Quality Control
At ALOVA, we put our open-ear headphones through a careful 25-step quality control process to ensure top product quality.
Step 1: Incoming material inspection
Basis: Pre-production samples or spec sheets serve as the standard for incoming material inspection. Materials must be inspected prior to mass production.
Inspection Scope: All incoming materials undergo testing, either through full inspection or sampling, to ensure they meet quality standards before proceeding to production.
Items Inspected: The inspection covers incoming materials from suppliers, including plastic shells, vibrators, speakers, motherboards, batteries, charging cables, instruction manuals, packaging, and more.
Document Comparison: Instruction manuals and packaging are also verified against customer specifications, ensuring accurate colors, content, and processes.
Step 2: Dustproof Process
All personnel must wear dustproof clothing and shoe covers and pass through the air shower room before entering the production area.
This process is designed to prevent human static electricity from damaging electronic components, maintain a clean and hygienic production environment, and ensure that products remain clean and tidy.
Step 3: SOP (Work Instructions)
Each process has a corresponding SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) to ensure that all workers understand the production standards for their workstation.
Before product launch, all employees receive training on proper assembly methods. The engineering department then issues an operation instruction, and production proceeds according to these established standards.
Step 4: Soldering Station Safety
Equipped with Ventilation Fan: Small fans are installed to remove soldering fumes, ensuring a healthier environment for workers.
Eco-Friendly Soldering Materials: Uses environmentally friendly soldering irons and lead-free solder.
Compliant with European Environmental Standards: The entire process adheres to strict European environmental regulations.
Step 5: Battery Power Testing
Voltage and Current Check: Verify that the battery’s voltage and current meet standard levels.
Capacity Analysis for Bulk Shipments: Large batches of batteries undergo testing with a battery capacity analyzer in the lab to confirm capacity and compliance with other quality standards.
Step 6: UV Glue Application
Purpose: Provides waterproofing, sweat resistance, and drop protection.
Process: UV glue is quickly cured under UV light. Drop protection is primarily achieved by securing the circuit with UV glue, ensuring that the circuit remains intact and undamaged if the earphones are dropped.
Step 7: Button Function Test
Ensure that buttons operate correctly and provide the intended tactile feedback upon pressing.
Step 8: Pressure Holding Fixture/Clip
Purpose: Provides continuous fixation.
Purpose: Used to securely fasten upper and lower components, preventing excessive gaps.
Step 9: IP68 Product Coating & Potting
Purpose: Ensures complete sealing of the cavity.
Standard: Glue overflow is part of our process standard, as it guarantees internal cavity sealing. However, this also presents a challenge for maintaining exterior cleanliness.
Step 10: Automatic Dispensing Machine
Advantages: Efficient, fast, and reduces labor costs.
Function: Ensures even glue application and rapid production. The automatic dispensing machine is used for applying glue to components such as vibrators, casing materials, and buttons.
Step 11: Manual Glue Application
Purpose: Used for areas that cannot be reached by machines, complex sections, and precise glue filling, requiring manual application for accurate positioning.
Step 12: Shielded Room Testing
Conducted in a dedicated shielded room to prevent Bluetooth interference.
Each product undergoes testing with a Bluetooth analyzer to verify Bluetooth connectivity, correct device name, button functionality, microphone performance, and charging indicator lights.
We uphold a zero-tolerance standard for any functional defects.
Step 13: Charging and Aging Test
Charging Process: All products are fully charged before shipping. Each product charges for approximately 1-2 hours to ensure some battery life remains when the customer receives it after long sea transport.
Sampling for Testing: 1% of each order undergoes testing. Due to the long battery life of the headphones, a full batch aging test is not feasible, but a sample is tested.
Aging Test Procedure: Products are fully charged, then connected to a Bluetooth tester to play random songs, discharging fully, recharging, and repeating the discharge-recharge cycle to evaluate battery endurance and performance.
Step 14: Radio Frequency Test
Purpose: Ensures antenna consistency between the left and right earbuds in true wireless headphones.
Process: Uses RF testing equipment to check Bluetooth antenna alignment, frequency, and signal consistency.
Step 15: Electroacoustic Test
Purpose: Verifies consistency of speaker and microphone parameters.
Step 16: IP68 Product Airtightness Test
Purpose: Tests IP68 products for water leakage.
Process: Each product is tested using a specialized jig, with 30%-50% of each order sampled. Only swimming headphones require this test.
Step 17: IP68 Product Leak Point Analysis
Purpose: Identifies leak locations.
Process: For products that fail the airtightness test, engineers use a leak detection instrument to locate leak points, trace the cause, and implement repairs or improvements.
Step 18: IP68 Product Card Reading Test
Purpose: Primarily for swimming headphones, which have a storage card feature.
Each headphone is connected to a computer via a data cable to verify card reading functionality.
Step 19: Appearance Quality Inspection
Method: Glue Cleaning
Purpose: Primarily for swimming headphones, as they require full glue filling. After filling, excess glue may overflow, leaving residue on the headphones.
Workers manually clean off the cured glue on each unit. One worker can clean approximately 6-8 units of the OPENEAR Bone X2 model or around 3-5 units of the OPENEAR Bone F1 model per hour.
Step 20: First Batch Sample Verification
Before packaging, the first batch sample’s packaging and accessories are verified to ensure consistency.
Packing is done according to the signed-off first batch sample specifications.
Step 21: Automatic Film Laminating
Purpose: Uses an automatic film laminating machine to apply a layer of shrink wrap on color boxes, enhancing the overall product finish.
Step 22: Full Box Weighing
Purpose: Ensures no headphone accessories are missing.
Step 23: Full Carton Weighing
Purpose: Ensures no headphone accessories are missing.
Step 24: Pre-Shipment Quality Assurance
Process: Packaged products are randomly selected, unpacked for inspection, and then repacked to ensure quality standards are met before shipment.
Step 25: Dual-Arm Drop Tester
Process: Drop test from a height of 1 meter, testing all 6 sides for durability.