RC054

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher

Model: Soundpeats Mini
Price: £39.99
Soundpeats Website: Not Listed On Their Website Yet
Review Reference: RC054

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: SoundPEATS
• Model: Mini
• Driver: Not mentioned anywhere
• Chipset: Airoha AB1562M
• Frequency Response Range: 20-20000Hz
• Mic: 4, Elevoc VocPlus AI Human Voice Extraction
• ANC: No
• Volume Control: Yes
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.03g
• Earbud Dimensions: 17.7mm long, 15mm (without nozzle), 23.4mm (height with nozzle)
• Case + Earbuds Gross Weight: 32.39g
• Case Dimensions: 56mm (width) x 41mm (height) x 25mm (depth)
• Case Charge Capacity: 400mAh
• Full Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: No
• Input: 5V 1A
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 7 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 27 hours
• App Support: Not currently
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX5

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless earbuds
1 x Type-C USB Battery charging case
1 x Type-C USB charging cable
1 x User manual, quick guide, warranty card



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the SoundPEATS Mini.

First things first, there are some very confusing reviews going around, such as Gamesky's review of the T3, which have failed to grasp the direction of SoundPEATS product range. SoundPEATS are currently revamping all of their portfolio, so a lot of new 5.2 chip-based products are coming in to replace the Realtek 5.0 chip products from 2018-2020. The T3 shouldn't be looked upon as an upgrade to the T2, so don't judge them that way - they are an upgrade from the Q or TrueCapsule. Also, you can't critisize them for having weak ANC if you don't know what's coming next - maybe SoundPEATS also have a full hybrid ANC stem-based product released soon too, in the same way Tronsmart released the Apollo Air and Onyx Apex at the same time. So these factors need to be taken into consideration - don't believe every review on YouTube, no matter how accomplished the reviewer is (and how many followers they have).

Here is a summary as I see it:



Note - the T3 does NOT replace the T2, it is an upgrade on the Q and TrueCapsule Range. If you want to learn more about SoundPEATS, scroll down to the bottom.

Anyhow, with that out of the way, onto the product in hand. The Mini are a real deviation from the norm as far as SoundPEATS are concerned. Note one of my issues with their previous in-ear releases has been the bulky ergonomics, which has been a feature of the T2, Sonic, and before that, the TrueEngine3 range. As well as chunky button areas, the long necks have made them quite unstable for prolonged use, especially where you move your head frequently, such as exercise or even a brisk walk. They weren't especially uncomfortable, but you couldn't get them to stay in your ears if you have a narrow ear canal. It looks like the Mini were released to change that.

The Unboxing - 7/10

I've said it before and I'll say it again - SoundPEATS are nothing if not consistent. The packaging is like any other SoundPEATS release, detailing their key features on the back, showing how they are worn and the model on the front. Note the stands attribute -Elevoc VocPlus AI Noise Cancellation. This is the second product I've reviewed with this feature (RC024 - TaoTronics SoundLiberty 80 being the other) and I have the Elevoc TWS on the way. My experience with the TaoTronics was very positive in this respect. More on that under calls, as it refers to how the mics interact, not ANC - which this model does not have.



A foam insert houses the charge case and buds, and the manual is in the usual English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Simplified Chinese.

The Case - 8/10

The case is, like most Soundpeats cases, finished predominantly in a rather generic-looking matte charcoal grey, with a light grey rim around the edge of the lid. The Soundpeats logo is embossed into the centre, and just below it, there is a non-tactile LED which denotes the level of remaining juice. When you take the buds out, green denotes 50-100% charge, amber is 10-49% and red is below 10%. When charging, the LED will pulse, with red denoting less than 20%, Amber 20-70%, Green 70-100%. When it reaches a full charge, the pulse stops and the light stays solid.

The battery capacity of the charge case is 400ma, which means it is going to take quite a while to charge even with 5v 1a input - expect around 2 hours for the case and an additional 45-60 minutes for the buds. This will provide you with between 2-3 additional full charges.



There is no wireless-charging and no quick charge feature - charge is via USB-C at the back of the case. The hinge, as indicated by the gap in the grey rim, is rather small and flimsy, as you would expect for a case of this size. The hinge is also not friction-based - at least not my model, contrary to reviews I've seen on YouTube.



The size of the case is its key facet, with a similar shape to the Huawei FreeBuds Pro, but a fraction of the size. In fact, if you flip it around, it is a similar size to the Air3, albeit slightly bigger.



Portability for this case is extraordinary - in trouser pockets, you can forget the case is even there. At 56mm (width) x 41mm (height) x 25mm (depth) and weight of just 32g, it is one of the most portable cases on the market, and the curved edges makes it feel even smaller than it is.

The good outweighs the bad overall - if you take care of your earbuds, the case is perfectly fine, but if you leave them in your pocket with your keys, well don't be surprised to see it get scratched up pretty quickly.

Ergonomics - 8/10

The Ergonomics are a cut above SoundPEATS' previous in-ear releases, finally moving away from the bulky exterior and long neck, and nestling very nicely in you concha without the need for constant readjustment. Not only that but they're comfy too - they are not invasive and passive isolation still isn't bad at all.



The outside of the bud has around two thirds of the Soundpeats logo in the outer half of the touch area. Kinda strange but it looks fine. The touch area is a nice size - perfect for fingertips. Touch controls are responsive. There are no glow in the dark LED's like on the Sonic!



The gap at the bottom is both a subtle pairing LED - this is far less obvious than the Sonic - similar to the H1 - and I believe the chamber for the voice mic. I suspect the feedthrough mic is inside the nozzle, although the buds are so tiny it is quite hard to tell.



The ergonomic design is revealed, although not to its true extent, above. It has a nice curvature that helps with the fit, although the battery connectors do make contact with your skin - bear this in mind if you're an allergy-sufferer.



The paradoxical design is further portrayed when compared with the H1 and Jabra Elite 75t. The mini looks quite wide compared to the H1 and Elite 75t, but due to the angle of the stem and position of the inner contours, it fits as well, if not better, than the H1, is far less invasive than the 75t, and protrudes less than both of them.

The result is genuinely very good stability - I took them on a 7k run yesterday with no problems at all, and they lack the 'thud' which makes the Jabra and other of this ilk practically unusable for running. I don't have the Edifier TWS1 Pro any more, but they are a similar sort of design to them, albeit lower profile - which suits me fine, as it means you can also fall asleep on the sofa with them without any kind of discomfort.



The weight of the earbuds is also impressively light. At just 4g, again they are towards the bottom of the chart, and this makes the whole experience much more pleasing.

The buds are IPX5 water resistant, meaning they are fine for sweat and a spot of rain.

Comfort-wise, they have been surpassed by the QCY T17 and Redmi Buds 3 Youth Edition.

Audio Quality - 8/10 (for the price paid), 7/10 (raw score)

After being spoiled with the H1 and Air3, there is a definite compromise with the Mini, although not too much to rule them out altogether.

I tested the buds with several tracks using a variety of methodologies and sources. Wankelmut's 'My Head Is A Jungle', a bouncy tech house track remixed by MK with highly reverbed female vocals, betrayed a slight raspiness on Windows 11. Overdrive by Oliver Heldens shows a nicely rounded bass representation that is unquestionably rolled off at the lowest frequencies. It sounds good, without making you want to get up and dance.

This was not so apparent with Tears For Fears where the vocals blend in a little more, the drums are nicely weighted if a little thin at times, and the guitars are also quite laid-back. It is a very similar story with Stars by Simply Red where percussion has a nice pronounced feel to it. Mick Hucknall's unique vocals have a really nice depth with the Sonic.

Where they don't shine quite so much is on R&B. Usher's 'You Make Me Wanna' felt rather thin, lacking the warmth and intimacy that the track intended, whilst the midbass hummed quite hard, making it a less pleasurable experience.

The soundstage is actually generally quite spacious - 'Don't You Forget About Me' by Simple Minds is airy with the the bass feeling down towards your throat, vocals to the front and Charlie Burchills and Mick MacNeil's chords expanding outwards very nicely.

Overall it is a good sound quality that requires barely any adjustment other than a roll off of the highest frequencies to get quite a balanced sound, without the depth of flagships like the H1.

Call Quality - Indoors - 8/10, Outdoors - 8/10

Elevoc Voc Plus AI Noise Reduction huh? Any good?

Yep! Just listening to the Air3 on a recorded webinar via Zoom, your voice is fairly clear on that model but you can alternate between bassy and nasal sounding, with a crackle at times. The Air 3 were pretty good at handling calls, but the Mini are on another level.

Firstly, indoors your voice is far less natural sounding, with less bass in your tone. However, the focus is on clarity and ensuring your words are heard - and every single word was perfectly legible. Sure, you sound a little thin and processed, but the killer test - two cars and a motorbike going past - was reduced to a mild hum. The drawback is you get the occasional crackle or spike, but otherwise it's a happy trade-off.

