Heavys H1E review: Born for One Thing | Tech Radar

Overview

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets

Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more

Details

Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds deliver a metal-first experience in spite of their bijou size (and largely plastic build). They're tuned to really bring out the low-end and bass prominence of heavier music genres, such as death metal and metalcore, even if it means they're a touch lacking in overall expanse, cohesion, space and quality through the mix — along with just-okay "Hellblocker" active noise-cancellation. And at this money, competition is tougher than Tungsten too.

Best earbuds: top buys, all Tech Radar-tested and recommended

The best headphones you can buy today, all tested by our experts

The 9 best wireless earbuds for all budgets, all tested by our reviewers

We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Few audio brands have made as much noise on social media as Heavys. In the best headphones arena, the company made heavy music (sound)waves with its Heavys H1H headphones, a couple of years ago, and now it has attempted to translate that sound to the wireless earbuds format.

And largely, the H1E True Wireless Earbuds achieve the low-end sound and punchy prominence needed for a specialised listening experience within this music genre, although sadly, it makes them a poor choice for listening to any other kind of music.

Carrying an MSRP of

209 / £185 / AU

321, the Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds are far from the cheapest set of in-ears around, although we have seen them discounted to $169 in the US and down to £150 in the UK recently. They're priced to rival mid-range heavy-hitters such as the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 (and arguably even the flagship, hugely popular Apple Air Pods Pro 3) rather than the truly elite end of the spectrum — think Technics EAH-AZ100 or Bowers & Wilkins Pi 8.

But where those brands aim to provide a broader, more general listening experience, the H1 Es are more specialist; instead of an everyday pair, these earbuds are more situational. You're spending around the

200 / £200 / AU

300 range for something that's purpose-built, for better or worse.

In the words of Gojira: Born for one thing. And listening to heavy metal music does sound solid through the Heavys H1E earbuds for the most part, with the vast majority of sub-genres within this spectrum accurately represented. What's particularly noticeable is just how good the dynamic drivers can be. The company promises a "concert-like experience," and even with what are (presumably) 10-14mm drivers (the size hasn't been publicly disclosed), under the right conditions, this has been delivered.

I can praise the Heavy's H1E earbuds' build quality too. A tactile case which can be customized with shells is neat, but the real advantage here is the multiple silicon and memory foam ear tips provided, which make them genuinely really comfortable over time. There's a wealth of sizes available, so you can find the right fit.

This helps to elevate the H1E's otherwise decidedly middling user experience though: a so-so seven hours of playback (24 hours from the case), and some of the most mediocre active noise-cancelling I've seen from earbuds at this price point.

A similar frustration can be levied at the connectivity options of the Heavys H1E earbuds. Low-latency Bluetooth 5.4 multi-connectivity is great when it works, but it doesn't always work. Countless times in my months with the earbuds, I was caught in a loop: the earbuds 'forgot' my phone, forcing me to re-pair and even to re-connect between charges as they don't seem to be intelligent enough to remember my Apple i Phone 15 Pro Max. That's to say nothing of times when only one earbud would work, with the other refusing to connect, which meant restarting the whole process over again. To be clear, this is something I've never experienced with any other earbuds or headphones.

The Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds are niche and not without issues, but the listening experience ultimately helps them stand out from the crowd. If you're someone who exclusively listens to heavy metal music, then they could be of value. As a metal musician myself, and someone who has seen thousands of metal bands play live over the last 15 years, I found them to be worthwhile, even if they won't rival what the best wireless earbuds and best earbuds overall can do outside of their specialism. Continue reading my full Heavys H1E review further down the page to find out why.

The Heavys come in a compact case. You can customize the lid with various designs based on metal bands as well. (Image credit: Future)

Officially unveiled on September 22, 2025, via social media

Available now, shipping worldwide for

209 / £185 / AU

321

After being revealed on social media late last year, with pre-orders being fulfilled throughout early 2026, you can now get your hands on the Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds for

209 / £185 / AU

321, depending on your region. With that said, it isn't uncommon for these wireless earbuds to be available at a reduced rate through the deals the company runs on its store page, knocking anywhere from 10-20% off, depending on the season. Keep an eye out for the green banner around a peak sales time, and you could save some cash.

