Moondrop Pill

Moondrop’s Pill: A Sound Revolution in Earbud Form

The Moondrop Pill represents an interesting new entry into the earbud market. Earbuds generally sound terrible, with no bass and typically dramatically different sound profiles as the placement makes them very dependent on
each user’s ear shape. And the ‘clip on’ earbuds are even more prone to differences (as I found in my recent review of the Roseselsa Open Free).

But Moondrop has some clever design and technologies with the Pill that might provide the right medicine to get great sound.

I have been enjoying the Pill for the past month. For me what makes the Pill stand out is its exceptional use of DSP, giving it a very decent default tuning, then combined with Moondrop’s dramatically improved app experience. The much-maligned Moondrop Link app has finally received the update it desperately needed, now offering real-time PEQ filter editing that works very well.

This combination of excellent out-of-box sound and powerful customization options creates, what I feel is the best sounding earbud wired or wireless. But while I do think it sounds great for an earbud, I did still find a bunch of frustrations with the Pill, which I will get into in this review.

But before we dive into those details, let’s explore what you get when you purchase the Moondrop Pill.

Unboxing and First Impressions

The Moondrop Pill comes in an attractive, minimalist package that effectively showcases the product:

The back of the box provides detailed specifications and features:

The side of the box reveals lots of specifications, but especially interesting is this comes with Bluetooth 6.0:

Opening the box reveals the pill-shaped charging case nestled securely inside:

The complete package includes:

• The Pill earbuds in their charging case
• USB-C charging cable
• User manual and documentation
• Warranty card

The pill-shaped charging case is immediately eye-catching, with its distinctive design living up to the product name:

With plastic protection:

Build Quality and Design

The Moondrop Pill features a unique design approach that prioritizes comfort and sound quality. The earbuds themselves feature a clip-on design with a shape memory silicone C-bridge that adapts to your ear shape for a secure fit.

The charging case, while cleverly designed to resemble a pill, presents some practical challenges. It’s slightly too large to comfortably fit in smaller pockets, and more importantly, it has a tendency to flip open unintentionally when carried in a pocket. This design flaw means you’ll often find the case open when you reach for it, potentially exposing the earbuds to damage or loss, and occasionally for me, it actually connected with my phone when it was still in my pocket (as I think it thought I was taking it out of the case).

When opened, the case reveals the earbuds nestled securely inside:

Though less annoying, the pill shape means it does ‘roll’ when put on a table. And it can be challenging to quickly identify which earbud is left and which is right when removing them from the case (as the L and R lettering is very small).

Despite these small issues, the overall build quality is excellent for the price point, with materials that feel durable and well-constructed.

Comfort and Fit

The Pill’s clip-on design provides a comfortable fit that works well for extended listening sessions. The shape memory silicone C-bridge with TPU and titanium alloy construction strikes a good balance between security and comfort, allowing the earbuds to stay in place without creating uncomfortable pressure.

However, as with any clip-on design, placement can affect sound quality. During testing, I found that slight adjustments in positioning on the ear could result in some noticeable changes in frequency response, especially in the treble, this is where having the PEQ feature you will see later in the review is fantastic.

But I believe the more symmetrical design of the driver means it is less prone than other similar earbuds, this is one of the reasons I feel this is the best ‘clip on’ style earbud:

Features and Performance

The Moondrop Pill comes packed with an impressive array of features, here are a few that I think are worth mentioning:

Battery Life

Battery performance is outstanding, with up to 8 hours of playback from the earbuds themselves and an additional 20 hours from the charging case. That larger case that I mentioned earlier obviously has a huge advantage when it comes to battery life. This 28-hour total easily handles multiple days of regular use without needing to find a power outlet.

