Sonic Compass · Mojo Review · Earbuds · Session Review
Unique Melody UXUE
A US$299 true wireless tri-brid with a wide, holographic stage and sharp detail. The sound comes first; battery and the case come second.
Sound first, everything else second. The UXUE puts detail, layering and a wide, holographic stage into a wireless set, and gives up battery life and the case to do it.
- Wide, holographic 3D stage
- Highly resolving micro detail
- Tidy, punchy bass that stays out of the mids
- Natural, full vocals
- A clear, easy-to-use app with a five-band EQ
Where it sits
Sonic Compass does not score gear out of ten. Gear and listeners are plotted on the same seven axes, so a review tells you where a product sits — and you can see how far that is from where you sit. A position is a description, not a grade.
- Tone ColourBalanced · 45%
- Texture DetailVery detailed · 88%
- Dynamics JumpPunchy · 72%
- Space & ImagingVery spacious · 88%
- Timing & FlowRhythmic · 78%
- Comfort & FatigueEasy-going · 72%
- Emotional EngagementImmersive · 75%
A slight V-shape: tidy bass, clean mids and treble that isn't crisp for me (high = warm on this scale). The Ceramics Ultra is the warm one.
Highly resolving, with razor-sharp micro detail, air and upper-frequency sparkle, and small clicks on AC/DC that better headphones lose.
Tidy, punchy bass that hits hard on Easy and Let the Good Times Roll without bleeding into the mids.
The star of the set: width, height and a holographic sense of things all around, close to decent open-back headphones. Not huge on every track.
Snappy drums and cymbals, and quick harpsichord transients that don't end too soon.
Comfortable, with a good seal and noise blocking, and no harshness. A tad crisp on one vocal until the EQ came down 2 dB.
Full, rich, natural vocals and a sound-first character that left me very impressed.
Sonic Compass does not grade gear. We plot gear and listeners on the same seven axes, so a review tells you where a product sits and you can see how far that is from where you sit.
Unique Melody sent me the UXUE for review and had no say in what I wrote. I thank Eva at Unique Melody for that. Most of my listening was with my own EQ settings in the UM Smart Sound app.
Unique Melody is known for wired monitors that can cost as much as a decent used car. The UXUE is its US$299 true wireless set.
Listening journey
Jolene (original), Dolly Parton (country) — Excellent resolution. Clean, natural guitars and snappy drums and cymbals without sibilance. The bass drum is present without being overplayed. Her voice is full, rich and natural. Dolly is in front, guitars to the right, bass behind me on the left, strings all around and drums behind, all separated.
Easy, Glasser (electronic) — The bass hits hard and sits all around me like a synth bass. Ethereal strings are off to the left, with percussion left and behind me. Vocals are powerful, natural and commanding, and the whole song is punchy and full.
Let the Good Times Roll, The Offspring and Electric Callboy (rock / metal) — A cacophony. The vocals got a tad crisp until I turned the EQ down 2 dB, which fixed it. The bass hits really hard and the party anthem is worth banging my head to.
You Shook Me All Night Long, AC/DC (rock) — Guitars start higher, left and almost in front. Harmonica is down to the right, with small clicks above and in front that I can't hear on better headphones. The band is out in front and well separated. The stage isn't huge, but the height and width are good.
Air, Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, Bach (classical) — Harpsichord and violins are clean and highly detailed. The harpsichord has lovely transients, quick without ending too soon. Each instrument is easy to pinpoint, all around me.
| Track | Position | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Jolene | 90% | Excellent resolution, natural voice and a separated, wide stage |
| Easy | 85% | Bass hits hard and sits all around |
| Let the Good Times Roll | 78% | Hard-hitting bass; vocals a tad crisp until EQ came down 2 dB |
| You Shook Me All Night Long | 80% | Good height and width, separate placement; stage not huge |
| Air (Orchestral Suite No. 3) | 88% | Clean, highly detailed, quick harpsichord transients |
Critical observations
Where the UXUE sits — A beautifully controlled, slightly V-shaped presentation with an incredible sense of intimacy. It doesn't sound like bloated, bass-boosted consumer earbuds. Space and Detail are its strongest axes. It gives ground on battery life and on the case.
