Our quick-look article of the original Lypertek PurePlay Z3 talked about the ongoing branding exercise with the company branching out globally and renaming just about everything, and this product did not help things whatsoever. The company website has quietly just updated the PurePlay Z3 to the newer version, banning all mentions of the older version to the shadow realm. As expected, some vendors are calling this the PurePlay Z3 2.0, which is also what the product announcement and press release used. Others have gone with calling this the 2021 update, with various other forms of the phrase in the product name. Lypertek needs to rein things in and put forward a single identity and branding exercise if it doesn't want to confuse potential customers, and the sooner this is done the better.

Let's get to the actual product now, and pricing is key to any purchasing decision, so we start there. I was happy about pricing of the Lypertek PurePlay Z3 at the time, not realizing it was being phased out. Pricing was great in the US, and somehow even better in Europe and Asia. At the time, I had attributed it to the company having distributors and resellers in mostly Europe and Asia, but things unfortunately are not as good this time around. The US still gets a great deal at $99 for this feature set you would be extremely hard pressed to find whatsoever, let alone at the $99 mark. Unfortunately, folks elsewhere have it harder, especially in the UK where there is no reason for a 1:1 currency shift whatsoever. At £99, there are a few other options that will be more attractive, especially considering this is still technically ChiFi after all.

Those in the US will do well to check it out, though, especially considering all the nice updates at what is still the same MSRP as before. Wireless charging is nice to have for the case, but Bluetooth 5.2 is certainly as future-proof as you can get at this point, when most Bluetooth sources are still on 5.0 or 5.1 at most. The Lypertek PurePlay Z3 2.0 brings with it the latest Qualcomm Bluetooth chipset with dual antenna support from a compatible source for even better channel isolation, increased operating bandwidth and signal strength, and potentially better battery life. The mobile app support is good to see as well, although things clearly only just got better based on all the negative customer reviews on iOS and Android from only a couple of weeks ago. It allows more tuning and customization and has a software-based soundstage profile, which ultimately did not do the job for me, but your mileage may vary. It makes locating the ear buds easier if you happen to misplace one between your couch cushions or on a crowded desk at work, for instance, has EQ profiles, and makes changing the onboard controls possible.

The tuning has seemingly not changed, albeit now with my own testing tools at hand, it's clear that a few things were as expected and a few others not so much. There is an increased bass response compared to the rated curve, which can be attributed to the single 6 mm dynamic driver in each bud and no balanced armature/tweeter drivers to takeover for the mids and highs. Midrange and vocals are extremely neutral, so much so that it may not be for everyone, but with good detail even into the early treble range before things fall off a cliff. The soundstage isn't very wide, though, and the lack of newer codecs also hurts. It goes back to the pricing: At $99, these are absolutely worth it. I can only hope pricing in other regions goes down soon to reflect the relative bargain the Lypertek PurePlay Z3 2.0 is in the US.