The price tag positions the Heavys H1E earbuds against the mid-range and higher-end competition. Chiefly, that means more well-known consumer models such as the aforementioned Galaxy Buds 4 and the Apple Air Pods Pro lineup. It also means a comparable price tag to "enthusiast" class earbuds, as can be seen from the Technics AZ100, and the Noble Audio Osprey. Both of these earbuds (and many more) hover around the

200 / £200 / AU

300 mark, so it's a fairly crowded space. For the audio performance on display, they're priced a little high. More on that further down the page, though.

Yes. "Hellblocker" ANC paired with passive noise isolation

The different sizes of ear tips are available in memory foam and silicon for a comfortable fit for long-term use (Image credit: Future)

Excellent range of comfortable, changable tips for comfortable use

The Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds excel from a design perspective. They're made of a matte molded plastic which feels both premium and incredibly durable; there's IPX5 water and sweat resistance, meaning they can handle a splash of liquid as well. What impresses me most are the multi-sized ear tips that are shipped in the box, as you get a variety of sizes in different materials: memory foam and silicon, for a comfortable fit to suit most (if not all) ear sizes.

I'm someone who struggles with earbuds for long stretches of time, having previously ditched the likes of the Razer Hammerheads because they were too uncomfortable for long periods of use. Having multiple ear tips in various sizes meant I could find the fit that was right for me; whether I was out walking my Belgian Malinois, on a plane, commuting via train, or just working in the house. Once I found the right fit for me, I was away. Hours would go by, and I'd forget I was even wearing them; that's good ergonomic design right there.

A key design element present in the H1H headphones has been applied to the H1E earbuds too. However, instead of interchangeable ear cup shells, decorated to represent your favorite bands, the customization options apply to the case. There's a fair amount of official designs available, including Currents, Testament, Carnifex, Dream Theater, Opeth, and Whitelabel. Additionally, there are some original designs, including profanity-laden options or purple smoke to add a splash of color and personality. The case itself charges via USB-C and takes around two hours to juice up to full, giving you around 24 hours of total use, or around three full recharges of the earbuds' playback time. It's OK rather than great, as those numbers go.

Also so-so in the world of wireless earbuds in 2026 is Heavys' claim of up to seven hours of playback from the H1E earbuds, although your mileage may vary depending on your reliance on that "Hellblocker" ANC, as well as how you dial your EQ settings.

I've used dozens of wireless earbuds and headphones that feature great ANC over the years, and Heavys' Hellblocker solution just isn't it. The feature was also present on the H1H headphones with a dedicated switch to enable it, and worked well enough thanks (almost certainly) to the far larger drivers and mic array on the large ear cups. However, given the small size of the H1E earbuds, any real noise cancellation is pretty poor.

I tend to go out and walk my dog with the H1 Es in, and even after hearing the gruff man on voice prompts announce "Hellblocker activated", I was still hearing other dogs barking, passing cars, wind noise, and all other background noise that should have been filtered out. All it really did was make the audio quality a little more muffled.

A good companion application can really elevate a pair of wireless earphones, giving you smart and reactive EQ options, helping you get the best listening experience possible. We've seen this before with Bowers & Wilkins' excellent Music App, to support its lineup of earbuds.

Unfortunately, the official Heavys app is nowhere near as good. Aside from updating the firmware, all it gives you is a basic EQ settings slider, and you're better off leaving it at the default, as it's hard to gear it towards one genre or another. My partner also experienced issues with having the H1 Es connect to her Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra via the app, as it wasn't as user-intuitive as you would hope for from earbuds released in 2026.

'Hellblocker' ANC changes the listening experience for the worse

The Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds are good for metal music most of the time. It's situational and circumstantial, though. As touched upon above, they can sound incredible for metal music, with the major caveat being the trappings of the genre itself. Metal is the most diverse genre of music on the planet, separated into dozens of sub-genres with niches within them. For example, if we look at black metal, you have your classic first and second waves (Venom and Celtic Frost to Mayhem and Emperor) to the likes of atmospheric black, black/death, symphonic black, melodic black, black 'n roll, blackgaze, and the list goes on.