Bass — Tidy, punchy, and it refuses to bleed into the mids.
Mids and vocals — Clean and highly resolving. Vocals are full, rich and natural.
Treble — Not crisp or sibilant for me, even with the EQ lifted. On 90 to 95 songs out of 100 it stayed smooth. One or two tracks bordered on sibilance, so I pulled the 8 kHz band down a fraction.
Stage and imaging — The star of the set. The silver-palladium bone conduction unit gives good width, and a 3D, even 4D, holographic sense of things all around, up and down. For closed-back wireless earbuds it gets to the stage of some decent open-back headphones.
Design and fit — The case looks like a generic kit from a discount rack and feels like it forgot it cost US$300. The earbuds are comfortable, block out noise and give me a good seal with good bass. Two sets of tips are in the box to roll.
Tech — A 10 mm carbon nanotube dynamic driver for the lows and mids, a balanced armature for the highs and a silver-palladium bone conduction unit. Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound support, with aptX Adaptive and lossless, and no LDAC. Battery is about 5 hours per charge, with two charges from the case.
The app, UM Smart Sound — Intuitive and easy to set up. Hi-Fi, ambient and hearing modes, five EQ options (flat, rock, pop, classical and a user setting with bands at the low end, 125 Hz, 500 Hz, 2 kHz and 8 kHz), auto curation per situation, block touches, a gaming mode, ear detection and a 5 minute auto-off. The EQ sliders are a little fiddly to move. The hearing mode is not a substitute for real hearing aids.
UXUE vs Roseselsa Ceramics Ultra (about US$50) — An unfair comparison. The Ceramics Ultra has Bluetooth 6.0, 11 hours of battery, 50 dB ANC, full LDAC support and a single dynamic driver, with a lush, warm, W-shaped sound and a satisfying sub-bass rumble. The UXUE is a precise holographic scalpel by comparison, with sharp micro detail, air and upper-frequency sparkle that the laid-back Ceramics Ultra missed, and a sprawling 3D field the Ceramics Ultra can't match.
Cons — Battery is about 5 hours per charge. The case feels cheap for the money. There's no LDAC. Taps on the buds triggered the music when I moved them, so I blocked touches in the app.
Read this against your own profile — I prioritise technical performance, raw resolution, instrument layering and a stage with real imaging. If that's you, this fits. If you want a warm, fun, bass-rich sound with a big battery and ANC, it doesn't.
Honest limits — Supplied by the maker. Most listening was with my own EQ settings. One unfair comparison against a much cheaper set. By ear, with no measurements, on five tracks.
- JoleneDolly Parton
- EasyGlasser
- Let the Good Times RollThe Offspring and Electric Callboy
- You Shook Me All Night LongAC/DC
- Air (Orchestral Suite No. 3)Bach
- Driver Configuration
- Tri-brid: 10 mm carbon nanotube dynamic, balanced armature, silver-palladium bone conduction
- Driver Details
- Dynamic for lows and mids, balanced armature for highs, bone conduction unit for 3D staging (per the reviewer)
- Build Materials
- Black plastic earbuds and case
- Cable Connectors
- True wireless. Bluetooth with Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound, aptX Adaptive and lossless; no LDAC.
- Isolation Leakage
- Noise blocking with a good seal; ambient and hearing modes available
- Power Requirements
- About 5 hours per charge, with two further charges from the case (reviewer)
- Accessories
- Two sets of tips to roll, charging case
- Build Quality Notes
- US$299. UM Smart Sound app with five EQ options, auto curation, block touches, gaming mode, ear detection. Photos: Unique Melody.
Sound first, everything else second. The UXUE puts detail, layering and a wide, holographic stage into a wireless set, and gives up battery life and the case to do it.
<p><strong>Buy it if</strong>… you prioritise technical performance, raw resolution and instrument layering; you want a stage with imaging that punches high in a wireless set; or you don't mind a cheap-feeling case and a short battery.</p><p><strong>Skip it if</strong>… you want a casual, fun, warm, bass-rich sound with a big battery and ANC (the Roseselsa Ceramics Ultra does that for about US$50); you need LDAC or long battery life; or you care about how the case feels at US$299.</p>