Padmate – a rising headphone manufacturer from China might not be known to everyone here. Nevertheless, or maybe because of that, we have a product from the quite broad product range in our test today – the “Pamu Quiet”. These are true wireless in-ear headphones with active noise cancelling. How they performed in our test, you can read here.
Specifications
| Headphone type | In-ear |
| ANC | 40 dB, hybrid |
| Chipset | QCC5124 AMS3460 |
| Microphone | 3x, Knowles |
| Driver | 10mm PEN+Titanium |
| IP certification | IPX4 |
| Scope of delivery | Charging case, USB-C to USB-A charging cable, headphones, additional earbuds, strap |
| Price | € 52.70 * |
Scope of delivery and design
The headphones are delivered in a visually high-quality, white packaging. After opening it, you will also find a USB charging cable, more earbuds, instructions, a small pouch and a carrying strap in addition to the charging case.
The charging case is a real eye-catcher. On the case, which visually resembles a pocket watch, there is an LED ring. This represents the charging status. This ring is embedded in black, rough plastic. Basically, this feels very high-quality and can be opened easily by pressing the upper pin. In everyday use, this is also firmly closed, so accidental opening is virtually impossible. There is a USB-C port on the side to charge the case.
Inside the case is the main product – the headphones. They are available in black and white. Visually, they don’t stand out – like some True Wireless headphones, they are relatively close in form factor to Apple’s Airpods. The “stem” is decorated with Pamu lettering. Again, the workmanship is impressive – the edges are smooth, the ear rubber fits tightly, and the aesthetics are cohesive. There is also an LED on the headphones that indicates the pairing status.
Features – ANC, battery life, touch and app controls
The Pamu Quiet offer a pleasing range of features. In the foreground is of course the active noise-cancelling, as the name “Quiet” already suggests. To provide a more intense music experience, ambient noise is supposed to be actively filtered out by picking up external frequencies through additional microphones and neutralizing them even before they reach the ear. In addition, this model has the “transparent” mode – here these frequencies are amplified in order to be able to perceive his outside world properly.
The noise cancelling is good. Especially low frequencies are filtered out, only higher frequencies penetrate slightly. As an example from everyday life: If you walk past a busy street, it is almost completely silent. However, if it is rainy and the cars drive over the wet road, you will hear a slight hiss. However, this is only so weak that it disappears under music at a moderate volume. Thus, it is quite usable in everyday use. The transparency mode is just as useful. Even when you have the headphones in your ear, you can hear that you are being addressed. In certain scenarios, this is quite practical and a great feature.
However, since this means additional work for the headphones, it is naturally also reflected in the battery runtime. The already relatively low battery runtime of about 3.5 hours is thus reduced by about 15 minutes. In our test, the charging case could fully charge the headphones about 2.5 times. The charging status of the case is displayed via the LED ring, but a direct display for the headphones is omitted.
If you want to see the charging status, you can do so via the app. Basically, the most important features can be set, but it is by no means overloaded with features. The integration of the headphones is independent. As mentioned, you can see the charging status, change the ANC mode, update the firmware and adjust the touch functions in the app.
On the topic of touch functions – by tapping or holding the headphones, you can change settings, adjust volume, skip songs…. there are a lot of possibilities. This works great in practice – the only criticism: when changing the ANC mode, a notification would be nice – be it a beep or a short announcement. We also had occasional dropouts of the functions. Although a double tap should increase the volume, for example, playback was paused, however.
Also handy: The headphones try to pair automatically when removed from the case and are thus directly connected and ready to go when Bluetooth is turned on. Conversely, it works identically – once you’re done, the headphones automatically turn off and disconnect when you put them in the case.
Everyday test – sound and wearing comfort
Bass, bass and more bass – the headphones impress with a strong and clean bass. Through different music genres, the bass is powerful and noticeable. However, this is in no way to say that treble or mids are bad – on the contrary. Even with louder tracks or generally high volume, these are without distortions, but noticeably restrained. A real neutrality of the sound cannot be expected here, but we like the mix very much – especially current electronic music and also rap/hip hop with bass-heavy beats sound very pleasant.
The microphone primarily shines with the fact that it is present. It is quite sufficient for making calls, and you can be understood. The quality is honestly not impressive, but not extremely bad either – so you can use it well when needed, but it was not over-invested. In our opinion, a successful compromise.
Due to their light weight and the various rubber pads, the headphones are very comfortable. These sit loosely in the ear, you almost don’t notice them – yet the fit is tight enough that these never threatened to fall out at any moment. Additionally, the water resistance is nice, so you don’t have to worry about your headphones even in the rain.
Conclusion
The PaMu Quiet offer a round overall picture from. The quality is convincing in all areas. Some positive aspects – including the bass-heavy sound, qualitative workmanship, simple controls and the very good wearing comfort – are also countered by negative points – quite short battery life and partly slightly faulty touch controls.
The headphones can be ordered directly via Padmate’s own website – but it is noticeable that the prices change frequently. The regular price is 129.00€, but they are currently available for 99.00€. We also use the current price for our price-performance rating and think that this is quite fair. All in all, we give the Silver Award – with the note that a good offer (in the past, the headphones have already been a good deal cheaper!) can definitely make the headphones a price-performance tip.
Padmate PaMu Quiet
Workmanship
Comfort
Sound quality
Recording quality
Features
Value for money
86/100
Convincing ANC headphones in many respects with minor drawbacks.
