The Devialet brand is all about premium luxury, both in sound and design, and it is no surprise that that comes with a pretty high price tag. And that is the case for the Devialet Gemini II earbuds, which are designed to provide the same experience as their iconic Phantom speakers, albeit in TWS form.
The wireless earbuds market is notoriously competitive, so it is intriguing to see Devialet stick to its guns and maintain a relatively high price for the Gemini II. Do the earbuds justify the cost? Read on to find out.
Design
Like the Phantom, the Devialet Gemini II has a distinct design to it—featuring ridges along the top and bottom of the case and a metal centrepiece with the Devialet name etched into it. The design is understated, yet looks stunning, especially with the white colour scheme; though you can opt for the Black variant if that is more to your preference. The premium look is reflected in the build quality as well. The case has a reassuring heft to it, and the materials don’t feel cheap.
Possibly the only nitpick is with the centre metal strip. It’s reflective, which enhances the whole design aesthetic, but it easily gets dirty with fingerprints and scuffs, requiring a wipe down every now and then.
The Devialet look continues through to the earbuds as well. If you notice, the exterior of the earbuds looks similar to the Phantom speakers on their side – a neat easter egg. On first glance, the shape of the earbuds makes them look rather bulky, but they fit pretty securely and comfortably in the ears.
Like most other wireless earbuds, the Devialet Gemini II also uses touch controls. Touch controls tend to be hit or miss on earbuds, but I’m thankful that Devialet has designed the earbuds to have a generously sized circular touch-sensitive area. The controls have been responsive during my testing, and I’ve not had any trouble with missed touches.
There’s a good amount of functions you can toggle with the touch controls. Besides the usual pause/play, skip/backtrack, and noise-cancellation options, there’s also one to adjust the volume – a nice addition that not all wireless earbuds have. The dedicated app also lets you customise the number of taps each function is assigned to.
Performance and Features
For the price, there are certainly going to be a lot of expectations going into the Devialet Gemini II. Thankfully, you can be assured that the sound performance on these earbuds is impressive.
To preface, this is after tweaking the EQ. On its default settings, the earbuds deliver a decent low end for the bass, but I found the mids to be lacking just ever so slightly. The equaliser levels can be tuned on the app, with six frequency bands that can be adjusted from the lows to the highs. I also appreciate that you can be pretty specific with the levels you want.
Once the EQ is prepped, the Devialet Gemini II provides a much better sound performance. With my tweaks, the earbuds provided a nice balance overall. The 10mm titanium-coated driver offers great clarity in the vocals, with tracks like You and I by PVRIS delivered cleanly on the earbuds.
And if you want some punchiness from the low end, the earbuds are also capable of that. There’s a satisfying level of oomph to the bass without being too fatiguing. Likewise, for the highs, there is a lot of energy in the treble performance – you can definitely hear the detail for songs that emphasise string instruments.
The question is though, is this sound performance over S$600 good? Audiophiles may feel that the extra quality warrants that, but I’m not so sure. While maybe not as good, there are other earbuds that offer a similar listening experience at a lower price.
Something that may perhaps level the playing field is Devialet Gemini II’s ANC performance. It is one of the best I’ve tried, keeping out various types of external noise like chatter in a cafe, or the low rumble you hear when riding the MRT. Transparency mode is similarly excellent. The filtered noise sounds natural and doesn’t have that robotic quality that other earbuds have—I’ve had no issues having conversations with people whilst on transparency.
A gripe that I do have is that there is no option to turn off noise cancellation – you are stuck on either ANC or Transparency mode. This has an effect on the battery life for the earbuds (which we will delve into later), but also personally for me as a frequent cyclist, it also means that I have to deal with wind pickup when I use them.
That being said, the Devialet Gemini II has the least annoying wind pickup out of all the wireless earbuds I’ve tested; it isn’t even close. The new Active Wind Reduction (AWR) technology that Devialet has included is remarkable at limiting wind noise. There is still some wind pickup, but it is subtle and doesn’t muffle to the point of being unlistenable—I can finally ride faster without worrying about wind! It works really well at cutting the wind noise for calls as well.
Nevertheless, I still would have appreciated the option to turn off ANC for zero wind noise.
Bluetooth multipoint is another feature of the earbuds, and they work well. Notably, I’m able to get sound from the second source without needing to pause the first device, which saves a bit of hassle when switching over.
Battery
There are a lot of good aspects of the Devialet Gemini II, but unfortunately, it does not extend to its battery life.
On its own, the earbuds offer only 5 hours of listening time. In comparison, that is less than popular wireless earbuds like the AirPods Pro (6 hours) and the Sony WF-1000XM5 (8 hours). While battery life isn’t bad per se, it is definitely underwhelming considering the premium price.
Users will get 22 hours in total when adding in the charging case. Once the battery is depleted, the Devialet Gemini II can be charged via USB-C, or through wireless charging – a nifty inclusion for those who already have existing Qi wireless charging pads.
Verdict
There is very little to question about the quality of Devialet Gemini II. Not only is it a well-built device with a comfortable fit, it excels in not just its audio performance, but also with its noise cancellation capabilities. I’m also pleasantly surprised by how good the earbuds are at reducing wind pickup – a particular pet peeve of mine.
Are these enough to justify the S$629 price though? With other wireless earbuds offering similarly fantastic sound at a lower price, the answer isn’t as straightforward. Plus, there are also disappointing aspects like the battery life, which don’t help the Devialet Gemini II’s case.
They are certainly the right earbuds for some people – those who value performance over everything. But many others are also simply looking for the best value earbuds, and if that is you, I would say that there are others that are a better fit.
The Devialet Gemini II is available to purchase from physical Devialet stores (like the new Devialet Grand Hyatt) or online from the Devialet website.
Photos by Russell Loh of the DANAMIC Team.
