Shure SE215 vs KZ ZSN (2018)

The Shure SE215 is one of the very best In-Ear Monitors that one can get for around $80. The KZ ZSN (2018), however, while a very good choice at its $30 price point, falls just short of being remarkable.

The Shure SE215 has managed to impress reviewers from some of the most highly trusted sources on the internet, including tuck.com and SoundGuys. It performed great in their in-depth hands-on roundups - it was awarded the "Best Earbud Headphones" title by tuck.com and "Best non-gaming" by headphonesaddict.com 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 reliable source that's known for conducting its own, high-quality, in-depth testing. It performed great in its "The 5 Best Cheap Earbuds - Spring 2023" roundup and was named its "Most Durable Cheap Earbuds", which, on its own, makes it a product that warrants a closer look.

When we thoroughly analyzed their review scores, we learned that all of the sources that tested both In-Ear Monitors, including Rtings, preferred the Shure SE215 over the KZ ZSN (2018).

We also took a look at which sources they managed to impress the most. The Shure SE215 was liked best by SoundGuys, which gave it a score of 8.3, while the KZ ZSN (2018) got its highest, 8.5, score from Head-fi.

Lastly, we averaged out all of their review ratings and observed that the Shure SE215, with its 7.8 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 Shure SE215 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.