There's no true way to be geared towards all metal music, just as you can't fine-tune an EQ between bands within the same sub-genre of a sub-genre. It can get as granular as different audio balancing for the likes of Archgoat, Belphegor, Behexen, and Behemoth, and that's just scratching the surface. In blanket terms, the Heavy H1E earbuds excel with anything forcing the low-end, particularly with sub-genres such as death metal, grindcore, deathcore, and anything that benefits most from a down-tuned guitar, five-string bass, and percussion cutting through the mix.

In my months with the Heavys H1 Es, I've listened to hundreds of metal records, and the best listening experiences I can recall most come from streaming Vomitory, Batushka, Blood Red Throne, Korpse, Vulvodynia, Death, Conan, Kanonenfieber, Mgła, and Imperial Triumphant. The drivers are incredibly punchy, differentiating harsh vocals against bass and lower-tuned guitars, or guitars tuned to E standard that are soaked in distortion; there's good distinction, with no muddiness or fizziness that we see when heavier music genres are played from more general earbuds.

Other metal sub-genres don't really benefit from the low-end tuning of the audio drivers though. I'm nearly 30, and nowadays just as likely to put on some Black Sabbath, Clutch, or Green Lung as anything recorded from the frostbitten valleys of Scandinavia, and it's when listening to clean-sung vocals, or any metal music with more traditional production that the H1 Es feel just... okay. Solstafir, Zeal & Ardor, Katatonia, Candlemass, Sleep, Metallica, Slayer, and Acid Bath sounded fine, but the listening experience was about on par with just about any (cheaper) wireless earbuds I've used over the last 10 years.

I really would recommend listening to music without the Hellblocker ANC active, as enabling it via touch controls can drastically impact the overall listening quality. Depending on the mix, things can go from a little muffled to quite tinny. It's not a unique complaint against the H1E earbuds, as ANC can do that, but it's particularly disappointing when the passive noise isolation doesn't filter the outside world out, and you end up having worse-sounding music when trying to fix it. It's not sophisticated enough to do its job, and it really just annoyed me rather than being all too useful.

Stellar situationally, for certain genres of metal music

I've been critical of the Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds in this review. Considering the fact that I enjoy using the H1H over-ear headphones so much, I was expecting more of that sound quality and feature set to be carried over, but it hasn't translated as smoothly as I expected.

For the asking price of

209 / £185 / AU

321, there's no getting around the fact that you can get a far superior listening experience from a competitor. USP aside, unless you're really into death metal (or its offshoots), the cons may outweigh the pros here.

The Heavys H1 Es are well-designed and comfortable for extended periods of time, and the case is well-made and holds a respectable charge, allowing for 24 hours of total use.

However, the ANC is poor, the Bluetooth connectivity can be spotty, the companion app is mediocre, and they're priced a little too high for what is (essentially) a marketing ploy. Under the right set of circumstances, these earbuds can be exceptional, but with a higher mid-market asking price and stiff competition, they're a hard sell in 2026.

Should I buy the Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds?

The H1 Es are well-built with a sturdy case and have a respectable battery life. Sadly, the ANC is poor and the companion app is lacking

Some metal music sounds incredible coming through the dynamic drivers of the H1 Es, with lower-tuned sub-genres, like death metal, metalcore, and deathcore singing. However, that extra weight and low-end prominence can result in a decidedly average sound for everything else

The Heavy H1E True Wireless Earbuds aren't hugely expensive, but they're not a great value buy either when compared to their similarly priced competition from Apple, Google, and Samsung

You love metal music above everything else With the right bands and albums on, the Heavy H1 Es deliver an exceptional listening experience, particularly if you're into the proper heavy death metal sub-genres.

You sometimes struggle to get buds to fit properly The different ear tips included (in different, premium materials) with the Heavy H1 Es give you plenty of choice for the most comfortable fit during long wear sessions. They also happen to be durable and lightweight in your ear.

