Headphones — ROSESELSA Photon Pro

The Photon Pro is an entry-level wired IEM made by ROSESELSA, a company from China that also sells its models under the Rose Technics name. It sits at the bottom of the company's price ladder, with a regular list price of USD 17.59 and a discounted figure of USD 13.99. The design targets everyday carry, video calls and gaming, so each cable carries an inline microphone and the earpieces are kept very small.

Key specs that matter

Every earpiece holds an 8 mm dynamic driver, and its diaphragm is built on a PEK base material with a composite coating. ROSESELSA rates the earphone at 32 ohm with a sensitivity of 100 dB at 1 mW, and gives a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The maker keeps THD under 0.8 percent at 1 kHz. A single earpiece weighs 1.8 g. The cable is 120 cm long and attaches through a detachable 0.78 mm 2-pin socket. Buyers choose at purchase between a version ending in a 3.5 mm plug and one ending in a USB Type-C plug. Four finishes are offered - red, grey, blue and green.

Engineering and use context

The housings are machined by CNC from aerospace-grade aluminium alloy and shaped as compact bullets, a form that sits straight in the ear canal rather than resting in the outer ear. Metal shells this small keep the mass low enough to wear for long sessions without the earpieces pulling downward. The replaceable 2-pin cable matters at this price, because a damaged lead can be swapped instead of discarding the whole set, and the same socket accepts third-party cables with other plugs. The microphones on the cable are described by the maker as HD units for voice pickup, and the Type-C version works with Windows, iOS and Android devices that lack an analogue headphone jack. ROSESELSA quotes a latency of 6 ms for gaming use, and three sizes of silicone ear tips come in the box to fit different ear canals and block outside noise.

Pairing

These earphones are an easy load, so the analogue version runs directly from a phone, laptop or handheld console jack, while the Type-C version suits current phones and tablets that only offer a USB port. Owners who later buy a separate USB dongle DAC can move the analogue variant onto it without any extra amplification. Because the cable is removable, a balanced lead with 2-pin connectors can also be fitted for a portable player.

Alternatives

Within ROSESELSA in-ear models, the QuietSea steps up to a 10 mm dynamic driver in zinc alloy shells with an MMCX cable.