially all of the reviewers got a free review sample. I also got a free review sample but I gotta call it like I see it—there’s some potential here, but the current Trickle needs a bigger motor and an app. I take no joy in dissing these, but their (tariff-distorted?) $75 ask is simply unrealistic and Muzen would be well-served to bring these back to the lab.
Specifications Muzen Trickle
| Driver | 16.5 mm dynamic |
| Frequency Response | 20 – 20,000 Hz |
| Impedance | 32 Ω |
| Speaker Power | 16 mW |
| Bluetooth Version | 5.4 |
| Supported Bluetooth Profiles | A2DP/AVRCP/GAVDP/HFP/SPP |
| Supported Bluetooth Codecs | A2DP/AVDTP/AVRCP/RFCOMM/HFP/HSP/SPP/HID |
| Mutipoint Connection | NA |
| Battery Capacity | Earbuds: 40 mAh*2; Charging Case: 300 mAh |
| Total Music Play Time | 6 H Playtime | 38H with Charging Case |
| Charge Time | Earbuds: 0.53 h (Supporting Quick Charge) Charging Case: 1.77 h |
| Charging Input | 5 V/0.1 A (Earbuds), 5 V/0.5 A (Charging Case) |
| Charging Port | USB-C |
| Total Standby Time | 80 h (with Charging Case) |
| Noise Reduction | Proprietary algorithm (phone calls only) |
| Auto-Turn Off Function When Disconnected | 3 min |
| Game Mode | Yes |
| Water Resistance | IPX5 |
| Net Weight | Single Earbud: 6.1g Earbuds+Charging Case: 47.34g |
| Other | Automatic Left/Right Channel Adaptation with Charging Case |
| Tested at | $75 USD |
| Purchase Link USA | amazon.com |
| Amazon 20% off Promo Code | AREVIEWS |
