These Activo IEMs are an absolute bargain – but there's a catch

UPDATE – since this article was first published, we've received exclusive information about the release date and pricing for the UK. Those are set to launch in January, for a price of £99, which makes them a really brilliant value option for those seeking IEMs.

The original article remains below.

Activo, the lifestyle brand of Astell & Kern, have launched a brand new pair of ultra-affordable IEMs – but as yet you can't get them in the UK. They will be launched worldwide, but as yet there's no sign of a release date. We know they'll be cheap, though – the US price will be $80 (about £60 / €69 / AU$120 before tax).

The new earphones are called Activo Scoop and they're good-looking, pebble-esque wired IEMs with a five-driver setup. According to Activo they're the result of "a deep obsession with richer, more resonant sound".

These aren't Activo's first IEMs. The brand also makes the sub-£100 Volcano earphones as well as the more expensive Q1 earbuds.

Activo Scoop: key features

The Activo Scoop earphones feature a single 8mm dynamic driver, two 6mm dynamic drivers and two balanced armature drivers with a proprietary acoustic port and an integrated circuit designed to keep the drivers in step with each other.

The 2-pin cable is silver-plated copper and oxygen-free copper and comes with interchangeable headphone connectors: 3.5mm, 4.4mm and USB-C. That should cover all the bases, and with a rating of 10 ohms and sensitivity of 105dB/mW they're easy to drive even with relatively low-powered devices such as phones. Frequency range is 20Hz to 20kHz.

As ever with Activo the earphones come with a selection of silicone and memory foam ear tips as well as a protective carrying pouch.

It's fair to say that at $80 the Scoop are a bit cheaper than the other earphones Astell & Kern unveiled this month. The A&K Stella earphones, designed in collaboration with Volk Audio, are £3,899 / €4,400 / $3,900 (about AU$7,824).

We don't know the release date just yet but given that the Scoop product page is live on the Activo website it won't be too far away.