DunRock Pop review: even better than its predecessor?

The DunRock Pop are true wireless earbuds with rich bass, ANC, transparency mode, ENC and an app. On paper, they hold their own against the big names. But how do they actually sound?

In this article

• 1. Specifications: DunRock Pop
• 1.1 Sound quality
• 1.2 Microphone: calls and video meetings
• 1.3 Fit
• 1.4 DunRock app
• 1.4 Earbud controls
• 1.5 Battery: how long do they last?
• 1.6 ANC
• 2. Conclusion: our final verdict
• 3. Alternatives

Pros and cons

Here are the pros and cons of the DunRock Pop, so you can quickly see whether these earbuds are right for you.

*Hybrid ANC is an upgrade over standard ANC, but outdoors you'll notice it picks up more wind noise. You'll need to turn on the anti-wind ANC mode in the DunRock app. Otherwise, the Hybrid ANC is excellent.
**The fit is fine. But do you often struggle to find earbuds that fit? Then these are more likely to feel a little awkward. In that case, the DunRock Pop's sibling (the DunRock Bubble) may be a better choice.

DunRock Pop specifications

• Price: ~ 80
• Driver: 10mm
• ANC: yes, the updated Hybrid ANC version
• ENC: yes
• Microphones: 6
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Weight: 4.4 grams per earbud
• Bluetooth: 5.3
• Low latency mode: 0.05 sec
• Range: 10m
• Playtime: 32 hours (total)
• Case battery: 320 mAh
• Earbud battery: 42 mAh
• Cable: USB-C
• Waterproof rating: IPX4

DunRock Pop sound

These DunRock Pop sound remarkably good. Lovely bass. Rich, full sound. In that respect, the DunRock Pop belong alongside the big names. They hold their own.

View DunRock Pop

The earbuds have a heavier sound than average. Nice and full, in other words. But we could almost skip talking about the sound, because the app lets you adjust the earbuds exactly to your liking. In the DunRock app, you can choose extra bass, classic, rock (DunRock) and more. These are sound profiles.

But if you want to venture beyond the preset profiles and go on your own audio adventure, you can also use the equalizer. Just move the slider up or down for each frequency.

All right, but suppose the app didn't exist. How would we rate the sound then?

In that case, I'd describe it as full and pure. Fairly punchy, with more bass than average. A pleasing sound. The mids come through beautifully too. So do the lows and mids drown out the highs? No, the highs come through nicely as well.

To put it in guitar terms again: you can clearly hear the string tapping against the body, and the low note resonating inside comes through beautifully too.

Sound quality score: 9

Compared with the DunRock Bubble, the Bubble delivers less bass. You can use those with the app too, though. But out of the box, the Pop has more bass.

All in all, the sound quality is well above average for this price range. These are currently the best-sounding earbuds at this price. Are there compromises? Well, they're a bit bulky. All that technology has to fit inside the earbud, and that has affected the fit. Struggle to find earbuds that fit? I'd go for the DunRock Bubble and adjust the sound to your liking in the app.

Microphone: are the DunRock Pop good for calls?

The DunRock Pop have 6 microphones. Six? Yes, six. One mic is for calls, another for ANC and another for ENC. What does all that mean? I'll explain in this section. The microphone and ENC part, at least.

ENC is a microphone filter. Not the kind of filter you find in your coffee maker, though. This filtering happens entirely within the earbud's electronics, mainly in the chipset.

Think of it this way: one microphone picks up the sounds around you. The chipset processes that sound and filters it out for the person you're talking to. Your voice still comes through, minus the background noise. And... voilà!

That's some clever technology, especially in earbuds under €100. You don't see that often. In fact, you rarely see it at all.

Microphone score: 8

The sound captured by the microphone is very clear. That makes the DunRock Pop very well suited to video meetings. More of a traditionalist? They're also great for phone calls. Yes, I know phone calls are still very much a thing. Just kidding.

You can clearly hear what I'm saying. The words are easy to make out.

View DunRock Pop

Incidentally, bean-style earbuds (essentially earbuds without a stem) have a physical disadvantage when it comes to the microphone. The mic sits farther from your mouth. Earbuds with a stem need much less technology to make your voice clear.

After all, the microphone sits closer to your mouth. We know a thing or two about earbuds, don't we? And now you do too. Next up is what we think of the fit, because there are a few catches.

Fit: how do the DunRock Pop feel?

Now we come to the fit. We had to get here eventually. So far, it's been praise all round. But here's the caveat.

For me, these earbuds fall into the "not for hard-to-fit ears" category. To give you a comparison, they fit a bit like Samsung earbuds. Those tend to be bulky too. So do these.