You're fine with middling battery life from your buds So they're not the longest-lasting earbuds on the market; does it bother you? The Heavy H1 Es can go for up to seven hours on a single charge, and the case can juice them up three times between charges. The case itself only needs two hours to be able to go again as well. And given the punchy audio, it's not a bad claim.

You want top-tier value for money At

209 / £185 / AU

321, the Heavys H1E are far from the cheapest wireless earbuds available, comparable to flagship options from Google, Samsung and Apple but without really offering the versatility of their competitors.

You don't listen to heavy music The Heavys H1 Es are best when listening to down-tuned guitars, guttural vocals and percussion that's raised high in the mix, such as you'll find in death metal, deathcore, grindcore, and similar sub-genres. If you're into the softer sub-genres, or rock and roll, these are unlikely to do much for you.

Good ANC is a must Hellblocker ANC technically works but it messes with the audio balancing of certain songs and doesn't do a great job of actually blocking out the outside noise. The trade-off in audio quality isn't worth it.

10 hours (buds) 33 hours total (with case) with ANC on

Bluetooth 5.4 with apt X, apt X Adaptive, apt X Lossless; USB-C with two cables in the box for case retransmission

Bluetooth 5.3, apt X Lossless, apt X Adaptive, AAC, SBC (USB-C and wireless charging)

Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, apt X Adaptive, Snapdragon Sound

Triple core processor architecture; class A/B amplification; three mics per earbud with noise suppression for calls

The Technics EAH-AZ100 are a little more expensive than the Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds, but wow do they deliver best-in-class ANC, with a balanced feel, and great ergonomics, making them hard to beat. Read our full Technics EAH-AZ100 review for more

Meanwhile, these guys are cheaper! Cambridge Audio Melomania A100 earbuds punch well above their weight with a pleasing overall sound and strong noise canceling, all for a price that's hard to beat. Read our full Cambridge Audio Melomania A100 review

How I tested the Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds

Tested for a period of three months while comparing them to other wireless earbuds, headphones, and gaming headsets around my office.

Primarily used when outside walking my dog, commuting via plane or train, and running errands.

Throughout my listening experience, I mostly used Apple Music's Loseless tracks, Spotify, Bandcamp, and You Tube Music depending on the artist's availability.

I've been using the Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds over the last few months when I've been out and about, heading somewhere for work, walking the dog, or doing chores. They've lived in the case in the pocket of my jacket or my shoulder bag, and were actively used during commuting. For testing purposes, I did actively switch between them and the Heavys H1H over-ear headphones to compare sound quality and features.

Most of my time using the Heavys H1 Es was spent with the earbuds connected to my i Phone 15 Pro Max. Although I did try them out on several occasions with my partner's Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, as well as my Mac Book Air M1 (2020), to gauge how well the Bluetooth connection would be.

I am a metal musician (guitarist and vocalist) who has been recording and playing music for over 10 years. I have mixed and mastered many different metal albums, and have seen literally thousands of metal bands play live over the years at gigs and metal festivals, such as Damnation, Incineration, Bloodstock, Snuff Fest, Download, Brutal Assault, and countless others.

Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Formerly Tech Radar Gaming's Hardware Editor, Aleksha Mc Loughlin is now a freelancer specializing in computing tech, gaming, and Ecommerce. She's the author of The Hardest Video Games Ever Made, the Editor-in-Chief of Kyusai, and is experienced in gaming/tech PR. As well as Tech Radar, you can find her work on Games Radar, PC Gamer, Dexerto, PC Guide, Esports Insider, Club 386, Trusted Reviews, Play Magazine, The Escapist, and dozens of other outlets.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Fool's Theory says the biggest 'challenge' developing Songs of the Past was making sure Dandelion's story didn't 'steal the show' since The Witcher 3 is about Geralt — 'There was a very big effort put into this fine balancing of the narrative'

I spent months with the only wireless earphones geared towards heavy metal music and this is what I learned

Anthropic reveals rogue AI agents hate CAPTCHAs, just like you

The JBL Live 680NC review: these headphones may sound good, but the stamina and litany of features are the star of the show

Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Key Takeaways

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission
The Heavys H1E True Wireless Earbuds deliver a metal-first experience in spite of their bijou size (and largely plastic build)