DIZO GoPods D: An Affordable Value Proposition

With companies like Xiaomi, Realme, and Oppo aiming to democratize high-end features into their budget offerings, the market for affordable true-wireless earphones has become extremely crowded and competitive lately.

One of the latest entrants and competitors in this space is DIZO: the first brand under the Realme TechLife ecosystem that aims to carve out a place in the smart entertainment, smart home, smart care, and accessories space – leveraging Realme’s resources in design, supply chain, and AIoT experience.

To that end, the company has already announced several products. One of those products is the GoPods D: a pair of true wireless earbuds at a very competitive price.

But are they any good? Let us find out!

DIZO GoPods D: Design and Build

At first glance, the GoPods D look strikingly similar to Realme’s recently introduced Buds Q2. They come with a pebble-shaped case that houses both earbuds and features DIZO lettering on the top.

The case itself is made of plastic and has a matte finish. This protects against stains, but not scratches. Our device got scratches on the bottom and some shiny spots on the surface during our test.

Still, there’s not much to criticize about the build quality of the case in general: It feels solid, has a lid that doesn’t bend, and offers a stable hinge.

In terms of functionality, the case has a micro-USB port on the back for charging earphones and the case. On the front, there is a small flap to open the case, and just below it is a LED, which displays the battery level. According to the company, the case weighs 39 grams and is a bit lighter to carry in our opinion: the bulge it causes in the pocket might be okay for some, while others might find it uncomfortable.

When you open the case, you can see the earbuds held in place by strong magnets in their corners. The attraction of these magnets is quite strong and prevents the earbuds from falling out of the case; not to mention that it also makes it easier to put them back in.

As for the earbuds themselves, the build quality is excellent considering the price. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that it’s on par – if not better – than the design of some other earbuds that come at a higher price.

Design-wise, the earbuds also have an ergonomic profile that fits comfortably in your ear canal. Each earbud weighs about 4.1 grams and is comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Plus, they are IPX4 certified, which means you can wear them while working out without damaging them. Speaking of which, if you have an active lifestyle, you can use the GoPods D without worrying about them falling out of your ears.

DIZO GoPods D: Performance

The DIZO GoPods D connect via Bluetooth 5.0 and offer a pretty good connection. We didn’t notice any connectivity issues while moving through different rooms and making calls or listening to music during our tests.

However, during the pairing process, we’d some difficulty connecting the earphones to our test devices. In some cases, the earphones didn’t show up in the Bluetooth discovery, while in other cases, they showed up in the list but didn’t connect right away. We also observed that the earphones sometimes started beeping when they weren’t connected or disconnected from a device.

Functionally, however, the GoPods D far exceeded our expectations given their price. The touch controls on the back of the earphones are very responsive and useful for actions like controlling music, managing calls, and entering/ exiting game mode.

And support for a companion app – Realme Link – further enhances the experience by allowing you to personalize the sound effect and touch functions of your earphones. It also makes it easy to update the earphones’ firmware when a new version comes out.

While customizing the touch controls is certainly a handy feature, we do not recommend changing the audio preset of these earphones as it can affect the overall sound quality. (More on this later.)

DIZO GoPods D: Sound Quality

While it goes without saying that design and build quality play an important role in creating a well-rounded experience for the user, it’s ultimately the sound quality that determines whether a product is worth its price.

The DIZO GoPods D do a pretty good job in this regard. They feature 10mm drivers with an algorithm the company calls Bass Boost +. As you can imagine, this results in a sound signature that favors frequencies at the lower end of the spectrum, which is no surprise since a bass-heavy signature tends to captivate casual listeners.

However, you should know that the GoPods’ bass-heavy sound signature also brings with it some weaknesses. Since most of the sound covers the spectrum between the mid and low frequencies, the output isn’t very bright and open; it’s not muddy either, but it doesn’t do justice to the mids. And despite being a pair of bass-heavy headphones, the headphones don’t offer very tight and penetrating bass, which is a bit disappointing.

Likewise, the bass-heavy sound signature results in a narrow soundstage, so you may not get the best listening experience on instrument-heavy tracks. Furthermore, the muted highs as a result of the crowded midrange dampen the sound and prevent you from experiencing the true tonality of a song.

Finally, in terms of enhancement features, the company offers three sound presets with the app Realme Link, namely Bass Boost +, Dynamic and Bright. By default, the GoPods D are set to the Dynamic preset, which we found to sound the best compared to the other presets. The Bright preset raises the treble into unpleasant ranges, while the Bass Boost + preset makes the sound even more bass-heavy.

On the whole, given the price of the GoPods D, you have to be a bit lenient on the above points, as it’s already hard to find a pair of earphones in this price range that sound decent, let alone live up to all of the above.

DIZO GoPods D: Call Quality

Call quality is another major deterrent when choosing a pair of true wireless earbuds, and the GoPods D do a pretty good job of handling calls. During our testing, we didn’t have any issues with the speakers or microphone during calls. We also didn’t receive many complaints about background noise coming through to us from the other end of the line.

Speaking of which, the ambient noise cancelation feature on the earphones works pretty well under normal conditions – with little background noise. However, it doesn’t always work when the earphones are exposed to a slightly noisier environment, such as when it’s windy outside or there’s too much traffic noise.

DIZO GoPods D: Battery Life

In terms of battery performance, the DIZO GoPods D offer decent battery life. We used the earbuds for about 4 hours at a stretch, and with the case, it was even a bit more than 14 hours. However, we would like to point out that the battery life was not very consistent in our tests: We surprisingly achieved fifteen and a half hours of listening time on an iPhone and just over 14 hours on an Android phone.

As for charging speed, the DIZO GoPods use a micro USB port to charge the battery, which takes nearly two hours to fully charge the earbuds (earbuds+charging case) from 1-2%. It would have been nice to see a USB-C port on these earphones, but it’s probably the price factor that led them to settle for a micro-USB port instead. So we cannot complain much.

DIZO GoPods D: Verdict

Overall, the GoPods D are a pretty solid offering for their 1399 rupee price. Starting with the ergonomic design and programmable touch controls to the sound and call quality, the earphones offer good value for money overall.

Still, there are some factors that might confuse you in your decision-making process. To simplify things, here’s what you should consider in your decision-making process:

Buy the GoPods D if:

• A good design and fit is your priority.
• You want water-resistant earphones that you can wear during workouts.
• You aren’t bothered about too much detail in sound.
• Call quality is important to you.
• You want programmable touch controls.

Don’t buy the GoPods D if:

• You like a more balanced sound signature.
• Fast charging matters to you.

In case you are not satisfied with what GoPods D has to offer, there are some other alternatives on the market that you can try. One of them is the Realme Buds Q2, which are a bit more expensive (Rs 2499) but offer good noise cancelation and long battery life.

Another pair you can go for are the Redmi Earbuds S, which have a compact design and offer better sound quality for 1799 rupees. And if sound quality is all that matters to you, you have the Oppo Enco W11 which can be had for Rs 1999.

Buy DIZO GoPods D