Does that mean they're uncomfortable? Not for me. But my ears are fairly typical. All earbuds fit me just fine.

You also get 4 sizes of ear tips, which is a real plus. Something for every ear, then. Except that's not quite true. Again, I think smaller ears may struggle.

Fit score: 6

The earbuds stick out of your ears a little. Rather than extending into a stem, the acoustic housing extends outward.

To be clear: they feel great in my ears. I can wear and use them for a long time without any ear pain.

DunRock app: take full control of your earbuds

The DunRock app is genuinely useful. It's great to get an app with earbuds in this price range. You can adjust just about everything. After testing it thoroughly, I can say it really makes a difference. With the app, you can:

• turn ANC on or off
• choose from a range of ANC modes
• adjust the ANC strength with a slider
• turn transparency mode on or off
• adjust the transparency level, also with a slider
• adjust the equalizer for more or less bass, mids or treble
• choose what each control does
• turn on sleep mode to disable touch controls

It gives you full control over your earbuds. That's another reason these earbuds deserve a place alongside the big brands. The price, though? That's much lower. It's great that these earbuds come with a free app.

ANC: how good is the noise canceling?

The DunRock Pop have hybrid ANC. That's a step up from standard ANC. You don't often find hybrid ANC in earbuds at this price.

Hybrid ANC uses microphones on the inside and outside of your earbuds to block sound more effectively. That means you hear less noise. It's a lot better than standard ANC.

ANC score: 8.5

Outdoors, you'll notice that even the slightest breeze causes some crackling from the ANC microphones. You know that sound when wind hits a microphone? That one. But since a DunRock app update, you can set ANC to "wind noise" mode. Then it no longer bothers you. Handy.

As you can see, you can also select various other ANC modes, including:

• Quiet environment
• Noisy environment
• Very noisy environment
• Anti-wind

Each mode has 4 levels, adjusted with a slider you can move up or down within that mode.

You really can hear the difference. On a plane, I used Very noisy environment mode and could clearly hear it filtering out more engine noise. Suddenly, I could turn down my podcast because it was much easier to understand.

The ANC is comparable to the bigger brands. It isn't far behind those earbuds.

Earbud controls

The controls are intuitive. And if they don't feel that way to you, you can set them up exactly how you like in the app.

I find it handy that a single tap adjusts the volume. That way, accidentally touching an earbud while repositioning it isn't a big deal. The volume just goes up or down a little. You can even set a single tap to do nothing. Useful if you can't keep your hands off your earbuds.

Controls: 9

How do the DunRock Pop touch controls work?

In short, nothing unusual about these controls. But if you'd rather they looked, sounded, felt different, you can adjust them.

Battery: how long can you use the earbuds?

The Pop's case is pretty small. Surely it can't hold a big battery? Well, it's 320mAh. Is that a lot? Not really. But is 32 hours of listening without recharging the case a lot? Yes!

• Playtime: 32 hours (total)
• Case battery: 320 mAh
• Earbud battery: 42 mAh
• Cable: USB-C

Thanks to an energy-efficient chipset, the DunRock Pop last quite a while on one charge. The earbuds themselves last 8 hours, provided you're mainly listening to music rather than just making calls. Only using them for calls? We haven't tested that, but expect 5 to 6 hours of nonstop calling.

But who has a friend they can chat with for hours on end? I do have a girlfriend, and I love talking to her on the phone. Still, I wouldn't mind having an excuse to hang up after 3 hours. No such luck with the DunRock Pop. 5 to 6 hours of nonstop talking. And listening, too.

Battery score: 8

All in all, the battery does a good job. It looks small on paper, but the efficient chipset delivers solid battery life. The charging case is also nice and compact.

Conclusion: are the DunRock Pop good?

All in all, the DunRock Pop hold their own against the leading brands. At this price, they're an excellent pair of earbuds.

Buy DunRock Pop

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Alternatives

DunRock Bubble vs. DunRock Pop

That's naturally the first comparison that comes to mind. Here are some of the differences between the two:

• DunRock Pop sound fuller and heavier out of the box. But with the app, you can adjust both pairs exactly to your liking.
• DunRock Bubble have a stem. That gives them a slight microphone advantage, since the mic sits closer to your mouth.
• DunRock Pop sometimes pick up wind noise with ANC on outdoors. You'll need to enable Anti-wind mode in the app.
• DunRock Pop have Hybrid ANC, which is a step up from standard ANC.
• DunRock Bubble are easier to get a good fit with. Struggle to find earbuds that fit? Go for the Bubble.

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