Prolonged tests showed that the Mini need an 'adjustment' period - let's say you're in a train station for thirty minutes. The first minute of a call will be a bit inconsistent while the algorithm adjusts. After that, they start to level off and show their class, but for some users who are on the move, it may come across a little disappointing. They demonstrated this in my test of 28 different tws models here:



For this form factor and price point, call quality is truly outstanding, a feature that SoundPEATS should really talk more about, because it wipes the floor with the competition in this space - by contrast, the Jabra Elite 75t - the previous gold standard, are very poor in comparison.

The SoundPEATS Mini were part of my indoor mic test, which you can find here on YouTube:



Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 6/10

Connectivity is a bit of an Achilles heel with the Mini. Not only did I struggle to get the 10m advertised, it annoyingly eventually processes the sound, but so sped up to catch up, that it's more painful than it dropping out altogether.

The Mini only support AAC and SBC, so no hi res codecs, nor low-latency like aptX-adaptive. They do, however, support gaming mode (although you need the Airreps156X V1.5.0 app - SoundPEATS don't have their own app....yet). Voice assistant can be hailed with the MFB (triple tap), it's single taps for volume control, double taps for play and pause and call control, hold for 1.5 secs for track cycling and rejecting calls, and to enter pairing mode or reset, hold them down for 6 seconds.

There is no ANC, no quick charge, no app support. They're Bluetooth 5.2 enabled, but aside from the Voc+ AI call processing, you don't get much in the way of features with this budget option.

Battery Life - 8/10

I got around 7 hours from the Mini with streaming services, calls and volume at around 60% (they're loud). This is very respectable and well within the advertised 8 hour range. The 28 hours from the case and buds is pretty good - not groundbreaking, but good enough. There's no ANC to drain the battery.

Summary

SoundPEATS are slowly but surely refreshing the models within their range that are edging towards the 'obsolescence' category, with the mini the natural heir to the TrueCapsule. Retailing at just $42.99, they are price-friendly and an odd combination of sporty form factor with superb call quality. Ever had to stop your run or bike ride to make a call? As odd as it sounds, there are plenty of times I've wanted a set of buds to take on my bike and maybe sit in the park and make some calls. Well, now I have them!

The Mini sound good out of the box, have amazing call quality, are IPX5 WR, have a highly portable case and a very decent battery life, don't cost the earth, are super comfortable and suitable in so many use cases!

It pays to remember this is not a flagship release - the lack of ANC, support for high def codecs, quick charge and lack of premium features such as Multipoint may put you off making them a ‘first choice’, and the sound is also not in the league of the H1. However it is good enough, certainly with a little tweak, and whilst this is not a release that will blow you away features-wise, they are the kind of buds you turn to when you're tired of earbuds. They just do everything pretty well - they're no fuss buds that you can easily forget are even there.

To summarise, the Mini are an underrated release that I could see being a lot of people's 'spare pair', and maybe the number one choice for those that can't afford premium products with richer feature sets. Another solid release from SoundPEATS, and a good addition to the portfolio.

Price Weighted Score: 83%
Raw Score: 80%
2022 Score: 75%

instagram: regancipher

SoundPEATS Review Inventory:

SoundPEATS Mini
SoundPEATS Air3
SoundPEATS TrueAir2+
SoundPEATS TrueAir 2
SoundPEATS H1
SoundPEATS T2
SoundPEATS Sonic

About SoundPEATS:

SoundPEATS seem to have become an overnight sensation, wiping up a large portion of budget TWS earbud market share with a business model that has served them (and Anker before them) exceptionally well - good distribution channels (via Amazon), good support, a catchy name and product that performs well at a very competitive price point. In reality, they have been around a long time - whilst Shenzhen SoundSOUL IT Co LTD is a different trading name to Ginto E-Commerce, they share the same business address (including room number) as them - you may know their brand name better as Dudios. With Dudios not sounding quite so cool as Soundpeats, maybe the brand transition has been instrumental in their success, but having been around since 2010 and patents in Bluetooth tech stretching back to 2015, they are not the plucky upstarts that some may think - they know their stuff, have a great network of contacts, and now a very solid brand in Europe, and deservedly so.

The thing that sets SoundPEATS apart from other vendors, and makes them my favourite budget earbud vendor, is that they are completely transparent over their components. Whether they use Realtek, Qualcomm or Airoha chips in their buds, they are totally open about it, and as a reviewer this really helps, because whilst I have, and do, dismantle buds to check the way that certain things have been implemented (such as the power management, mems mics, etc) and I really don't like having to do it with every set of earbuds, because they then become unusable.

RC053

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher
Socials: Biolink

Model: Soundpeats Air3
Price: MSRP - £49.99, Current Price - £37.99
Soundpeats Website: Soundpeats
Review Reference: RC053

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: SoundPEATS
• Model: Air3
• Driver: 14.2mm bio-compound diaphragm
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
• Impedence: 16Ω
• Frequency Response Range: 20-20000Hz
• Mic: 4, cVc 8.0
• ANC: No
• Codecs: AptX, AptX-adaptive, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 3.96g
• Earbud Dimensions: 33mm stem length
• Case + Earbuds Gross Weight: 31g
• Case Dimensions: 48.7mm (width) x 47.2mm (height) x 22mm (depth)
• Case Charge Capacity: 220mAh
• Full Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: No
• Input: 5V 1A
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 5 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 17.5 hours
• App Support: Yes
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX5
• Firmware Version Tested: 0.3.9

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless earbuds
1 x Type-C USB Battery charging case
1 x Type-C USB charging cable
1 x User manual, quick guide, warranty card



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the SoundPEATS Air3, their lateral movement from the TrueAir2+.

Having already enjoyed the TrueAir2, which I rated as my number one semi-in-ear bud for 2020 here, and then the TA2+, which I reviewed here, I was excited to learn that SoundPEATS had decided to release another iteration of the already widely acclaimed budget Airpod-killers.

The Air3 is more of a complementary release than a replacement - it makes some compromises to give you some extra benefits. Having both the Air3 and the TA2+ gives me the best of both worlds! This review aims to evaluate the Air3 on their merits, and also differentiate the TA2 and the Air3 to help you work out what's best for you.

The Unboxing - 7/10

Well here we are again, a familiar sight. SoundPEATS are nothing if not consistent! The packaging is like any other SoundPEATS release, detailing their key features on the back, showing how they are worn and the model on the front. A foam insert houses the charge case and buds, and the manual is in the usual English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Simplified Chinese.

The Case - 8/10

The case has had a major redesign, with the buds moving away from the design that inspired OnePlus with their Buds Pro to a more traditional cigarette box style design where the buds slot in the top tail first. Usually, I'm not keen on this design, but SoundPEATS have done it really well. The single light at the front denotes charge status - green means you're good, red means get it on charge quick - and the size is perfect for single handed operation.

The button to the centre is useful for resetting and pairing the buds, and the light is quite visible even out in the wild.

As with other SoundPEATS releases, the lid has a small gap, which allows for easy flipping open to use with one hand. This avoids the need for a deep lip, keeping the weight and proportions down.

The SoundPEATS logo is etched in the top, and whilst the case looks pristine now, don't be too surprised if it gets a little scuffed in your pocket. Matte finishes tend to attract marks - be they scuffs or shiny lines - rather easily, and revisiting my case after a few months, with very little in the way of rough use confirms this.

The portability is underlined when you see the case alongside the TA2. Whilst they've only taken give or take half a centimetre off the width and length, the more rounded universal shaping makes it feel much smaller. It also feels rather cheap at the same time, and the hinge is very thin, so avoid tugging on it too hard. It can also snap shut when you don't want it to, lacking the friction hinge that was so good about the T2.

A weight comparison further underlines the portability, with 20% of the weight lifted to become possibly the lightest case I've ever tested - making them perfect for fitting in the pocket of your skinny jeans. Whilst I don't usually like USB sockets at the bottom, because SoundPEATS have added the LED on the front, it is easy to see whether the buds are charging - this was a minor quibble with the TA2+.

The Air3 have compromised on charge though - like the original TA2, there is no wireless charging, and you only get 17.5 hours from the case and buds combined, compared with 25 on the TA2+.

Ergonomics - 9/10

I already loved the TA2+, but even I had to concede they weren't the most stable semi-in-ear buds around. However SoundPEATS have found a way to improve this without a drastic redesign - a simple weight displacement.

As you can see, there is very little difference to the shape of the Air3. The contoured edge is the same, the neck is the same, the depth is perhaps a shade thicker, and yet they seem to fit far more snugly, resting nicely in the bottom of your ear.

