Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro review: are 300-crown headphones a holy grail or a scam?

Alza offers many interesting products, and this time the Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro headphones caught our eye. They don’t offer a unique design, groundbreaking technologies, or features we wouldn’t find elsewhere. Here, it’s about the price that immediately struck me. At 299 CZK including VAT (at the time of this review’s publication), they rank among the cheapest true wireless headphones on our market, moreover with unusually good features, led by active noise cancellation and a case with wireless charging. But what is the reality? Does ANC really work? Are there any wireless charging dropouts? And what about the sound quality, is it at least acceptable for an undemanding listener? I couldn’t resist, and I had to order and test the headphones.

Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro Review Contents

Design and Build

Right out of the box, I was quite pleasantly surprised by the charging case itself. Yes, it’s made of cheap plastic and its matte surface scratches easily. However, I don’t feel like it’s going to fall apart in my hands at any moment; the lid offers just the right amount of resistance when opening, and the magnet holds it firmly in place. The combination of matte surfaces with glossy trim also looks good. The headphones themselves are also magnetically attached, so they won’t fall out spontaneously even after opening the lid, and they hold just strongly enough to be comfortably removed from the case.

Information about the approximate battery status of the case is provided by a small LED that lights up every time it’s opened. The exact charge level can then be found in the app, which we’ll return to later. On the back of the case is a button for pairing the headphones with a new device, and at the bottom is the power USB-C connector. Three small holes next to it belong to a speaker, or rather a beeper, which indicates charging or entering pairing mode. The list of elements on the case body is then concluded by a point for attaching a lanyard, which you receive with the headphones in the package.

Surprisingly Comfortable

In addition to the aforementioned lanyard, the box also contains a short USB-C cable and – more importantly – two pairs of silicone ear tips in two sizes. Personally, the medium-sized tips pre-installed on the headphones fit me best. Replacing them requires a bit of dexterity, as they hold onto the headphones more firmly than it might seem at first glance. The headphones themselves have a stem design – meaning they look a bit like they were cut from classic wired headphones. For my taste, the part you insert into your ear is a little larger, so it’s important to consider this before purchasing if you have smaller ears and not every pair of headphones fits you.

However, the headphones fit my ears excellently, and I certainly have no fear of them unexpectedly falling out during use. The aforementioned “stem” houses the touch controls. Its area is marked by a small indentation, and control is performed by tapping. Specifically, one, two, or three taps, and a long press. The controls themselves work surprisingly well, perhaps just a little too sensitive. I recommend carefully considering how you set up these controls. For example, at first, it was common for me to activate the voice assistant when taking out the headphones. The headphones are also capable of detecting their presence in the ears, and thus automatically pause the playing content when removed.

What about the ANC?

One of the main weapons against the competition is undoubtedly the presence of ANC. Frankly, I didn’t expect much from it and was concerned about its usability. All the more pleasantly surprised I was when I found that active noise cancellation actually works here. Yes, it’s not among the strongest, but that’s hardly to be expected here. In a direct comparison with my long-standing Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, the ANC on the Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro feels only slightly weaker to me. So, in the end, I am satisfied with this feature.

The tested headphones also offer a transparency mode, where the microphones are used to increase the volume of ambient sound. However, this mode doesn’t work very well here. Specifically, the headphones produce static, and the distortion of ambient sound is so significant that it’s downright distracting. This reveals where the manufacturer cut costs, namely the microphones. There is one on each earbud, and although the manufacturer boasts HD quality and ambient noise suppression, the reality is that while the headphones partially dampen ambient noise, the quality of your voice is rather compromised. Therefore, the headphones are not very suitable for calls in genuinely noisy environments.

