Packaging and Accessories

The product box for the AFUL Performer 5 shows immediately how unprepared the brand is for a global release, with very little English in use. Indeed, I can't see how it expects the average end user to appreciate all the Chinese characters used for the marketing and tech specs on the back, although it's not a big deal in itself. What makes things worse is the website link on the back is incorrect, with this being the correct link that should have been used. Likewise, there is no 4.4 mm cable termination option either, as the box might make it seem. It's small things like this that make the branding exercise worse in addition to the name itself. Regardless, the company logo and product name are on the front along with marketing features and a render of the set. On the back are product specs and contact info for the company, and a look from the side reveals this is an external sleeve placed over an inner box that is somewhat hard to slide out without damaging the sleeve.


The inner box is plain black cardboard with magnets securing it closed. It opens up sideways as seen above to reveal a cardboard/foam sheet with AFUL branding on it and the actual contents underneath. A thick foam sheet with machined cutouts holds the IEMs snugly in their individual compartments in addition to the carry/storage case on the left.


The storage case is primarily black and has a matte finish that is scratch-resistant. It takes the shape of an ice hockey puck with the AFUL logo on top and happens to be a design I've seen used by other brands before. A rubber lining in the middle keeps the lid closed in use, and the inside is similarly lined to prevent the IEMs from getting scratched or damaged easily. There isn't a lot of room inside, however the Performer 5 IEMs with the stock cable and installed ear tips fit just fine. We see the stock cable is inside to begin with, which we will get to on the next page. The bottom layer has more foam for added protection, with paperwork in the form of a short guide going over the setup and usage of these IEMs in addition to what appears to be a QC card.


AFUL does something different with the ear tips in going with color-coordinated sets. One set with a blue bore (left channel) and a red bore (right channel) come pre-installed on the IEMs and the rest are placed inside the foam sheet seen earlier. What you end up with is effectively just one type of translucent flange silicone ear tip in three sizes (S/M/L) but two sets of each size given the two colors employed. You could thus go with, say, medium-sized tips in all blue, all red, or mix them up.