The biggest change is the stem length. By shaving 4mm off, taking it down to 33mm, they are now as sturdy as most silicone-based buds, with no danger of them falling out when you tilt or shake your head. Whilst I rarely recommend buds of this form factor for sports, I went for a quick run in them and found them staying in without an issue.

The touch controls remain at the top, and that can be a pain. I've found myself cutting callers off when I've taken the buds out of the box, because now you have to touch that part of the bud in order to remove and then use them. They will also invariably initiate play, which is fine when you're connected to your phone, but when a random YouTube video from one of the thirty browser tabs you have open starts an OS-wide manhunt, it can be a bit of a pain.

The stem, at 33mm, is the shortest semi-in-ear design I've tested so far. Here you see, from left to right, the Air3, Tronsmart Battle, SoundPEATS TA2+, Haylou Moripods, 1More Comfobuds 2 and FIIL CC. The Air3 come in 11mm shorter than the FIIL, and 4mm shorter than the average. What's more, this doesn't compromise call quality (see further down the review)

A closer look in the wild shows SoundPEATS have retained the ambient mic at the top, with a voice mic at the bottom, and the Qualcomm QCC3040 chip features cVc 8.0 noise reduction to try to balance the clarity of your voice against the noise of your surroundings. The SoundPEATS logo is much clearer without the white background, and the upgraded battery connectors, which reduce the nickel content in order to prevent skin irritation, balance the need to move them to the base - another welcome tweak.

The Air3 are slightly heavier, but this adds to the stability and makes them a snug, secure fit suitable for a variety of applications.

IPX5 water resistance means they will survive a splash of rain, but do not submerge them. The buds also feature wear detection, although this cannot be toggled on or off.

Audio Quality - 8/10 (for the price paid), 7/10 (raw score)

There is a subtle difference to the Air3 over the TrueAir2, although you'll be hard pressed to notice most of the time. The TrueAir2 had a slightly warmer feel to the soundstage that balanced well against the 'spacious' sensation that semi-in-ear buds give off by virtue of their form factor. One of the biggest complaints about this style earbud is the lack of bass, but the TrueAir2 could never be accused of that, and the Air3 even more so.

'Are You Gonna Go My Way' by Lenny Kravitz and 'Beautiful' by James Blunt, two tracks I used in my TA2 test, both show off the more expansive sound stage. 'All of Me' by John Legend shows that vocals are not compromised - baritone, falsetto and counter tenor all sound great, although they definitely take a step back to allow the instruments to take centre stage, unlike the TA2 which were definitely more vocal-centric. While the buds are loud, I noticed some distortion around 50-60Hz on high volumes, so you may want to use Wavelet to tweak that ever so slightly.

The 'classic' Soundpeats sound signature is quite v-shaped, with a raw, punchy lower frequency response and slightly harsh trebles. It makes listening to genres like house and techno 'energetic' without a great deal of detail. This works well in this style of earbud, because they sit back a little from your ear canal, so you won't have that connection you realistically need to benefit from more detail. Many earbuds of this form factor fail to account for that, and as a result audio can sound thin and underwhelming - the Air3 certainly don't fit into that category.

The 14.2mm drivers are no doubt a help in delivering this excellent bang-for-buck sound, but it goes beyond this - many earbuds at this price point have the same driver size and sound awful. SoundPEATS have done a great job with both the TA2+ and Air3, and both are a pleasant break from the usual tinny sound you get from this form factor.

Call Quality - Indoors - 8/10, Outdoors - 7/10

The main improvement in call quality is indoors, where your voice sounds less processed than the TA2. For the lion's share of the time, you come through quite natural and rich, and most background noises are nullified quite well. This was a surprise improvement given the the shorter stem length. It was a similar story on Zoom calls, except my voice sounded even more natural. Despite improving upon the TA2, I'm scoring them the same, as earbuds have organically become better in this respect - but don't be fooled, the Air3 are amongst the best, certainly in the sub $50 category.

The Air3 were included in my blanket YouTube indoor mic test here:



Outdoors I noticed a little improvement too. Calls were already good outdoors on the TA2, not in the league of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro or Elevoc offerings, but still impressive unless faced with extreme blustery conditions or heavy traffic, and it is the same story with the Air3, where your voice has a little more body than on the TrueAir2:



Overall, really quite incredible for the money - this is one area where so many mess it up, but SoundPEATS have to their credit stuck with a winning formula.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7.5/10

Connectivity is, like SoundPEATS other Qualcomm-based buds, very good. They use Bluetooth 5.2 and Qualcomm's TrueWireless Mirroring technology to ensure a future-proofed design that retains stability between both left and right bud. They support the aptX adaptive profile OOTB, and this, combined with gaming mode, delivers low latency - good enough for both videos and gamers alike.

In-ear detection works in both single and dual mode. If you want to take one bud out for the call, the music will still stop. If you want to take both buds out and use your phone, audio will quickly switch and the track will remain paused.

Controls are extensive, but sensitive. Play/Pause and Answering calls are predictably a double tap. Volume up and down is a single tap - nice to have on budget buds. Hold the buttons down for skipping tracks back and forth and rejecting calls. Triple tap right for siri/hey google, and triple tap left to toggle Gaming Mode. Very similar to the TA2 and Sonic.

If I try to adjust the buds, however, I will inevitably change track and maybe even cut callers off. Not much they can do about it, but app support to turn them on or off would solve the problem. An app is in the works - whether the Air3 will be supported, who knows.

Battery Life - 7/10

I got around 3.5 hours from the TA2, and reach similar levels, if possibly slightly higher, from the Air3 with continuous podcast listening and occasional calls.

The case adds an additional 2 charges, which reduces total playtime from 25 to 17.5 hours - in reality, if you get 10 hours from prolific use, you've had a good stint. This is pretty low by today's standards, even for this form factor, and with no fast charge supported, bear this in mind if you need an all-day set, especially as there is no quick charge nor wireless charging.

App Support



In January 2022, SoundPEATS have rolled out app support for the Air3, and whilst the app is still somewhat embryonic, it does give the option to upgrade the firmware, deactivate wear detection, initiate gaming mode and either use the custom 6-band equaliser or one of eight additional presets.



Interestingly, as well as the custom equaliser, SoundPEATS included 'Adaptive EQ'. This, like with other vendors, plays through a series of frequencies, testing your hearing, and applies the EQ it deems best fits your hearing. Whilst it works, it gives the warning it is an 'experimental feature', and like Anker and other brands, I didn't find it improved my listening immeasurably. Second time I tested was much better - it goes without saying that due to being semi-in-ear, a quiet room to do this is essential. Even so, it's a nice feature. There is sadly no button mapping in the app, so some room for improvement.

The app also requires sign up to SoundPEATS' cloud server - not my favourite process by any means, but that's the price you pay with many of these TWS apps.

Summary

The TrueAir2+ were a nice little re-rub of an already excellent set of earbuds. Only adding £5 to the price, they included wireless charging, lower latency, a red/amber/green light to denote charge and, well...that was about it. App support has been added since, putting a little more daylight between the models.

The Air3 are also an evolution rather than a revolution, with a big improvement in stability, gaming mode, a very pocket-friendly and more practical box, especially if you want something to fit in your skinny jeans pockets, and slightly improved call quality.

If you value wireless charging and long battery life, the TA2+ may still be the better option, but the Air3 are an excellent addition to the portfolio, and have become my go-to for semi-in-ear buds - my preferred form factor by some distance.

Well done SoundPEATS on another excellent release.

Price Weighted Score: 95%
Raw Score: 87%
2022 Score: 82%

SoundPEATS Review Inventory:

SoundPEATS Mini
SoundPEATS Air3
SoundPEATS TrueAir2+
SoundPEATS TrueAir 2
SoundPEATS H1
SoundPEATS T2
SoundPEATS Sonic

About SoundPEATS:

SoundPEATS seem to have become an overnight sensation, wiping up a large portion of budget TWS earbud market share with a business model that has served them (and Anker before them) exceptionally well - good distribution channels (via Amazon), good support, a catchy name and product that performs well at a very competitive price point. In reality, they have been around a long time - whilst Shenzhen SoundSOUL IT Co LTD is a different trading name to Ginto E-Commerce, they share the same business address (including room number) as them - you may know their brand name better as Dudios. With Dudios not sounding quite so cool as Soundpeats, maybe the brand transition has been instrumental in their success, but having been around since 2010 and patents in Bluetooth tech stretching back to 2015, they are not the plucky upstarts that some may think - they know their stuff, have a great network of contacts, and now a very solid brand in Europe, and deservedly so.

The thing that sets SoundPEATS apart from other vendors, and makes them my favourite budget earbud vendor, is that they are completely transparent over their components. Whether they use Realtek, Qualcomm or Airoha chips in their buds, they are totally open about it, and as a reviewer this really helps, because whilst I have, and do, dismantle buds to check the way that certain things have been implemented (such as the power management, mems mics, etc) and I really don't like having to do it with every set of earbuds, because they then become unusable.

