Last Updated: on January 10, 2024 by Jack
Betron is a UK audio manufacturer with a range of popular budget earphones and headphones.
We’ve also reviewed their hugely popular BS10 model, which has thousands of reviews on Amazon and has been one of the biggest sellers in the headphones and earphones category for a long time.
The YSM1000 is one of Betron’s older releases from around 2015 but still sells well today, with over 19,000 reviews worldwide on Amazon. We think there has been a slight change in the model overall from then, so be careful reading some of the older reviews online. This is a review of the new, current version being shipped out.
There are 3 different options available – Without a mic, with a mic, and a mic with an Android volume controller. We have reviewed the Betron YSM1000 with a microphone and volume controller. So what did we think of it, and is it worth the money?
Quick Verdict
A premium-looking set of earphones that look the part and have a respectable sound quality to match, especially for the price. The sound is clear and fine for listening to music and other less demanding stuff, but the bass isn’t as good as we’d like.
The sound quality is above its price range but isn’t comparable with your higher-end headphones or earphones.
The biggest issue is the ergonomics and fit; they don’t sit well in the ear and stick out quite a bit due to the design. It's not for sports or exercise, but it probably isn’t designed with that in mind. They’re more designed for casual use.
They are worth the price, but better alternatives are available around this price range that can provide as good a sound quality and a better fit.
- Clear sound quality, even for vocals
- Cable is thick and feels durable
- Earphone housing and jack feel robust enough
- Great aesthetics; they look premium
- Good value for money
- Bass isn’t as strong as we expected
- Ergonomic design - Not great fitting
- Heavier and not the most comfortable for ears
Design and Build
Construction quality is fantastic overall, especially considering these are a budget set of earphones.
You should comfortably get 12 months out of them before anything breaks with them.
Body
Our first impression when we opened them up was that they looked impressive with their flashy silver metal design that pops out.
You’d think that the design would be plastic at a budget price point, but this isn’t the case. The housing and back grill are both made from actual metal.
As well as looking the part, the body has a professional feel overall and gives you confidence that it could survive a bit of a bump or a drop. The earphone construction feels reliable and matches how good they look.
The white L & R writing on the gold background isn’t the easiest to see on the sides of the earphones, especially throughout the day, with light shining on them.
We’ve no issues with the aesthetics or quality of the body design. The issue we have is with the ergonomics and practicality of it. We feel they’re slightly too big and heavy overall and could do with a smaller profile design.
TL;DR: The body design looks professional and is well-made, but could do with being a bit smaller overall.
Jack
We like the gold-plated 3.5mm jack with the knurled gold finish attachment. It’s quite a stylish design and something different from your usual rubber jack connector. The knurled gold finish still provides an excellent grip for the jack when plugging in and unplugging.
As well as looking like a professional jack, it feels well-made and robust enough at the business end. Nothing feels loose or flimsy, and you get a strong impression that it won’t break any time soon.
At the same time, we gave it a rough pull from the jack and the connector to see if anything came apart. Although it was just a small test, there were no problems, and it reinforced our impression of an excellent build quality overall. Time will tell how robust it is, but going with other reviews online, it seems to match our thoughts.
The only complaint, if we have any, is that the gold-knurled connector might be slightly on the larger side, making it harder to plug into some tighter 3.5mm audio ports.
TL;DR: A well-made jack with a nice gold knurled finish to the connector to match for a decent grip. The connector could be slightly smaller.
Cabling
The cable is a rubber transparent design where you can see all the different coloured audio wires running inside it. It’s something different to your standard black rubber cable, and we think it looks good on the eye.
We like the aesthetics of the cabling, but in terms of the practicality and the physical design, it’s fairly bog standard.
The cable is around 1.2m long, which is about your average wired cable length. The transparent rubber feels slightly thicker than your standard headphone cable. We feel like it’s tough enough to withstand being thrown about a lot without fraying or splitting. Again, time will tell.
A slight concern over the cable thickness is that it may get in the way and catch on clothing and other stuff if you’re on the go.
The cable is advertised as tangle-free by Betron. From our testing and experience, it’s not tangle-free and definitely does tangle up. That being said, it doesn’t tangle as much as other similar, budget earphone models we’ve tested.
TL;DR: The cable looks great and feels strong, but isn’t tangle-free.
Comfort and Fit
The one area that lets the Betron YSM1000’s down is their comfort and fit in the ear.
You do get an extra 7 pairs of rubber ear tips included in the purchase that you really need to try out to get a good fit. We found they didn’t fit that well in the ear straight out of the box, but fiddling with some of the larger tips helped in our case.
It’s the overall body design of the earphones that causes the issues here. Returning to our previous views of the design, we just think the YSM1000s are larger and heavier than they should be. The back of the earphones stick out a bit, and you can definitely feel them pressing against the ear at the back a little.
Comfort isn’t the strong point here; we didn’t find them comfortable wearing them for a few hours as a test. We wouldn’t recommend them for physical activity as they’re not secure or comfortable enough, but to be fair, they’re not advertised as sports earphones.
TL;DR: Too bulky and heavy for long usage or physical activity. Mess about with the rubber buds provided for a better fit.
