Etymotic ER4 (2016) vs KZ ZSN (2018)

The Etymotic ER4XR has managed to impress reviewers from some of the most highly trusted sources on the internet, including PCmag and Wirecutter. It performed great in their in-depth hands-on roundups - it was awarded the "IEM alternative" title by headphonesaddict.com and "Ranked 1 out of 9" by PCmag in their respective In-Ear Monitor roundups. That's high praise, especially when coming from such high-quality sources.

As for the KZ ZSN (2018) - it was really well-received by reviewers at Rtings, a great source that's known for conducting high-quality in-depth testing. It performed great in its "The 6 Best Earbuds Under $50 - Summer 2023" roundup and was named its "Best Wired Earbuds Under $50", which, on its own, makes it a product that warrants a closer look.

Lastly, we averaged out all of their review ratings and observed that the Etymotic ER4XR, with its 8.5 average, performed considerably better than most In-Ear Monitors - the mean score for the product category being 7.7 out of 10 - while the KZ ZSN (2018) managed an average of 7.6.

There's one caveat here - it might not be entirely justifiable to do a direct Etymotic ER4XR vs. KZ ZSN (2018) review average comparison since they aren't priced the same and more expensive products tend to get higher review scores from some sources.