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)

Model: Tronsmart Studio
Vendor Website: Tronsmart
Review Reference: RC052

Manufacturer Specifications:

• Brand: Tronsmart
• Model: Studio
• Power: 30w RMS
• Audio: Dynamic 2.1 channel dual tweeter and single subwoofer
• Technology: SoundPulse®, Tuneconn Technology
• Mic: Yes
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Digital Assistant: Yes
• Inputs: TF/BT/3.5mm LI
• Weight: 961g
• Dimensions: 208mm x 70mm x 59mm
• Input: 5v 2A
• Full Charge Time: 3-3.5 hours
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 15 hours
• App Support: Yes - Android and IOS
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.0
• Bluetooth Protocols: HFP 1.6/ A2DP 1.3/ AVRCP 1.4
• Water Resistance: IPX4

Includes:

1 x Speaker
1 x User Manual (ENG, ESP, FR, DE, JP, RU)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x AUX cable
1 x Warranty Card



Introduction

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the Tronsmart Studio 30w Bluetooth Speaker. This is a first for me - usually I only publish earbud reviews - but I was in the audio industry for a long time and have taken enough brands of speaker to festivals and hotels for weekends on the sesh to know a good (and a bad) one!

Tronsmart are now fully established as a mid range technology vendor at a very competitive price point, with their focus almost solely on audio products - mostly speakers and headphones. Founder Eric Cheng, a self-confessed geek, founded the company with his first paycheck (where was he working?!), building a lab to disassemble audio products with the aim to recreate them in his own vision at a cost-efficient price point. After bringing in ear-chewing trophy-winning footballer Luis Suarez as an ambassador, the company have gone from strength to strength, building a close relationship with Qualcomm, and bringing two of their chips to market first with the Apollo Bold and Apollo Air. For speakers, the range is now almost as extensive as their earbuds, ranging from 7, 10 and 15w mini speakers through to the 60w Force Pro and Mega Pro.

In the middle is the Tronsmart Studio. Unlike the T6, this is a horizontal speaker, so designed to sit landscape across a desk. The key differentiator with the Studio is the ability to daisy-chain up to 100 speakers in leader-follower configuration - no mean feat! Its design is definitely with the home office in mind, and that's how I've been testing it over the past few months.

You can see the full range of Tronsmart speakers here

The Unboxing

Unboxing the Studio is a pleasant enough experience, with the top lid, which details most of the key features, lifted away to reveal a nice grey sleeve with the Studio layout etched out.



Once you get into the box itself, you see a very hefty speaker, a card detailing their SoundPulse technology, a warranty card, USB-C charge cable and a very clear and easy to follow user manual detailing the button configuration, an explanation of what each of the lights mean, and instructions on how to use the product.

The manual is excellent, and uses the same format as the Apollo Air and Onyx Apex, with diagrammatic explanations of the control scheme. This is really useful as it crosses the language barrier, but regardless, there are still text instructions in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.

Build Quality



The build quality of the Studio is superb, especially given the price point. It has a relatively sizeable footprint at 21cm wide, with a depth of 7cm and a height of around 65mm. The unit is extremely robust, built with an aluminum alloy shell and finished in powder-coated black, and the three drivers (two tweeter, one woofer) are backed up with 4 passive radiators. The weight is quite substantial - around 850g.

The back of the unit shows the variety of inputs - 3.5mm jack, TF/SD card (up to 128gb supported) and USB-C for power. Obviously they also support Bluetooth connection too.



The bottom of the unit has a rubberised-finish silicone pad. This is really useful in avoiding scratching or chipping surfaces, which it unquestionably would without it. It also acts as a vibration dissipater, providing more clarity to the sound.

On the top you see the buttons which control the unit. You'll notice I've had to max out the exposure - it is very difficult to see the buttons otherwise, and this is one of the minor quibbles I have with the Studio - I find myself having to tilt the unit from time to time, even shining my phone torch on it to verify.

The volume buttons double up as track cycle buttons (down is previous, up is next) if you hold them down for 2 secs. The other buttons are power cycle, input mode, broadcast mode, SoundPulse mode and answer call/hang up. There is also the option to hail the voice assistant, which worked fine for me with Google and Alexa on my OnePlus Nord.

Amidst the buttons are a number of lights - white lights around the power button denote the battery/charge status, blue signifies Bluetooth pairing status, green denotes AUX/TF, yellow shows broadcast mode, and around the SoundPulse button, a white LED shows whether it is on or off.

Charging takes quite a while - around 3.5 hours (just over) to get 100% from dead, but this gives you around 15 hours playtime at 50% volume. My testing showed around 9.5 hours with a few podcasts, teams calls and several phone calls.

Audio and Features

Tronsmart advertise SoundPulse Technology as a patented headline feature, which facilitates strong bass with minimal distortion. Combined with the build they have clearly tried to enable different sound profiles for different audiences.

SoundPulse is definitely no placebo - bass is very prominent, with a subbass rumble that defies the wattage and will unquestionably appeal to those who like a thumping bassline. Whilst it gives a full, warmer sound, when the low frequencies get complex you may find midrange elements recess a little and lose detail, and around 60-70Hz there is some minor distortion as the amplitude spikes. This is to be expected given the form factor - it should be remembered this is a portable speaker, not a home media system - and performance is overall excellent taking this into consideration. The unit is also very loud, and sound distribution is good.

Default mode will be fine for most listeners, albeit a little thin, but via the Tronsmart app, you have a number of other options to EQ the sound as you see fit.



Connecting to the speaker is straightforward - you need the Tronsmart app, which is the same app as the Apollo Bold/Air etc. - and connecting gives you the familiar three screen menu.

The EQ offers, aside SoundPulse, Deep Bass, which reduces the volume slightly and recesses the middle frequencies further. 3D tries to give the illusion of surround sound by lifting the mids and high mids to give the impression of an airier soundstage, Hifi is very balanced, and my preferred sound signature, Vocal is the Spunky Beat v-shaped style sound and Rock reduces the subbass and higher frequencies in order to give the lower mids room to breath. Unfortunately there is no custom mode (yet) but using Wavelet, you can keep the Hifi sound and tweak the bass a little, getting an ideal sound, certainly for me.

The app also allows you to daisy chain up to 100 speakers through their 'TuneConn' technology. Whilst this is unquestionably a cool feature, only having one in my hand, I could not test it out. You can update the firmware and consult the manual too.

Calls

Calls are doable with the Studio speaker. You need to be around 30cm away to get the full benefit, otherwise you will sound like you're mumbling.

Summary

Whilst it is quite difficult to understand the use case for the Studio over many of the other Tronsmart speakers, sitting on my desk next to my PC it is a very good option for listening to tutorials, making phone calls, joining webinars and generally improving upon the sound from my monitor.

I don't have huge experience with mini Bluetooth speakers but I've tried similarly priced offerings from Anker, Tribit, JBL and Doss, and the Studio certainly doesn't lag behind any of them. The impressive battery life, decent sound and solid selection of features makes it a sound purchase - if you have a habit of dropping your speakers on the floor, look no further, unless you have a glass floor of course!

At the current price on Amazon UK, it is very competitively priced against its peers, with some notable improvements. If they can offer a customisable EQ through their app, it would be the icing on the cake.

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Tronsmart Review Inventory:

Tronsmart Studio
Tronsmart Apollo Air
Tronsmart Battle
Tronsmart Onyx Apex
Tronsmart Apollo Q10
Tronsmart Onyx Free
Tronsmart Apollo Bold

About Tronsmart:

Tronsmart are now fully established as a mid to premium range earbud vendor, with their focus almost solely on audio products - mostly speakers and headphones. Founder Eric Cheng, a self-confessed geek, founded the company with his first paycheck (where was he working?!), building a lab to disassemble audio products with the aim to recreate them in his own vision at a cost-efficient price point.

After bringing in ear-chewing trophy-winning footballer Luis Suarez as an ambassador, the company have gone from strength to strength, building a close relationship with Qualcomm, and bringing two of their chips to market first with the Apollo Bold, and then the Apollo Air, which uses the Qualcomm QCC3046.

For speakers, the range is now almost as extensive as their earbuds, ranging from 7, 10 and 15w mini speakers through to the 60w Force Pro and Mega Pro.

Tronsmart remain one of my favourite mid-tier vendors, outrunning their budget competitors by releasing flagship products alongside the run-of-the-mill releases, and demonstrating transparency and commitment to quality and innovation with every release.

