The Master & Dynamic MW07 is in the market for months, but they keep refreshing their collection with new colours, sometimes in limited quantity, that match the season. For instance, they had the Cherry Blossom print released in April, which are certain to delight pink lovers. In July, they also released new colours white marble, piano black, and pink coral. On review here is the older colour, Grey Terazzo.
Design
The MW07 is one of the few true wireless earbuds with such unique design elements, even the Red Dot agrees and awarded it as a winner in 2019. The exterior acetate cover is the face of the earbuds, handcrafted and eye-catching, with pattern that looks unique with every pair.
Equally striking is the hand-polished stainless steel charging case which fortunately comes well-protected with a thick canvas pouch for excellent protection even when tossed inside a carrying bag. The flawless shine is betrayed by the liberal fingerprints left on it. There are no magnets to hold the earbuds on the case, so you can just turn over the case to remove the earbuds.
The silicone “fit wings” are one of the most elaborately designed I have seen for earbuds. Instead of just a single flap to hook the ears, the MW07 has 8 mini fins to hold on to the ear walls. They also protect the inward-facing earbud area. The earbuds are IPX4 water rated, which is good enough for sports use.
Function
The MW07 is connected to one another via NFMI – near field magnetic induction – instead of Bluetooth. The right earbud is permanently designated as the master earbud, receiving audio data from the source before transmitting to the left earbud. The right earbud has a single button to control playback and track changes, while the left earbud has a volume rocker to control only volume.
When you remove the left earbud, the NFMI is broken and the earbuds will automatically pause the music. When it detects both earbuds are in close proximity, it will resume playback.
Battery life is rated at 3.5 hours for the earbuds, with the charging case offering 3 additional charges, totalling 14 hours on the go. Charging is via USB-C cable.
Sound Quality
Master & Dynamic’s reputation is in its design and its sound. On the MW07, the earbuds with large 10mm Beryllium drivers produce powerful sub-bass and strong mid-treble performance. The sound profile should be an easy favourite for casual listeners looking for high-fidelity performance, achieving elevated vocal enjoyment. Sound staging is akin to a medium room, not as tight as normal earbuds, but sufficient to get some instrumental separation. Interesting how the intensive deep bass mix on EDM genres fills the lower center stage, while more conventional studio mixes do not elevate the bass lines as forthcoming. Unlike the MW65 headphones, the MW07 highs are not as refined and as controlled, so people with sensitive ears towards mid-treble range might find them tiring to listen at lengths.
Compared to the Klipsch T5 True Wireless, the MW07 is more exciting at treble and bass, but I would prefer the Klipsch for a more accurate sound. Compared to Creative Outlier Air/Gold, the MW07 offers slightly better details in treble instrumentation, but Creative has fuller bass response. Compared to the Sony WF-1000XM3, the MW07 is less clinical, but more musical energy.
Throughout my review, I did not encounter significant audio dropouts when reviewing with my Samsung Galaxy S10. Transmitted over Bluetooth 4.2 using apt-X audio codec, the sound is generally clean without unpleasant compression artefacts.
Verdict
The Master & Dynamic MW07 key selling point is its unique design style. The earbuds are more suited for consumers with larger ears due to the chunkier build. The button placements allow ease of access and control. The mid-treble focused tuning delivers energy and the deep bass response rumbles the eardrums, but requires strong ears to enjoy for hours. They retail at S$459 in Singapore distributed by Ban Leong and sold at retailers such as TANGS Orchard, Robinsons, Isetan, Takashimaya, Analogue+, Challenger Stores, Musica Boutique by Challenger, Stereo, Zeppelin.co, Sprint-cass, Lazada Flagship Store, Headphones.sg, TREOO.com and Shopee.sg.
