RHA is a young headphone manufacturer from the UK and the MA650 Wireless is just my first headphones from this brand. Let’s find out if the product is any good.
Unboxing Video
Design & Features
As soon as I took the headphones out of the box, I immediately felt this is a premium product. I’m very impressed with the beautiful brushed aluminum finish on the two earpieces. Moreover, they have magnets inside, so they will click together and stay securely around your neck. Unfortunately, I already see some scratches on the surface after just around 2 weeks of use.
Besides, I don’t really like the neckband design because it’s too bulky for such small headphones. They don’t look neat when you wear them as well as when you want to store them in your bag.
Another problem is the inconsistent Bluetooth connection when I connect the headphones to my MacBook. There are many hiccups and I couldn’t find a root cause of the issue, probably I am using some more Bluetooth devices and they could affect the connection. I have no problem when connecting to my Samsung or iPhone.
My biggest problem is that I couldn’t find the perfect fit for my ears. Although RHA throws in a lot of ear tips in different sizes, none of them fits snuggly inside my ears. Therefore, I feel a little uncomfortable when wearing the headphones; they get loose easily when I’m moving.
The battery life of the MA650 is quite good. I use the headphones almost every day and don’t have to recharge them in a week. It’s rated at 12-hour audio playback and 30 days in standby. Notice that you can’t use the USB-C to USB-C cable to charge the headphones, that means you can’t plug it to your new MacBook to recharge the battery; You will have to use the USB-A to USB-C cable.
Audio Quality
Although the MA650 Wireless has some problems as mentioned above, I actually enjoy using it to listen to music.
It sounds much better than most in-ear headphones in the sub-$100 price range. Instead of a V-shaped sound with a heavily boosted bass, the MA650 Wireless sounds more natural. The bass is there but it is adequate and doesn’t make your ears fatigued after hours of listening. I really love the punchy and fast bass response because it doesn’t make the sound muddy like on other cheap headphones.
Thanks to the moderate bass, the mids become much clearer and more detailed, therefore, you totally can enjoy vocal performances with the headphones. The only concern is that the treble might be too bright for some people. The benefit is a wide-open sound with great separation of instruments, however, you might hear sibilant sounds in some recordings. Overall, the sound is still much more impressive than I expected.
Conclusion
Pros
- Affordable price
- Premium build
- Surprising sound
Cons
- Bright treble doesn’t suit many listeners
- Bulky design
- None of the ear tips fits my ears
I have mixed feelings after testing the RHA MA650 Wireless. I really want to continue using the headphones but I don’t want to spend more to look for better-fitted ear tips. Besides, the design is also not compact enough. I just love the headphones because of their great sonic characteristics.