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
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Model: QCY HT03
Price: Approx. $35 from Aliexpress
Vendor Website: QCY
Review Reference: RC051

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: QCY
• Model: HT03
• Driver: 10mm Dynamic Drivers
• Chipset: Not known
• Mic: 4
• ANC: Yes, up to 40dB
• Volume Control: Yes
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.87g
• Earbud Dimensions: 30mm stem length
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 41.21g
• Case Dimensions: 57mm (width) x 53mm (height) x 19mm (depth)
• Case Charge Capacity: 380mAh
• Input: 5v 400mA
• Full Charge Time: 2 hours
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: No
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 6 hours (ANC off), 5 hours (ANC on)
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 24 hours (ANC off), 27 hours (ANC on)
• App Support: Yes (Android only)
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.1
• Bluetooth Protocols: HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: Not specified - they haven't achieved any certifications

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
3 x Pair Silicone Tips
1 x User manual



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the latest TWS from QCY, their HT03. If you don't know QCY, please scroll to the bottom of the review and read 'Who Are QCY' before continuing. If you do, then you can skip that bit!

QCY's first ANC release, the HT01, were widely regarded as something of a success, offering decent ANC and good sound at a highly affordable price. Not only do the HT03 stretch the specifications further - they support Bluetooth 5.1, offer 5/6 hour single charge playtime, ambient mode and voice assistant, but they're cheaper too - they have been selling for anywhere between $30-50 in their first month of release. Given the only ANC TWS on Aliexpress close to this price is the MPOW X3 (over a year old, and not particularly good) I wasn't expecting too much from QCY here...but lately they've been showing they're becoming masters of finding the balance between 'good enough' and 'cheap enough', so judgement reserved, and testing begins......

The Unboxing - 7/10



Incremental improvements have typified QCY's approach to the TWS market in general, and the unboxing continues in the same vein. Gone are the days of spelling mistakes and tatty boxes - the new breed of QCY buds feature their new logo and consistent branding, in terms of their colour scheme, slogan and box layout. It makes receiving and navigating new QCY buds really easy these days and is most welcome. Still, there's nothing too fancy about the unboxing experience - it's 'no fuss', straightforward, and everything you need is inside. Most of the key features are included on the front and back - here it's Bluetooth 5.1, ANC and Transparency Mode.



Like the T12, which I reviewed here, the buds and case are enclosed in a plastic grey inlay, and underneath you have an unfolding quick guide, a sealed bag with two sets of spare, alternate sized tips and USB type-C charge cable. The tips that come with the HT03 are, like most earbuds, quite poor quality, so you'll likely be looking to change these over anyway.



The manual is straightforward enough, although I would prefer to see QCY use some larger graphics and text, mainly due to my failing eyesight. The QR code on the front takes you straight to the QCY app, which is remarkable to have in buds so inexpensive.

The Case - 8/10



Just like the T12, the case to the HT03 is clearly very well designed and engineered, making a mockery of the low price tag. However I feel it is the best case I've seen from QCY yet. Whilst it is hard to convey in the picture, it has a really nice sparkly crystalised-like design that immediately stands out from the conventional matte or gloss finishes you see on more generic cases. The UV polished coating is dubbed 'starry black' in QCY's promo material, and when you take the case outside, you see why.



The image above reveals the top of the case, where you can clearly see the 'glistening' to the design as well as the subtle QCY branding - their logo, screen printed on the lid. Whilst it may look like a scuff mark on top, I can assure you it is just the sunlight - it still looks brand new after a week of testing.



When you open the case, the design is quite similar to the Huawei FreeBuds 4 and Xiaomi Flipbuds Pro, and is a dead ringer for the Realme Buds Air 2 case. Like those cases, the buds slot in the top of the cockpit upright and back to back with the tips facing outwards. Between the buds there are LED's both on the inside and outside. The inside LED denotes charging status (red for charging, no light for not charging) and outside one tells you how much charge is left - when green, you have more than 50% charge, when red, less than 50%. It is initiated by pressing the small round button on the back of the case, adjacent to the hinge. I tried to get a picture but as with many black cases, it is impossible to show.

The USB socket is on the bottom, and the case provides an additional 4 charges, taking the overall charge to around 25 hours. This isn't bad by any means, but even with ANC we are seeing some cases providing more than this. There's unfortunately no quick charge feature - it takes two hours to charge the case and buds fully - and no wireless charging, but at this price, it isn't really surprising.



The case is really nicely proportioned. It measures less than 60mm at its longest, and is very slimline at 18mm depth. Weighing just 41g fully loaded - nearly half of the Huawei Freebuds Pro, it's a really nice size and shape for carrying out and about.

Ergonomics - 8/10, Build quality - 7/10



The HT03 are not unusual stem-based earbuds, with an angled-design that's takes the general shape from the Haylou W1, with an angled head more akin to the FIIL CC Pro, and relatively short-but-wide eartips atop a narrow, circular nozzle. The buds have a nice rounded finish to them, with a silver band around the base. On the inside, whilst difficult to see due to the colour, there are two holes - one a feedthrough mic to balance the surroundings with your voice, and the other a pressure relief hole. Again, difficult to show, but the base of the buds is beveled inwards so that the battery contacts don't touch your skin directly - and features like this are underrated and always good to see. Next to the battery connectors is the voice mic.



The touch controls are facilitated with a nicely designed, finger-nail shaped notch, which makes finding, and then pinching to initiate, easy and intuitive with minimal false touches. The oval nozzle I mentioned above is clearly visible here - for reference, it's a similar size to the FIIL T1 Pro and this is important to note, as it dictates which 3rd party eartips you may wish to use on them



There is another slit-sized gap at the top of the bud, and whereas this would normally be the gap for the ambient mic, QCY claim only 4 mics (but 8 gaps), so it could be another pressure relief hole - I haven't dismantled the buds (yet) so I can't say for sure.



The HT03 is designed more like a traditional APP-style bud with the head and stem clearly distinct from each other - a slight deviation from their T10/T11, which encapsulated the head into the stem. The stem length reflects the movement within the TWS market to aim for shorter, less obtrusive designs at just 30mm long - this is still shorter than the Haylou W1 and FIIL CC Pro, but not as short as the stubby Huawei Freebuds Pro and Tronsmart Onyx Apex.



At 4.87g per bud, they are certainly lightweight, and feel this way when in your ears - sometimes a little too lightweight. Yep, just like almost every other stem-based earbud on the market, finding the perfect balance between fit and form factor is still a problem.



It stands to reason that you don't want the buds to be too heavy because eventually gravity will cause them to fall out of your ears. If you go too light, then there's potentially not enough weight to keep them in your ears. Then you have the balancing act of the nozzle - do we go too thin and risk being too invasive, or thicken it up like the AirPods Pro, FreeBuds Pro or CC Pro? Well, none of them are right for everyone, but QCY have gone with the smaller diameter nozzle - the safe choice, and with good justification - the right tips with smaller nozzles can be a tried-and-tested hit. Sadly, as we know, the tips supplied with almost all TWS are trash, and the HT03 tips are no exception to the rule.

As you see above, they, like most buds of this type, with the stock tips, they fit perfectly fine in my right ear, but protrude a little from my left. That's my fault, for having wonky ears that are different sizes, but it does mean tip rolling is an arduous but essential process that I have to go through with every set of earbuds...the tip manufacturers all do pretty well out of me every month, and it's already been the same again this month. I'm going to tip roll with them this weekend, and hopefully we will find a happy medium - I usually do, eventually. At the time of writing I've settled on the large stock tips from the 1More Comfobuds Pro - they offer a bit more resistance than those that come with the HT03 and improve ANC immeasurably.

The build quality of the HT03 is good for the price - they feel good to the touch, and the design makes sense, but do bear in mind there is no WRX/IPX water resistance rating. QCY have not let me know yet whether this is simply a commercial decision not to certify (like the Huawei FreeBuds) or whether they generally shouldn't be worn outside, and whilst it is unlikely a pair of TWS will burn out with a spot of rain, I certainly wouldn't go swimming with them.

ANC - 8/10

ANC on the HT03 is the headline feature, and I was very surprised with how effective it is. With some earbuds they are very good at blocking low rumbles, but terrible with higher frequencies (SoundPEATS T2). Some are good at higher frequencies and not so good at low frequencies (Jabra 75t). The HT03 are good all-rounders that are as comfortable with higher frequencies as they are with lower ones. They perform better than the reported 35dB noise cancellation according to the dB meter app on the iPhone.

Once I got decent tips on the HT03 (I used the 1More Comfobuds Pro Large Tips) not only could I not hear traffic on the adjacent road, it also blotted out the higher frequency noise from a fan around 2m away (although not completely) and took a chunk of sound away from my blue switch Royal Kludge RK61 mechanical keyboard.