Sound Quality
The sound quality definitely is a plus point, though this doesn’t surprise us as the other Betron budget earphones we’ve tested provide a decent sound output for the price.
We tested the audio by listening to a few different genres of music: rock, heavy metal and some dance. The sound was clear and had good ranges. We have no issues with the overall quality and found the volume levels to be excellent.
The vocals sounded clear and weren’t muffled at all from the testing.
The bass had an ok punch to it, but it definitely wasn’t as strong as we were expecting. They are advertised as a ‘Deep Bass’ model, and they do pack a bit of a bass punch, but we think they should be offering something better in terms of bass.
Are they going to compete with Senhissers in a high-end price bracket? No, but they certainly give out as good a sound as you’ll get from a budget set of earphones or headphones. They will match, and better models above them in price, so you can’t argue with the sound quality offered for the price.
TL;DR: A clear and crisp sound output. The bass is ok, but it could be punchier. An excellent sound quality for the price overall.
Noise Isolation
Advertised as being noise-isolating, they do have passive noise isolation and block out a reasonable amount of external noise, providing you get a good fit with the rubber buds provided.
Straight out of the box, the fit probably isn’t great, as highlighted further up, providing less of a noise-isolating experience with them.
If you find a good-fitting set of rubber buds that are tight but comfortable in the ear, then the YSM1000s will block out a reasonable amount of unwanted background and external noises in the ear.
However, although they are listed as noise-isolating, we’ve seen other budget models provide much better sound isolation. The problem, again, comes down to the fit of these earphones not being as secure and snug as they could be.
TL;DR: They do have passive noise isolation, but it could be better due to the poor fit of the earphones overall. You’ll need to find a good-fitting set of rubber ear tips.
Built In-Microphone and Volume Controller
There are 3 different versions of the Betron YSM1000s you can purchase: one without a microphone and the other two having an in-built microphone. You can also purchase the version which also has an in-line volume controller.
The microphone quality was excellent for the price. We’re used to slating budget earphone microphones, but the Betron range of built-in microphones is better than most budget models around.
From our quick testing, the microphone quality was more than passable. It was clear and sounded fine on calls and some casual gaming. It’s not on par with your premium-style gaming headsets, but to be honest, the microphone quality was better than what budget gaming headsets produce.
The only reason we would put you off using these for gaming is that the comfort and fit probably don’t lend themselves to long gaming sessions.
The gold plastic controller with black buttons felt quite cheap, but that’s to be expected at this price point. It didn’t break after giving the buttons a forceful press. The buttons also didn’t feel too awkward or fiddly when pressing, which helps those with larger hands or motor difficulties.
Functionality was not an issue for us, and we could change the volume and skip tracks easily on Android smartphones with the controller version of the earphones.
TL;DR: Microphone quality is decent for budget earphones. The In-line controller worked fine, but wasn’t anything special quality-wise.
What’s Included In The Box?
The packaging is a simple but strong folding cardboard box with the earphones and cable neatly tucked inside a protective foam strip. We like the packaging overall and feel like the contents are well-protected.
Here is what you should find inside your box if you purchase the same version as we’ve reviewed:
- Betron YSM1000 earphones (with a microphone and controller, depending on what version you buy)
- Neoprene protective bag
- 5 sets of different-sized rubber/silicone ear tips
- 2 sets of memory foam ear tips
- User manual
Note: Some reviews with what’s included inside might look different as this is a newer version of the model.
Specifications
- Connection: Gold Plated 3.5mm Headphone Jack
- Microphone: Built-in microphone with volume controller and call control
- Connectivity: Wired
- Material: Aluminium
- Noise Isolation: Yes
- Weight: 16 grams
- Frequency Range: 20Hz to 20000Hz
- Impedance: 16 Ohm
- Headphone Form Factor: In Ear
- Cable: Tangle-Free Wire
- Sensitivity: 98 dB
- Cable Length: 1.2M
- Driver Size: 9.2mm neodymium
- Max Input Power: 5 mW
FAQs
Why Do Some Reviews Not Match This?
This was the latest version of the model that we purchased. Some of the older reviews you’ll read are reviewing older versions of the Betron YSM1000s, which might have some design differences, different packaging and stuff included inside compared to what we have received.
Who Should Buy Them?
Recommended For: If you’re looking for something stylish that stands out aesthetically and gives off a premium look, then these are an ok choice for some short, casual listening sessions such as listening to YouTube videos.
Not Recommended For: For sports or anything physical due to the awkward fit and ergonomics. If you’re looking for something you can use outside or for longer-listening periods, we would go for something different. They’re not meant for serious music listeners either, we would go for something with a better bass sound that are more comfortable.
Overall: We like Betron. They have a great range of budget earphones worth checking out. They’re all really good quality and have a decent sound to them, and the YSM1000s are no different. However, the ergonomics of this design discourages us from recommending them as we just didn’t find the fit and comfort of them to be where they needed to be.
Also, being labelled a bass style set of earphones, we don’t think we could recommend them to serious music listeners as the bass wasn’t as strong as it could have been. They look great, have a good sound quality for the money and are durable, but we would only really recommend these based on their appearance as there are better alternatives.