BQEYZ Summer – Piezoelectric IEMs Review

BQEYZ has entered the world of affordable IEMs recently, trying to find their unique place in this rapidly growing market. Today, we’ve got our hands on their IEM known simply as “Summer.” This elusively titled listening device runs for $129, putting it up against similarly priced models from many well-renowned manufacturers. Let’s see how it holds up.  

What’s in the Box

• BQEYZ Summer IEMs
• Carrying Case
• Cleaning Brush
• Braided Cable with 0.78mm Connectors and 3.5mm Termination
• 6 sets of rubber ear tips 

Look and Feel

These have a fairly standard look. The pair I have is black, but they’re also offered in light blue. The glossy body is made of a lightweight plastic and the wavy design on the back adds a sleek, modern touch. The fit is fairly standard, their fit maintaining smooth curvature to hug the ear well, as to make them snug but not too tight. 

Design

The Summer’s claim to fame is its Piezoelectric driver, which is meant to bring out “extreme high frequency overtones.” They also use a 13mm dynamic driver and a balanced armature driver. They have an impedance of 32 Ohms and a frequency response of 20Hz – 20kHz. 

Soundstage

These have a fairly standard width to them, though perhaps excel with adding some extra dimension to low frequencies, which many IEMs take the easy way out of by leaving them in the middle as much as possible. The sound separation on these is fairly good, even isolating reverb tails and other ambient elements with a good amount of distinction. 

Lows

These have a very tight, stereo low end. They represent sub frequencies very cleanly and keep a controlled, lightly shaped grip on the bass. While these aren’t the bassiest IEM on the market, they do a good job of giving the lows a nice amount of extension to help fill out the mix and create a punchy foundation for the rest of the composition to perform upon. 

Mids

The Summer have a warmer, somewhat neutral low mid that gives a generally clean, natural tone to vocals. The low mid seems further extended than the high mid, helping to decrease harshness and balance out resonance in this area. The high mid is a bit more pointed in its boost, adding some definition and presence to vocals and keeping its profile a lower to give the low mid more breathing room.

Highs

The highs on the Summer are where I had some qualms. While they were crisp and detailed, in many ways helping achieve a typical high fidelity character, they were often just far too harsh and metallic. Sibilance proved a major problem on numerous tracks, forcing me to keep the volume very low in order to protect my ears. Whatever “extreme high frequency overtones” were being brought to the forefront may have been better off left behind, it seems. 

Overall

For $129, the Summer does not feel like a total cop out, and definitely sounds on par with many IEMs I’ve heard in this price range. This being said, while it’s harsher high end may be only one flaw, in an increasingly competitive market, issues like this are harder to get away with. Not everyone’s ears will be bothered by more sibilance or hiss. In fact, some people cannot hear these frequencies nearly as well as others, and this more intense brightness may strike a good balance with their hearing. However, for many listeners, the Summer may prove a bit fussy at times.