The HT03 has three ANC modes - in the app, they're listed as ANC, Outdoors and the Chinese word for ambient mode. Cycling through the modes can be done with the buds themselves, by pinching the right stem in the control area. Now here is one of the areas where the lack of polish comes through - the voice prompt for pass through sounds more like 'Pass Ruth' and that mode can come through a little crackly initially, but once it settles down it is absolutely fine. There is no amplification from your voice, which is good as that can sometimes sound offputting.

Given the cost I expected ANC to be far worse. With some of the early, low-cost ANC buds like the Edifier 330 and Mobvoi Ticpods ANC you could barely notice the difference, but QCY have done a good job here of providing 'good enough' ANC to satisfy the majority of applications.

Audio Quality - 7.5/10 (for the price), 6.5/10 (raw score)

I never expect a set of earbuds at this sort of price to have amazing sound, but QCY always like to rock the boat a bit. Not quite enough to tip it over, but a little. When you are used to hybrid driver buds such as the T11, moving back to single driver sometimes feels like a step back from an audio perspective. It's perhaps indicative of the earbud market starting to really pick up what they can do from the new wave of SoC's that we sometimes feel a little disappointed by sound quality that we would have celebrated 12-18 months ago.

With the HT03, the focus is clearly on the optimisation of ANC, but sound is good enough. The 10mm dynamic drivers are tuned to be punchy, with that 'consumer' signature that is frequently desired on Reddit, if not necessarily on Headfi, very evident.

On iPhone or Android, when you can get them to default to AAC, the sound is pretty good. On Windows 10, unfortunately they default to SBC, which doesn't offer the same quality of sound that AAC gives you on the HT03. They can feel a little thin unless you get a good seal, and the subbass rumble that is evident through IOS almost hits the point of distortion when listening on PC. Higher frequencies also feel a shade overblown - even raspy at times, and whilst this won't spoil the experience on streaming apps or mp3 through your phone, for FLAC or higher quality sources on PC, it is a bit more obvious.

Relatively simply numbers like 'Kiss And Make Up' by Saint Etienne see the bassline rumbling away whilst the shaken idiophones rattle around Sarah Cracknell's voice quite nicely. Tams also dance around the subbass nicely. It's a similar story with 'Just Give Me a Reason' by Pink, where the subbass and vocals are clean enough. When you get to more complex tracks, however, the lack of warmth can make tracks sound a little processed and thin, with less instrumental clarity than the T11. 'Demons' by Imagine Dragons exposes this, with slight distortion and congestion in the midrange frequencies as they recess around the thumping bass and waily vocals. As I said, this is much less obvious when you're using the AAC codec, but with SBC it's really evident, so I would steer more towards using these on your smartphones - if you're looking for buds to use with Windows, the HT03 are probably not those buds.

Sound on the HT03 is very fit dependent. If you can get the seal right, they sound good. If you can't, and a few times I lost seal on my left ear, then they can sound a bit washed out.

The headline feature of the HT03 is ANC at low cost, and like the Soundpeats T2, that's where they've really focused their attention. If you're a fan of more simplistic pop, house, R&B - the usual commercial stuff, the HT03 will be fine, but if you're looking for audiophile sound...well, stop being such a cheapskate!

Call Quality - Indoors - 7.5/10, Outdoors - 7.5/10

The earbuds feature a 4-mic array, with a voice mic on the bottom of the stem and a feedthrough mic on the inside. There is also a gap at the top of the stem, which I first thought was for calls, but now I'm not so sure.

Considering the form factor, I initially thought calls sounded a little distant, but noticed the mic was very quiet on Zoom. It turned out the ANC was fooling me into thinking I was shouting, so at least we know the ANC works Once I elevated my voice up to 66-75% volume, it came through a bit clearer.

I tested both VC and Cell calls with simulated background noise through a fan and traffic. There is a little crackling but generally the ENC handles a small amount of ambient sound quite well. If the ambient level picks up to over 60dB-A then your voice starts to get a little lost, but retains naturalness. Overall it is a very good attempt for the price.



Summarily, the HT03 are fine for calls. They're not a major stand-out feature, but they're adequate and more than acceptable for the money.

They were part of my blanket YouTube mic test here:



Connectivity, Controls and other Interactive Features - 7/10

QCY often take a no-frills approach to their releases, limiting the number of needless features in favour of a lower price tag, and the HT03 are no exception to the unwritten rule.

They've offered some of the bare essentials - good ANC, good controls, voice assistant (by triple tapping the left earbud) and gaming mode (by holding the left earbud). Double touch plays and pauses calls, triple touch of the right bud skips forward, holding the right earbud when a call comes through ignores the call.

Impressively, you can map the controls of single touch in the app. I changed it to volume, and it worked perfectly fine both on Windows and IOS.



The app has improved quite a bit over time and the latest iteration shows the growing maturity. On IOS it has finally shaken off some of the delay in selecting certain things. You even get some presets in the equaliser section, although I always prefer Wavelet for this.

Connectivity was mostly good during the 4 day period where I conducted testing. I had a few little dropouts for a split second, but this has been consistently the case with buds recently, and was probably more to do with me adjusting whilst I was tip rolling. They support Bluetooth 5.1, with the AAC and SBC codecs - no Qualcomm codecs due to the chipset, and no hi res support either (unsurprising given the cost)

Battery Life - 7.5/10

Battery life is around about the same as most earbuds of this ilk. For the price, it was quite impressive to see them hitting over 4 hours during testing with music, calls and ANC on. Volume can be a little quiet so I found myself using them at around 75% volume, and this would have had an impact on the advertised 5 hours.

You can get roughly an extra hour from the buds with ANC off, and a total of 24 hours with the case (20 with ANC on). I did not put them through a full case testing, but will update over the course of the next few weeks when I do.

There is no quick charge feature, but to keep the cost down QCY have used a 380mAh capacity charge case, so you're looking at 2 hours for a full charge, buds and case included.

Final Comments

In my introduction, as with every QCY review, I stress that their approach is not to be the best, most feature-rich set of earbuds on the market, but instead to try to bring premium, high end features into low-cost, high value releases, and the HT03 have kept up that tradition by giving really solid ANC performance, decent battery life, good enough sound, volume control and a nice case for less than £30.

If you already have premium buds such as the Edifier NeoBuds Pro or 1More Comfobuds then it would not really make sense to add the HT03 to your collection, as they don't really offer anything those other brands don't already provide, but if you're here from HUKD, Reddit or Instagram, and are looking for decent ANC buds at the lowest price possible, there is a lot of merit to what the HT03 can bring you.

Ideal for:

• Those on a low budget
• Those who value good ANC over other features
• Smartphone users
• Those who favour v-shaped sound signatures

Not so suitable for:

• Those that already have Premium buds
• Those that require high WRX ratings
• Pure audiophiles

Price Weighted Score: 82%
Raw Score: 75%

QCY Review Inventory:

HT07 Arcbuds
HT05 Melobuds ANC
T20 Ailypods
T18
G1
T17
T16
T13
HT03
T12
T11

About QCY:

Whilst not quite a household name outside of China yet, QCY are well-renowned in the budget TWS space for developing extraordinarily low cost earbuds that, whilst perhaps lacking some of the bells and whistles of the more expensive brands, deliver to the segment of the market where 'good enough is good enough', with solid reliability and tremendous value for money.

Part of the Hele Electronics Group, as well as designing their own products, they also OEM product for other vendors (Aukey, for example rebrand the T5), with three of their major customers being brands you will certainly recognise and in the global top 10 of the TWS market in 2019. In 2020, market research indicated they were the 4th biggest TWS vendor worldwide - no mean feat.

Despite a close relationship with SoC manufactuer Zhuhai Jieli, QCY are not afraid to mix and match components to suit their target market. This often sees a number of releases in quick succession - their T17S are an example of this, released subsequent to the T17, and differentiating with the use of the Qualcomm QCC3040 SoC, to support customers who require the added lower latency enabled by the aptX codecs that the Qualcomm chips support. They did a similar thing with the very popular T5, T8 and T9 - nice to see a vendor using an easy to follow naming convention! The G1 use the newest Pixart chip in order to reduce latency - horses for courses!

The QCY mission seems to be bringing music to the masses at a very affordable price - they are unlikely to top the charts for sound quality or features any time soon, but I think that's how they prefer it - their bang for buck is often unparalleled, with customers knowing they are getting value from a brand they can trust.

