Verdict

The EOZ Icon get most of the basics right and are a solid option for casual music fans – but they don’t differentiate themselves from rivals to merit a glowing recommendation.

Pros

• Lightweight design
• Decent battery life
• Affordable

Cons

• Poor-quality mic
• Controls can be fiddly

The EOZ Icon are the latest affordable true wireless Apple AirPod alternatives to hit the scene, joining the likes of the TicPods 2 Pro and Anker Soundcore Liberty Neo.

The Icon offer a decent specs list considering their £67 price. But, like pretty much every true-wireless set you’ll find at this price, they come with some compromises. In addition, they do very little to differentiate themselves from rival earphones. In fact, if you’re paying less that £100, then it’s much for muchness between most wireless earbuds at this point.

As such, for the money casual music listeners will be treated to a reliable pair of true-wireless buds for their morning commute. However, those who consider themselves even moderately serious music fans would be better off paying more for an advanced set.

Related: Best true wireless earbuds

EOZ Icon design – Surprisingly swish-looking for the money

Out of the box the Icon true wireless look pretty swish. Sporting a similar style to the AirPods Pro, long shafts that contain the mics extend from the bottom of the buds.

The casing is made from plastic, but the design is fairly rugged despite being pleasingly unassuming. It comes with 20 hours of charge. During testing, the Icons held up to their IPX6 rating, easily surviving a run in the rain and a gym session. The Icons lasted the quoted five-hour battery life, as long as audio was played at medium to low volumes.

The in-ear design means it’s possible to achieve a decent fit with the supplied silicon tips – although, personally, I found them a little loose for gym use and running. Isolation was lacking, too, with the buds letting in more background noise than I’d expect from in-ear buds.

The compromises don’t end there. The touch controls are fiddly. Foe example, trying to pause tracks using the touch input regularly took frequent – and fairly heavy – tapping. Using the earbuds with damp fingers at the gym proved near-impossible.

Poor mic quality is a common issue amongst affordable wireless earbuds – and the Icons are no different. The mics are powerful enough to take calls in quiet areas, but they become unusable outdoors or even in moderately noisy conditions. People on the other end of the line reported severe hissing and background noise, even when taking calls in a pretty quiet office.

EOZ Icon performance – Audio quality is okay, but could be better

Audio quality is good enough for casual listening and matches most of the other sub-£100 true-wireless earbuds I’ve heard.

The Icons offer decent volume, and tonal balance is fine for most genres. The bass isn’t as precise as more expensive earphones, but it’s more pronounced and punchy than the Liberty Neo. On undemanding genres, highs were well represented.

The only time I ran into trouble was when listening to punk and rock, where sibilance could creep in and the attacking guitar riffs and drum cymbals took on an acidic tone.

Audio is noticeably more detailed than competing sets at this price – although complex, layered string and classical arrangements lost some of their more subtle parts. Being fair to EOZ, this is an issue on every set we’ve tested at this price.

Audio fans may bemoan the lack of aptX support, but in general the connection was excellent. Using the earbuds around London, the Bluetooth 5.0 connection remained stable and, aside from a few atypical blips, the only areas that knocked out the Icons were busy signal areas such as Waterloo Station.

All-in-all, the Icon sound is about as good as you can expect from a pair of true-wireless earbuds at this price.

Should you buy the EOZ Icon?

If you’re looking for an affordable set of true-wireless earbuds for casual listening, the EOZ Icon aren’t the worst choice. They offer reasonably good audio quality and feature a solid 25-hour battery life.

But there are a few drawbacks: a slightly loose fit, poor mic quality and their tendency to let sibilance creep into more attacking genres of music. These make them ill-suited for regular gym-goers or runners.

In EOZ’s defence, these are issues that most sub-£100 true wireless earbuds suffer. But this just means that those who can afford to would be better off spending a little more money on a set such as the Lypertek Tevi.

Verdict

The EOZ Icon get most of the basics right and are a solid option for casual music fans – but they don’t differentiate themselves from rivals to merit a glowing recommendation.

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