Where to buy? Padmate’s official store.
The Pamu Quiet are the newest True Wireless earphones from Padmate, a brand that made itself famous through crowdfunding campaigns on Indiegogo website, and also advertising on social networks. The main feature they highlight for the product is its active noise cancelling system, that is, it has a chip that should neutralize external sounds.
But my initial praise goes to the components that Padmate chose to assemble the Quiet. Without going into too much technical detail, they are using great models of microphones, drivers, and a very recent and sophisticated audio chip from Qualcomm.
The housing case differs from a conventional design and looks like an old pocket watch. Its plastic coating resembles leather and appears to be durable. It has a USB Type-C plug and is compatible with wireless charges. a stylish blue light glows on when it’s charging. For me, the whole concept is nice and it’s a beautiful piece. But it bothers me a little that when I hold the case and press the top button to open it, the lid is usually stuck by one of my fingers. I always need to directly move them away from the edges to succeed. It’s just a detail, but it’s clear in everyday use. In addition, the noise that the case makes to close is a little bit loud.
The capsules have a different design from previous Padmate models, like the Pamu Slide, and it’s an excellent shape in my opinion. They’re the most ergonomic earphones by that brand that I have tested so far, at least in my ear canal. They were comfortable and didn’t fall or loosen excessively in workouts. Even with long lasting use, I didn’t feel any pain.
Regarding audio profile, I’d say that the Quiet are very typical Padmate: bass shows great presence, and it seems to me that they are even deeper than in previous models, as if the sub-bass has been improved. Mids are just OK and treble appears with some prominence.
Now let’s talk about the active noise cancelling (ANC). It can be turned on and off by touching one of the capsules and, well, in my experience, it actually works as a noise reduction. Low frequency sounds like a fan tend to fade away completely. Mid frequencies like voices get a little thinner, let’s say. And high pitched sounds, or those that are not persistent, like children playing nearby, those will only have their volume reduced. Considering the use of the Pamu Quiet along with music, the end result is satisfactory, but it’s not as striking as famous competitors like some of Sony’s earphones.
Unfortunately, I realized that when I ran outdoors, the interaction of the wind touching the earphones with ANC turned on, it generated strange noises. Some earphones have protection for this not to happen, but that’s not the case for the Pamu Quiet. Therefore, it’s best to use them outdoors only with that feature turned off.
There’s also the ambient mode, which uses the built-in microphones to allow users to hear everything around them. It’s something that also exists on Apple’s AirPods and it works pretty well here. Speaking of microphones, they capture audio in higher quality than simple models like Xiaomi’s Redmi AirDots.
Battery life is just average. They will last less than four hours on a single charge, with 3 additional charges provided by the case. Padmate itself has already released models with much higher autonomy, so you can’t praise the Quiet in that regard.
Finally, the Bluetooth 5.0 signal was extremely stable, with no dropouts on a Galaxy S10 Lite, and the earphones continued to work flawlessly after being wetted by rain. Also, I didn’t notice any audio delay while watching videos on the YouTube app, which sometimes causes some trouble. Not the case here.
I like the app that Padmate developed especially for this product. It’s simple to navigate and it has a bunch of useful features. For example, it’s possible to change the music controls performed by each capsule, right and left, when you tap or hold them.
In the end, the balance of the Pamu Quiet was positive. They are clearly earphones of a new generation, positioned in a more advanced category, although still not top notch. I just missed a bigger battery, something that the manufacturer itself has already delivered on previous models.
Costing 90 USD during the crowdfunding and 120 USD at retail price, I believe they’re worth the money – it’s way less than Apple’s AirPods Pro, for example. Although it’s not perfect, my experience with this product was very good overall, without major flaws and with interesting qualities.