Inateck Aries Review

At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Our Verdict

Given its very cheap price of £18, the Inateck Aries is an affordable and terrific-sounding earphone. To add to its competencies the earphones have an in-line mic, which works across all mobile devices, and an elegant wooden design.

The Inateck Aries is a set of affordable earphones which comes with an in-line mic. They look to impress with their wooden housing and useful accessories, but can they also reproduce a good sound at their cheap £18 price tag? Read on to find out more. 

Inateck Aries earphones review: Price and competition

The Aries can be found for £18 on Amazon and don’t have much competition, given that most earphones at its price don’t have an in-line mic. For example, there is the SoundMAGIC E10S that costs £32 and the Ultimate Ears 400vi which cost £26, both of which have in-line mics. However, there’s a set of earphones that come in slightly cheaper; the Apple Earphones have an in-line mic and cost only £8.20.

The question is, does the Inateck Aries sound better than a set of Apple earphones, and how does it compare to more expensive earphones such as the RHA S500i? Read next: Best budget headphones. 

Inateck Aries earphones review: Build quality, design and comfort

Inside the package you’ll find a set of small, medium and large silicone ear tips, an aeroplane adaptor, a shirt clip and a small soft carrying pouch. For the price, we are extremely impressed to find these accessories included. Also see: Best tech to take on holiday.

The overall build quality of the earphones is impressive. The Aries is terminated by a straight gold-plated 3.5mm jack and has a PU aluminium foil cable, which makes it extremely easy to untangle and elegant in design. Speaking of the cable, we found the earphones to have a small amount of microphonics (cable noise) when worn straight down, however the cable noise is completely eliminated when they are worn over-the-ear.

As we move up the cable, on the right driver there’s an in-line mic which also has a one-button remote. This means the functionalities work with all types of smartphone. We found it useful for calls, and its recording capabilities are impressive.

There’s a cable cinch by the Y-split that allows you to tidy up the earphones and prevent them from tangling. On the earphones themselves, is a small right and left indicator embossed on the strain relief, with the left strain relief also having a small dot to denote its side.

The earphones are well made and protected by a plastic enclosure which wraps around the wooden housing. The earphones are very light, meaning you can wear them without burdening your ears.

Inateck Aries earphones review: Sound quality

The earphones have a fantastic tonality through their wooden housing. The Inateck Aries produces a warm and yet reasonably accurate sound.

The soundstage is a highlight. We found the sound engaging and not as closed-sounding as other earphones such as the RHA S500i, which cost more than double the price. The soundstage produces a good tonality, while also having a good depth and width.

The lows, more specifically mid-bass, is punchy and not overwhelming, which is a pleasant surprise at this price point. Unfortunately, the earphones couldn’t fully extend into the sub-bass regions, but were still able to present a decent low-end response.

The mids are a little recessed, but the low mid-bass impact meant they didn’t bleed into the mids. Due to a slightly recessed mid-range, we found the sound signature slightly warm-sounding.

Highs are a rolled off at the top end, but due to its relatively wide soundstage they were able to breathe and produce a nice sparkle. The highs have a positive impact on the Aries’ sound signature and, coupled with the mids and lows, the overall sound quality was impressive. Read next: Best budget headphones.