Connectivity

The Pill features Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity, providing stable connections with minimal dropouts. The dual-device connectivity feature is particularly useful, allowing seamless switching between two paired devices without reconnection hassles. Though you only get AAC and SBC codecs, which is a pity but I guess understandable

Microphone quality

The ‘ENC’ AI noise cancellation works well, especially indoors for very clear calls; I found it worked well on a few work calls. While not quiet at the level of my AirPods with ANC, it is excellent at this price point.

Moondrop Link App

Where the Pill truly shines is in its app integration. The Moondrop Link app works well both on Android and IOS:

iOS	Android

You can control the volume, the gain settings, check for firmware updates, and even configure the touch controls

Note: I mainly left the Pill in High Gain mode as due to the nature of an open design, it was struggling when using it in noisier environments, like listening to music while walking.

I noticed a firmware update for my Pill when I first connected it to my phone:

I believe the “One Bring Two” is the dual-connection option:

There are three simple EQ tuning presets are available:

But the coolest feature for me is the ‘real-time’ PEQ editing in the “online interaction DSP” section:

Easy to tweak each PEQ filter by clicking on it:	If you pick a different target you can compare:

You can visually edit the full PEQ (include the Q values) and visually see the effect and then ‘Apply’ to hear the updated sound. You can also pick a target and instantly AutoEQ the target onto the Pill (though don’t expect any subbass due to the open design of the Pill).

You get to this editor by clicking the options in the top right-hand corner of the online EQ page where you can also find third party EQ shared within the Moondrop Link App:

The touch controls can be controlled in the app by clicking the image of the left or right earbud:

But I found the touch sensitivity was not great, so I mainly use the double click to play/pause. The handling of the touch controls could definitely benefit from refinement in future firmware updates. The touch controls also temporarily stopped working and required a reset to get them working again.

Finally, there is also 55ms low-latency game mode for reduced audio delay, which for me was only enabled via the touch controls even though it is not listed in the touch controls above, so I guess that is something else that will be fixed in a future update.

Sound Impressions

The sound quality of the Moondrop Pill is where this product truly excels against rival clip on earbuds, delivering performance that redefines expectations for earbuds in this price range and form factor. While it will always lack some subbass, I found the mid-bass, midrange, and treble to be excellent (and I only tweaked the sound to my preferences using PEQ after my initial listening tests). It also sounds presents a very nice wide soundstage.

Bass

For an open-style earbud, the Moondrop Pill delivers remarkably controlled and extended bass. Its custom 13mm dynamic driver, with an ultra-low resonant frequency and long-stroke diaphragm, provides genuine sub-bass presence down to 50Hz — rare for this form factor. Unlike most earbuds that overboost the mid-bass to simulate warmth, the Pill avoids bloat, resulting in clean, tight lows that support rather than smother the mix.

Reference track: “Royals” by Lorde – The deep synth hits land with satisfying weight and clarity, without muddying the vocals.

Midrange

The midrange is where the Pill shines. Vocals are rendered with natural warmth and excellent clarity, and instruments maintain their timbral authenticity. Whether you’re listening to acoustic, jazz, or pop, the midrange remains uncolored and balanced. It avoids the pitfalls of shoutiness or hollowness that often plague similarly priced earbuds, delivering a presentation that is both detailed and inviting.

Reference track: “Don’t Know Why” by Norah Jones – Her vocals are intimate and lifelike, with piano and guitar textures clearly layered behind.

Treble

Treble performance is airy and refined. There’s a welcome sense of sparkle and resolution, but without any hint of sibilance or fatigue. The high-end articulates cymbals and ambient detail beautifully, even in busy mixes. While I tweaked the treble slightly using the PEQ for a darker tilt, the stock tuning is impressively well-judged for most listeners.

Reference track: “So What” by Miles Davis – Cymbals shimmer with natural decay, and the subtle room reverberation comes through cleanly.

Soundstage & Imaging

The Pill impresses with a wide, immersive soundstage uncommon in earbuds. There’s a surprising touch of front-to-back layering, helping instruments occupy realistic positions in space. Imaging is sharp and coherent, aided by Moondrop’s dipole transmission tech that balances openness with minimal leakage.

