Padmate Pamu Fit Earbuds Review: The Best Budget Headphones
Retail Price: $59
Disclaimer: Padmate sent us a unit of the Pamu Fit free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our own and were not discussed with the company prior to publishing.
There’s a few budget earbud brands that stand out amongst the others when you’re looking for good value and package. We’ve been big fans of Padmate’s earbuds in the past thanks to their affordable price points, and overall design language and comfort. Their latest earbuds, the Pamu Fit, have a new distinct design, but does it live up to their reputation? Let’s take a closer look.
Simple and effective packaging
When we checked out the Pamu Slide 2, we were taken aback by the large carrying case that was considered large at the time for earbud accessories. Padmate took on a simpler outlook with the Pamu Fit earbuds and while the unboxing experience is similar to what we’ve experienced with the PaMu Slide and PaMu Quiet Mini in the past, all that comes in this box is a USB-C to USB-A cable, the semi-in-ear buds, and small plastic casing that houses them. It’s quite a small package. The charging case itself has a USB-C port and battery indicator light.
I’m a fan of the small pocket-friendly case that utilizes a plastic see-through top and white bottom frame. However, the minute I touched it with my fingers, I immediately could tell that it felt fairly flimsy and more than likely will scratch very easily. I can see these getting banged up quickly when thrown haphazardly into a pocket or purse with keys and other sharp accessories. Cheap build quality of the case aside, it does a decent enough job to hold and house the real product themselves which are the earbuds.
uniquely designed earbuds
Semi-in-ear buds are supposed to have a more ergonomic fit that molds into your ear. They are compatible with various sizes of ear canals without needing to fully take up that ear space.
The design of these earbuds have really stood out to me because these are my first pair of semi-in-ear earbuds. Unlike traditional earbuds where they go fully in your ear, these earbuds don’t come with rubber changeable ear tips. Semi-in-ear buds are supposed to have a more ergonomic fit that molds into your ear. They are compatible with various sizes of ear canals without needing to fully take up that ear space. While I was skeptical about how well it would maintain shape, it took me some time adapting to feel comfortable with them so they wouldn’t fall out. Now I’ve noticed that I’ve been able to wear these for longer periods of time without feeling discomfort.
I really like the black and white contrast of these earbuds. They’re simple, yet comfortable to hold in the hands in their case and the perfect size for my ears. The Pamu logo is stamped across the earbuds, but it’s not obtrusive or obnoxious and the matte black rubber area that curves into your ear feels high quality and comfortable. There’s also an LED indicator light that blinks on the bottom too that adds a nice touch to the design.
As for wearing these earbuds for fitness and exercises, I was initially concerned given the semi-in-ear fit. The Pamu Fit earbuds have an antimicrobial coating and weigh only 5.5 grams each. I typically try to walk a few miles a day on my desk treadmill at my home office, sometimes speed walking at a pace of 3 miles per hour. I tested these earbuds out on my quick-paced walk and was pleasantly impressed with how well the Pamu Fit stayed in my ear without moving even with sweat. Once you get these into your ear correctly, they really do stay. My only concern is the occasional accidental touch that users might do while wiping their face or moving hair out of their ears that could potentially cause the earbuds to loosen. That being said, I see these being fit for exercise without issue especially thanks to the IPX4 water resistance.
great features at a solid price point
The Padmate Pamu Fit earbuds have quite a few solid features that make it a very respectable product. Firstly, they are active noise canceling, which while may not be the highest quality ANC for an earbud, do the job for commutes. I think it handles tuning out general noises you want to tune out while working or studying pretty well. They also have low latency making them a good fit for gaming or lots of video streaming on mobile devices. For those looking to use its speaker functionality for phone calls, Padmate advertises a AINR algorithm that uses a dual-microphone noise-canceling technology that is supposed to suppress external noises to make the speaker’s voice clearer. While I’ve only taken a few Zoom and phone calls with these earbuds, I have yet to hear complaints or come across pairing issues. Connectivity is also great. With the Pamu Fit using Bluetooth 5.3, despite alternating my earbuds to connect with my phone and various laptops, I have yet to experience any issues with connection dropping.
In terms of touch functionality, I like how simplified Padmate kept it with the Pamu Fit. There’s simple touch controls like playing and pausing with one touch, skipping and repeating tracks and answering calls, turning on voice assistant and volume control. Users can toggle between two simple modes of ANC and also a gaming mode. It’s not overly complicated and there’s no messy app that comes with it that you need to download.
Ultimately, I think Padmate has figured out the secret sauce they need to create a decent pair of headphones without sacrificing price for a checklist of specs. A lot of these features aren’t groundbreaking, but Padmate excels at packaging the features they do include in a very usable final product that is competitively priced and incredibly functional.
immersive sound quality with good bass
Without doubt, my favorite part about these earbuds is the sound quality. I definitely noticed a difference in the bass and how immersive the sound feels compared to older earbuds I’ve reviewed. Whether I’m listening to rap, LoFi, or something acoustic, there is a fuller sound than I’m accustomed to listening on earbuds. The Pamu Fit features a uniquely designed 13mm driver that is supposedly optimized for the earbud’s acoustic chamber. As someone who has reviewed a few Padmate products in the past, I was most impressed with this supposedly new technology and how much better the sound actually was. It performed flawlessly for me in this aspect and I’d even go so far as to say it is one of my favorite Padmate earbuds sets.
battery life
The Pamu Fit earbuds have a very long battery life. They last up to 6 hours on a single charge and thanks to its charging case, can charge the earbuds for up to an additional two times fully. Padmate markets these with a 15 hour total battery life. That’s roughly in the ballpark of what I’ve been experiencing with my testing. I’m a fan of the battery indicator on the case and haven’t come across a time when I didn’t know how much charge was left. If you plan on using these for school or work consistently everyday, just charge them every other day or so and you should be fine.
final thoughts
Other than the plastic lid and lower quality materials of the charging case, there’s not a whole lot of negative things to say about the Pamu Fit. They were able to keep these earbuds at an affordable price of $60 packed with all the features you’d use without adding fluff and other functions that most general users wouldn’t care for. I’m a big fan of the significant full sound emitting from them and the unique design they’ve created in these semi-in-ear buds.
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Lida
Always the number cruncher, the former narrative journalist turned data scientist, can’t help but find herself bursting with excitement with each new generation of tech gadgets. After all, predicting future trends is Lida’s forte. Any gadget that survives Lida’s torturous, adult working woman itinerary of over 700 notifications a day deserves praise!