Sound Quality

How can 300-crown wireless headphones sound, especially when the manufacturer has packed them with additional, premium features? This was probably my biggest question before starting the Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro testing. Inside each earbud is an above-average sized, 13mm driver, which somewhat predisposes them to a bass-heavy presentation. To my surprise, however, the sound wasn’t as over-bassy as I initially expected, and even the highs found some representation here. Overall, the output from the headphones is rather flat, just leaning more towards deeper tones. The bass is clearly present, but in areas where more punch would be needed, I find it lacking.

Especially the mid-range is muffled, and for example, when listening to metal with a symphonic orchestra in the background, the sound of individual instruments blends together. In quieter passages, where the performer’s voice or delicate tones should stand out, a faint hiss can be heard in the background. It’s nothing terrible; many listeners might not even notice the hiss, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s there. Nevertheless, the sound quality is not outright bad, and an undemanding listener who doesn’t have exaggerated expectations from 299 CZK headphones will be satisfied.

Vention App and Connectivity

The headphones also come with the companion Vention app, available for both Android and iOS. At the time of writing this review, it has a rather terrible rating of 1.8 stars on Google Play, mainly because users couldn’t even launch the app. However, the developers seem to have fixed this issue, as the app worked without problems for me. Likewise, I had no issues whatsoever with pairing and connection stability, not even in a crowded shopping mall with a lot of potential interference. After pairing, the headphones connect to the phone within 5 seconds of opening the case.

One thing that particularly annoys me about the app is that every time you launch it, it pushes you to register. You don’t have to go through with it, but each time you have to confirm the terms of use and only then can you enter guest mode. Otherwise, the app itself is quite clear and easy to use. After connecting the headphones, you immediately see the charge level of both headphones and the case itself.

Within the settings, you then have the option to activate ANC mode, transparency mode, or turn everything off. Additionally, there’s a gaming mode that reduces latency. I also tried the headphones with the Retroid Pocket G2, whose review you can also find on our site, but I didn’t notice a difference during gaming. These are certainly not ultra-low latency gaming headphones, but I’m not afraid to call them a decent average in this regard.

In the app, you will also find the aforementioned option for setting control gestures and an equalizer. It offers 6 preset profiles and the ability to set a curve according to your own preferences. It’s not an extra advanced equalizer, but it’s more than sufficient for basic sound output adjustment. The app even includes a tool for updating the headphones’ firmware. However, it claims that the current version in my headphones is 0.0.0, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it stayed that way.

Solid Battery Life

I can only praise the Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro headphones in terms of battery life on a single charge. Although the manufacturer states 6 hours, I realistically only got a little over 5 hours at half volume. Even that, however, I consider a very good result for such inexpensive headphones. With ANC enabled, the battery life drops to approximately 3 hours of continuous playback. Another 4 full charges should then be hidden in the case. I tried charging it wirelessly, and it went from 15% to 100% in approximately 2 hours. When charging via USB-C, don’t be surprised that the port doesn’t fully insert into the case body, but about 3mm of it sticks out.

Price and Availability

At the time of writing this review, the Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro headphones cost 299 CZK including VAT on Alza. This is a discounted price of 38% off the original 489 CZK including VAT. Besides black, the headphones are also available in a white color variant.

Conclusion of the Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro Review

Evaluating the Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro headphones is ultimately both easy and difficult. At the promotional price, I simply don’t know of adequate competition – especially on the Czech market. If you look at Chinese marketplaces, you might find an even better price/performance ratio, but such a search would likely border on a lottery. The headphones have a weaker but definitely functional ANC, solid battery life, and are comfortable to wear. The microphones and the quality of some of the materials used are particularly compromised.

The sound is also decent considering the price. However, if I were to look at the headphones from the perspective of their regular price, i.e., just under five hundred crowns, it could be argued that if you forgo features like ANC and wireless charging, you might get headphones with slightly better sound. The decision, as always, is yours. For me personally, the Vention Echo Lite E11 Pro are ultimately a very pleasant surprise, and I think that, realistically speaking, one cannot expect more for the given price.

Editor’s Rating: 78 / 100

Do you have experience with similarly inexpensive TWS headphones?