GETTING STARTED:-
There are only a few brands in the market who maintains products in every price bracket, Shozy is one of them. Based in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, they have some of the most versatile products, starting from the new V33, their entry level iem priced at $60 to their upcoming Pola 39 at $950, they have products for everyone.
The Pola is made in collaboration with AAW and is priced at $800 for universal and $900 for custom version. It is one of the most versatile earphones in the market in its price range. It houses a 13mm grapheme dynamic driver accompanied by two electrostatic drivers with a 2 way crossover with vented design for better dynamism.
In their words Pola is:-
‘‘A design that truly brings out the ES driver’s qualities’’
“Powered by the cutting-edging miniature electrostatic tweeter technology, It employs a six micro gram, gold plated membrane held against a plate charged up to 400 volts. The electrical signal voltage is amplified up to 100 times via a built-in miniature transformer. The electrostatic attraction and repulsion effects induced by music signal triggers the membrane to produce acoustic pressure. Simply plug into your player and high fidelity music is ready to go.”
I am reviewing the universal version of the Pola, which faces competition from the likes of Andromeda, Shure SE846, W50 and many others at this price. I will compare the Pola with Eternal Melody EM-5H, Hyla TE-5B and Nocturnal Eden.
For a short period of time, the Pola was one of my favourite earphones, read on to find out why.
You can get one for yourself from these links:-
https://www.aaw.me/products/pola-electrostatic-universal-in-ear-monitor
http://www.shozy-hk.com/hibiki-1/pola-electrostatic-hybrid-iem
ACCESSORIES & PACKAGING:-
The Pola ships with a classic gift box type box. The box can be easily damaged and that is problem when it has to travel a long way.
The first thing that greets us opening the box is the travel case. It is not a pocket-able one for sure. But is of very good size to carry your portable DAP and couple of cables along with the earphones. The travel case has all the accessories packed inside it. The tips are stuffed into the foam which houses the ear pieces too. There is another paper case which contains the cable.
Out of the box we get 6 pairs of tips, 3 pairs of foam tips, 3 pairs of rubber tips in S/M/L sizes. There is a 6.5mm adapter and an airplane adapter below the cable box. No cable clip in the box. There is a cleaning cloth and the warranty card rounds up the list of accessories.
BUILD QUALITY:-
Build quality of the Pola is average at best. Other brands in this price range use more premium materials like metal or resins for the shell, but the Pola is made out of plastic material for the shell and the nozzle is aluminium, giving the nozzle a very strong feel, with “AAW” engraved on it.
The back plate has a nice textured look to it and is nicely fused into the Shell. The layer of resin on it gives it a stronger feel. There is a small vent on the body near the dynamic driver which give the large 13mm driver some breathing space.
The recessed 2pin socket is slightly tricky and it would have been nice if the socket was at level of the body. I struggled a bit to get it in place, as I said, it is a bit tricky.
There are two bores, one for the dynamic driver and one for the Electrostatic drivers.
If you opt for custom version, you can choose back plates and of your choice.
CABLE:-
The Symphonym Tiburon UPOCC copper cable is of very good quality and I was not expecting anything of lower quality from an earphone of this calibre. Most of the Brands in this price range give cables which cost $70-100 on their own, adding more value to the IEM.
The 4 core pure copper cable lets the Pola churn out better quality when compared to lower quality $20-30 cables.
The build quality of the cable is very good. All the 4 cores are thicker than most $100 cables and feel very strong. The cable is neither bouncy nor rubbery. There is little to no microphonics on the cable.
It feels very supple and has very little memory. There is no problem in winding the cable to our own preference.
COMFORT, ERGONOMICS AND SEAL:-
The Pola is aptly comfortable. It doesn’t have excess weight and doesn’t fall out of ear easily. It is not the most comfortable earphone in this price range but unless you have very small ears the Pola will not fall out. The little wing on the body helps with a bit more grip inside the ear making the fit more secure. The nozzle is deep enough and gives an aptly deep fit, it isn’t extra wide and one can use most of the 3.5mm to 5mm silicone tips on it.
Seal of the Pola is above average with silicone tips and slightly better with foam, it can’t stop very loud outer noise but will do for the average commute. If seal is your priority then go for the custom version.
CAUTION:- don’t use earphones where you have to be aware of your surroundings like driving and walking on the road, stay home and enjoy your music or at gym.
