DIZO GoPods Neo Unboxing and Hands-on
With its philosophy of empowering its consumers to “Be Different”, DIZO offers various tech products ranging from Smart Entertainment, Smart Care, Smart Home, and Smart Accessories to compliment every consumer’s unique personalities and lifestyles.
The brand will offer five audio products under the Smart Entertainment category and one of them is the DIZO GoPods Neo, an affordable True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds that feature active noise cancellation, dual-mic noise cancellation, and up to two weeks of playback time in a single charge.
Today, I was able to get my hands on one and I’d like to share my unboxing experience as well as my hands-on experience with the device. So, let's deal first with the unboxing.
Unboxing the DIZO GoPods Neo
Like the DIZO Watch 2, the packaging of the DIZO GoPods Neo comes in a white-colored box. The front portion indicates the GoPods Neo and realme TechLife branding; while the model number, color, customer care details, and other details are imprinted on the backside of the box.
You can also find the DIZO and realme’s TechLife logo and the six important key features of the GoPods Neo on the sides.
Inside the Box and Accessories
After opening the box and sliding its contents, you will see the DIZO GoPods Neo earbuds (left and right) and the charging case protected by a matte plastic lining.
Inside the box reveals the earbud tips in two sizes (S and L with M-size tips already installed by default on the earbuds), tips card, getting started guide and warranty card, and a short Type-C charging cable for charging the case.
Design and Walk Around
For the design, the DIZO GoPods Neo comes in a matte pebble-like casing and the earbuds are the first DIZO earbuds to use sophisticated UV printing to achieve a colorful glass effect.
The DIZO GoPods Neo is available in two colors - Aurora and Deep Blue. My unit comes in a Deep Blue color.
On the front contains the LED notification, while on the back is the hinge of the charging case and Type-C charging port. The case comes with a Magnetic lid to secure both buds.
Found inside the charging case are the earbuds and the multi-function key.
Now, let's take a closer look at the earbuds themselves. At the top is where the earbud touch control area, call, and noise-canceling microphones are located. Meanwhile, the charging contact pins, L/R indicator, back and front tone holes can be seen at the bottom.
Pairing and realme Link App
For pairing, the DIZO GoPods Neo comes with Bluetooth 5.2 and uses Google’s Fast Pair technology. Right out of the box, the GoPods Neo will automatically connect to your phone as soon as you open the charging case. Press and hold the multifunction key for 3 seconds using the usual Bluetooth pairing or by downloading the realme Link app. Make sure that both earbuds are inside the charging case before pairing. Open the cover of the charging case, and it will automatically reconnect to the previously paired smartphone.
To reset the earbuds in case of faulty pairing or when one of the earbuds is not working, just place them back in the case, keep the lid open, and press the multi-function key for 10 seconds until the indicator light flashes in red and green alternately. The earbuds will clear the original pairing record and the factory setting will be restored.
To check the battery life of the earbuds, just open the lid of the charging case and the LED notification will light up to give you an idea of its battery level. If you see the continuous green light, the battery is sufficient and more than 20%. If it's blinking, it means that it's less than 20% and you already need to charge it. The remaining battery of earbuds can be displayed in the phone’s Bluetooth list or inside the realme Link app.
The realme Link app will allow you to see if the device is connected, battery levels of each earbud plus the charging case, change the noise control (Noise cancellation, Normal and Transparency), sound effects (Bass Boost+, Balanced and Bright), volume enhancer, enable game mode, customize the touch controls on the left and right earbuds as well as updates on the firmware.
The earbud tips feature smart touch functionality, allowing users to toggle earbud settings with just a light tap. The touch control area of the earbuds supports several controls: A double-tap answers or hangs up a call, pauses or plays music and a triple tap skips to the next track. A long press on one earbud rejects incoming calls, while a long press on both earbuds switches between Noise Cancelling mode and Transparency mode; while volume will have to be adjusted on the source device.
Audio Quality and Comfort
As to the audio quality, it’s on the decent side for its price. You can feel the bass, vocals are present and still clear, and it can also get very loud.
For comfort, the earbuds of GoPods Neo is light and comfortable to wear and feels almost like it's not in your ear. It securely fits on my ear and does not fall off if I tried shaking my head hard.
Noise Cancellation and Other Features
The DIZO GoPods Neo boasts an Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) of up to 25dB. With ANC enabled, GoPods Neo monitors external noise through a feed-forward microphone, allowing the earbuds to send out a reverse anti-noise sound to cancel it out. There’s also a Transparency Mode, which enables users to listen to ambient sound without having to take off the buds.
For a richer gaming experience, GoPods Neo comes with Game Mode with a latency as low as 88ms. Please note that Game Mode needs to be turned on in the realme Link App.
Additionally, the earbuds come with a 10mm Bass Boost Driver, and the earbuds of the DIZO GoPods Neo also support IPX5 water resistance.
Battery Life and Charging
According to DIZO, the GoPods Neo can last up to 20 hours of music playback with the case and 5 hours for the buds with ANC turned on. Turning the ANC off, the GoPods Neo can last up to 28 hours with the case and 7 hours for the buds.
The GoPods Neo also supports fast charging. With just 10 minutes of charging time, you’ll get 3 hours of playback. Charging the 400mAh charging case from 0% to 100% capacity takes around two hours. Fully charging the 40mAh earbuds in the charging case takes one and a half hours.
DIZO GoPods Neo Specifications
Chipset: realme R2 chip
Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5.2
Bluetooth Protocol: HFP, HSP, A2DP, AVRCP
Bluetooth Code: SBC
Wireless Range: 10m connectivity range (in an obstacle-free environment)
Charging Interface: USB Type-C
Waterproof level: IPX5 water resistance (earbuds)
Battery: 40mAh (earbuds) / 400mAh (charging case)
Size: Charging Box (60.34x44.57x32.96mm)
Weight: 4.5g (earbuds only)
Colors: Deep Blue and Aurora
Price and Availability
The DIZO GoPods Neo retails for Php1,999 SRP and is available starting February 12, 12MN on the DIZO Philippines Flagship Store on Lazada.
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