Review & Test: Geekee G650 True Wireless Earbuds

A decade ago, if you had suggested buying a pair of wireless earbuds, most people would have laughed. Why would you want that kind of junk? And make no mistake, early wireless earbuds were junk. This isn’t because they were badly-made. You could buy them from marquee manufacturers. It’s because older Bluetooth technology only allowed for low-bitrate, single-channel audio. It didn’t matter how well-engineered the drivers were; with such a poor signal, music sounded terrible. For years, wireless earbuds were only really used for hands-free calling or spoken-word media.

But advances in wireless technology have made good quality wireless earbuds a reality. With True Wireless Stereo, a pair of wireless buds can sound just as good as a pair of wired buds. This has created the conditions of a slew of new earbuds. With this being such a new and booming market, every manufacturer is trying to get in on the game. The resulting competition and innovation have driven prices down. Nowadays, mid-priced wireless earbuds will perform as well as high-end models from just two or three years ago.

We’re about to review the Geekee G650 True Wireless Earbuds. These are compact, yet robust buds that are designed for people with an active lifestyle. We’ll talk about their physical design, battery performance, and sound quality. Once we’ve looked at all of the G650’s features, we’ll be equipped to render a final verdict. Let’s begin!

Overall Design

The Geekee G650 earbuds have a compact, shell-style design. They’re engineered to sit neatly in your ears without protruding very far. This low profile makes them a great choice for workouts and other physical activity. However, the design does rely on a good fit in order stay securely seated. A good fit is also important for comfort. The buds should fit securely and form a good seal, but they shouldn’t actually be painful. Geekee includes two extra sets of ear tips, one of which is larger and the other of which is smaller. This is less than most manufacturers, who typically send three sets of tips. That said, it should be more than enough for most people to find a good fit.

The shells are black in color, with an understated satin finish. The profile is curved for comfort, but the backs of the shells are flat. These flat backs function as buttons to operate the earbuds’ functions. You can adjust the volume, skip tracks, answer or end calls, or use your phone’s voice assistant. They have a soft touch design, so they won’t feel uncomfortable when you press on them. Even so, they do require a real press, not just a brush. This takes some getting used to, but it cuts down on accidental button presses. Another thing that takes some getting used to is that there’s a slight delay in the volume controls. It’s less than a second, but it’s noticeable enough to be off-putting at first.

The G650 earbuds are IPX7-rated for water resistance. This means they can withstand full submersion for up to 30 minutes without failure. There’s no sense in testing fate by taking them swimming. But if you want to shower with your earbuds in, you don’t have to worry about them dying on you.

For most people, the G650 will provide a very comfortable fit. That said, if you have sensitive ear canals, you might prefer earbuds that don’t rely solely on the ear tip. The Geekee G350 Wireless Earbuds have an ear wing to help them stay secure. They’re an older design, but you can get away with wearing them with a looser tip.

The G650 kit includes a case for storing and charging the earbuds. It’s made of a matching material to the earbuds, and has a rectangular profile with rounded corners. At 2.59 inches long, 1.57 deep, and 1.15 thick, it’s very compact for an earbud case. At 1.76 ounces, it’s also exceptionally light. This makes it easy to carry around. You can carry it in your pocket, purse, backpack, or laptop bag and you’ll hardly know it’s there.

The inside of the case sports a pair of molded wells for charging and storing the buds. The contacts are nice and big, so finding them and seating them properly is easy. The lid is spring-loaded, so it stays shut when you want it to. It’s also easy to open, thanks to a narrow groove under the front lip. Underneath, there’s a row of four LED lights that display the current battery status. The case charges via USB Type-C, and a Type-C cable is included in the kit.

Battery and Connectivity

The G650 earbud batteries last for approximately seven hours on a single charge. This assumes you’re listening at medium volume, so your actual results may vary. Even so, this is an impressive set of batteries that will last you a very long time. For most people, you’ll be able to go a few days without charging. If you do need to top off, just pop the earbuds into the case. It provides 33 hours of additional charge, for a total rating of 40 hours. Charging the earbuds takes about 90 minutes if the batteries are completely dead.

