If it looks good, it must sound good right?

Dan Nosowitz, writing for The Verge:

Online, the phenomenon is known as “Chi-fi” — a mashup of “Chinese” and “high-fidelity.” It’s usually used to refer to portable audio gear […] that come from essentially anonymous Chinese companies. […] The names of the companies are fluid, the prices are incredibly cheap, and the listings are bare bones or confusing. As a reasonable consumer, you assume that nothing priced at six dollars can possibly be good. But Chinese hi-fi offers the best possible version of that world. What if the brands were unknown and the prices bizarrely low — but the product was actually good?

I just love that this online shopping and enthusiasm for unknown Chinese hi-fi brands is named “Chi-fi.” Also — despite the fact that most of them are design rip-offs of MMCX earbuds from Shure or RHA — I love the minimal and industrial design of a few models: they look like tiny, beautiful spaceships.