Kinera YH623 TWS review everyone. Kinera is on the busier side of things lately with their slew of product releases. We have just recently reviewed the TYR which is personally my choice as the best product they’ve put forward with its strong high value for money given its build quality and balanced sound. Kinera has also anticipated the rise of the TWS coming into 2020 so they armed themselves with one.
The Kinera YH623 TWS review unit used on this realview was purchased at a discount off AK Audio and no other monetary factors were involved. You can check out their official AliExpress storefront for more of their audiophile product lineup.
The Kinera YH623 TWS features a single 6mm dynamic driver and is spec’d out with a 20-20kHz Frequency Response, 16 Ohm Impedance and a 110dB Sensitivity. Priced currently at a discounted $63, the Kinera YH623 TWS offers an intuitive touch control system on a rather large IEM shell silhouette with waterproofing built in.
Kinera YH623 TWS Specifications:
- BT chip: Qualcomm QCC3020
- BT version: 5.0, BLE/EDR
- Supported protocols: HSP/HFP/A2DP/AVRCP/SSP/DI/AVCTP
- Battery Life: 10 hours
- Battery: 50mAh
- Charging Time: 1.5 Hour DC 5V
- Standby Time: 11 days
- Noise cancelling system: CV8.0
- IPX Rating: IPX7 water, rain and sweat resistant
Packaging and Build Quality
The trademark hexagon packaging of Kinera is once again used on the YH623 TWS which is slowly losing its appeal especially the lackluster design on the overall front and back sides. A black hexagon foam cutout will greet you upon opening the box which is where the 3-sized silicone ear tips are resting along with the YH623 TWS charging case.
Kinera YH623 TWS Accessory Set:
- Translucent gray red-bore silicone ear tips (S, M and L)
- Type C charging cable
- Product manual and warranty card
The Kinera YH623 TWS comes in 2 colors, pink and blue. I personally wanted to get the pink one for its looks and thinking it would look nice on my girl. Unfortunately, this specific color option gets sold out fast paired with little inventory as of the moment and would certainly leave you with the blue YH623 TWS. The Kinera YH623 TWS blue version has a its own portable charging case which comes in black and has a semi matte finish to it, the flap is magnetic and is secure enough to be placed on your daily go-to backpack without the YH623 falling off it. A type c charging port along with the Kinera brand logo and slogan in gold font completes the YH623 charging case look.
The Kinera YH623 TWS review unit themselves comes in an all plastic build and the blue version has a glossy finish which is a complete eye-catcher but also a fingerprint magnet and is indeed slippery most of the especially at the initial usage where you are still trying to find the best seal and fit on your ears.
The YH623 TWS might appear bulky at first but when worn, it stays completely snug and solid. It also doesn’t cause a sense of heaviness when worn for extended periods of time. The touch controls are all manageable via the YH623 TWS’s faceplate. The usual touch controls are standard and are listed on the included product manual. Talking about touch controls, given the slippery faceplate of the YH623, the decision of adding a touch once functionality on the faceplate was a complete bummer as the mere action of adjusting the YH623 on your ears when worn caused the player to pause/play when in music mode or drop/answer a call when in call mode.
Battery Life
The marketed battery life of 10 hours without its charging case which holds an estimated 300-hour recharge was pretty accurate. I mainly used the Kinera YH623 TWS review unit paired with the JWD JWM-115 music player, which I have realviewed and with my Sony WM1A outputting 24/96 FLAC files at a fixed 7/16 volume toggle using the medium-sized stock ear tips that came with the YH623. Do note to check with the size of your choice of 3rd party ear tips if it would fit on the YH623’s charging case as my usual choice of Final Audio Type E ear tips encountered a fit issue with the charging case given its relatively longer nozzle length as compared with the stock ear tips which fit perfectly on the YH623 charging case. I managed to squeeze out around 8 hours and 47 minutes of music playback off the YH623 at 30-minute intervals and the usual reconnecting and disconnecting processes. Its far from the 10 hours that it was advertised to perform at.
The charging case was another case altogether as I indeed managed to squeeze around an additional 6 full recharges which made me only charge the case at around every end of the week and have it up and running for another week of use. The LED battery indicators on the YH623 TWS are standard as well, blinking red for low and static green for full or above 20%. The charging case has the same LED indicator light mechanics except there’s no way to tell of its current level and you’d be left with waiting for it to drain out or have it recharge again as its hard to keep track of when its under 50% battery life. The use of type-c for its charging functions is a great move if you’re devices are mostly under the same type-c interface. Recharging the charging case took me an average of 1 hour and 44 minutes which is pretty great.
Connectivity
Sporting the Qualcomm QCC3020 chip, the Kinera YH623 TWS highlights support for BT 5.0 and aptX codec with auto-pairing as well. The marketing lapse of promoting it to support ANC was its downfall over at Drop (formerly MassDrop) but is fortunately isn’t seen on other platforms where the YH623 is being sold. Connecting the YH623 with my Samsung S10 5G was buttery smooth and easy as well as with the JWD JWM-115 music player and Sony WM1A, connecting is and won’t be an issue with the YH623.
The Auto-pairing feature also works exceptionally which I personally tried taking off either the left or right earpiece and still pairs effortlessly. I tried switching devices multiple times and the YH623 auto detects which device to pair at an accurate and precise pace. This is another feature that I find essential especially towards TWS devices given the current fast-paced lifestyle most of us live.
Stability
What is connectivity without stability? The Kinera YH623 TWS not only offers great connectivity but also great stability. I experienced no sudden cutouts and drop offs with it when used on a mobile or stationary position. Pairing it with both Android and iOS devices worked seamlessly and the video latency was also tolerable and worked fine with YouTube streams and movie marathons. And as stated earlier, the Kinera YH623 TWS features no ANC (active noise cancellation) but instead makes use of CVC 8.0 (clear voice capture) algorithm which isn’t that much worse than ANC but only works best when used in a call. I was able to get an isolated and clean voice call over the YH623 and would definitely do the job for most active users.
Sound Quality
The Kinera YH623 TWS features a single 6mm dynamic driver and boy did they maximize that dynamic driver. The YH623 is an obvious bassheads TWS with a clear emphasis on the sub bass and mid bass regions and a minor dip on the upper midrange. This very sound configuration is a perfect match for a TWS in my opinion as I would most likely not pull out a TWS except when I’m after just a quick fix of audio goodness. The YH623 won’t both wow and disappoint with its sound signature. I would have loved to pull out more emotion from its tonality, but it would already be overstating what is already evident.
The soundstage and imaging of the KInera YH623 TWS leans on the intimate side of things. It approaches tracks on a focus based on depth rather than width. Left to right and right to left panning is still observable but isn’t the 1st thing that would pop up despite tracks that highlight this effect. Layering performs better than the stage aspect but is still lacking.
Conclusion
The overall sound of the Kinera YH623 TWS is satisfying and enjoyable especially in TWS parameters. It doesn’t sound off timbre and also hit a good deal of balance between catering both the active and audio lover market. Its lapses with claiming it supports ANC was a bump on its road which continued on to a slippery slope with that polished faceplate. The Kinera YH623 TWS might not warrant an automatic recommendation but it also certainly doesn’t deserve an outright “off-limit” warning.