RC050

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
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Model: Huawei Freebuds Pro
Price: MSRP $129.99
Vendor Website: Huawei
Review Reference: RC050

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: Huawei
• Model: FreeBuds Pro
• Driver: 11mm Ultra-Magnetic Dynamic Drivers
• Chipset: Huawei Kirin A1
• Impedence: 32Ω
• Mic: 6, cVc 8.0
• ANC: Yes, up to 40dB
• Volume Control: Yes
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 5.87g
• Earbud Dimensions: 27mm stem length
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 69.95g
• Case Dimensions: 69mm (width) x 49mm (height) x 24mm (depth)
• Case Charge Capacity: 580mAh
• Full Charge Time: 1 hour 40 minutes wired, 2 hours 40 minutes wireless
• Quick Charge: No, but 40 minutes for the buds to full charge
• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 7 hours (ANC off), 3.5 to 5 hours (ANC on)
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 36 hours (ANC off), 27 hours (ANC on)
• App Support: Yes (Android only)
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: Not specified - they haven't achieved any official certifications

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
3 x Pair Silicone Tips
1 x User manual, warranty card, safety guide




Real Life Experience

Welcome to the long-awaited Regancipher review of my first set of Huawei buds, their flagship FreeBuds Pro. The FreeBuds Pro hit the market in China initially in September 2020, and then the world stage a month later. At the time, they boasted a feature-set that still looks impressive even today, and are one of the few TWS that supports, and does so reliably, Multipoint connectivity - allowing you to connect to two devices simultaneously without the need to break connection to your PC or Mac in order to answer a call, for example.

The FreeBuds Pro arrived perhaps at the wrong time for Huawei. Despite looking like a great product on paper, the geopolitical situation muted the fanfare that should have accompanied them. In the US, Washington maintains that Huawei are a threat to national security, and their ownership is still a major bone of contention in global politics, which has unquestionably impacted upon Huawei's business objectives, especially after being added to the NDAA Entity List in 2019. This resulted in company growth slowing from 34% in 2019 to just 3.3% in 2020, and saw them drop out of the top 5 smartphone vendors for the first time in many years. Now this wasn't just down to the the US/China trade war - the smartphone market has become saturated, with Xiaomi and their sub brands, OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo and even Asus taking a chunk of market share from the traditional mainstays, but it definitely didn't help.

Despite this, their flagging smartphone sales were rescued by a growth in other business segments - their wearables in particular saw a huge spike in revenue, and they enjoyed a modest growth in audio products too. Nevertheless, the events of 2020 resulted in the FreeBuds Pro going under the radar a little - a shame given their superb credentials.

Whilst I am a privacy nut myself, I find the argument over technology-based espionage influencing purchasing a difficult one, since you'd be hard pressed to find a brand that couldn't be called into question, moreover depending on which Hemisphere you reside. I've elaborated further on the NDAA scandal at the bottom, if you are interested feel free to check it out, if your sole interest is the tech, ignore it!

One final note is Huawei UK's technical support. It was absolutely outstanding - better than Apple, Samsung, you name it. I had a minor issue which was resolved within 4 days including two days of postage. Bravo!

The Unboxing - 7/10

Huawei products tend to have a very premium feel to them, but the unboxing felt a little disappointing - it's functional, but not something you would give to your partner for their birthday. They are shipped in a very small box - similar sized to the Samsung Galaxy Buds range - and the instructions, whilst in the array of languages you would expect from a large global brand - are monochrome, basic, and perhaps not befitting of the brand or price tag. The front reveals the key features - Dynamic Noise Cancellation and Ambient Mode, perhaps intentionally subtly omitting stuff that a lot of vendors shout about (Bluetooth 5.2, Multipoint, etc.), but they elaborate more on the back.

The eartips are not especially great quality - well, actually they're fine, they just aren't quite right for this shape of earbud, and only 3 pairs are included. Lots of consumers on Reddit have complained about the tips not fitting, and whilst you're going to have a hard time finding replacement tips for these - the driver nozzle is even larger than the FIIL CC Pro - the number of 3rd party tips available is starting to creep up. In the photos, I've used the Feaulle h240 food-grade latex tips specially designed for this model, and they work very well - you lose a little in the noise cancellation department but gain in stability dramatically.

Also enclosed is a reasonably good quality USB-C charge cable, and the buds also arrived with a Type-C to Micro-USB adapter. I don't know whether all FreeBuds Pro are shipped with these, or whether it was just for my benefit, so I won't be testing this until I've swotted up on the Shadowbrokerss arsenal that Snowden revealed way back when, in case it's on their list!

The unboxing is overall basic and functional - nothing like the fanfare of the Edifier NeoBuds Pro, which is an easy 10/10 in comparison, but a fancy box doesn't make a good set of earbuds, as we've seen many times over the years.

The Case - 9/10

The case is like a big black pill, with a nice glossy finish that makes them awfully hard to photograph, but provides an impressive, premium feel. There are no lights on the front which adds a level of minimalism to the look, without losing features - the USB-C socket is on the bottom, so the LED denoting charge status is positioned there.

They've used the oft-favoured red/amber/green scheme, and whilst this makes charging status a little difficult to see whilst you're charging the buds with USB, if you're charging them wirelessly the light is in the perfect place. Bear in mind you lose the super-fast charging function that is provided by USB-C connection, but it's still as fast as most other buds.

The case uses the ST Micro STWLC33 for wireless charging - I've never seen this in earbuds but have seen it used in Smartphones, and likewise Texas Instruments for their charge and power path management - underlining the benefits of a diverse supply chain available to behemoths like Huawei.

The back of the case reveals the Huawei logo subtly screen printed on the hinge. It may be tempting to instinctively place the charge case logo-side down on your QI pad - don't, the charging coil is in the front of the case. It also requires the angle to be just right, so it may require a bit of fiddling around before you see the light come on.



When you open the case, an LED displays in front of the buds. This denotes charge status, but also pairing too. Pairing is initiated by a button you'll be hard pressed to find on the black version - it's on the right hand outer edge - and once you press this the buds will start pairing and a light inside the case will start pulsing in white. Connection is very straightforward - same as any other Bluetooth device.

In order to initiate multipoint for the first time, disconnect from the first device, pair with the new device, then connect to both, making sure that dual connect is enabled in the Huawei Life app. This needs to be downloaded from the Huawei site, not the Google Play store - for obvious reasons. The case also features hall-switch mode - which enables fast pairing, fast connection and pop-up mode on Huawei phones, but it isn't always useful as you can end up pinching the controls when you remove the buds from the case after they've already initiated connection.



There are some similarities between the FreeBuds Pro case and the FIIL CC Pro, which I mentioned in my review of the latter here. The FIIL case suffers with one major problem - it doesn't open enough (approx. 80 degrees) and the buds are too close to the outer edge, making their removal a far from easy process, compounded by the hinge snapping shut if you try to lay it down in front of you.

The FreeBuds Pro case is a similar design, but fortunately much better. The hinge/lid has a friction to it, that enables it to stay open without snapping shut the moment it leaves your hand, and the buds can be removed quite easily by sliding your thumb nail to the bottom of the bulbous edge that faces you, with your forefinger inside the cutouts in the lid.

The bottom cutouts in the cockpit are also not as close to the outer edge as the FIIL, and whilst it is a little counter-intuitive if you're used to the 'laying down' approach of Edifier and OnePlus amongst others, you soon get used to it - so don't dismiss them immediately for this (like I almost did).

This close-up of both cases demonstrates the problem, and you can clearly see where Huawei have improved, or rather FIIL have badly copied, the respective designs.




The case is almost 70g, and measures around 7cm at its widest, just under 5cm high, and just over 2cm depth, and it is this combination that actually makes the case deceptively portable - it spreads the weight throughout, making it protrude less than something like the Edifier NeoBuds Pro or SoundPEATS H1 case, and actually making it useful for trouser pockets, jacket pockets, or handbags. The finish is excellent - no scratches or scuffs in your pocket with your keys.

Whilst it doesn't support quick, or as it's known nowadays, 'warp-charge', 40 minutes for a full charge for the buds is impressive. Overall it's a good case, with extremely high build quality and decent ergonomics once you get used to them.

Ergonomics - 8/10, Build quality - 9/10

The Huawei Freebuds Pro are available in three colours - carbon black, silver frost (like the P40) or ceramic white. Personally, I prefer the silver, but the black are also pretty nice, and their angular edges differentiate them from the majority of buds on the market, which seem hell-bent on looking as much like Airpod Pro's as possible.

The controls I will elaborate on further later, but the outer edge (where Huawei is printed) is NOT where you initiate them. This is again a little counter-intuitive, and takes some getting used to, but does help reduce unwanted touches (apart from when you remove them from the case!). Instead, you pinch the adjoining sides of that face (i.e. the edges that are facing forwards or backwards as you wear them) or slide the side that faces away from you depending on what you're looking to achieve - and just like with the case, when you know, you know! It works really effectively almost all of the time.

The stem is unusually short at 27mm, with the HUAWEI logo printed on the outer edge, and the piano-key style shape is immediately striking - definitely not the typical stem-based in-ear design. The silver alloy bar shaped contacts (visible on the bottom edge, facing up in the picture) are a move away from the usual low-quality nickel alloy that can cause skin irritation - a welcome differentiator.



