Qudelix-5K user experience

[ipaulr]

So far, I’ve been using these with my Focal Utopia & Sennheiser HD800 Headphones, and especially with my Meze Rai Penta IEMs. Everything about this little box and its app are first rate: 5s across the board.

Except for ease of Bluetooth connection, which can be a bit troublesome and time consuming. Sometimes it connects quickly, but lately I’ve had to “Forget Device” and re-pair.

There’s really no excuse for this. I’ve tried five different Bluetooth earbuds (M&D MW08s, B&W PI7, B&O EQ, Sony WF-1000M4x, and a cheap TOZO), and all of them connect to my iPhone 11Pro Max almost instantly, with no problems whatsoever.

However, all else is fantastic. I’ll only elaborate here on the buttons, since they have been disparaged in other reviews.

The buttons are truly fantastic. They operate precisely every time. The volume goes up or down in 1/2 DB increments with each push, no matter how fast you push the buttons. This is incredibly helpful in reducing the volume to a likable but harmless level. Further, you can have them light up while you’re using the unit, and you can even set their brightness level to between 1 and 10. I find them a joy to use.

 

[ipaulr]

UPDATE 10-30-2021:
There are two good workarounds for the Bluetooth connection issue.

Easiest is to attach it to your Mac (PC should work to?), and then open or just look at (if already open) the app on your smartphone. It will be connected to your smartphone quickly everytime this way.

You can also just Forget the device in your smartphone's bluetooth list, and activate pairing by pressing and holding the blue button of a few seconds. This seems to work every time for me also, but is a little more tedious.

Note that this is only a problem for the initial connection during a listening session. Once connected, the connection remains completely rock solid. Hence it's not such a big deal.

One more issue is that the app warns you not to use fast charging with the device and recommends just attaching it to your computer for charging. It also gives specs that chargers must meet.

While I'm ok with that, as charging is quite fast anyway, there will be times when I want to charge it while away from my laptop. For this, it would have been more than nice to have had a proper charging plug come with the unit!

 

[abdo123]

Bluetooth has really been plug and play for me once it's paired, just turn it on and it auto connects.

 

[ipaulr]

It was that way for me at first, but now....

By the way, I keep my iPhone updated to the latest software updates. Just got one for the Qudelix-5K.

 

[ipaulr]

I've restarted my iPhone and uninstalled and reinstalled the quelidex app, but still the only way I can connect to my iPhone is by first connecting it to my MacBookPro. Nothing else works now.

 

[buz]

Works perfectly both on my Samsung galaxy s20 as well as surface pro...

 

[ipaulr]

Ok. But Bluetooth connection when turning the unit on does not work at all now with my iPhone 11 XS MAX PRO, unless I connect the unit to my MacBook Pro. Then it’s immediate. But what if I don’t have that with me?

 

[buz]

Did you try to adjust device priority in the app?

 

[ipaulr]

Excellent suggestion. I should’ve thought of that myself as I have played with those settings before. Unfortunately the priority setting does not help. I tried both of the Bluetooth settings, and still my iPhone will not connect to the unit once it’s turned on. It’s still only connects if I first connect The unit to my MacBook Pro via USB.