The G650 case can be charged via USB Type-C or wireless Qi charging. USB Type-C provides the fastest charge speeds, at less than two hours. For most people, this is going to be the preferred method. That said, Qi charging provides some added convenience. You just drop your earbud case on the charger and walk away. Unless you’re in a hurry, the effortlessness nature of Qi charging can be a big benefit.

The G650 buds connect to your phone via the Bluetooth 5.0 protocol. This is the latest and greatest version of Bluetooth, and offers a few distinct benefits over older versions. It provides a more stable signal, reducing drops to virtually zero. It provides higher bandwidth, so you can listen from higher-bitrate music. Finally, it provides lower latency. This means that Bluetooth 5.0 earbuds can be used for watching TV or playing games. At least, Bluetooth 5.0 is theoretically capable of this kind of performance. In practice, the G650 buds are as laggy as old-school Bluetooth 4.2 earbuds. This makes absolutely zero difference when you’re listening to music or podcasts. But if you’re watching videos or playing games, the audio will be noticeably out of sync.

One thing the G650 buds will do is pair in either stereo or mono mode. Stereo is obviously the better choice for sound quality. But in mono mode – using a single earbud – you maintain awareness of your surroundings. For walking around town or hands-free calling while driving, mono mode is the best choice. As an added bonus, you’ll only drain one earbud battery at a time in mono mode.

Sound Quality

The sound quality on the G650 buds is excellent. From low to high, you won’t be disappointed in the performance at any frequency. To be clear, these are mid-priced earbuds, not studio headphones. You’re not going to get Bose-quality sound. But considering what you’re paying, you’re going to be very impressed.

The high frequencies are crisp and clear, with plenty of sparkle. Cymbals are nice and sibilant, and guitars and high synths have a lot of texture. Moving down to the mids, you’ll notice that there’s plenty of separation. The highs and bass don’t encroach on this middle ground, so vocals are very clear. The separation provides a strong sense of space across the board. When you’re listening to music, it sounds like you’re in a room with the band.

The bass is particularly impressive. Usually with small earbud drivers, you don’t expect a lot of bass. It’s either weak, muddy, or both. In the case of the G650, we were pleasantly surprised. The bass is nice and tight, without the flabby feel you’ll often get from cheap drivers. It’s also fully present in the mix. That’s not to say that these are “bass-heavy” earbuds by any stretch of the imagination. But they have a flat EQ where all frequencies are fully represented. The internal chipset will support all the major modern audio codecs. That said, we were disappointed that Geekee advertises it as supporting aptX Low-Latency. It doesn’t, or at least it doesn’t noticeably make any difference.

Call performance depends on what mode you use. The G650 utilizes CVC 8.0 noise cancellation, which reduces noise on your end so you’re easier to hear. That said, it works by using the signal from four microphones to isolate your voice. When used in mono mode, you’ll only have two mics instead of four, so the noise cancellation isn’t as effective. This is unusual on CVC 8.0 earbuds, which typically work just fine in mono mode. Even so, stereo mode performance is excellent if you’re concerned about background noise.

Final Verdict

So, how do the Geekee G650 True Wireless Earbuds compare to others in their class? In most regards, they perform fairly well. To begin with, the physical design is very well put together. The shells have a comfortable profile, and the charging case is compact and easy to carry. The IPX7 water-resistance rating is also much appreciated. All in all, Geekee has put together one of the easier-to-use designs that we’ve seen.

The battery performance is similarly good. These days, we mostly see five to six hours of battery life. Seven hours is by no means unheard of, but it’s definitely on the high side. The charging case is also on the high side, providing an additional 33 hours of charge. We also appreciate the ability to use Qi charging.

Our main disappointment was the latency. There are plenty of earbuds with high latency, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. Unless you’re watching videos, you won’t even notice. But the G650 buds are advertised as supporting aptX, and they don’t seem to. On the other hand, the audio quality itself is very good for the price.