Reference track: “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac – The layered percussion, vocals, and guitars are precisely placed, giving a surprisingly spacious feel for earbuds.

Customization Through PEQ

The real game-changer for the Pill is the implementation of parametric EQ in the Moondrop Link app. This feature allows users to fine-tune the sound signature to their exact preferences, addressing any perceived frequency imbalances, or adapting the sound for different genres.

During testing, I was able to quickly achieve a sound profile that perfectly matched my preferences, enhancing the already excellent default tuning. The real-time nature of the adjustments makes the process intuitive and rewarding, representing a significant advancement over previous Moondrop wireless products.

Comparisons

When compared to other popular open-style earbuds like the Earfun OpenJump and Apple AirPods 4 with ANC, the Moondrop Pill offers distinct advantages and trade-offs.

As I mentioned earlier, the case design, while cool, makes it less pocketable than other designs:

The Earfun OpenJump, with its over-ear hook design, provides more consistent sound regardless of positioning but doesn’t match the Pill’s sound quality or customization options. The Pill sounds noticeably better, especially after some PEQ tweaking. The OpenJump is on the righthand side of this photo below:

The ‘AirPods 4 with ANC’ offer some level of active noise cancellation and a slightly better bass response due to their design, but they come at a significantly higher price point, and you have no way to tune the sound like the PEQ available with the Pill. While the AirPods may have many technical advantages and obviously deeply integrated into IOS, the Pill delivers remarkable value at just $50.

The Roseselsa Openfree earbuds similarly can’t match the Pill’s sound quality or app functionality, making the Moondrop offering the clear standout in its price category.

Specifications and Measurements

Measurements

Here is the Pill on my KB501X Pinna, you can hopefully get the idea of the typical angle:

And my measurements are available here

Frequency Response

Other than a gentle roll off in the sub-bass the Pill shows a remarkable balanced sound signature.

But If I forced Pill in different positions when measuring the Pill, I did find you can alter significantly the treble region of the FR:

So, I would imagine some people due to their ear anatomy will get some variations in sound, probably with more treble and less midrange and bass, but I did find the Pill mostly worked consistently well on my KB501X.

Comparing the FR with those other ‘open’ earbuds that I showed in the previous section shows some significant differences:

With the Airpods 4 with ANC showing the deepest bass response of these earbuds, but the Moondrop Pill is not far behind with some decent bass, where the Earfun is mostly ok (but has a peak at 3K) and the open free was the least satisfying of these ‘open’ designs for me.

Distortion

Bass distortion is typical for an open design (where this is mostly the external noise):

And as a percentage, it is not terrible, especially as I was measuring the Pill at over 90 dbSPL:

Rating

I’ve given the Moondrop Pill a 5-star Pragmatic Rating because it delivers exceptional performance where it matters most – sound quality and customization – easily make up for some minor annoyances around the case.

The combination of excellent default tuning and powerful PEQ capabilities through the improved app creates a listening experience that surpasses expectations for a $50 earbud.

Here’s a breakdown of my ratings:

• Sound Quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Outstanding for an earbud with excellent PEQ customization)
• Build Quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (Good overall, but case design needs refinement)
• Comfort: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Excellent for the clip-on form factor)
• Features: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (Great app integration, good battery life, adequate controls)
• Pragmatic Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ($50 is an exceptional price for this performance)

Conclusion

The Moondrop Pill feels like a long-overdue remedy for bad earbud design. With its excellent stock tuning and full PEQ support via the revamped Moondrop Link app, it delivers the best sound I’ve heard from any earbud — wired or wireless — at any price close to this.

Yes, the case pops open a bit too easily, and the buds could use clearer L/R markings, but these are minor irritants compared to what’s on offer.

At just $50, the Pill redefines what a budget earbud can do. Moondrop hasn’t just raised the bar — they’ve prescribed the cure.