Aside a short stem, the buds are not light, at 5.87g each, but they don't feel heavy in your ears, although without decent tips giving you some traction, they could fall out - and I've seen many reports on Reddit etc. of users that have complained of this.

It is difficult to show on the black model, but both the front and back sides of the stems, that you pinch to initiate the touch controls, have tiny slits along the edges. These act as anti-wind noise ducts, and the (bottom) holes double up as the pickup gaps for the voice mics, and the top the ambient mics. Wind travels through the mics in such a way that reveals a clever design from Huawei - wind noise isn't the problem it is on many earbuds due to this design concept, based on the Coanda Effect.

Looking at the left side of the picture above, you see what looks like a blemish on the bottom of the bit that sits against your antihelix. This is the infra-red sensor for in-ear detection, which can be toggled in the app, and a dust-proof net within that area obscures the pressure relief hole, adding comfort for prolonged use. On the bottom of that section there is another charging contact, and you can see where this initiates when you look face down at the cockpit of the case - it adds to the charging capability, and reduces it to 40 minutes for full charge of the buds - impressive.

A look at the Freebuds Pro alongside the CC Pro reveals where FIIL got their inspiration. Like the FIIL, the Freebuds nozzle terminates with a very large oval surround - even bigger than the CC Pro, measuring almost 10mm at its longest and over 8mm at its shortest. This is going to make tip rolling a short lived affair! Eventually I settled on the Feaulle H240, and this has really helped the fit, because otherwise, they will fall out of almost anyone's ears eventually. Since, I've found an even better option - the superb Azla Sednafit Crystal. They're grippier, retain comfort and stability, and they sound better.

The similarities with the CC Pro are again revealed above - like the CC Pro, the oval area houses a feedback mic for noise reduction, but it works far better on the Freebuds Pro.

With a well-fitting tip, the buds can be worn comfortably for long periods without any issues. Without, they can be annoyingly difficult to stay in or downright uncomfortable. This strange design which I've seen popping up repeatedly recently, most likely down to Apple having adopted something similar, is perhaps something earbud manufacturers should look to try to get away from, or at least evolve, as searching around for tips that remediate it is the last thing people really want to have to do, especially with a premium brand.

The lack of documented IPX rating means wearing the FreeBuds Pro outside isn't necessarily recommended, although I have done so without any issues. When I contacted Huawei they let me know that they hadn't officially certified them, but they were the equivalent to IP54 when tested internally.

Audio Quality - 8.5/10 (for the price), 8.5/10 (raw score)

I tested the sound with a number of signature tracks in FLAC using the AAC codec. The sound is probably the least headline feature of the buds, but it isn't bad at all, and certainly better than some reviews I've read suggest.

The first thing to note is that the Freebuds are single driver, 11mm moving iron coil. There's no balanced armature, and also no hi-res codec support. So temper expectations accordingly.

The default sound signature out of the box is warm, with a clean but definitely boosted low end. I found the bass palatable most of the time, but using Wavelet to reduce the subbass a bit, and the lower midbass frequencies a touch unquestionably helps with longer listening sessions.

The treble has been rolled off to give a warmer, more balanced feel, and whilst most of the time this is fine, some will feel the need to lift it a shade to give a bit more punch to the sound. To their credit, they respond very well to EQ. I noticed that sound seems to suffer a little with ANC on, so you may have to compromise one or the other if sound quality is especially important to you.

That the Freebuds are only really exceeded by hybrid driver buds is testament to the tuning and drivers - instrument separation and clarity are very good, and you can create the impression of a wider soundstage by using the latex-based tips.

I actually think the FreeBuds Pro are one of the most underrated buds around for sound quality - large drivers doesn't always equal good sound, but on this occasion more is more!

Call Quality - Indoors - 8.5/10, Outdoors - 8/10

The earbuds feature a 6-mic array with an ambient mic on the top outer edge for environmental noise reduction, a voice mic on the bottom and a feed through mic somewhere on the inside, and the echo chamber design is very effective at conveying your voice clearly and naturally.

On cell calls, your voice sounds present and lively, and this is unquestionably aided by the inclusion of a bone conduction sensor, which, in the same way the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live does, helps to differentiate similar-frequency sounds to your voice from your voice through your jaw movements. Using the same components as Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and Vivo (the ST MicroElectrics LIS2DW12 accelerometer), this is without doubt very effective, delivering some of the best calls of any buds I've tested, especially outdoors where wind is often a real challenge for TWS. Huawei really nailed it here.

They were one of the star performers in my test of 28 different tws models in a testing outdoor environment:



ANC - 8/10

Had I reviewed them at the time of release, this would have scored much higher. Nowadays, the ANC is without-doubt very good, but a bit behind Edifier's NeoBuds.

The main problem is the tips. The Edifier have typical-sized nozzles, and that allows you to use either their excellent hybrid tips, or your favoured Misodiko, Comply, Spinfit, Spiral Dot or whatever you like. The tips Huawei supply are OK, but nothing special, and with limited sizes offered, it really is quite a challenge to find tips that balance comfort, noise isolation and sound quality...and fit in the case.

Theoretically, if you get the right tips, the ANC is pretty good. With the same tips on the Edifier, Huawei and 1More Comfobuds Pro, the Huawei are still only a bit behind the Edifier.

One feature that I like, but others may find it annoying, is their adaptive noise cancelling. This switches between Cozy (low noise cancellation), General (mostly low frequency cancellation, quite weak) and Ultra (all frequencies nullified to a greater degree).

I periodically test all the ANC earbuds I have together, and like the Tronsmart Apollo Air, 1More Comfobuds, FIIL T1 Pro and SoundPEATS T2, they are fine at taking the edge off low frequencies, but not so good at keyboard taps and nearby chatter.

Connectivity, Controls and other Interactive Features - 8.5/10

The HiSilicon Kirin A1 chip supports Bluetooth 5.2, uses dual-channel synchronous transmission and results in fast and stable connections, with rarely any glitches or drops. We still aren't quite back to large crowds here in the UK so my tests aren't quite as stringent as they were before COVID, but on public transport I suffered zero drops during the testing period. The chip brought latency down to the same level as aptX.

Aside from the excellent array of features already mentioned: bone conduction to aid calls, wireless charging case, ANC, multipoint - which works flawlessly btw, they also offer users the ability to switch on/off in-ear detection, 'find my buds', tip fit test and a bunch of other little goodies through the AI Life app.



Whilst Huawei would probably prefer you log in, you don't need to - as long as your device is connected, the buds will be discovered, and the first screen you see is telling you the battery of each bud, battery level of the case and the current selected ANC mode. As you can see here, dynamic is selected, but it gives you the option to customise the mode, or from the main screen switch it off or to awareness (ambient) mode.

Other options you see on the front screen are Voice enhancement - which I tried but couldn't really notice the difference (it's meant to enhance voices during calls, media or when the buds are in awareness mode, and you can choose any combination of those three scenarios), Tip fit test (which seems a bit of a con, as any tips will pass if you turn the volume up high enough), smart wear detection (the only option under settings) and in the top right corner, the ability to switch dual connect (multipoint) on or off and remove the device. You can also update the firmware, as I had to when they arrived.



Note I didn't mention gestures. This section is basically telling you how to use the controls. You can customise pinch and hold - but not much - it's either ANC modes (you can disable ANC off and just cycle through ANC and pass through if you like) or Voice Assistant. Swiping the bud controls volume, and whilst it takes some getting used to, it's pretty intuitive once you get the sweet spot.

The app overall lacks a bit of functionality - there's no EQ, customisation is limited, I couldn't find the 'find my buds' feature (ironically - although I think it requires a log in to do so) and whilst it looks good, it doesn't have the depth of the Jabra app, nor the functions of the Soundcore or 1More app (no whale music unfortunately). Still, it does a job - and I always use wavelet to EQ anyway. BTW - point of note, the app is Android only, and must be downloaded via the Huawei app gallery.

There's no hi-res codec support, and although it hints that you get this with a Huawei source running their EMUI11 platform- who knows, I've never owned a Huawei phone, and have no intention of doing so any time soon.

Battery Life - 7/10

With an advertised 3.5 hours of calling, 5 hours of listening with ANC on, they aren't battery monsters. I found with slightly above moderate use connected to a Windows PC and Android phone, the battery drains pretty quickly - it was closer to three, with one bud consistently draining more than the other.

Huawei have remedied this to a degree with fast charging (40 min for the buds, 1 hours wired for the case, 2 hours wireless) but whilst that's fine for most people, all day listening doesn't really work. Like the CC Pro they get rather hot with wireless charging.

Customer Service:

Unfortunately I get a very minor reverberation that sounds like low rumbling tinnitus in the right earbud. I contacted Huawei UK via their service desk and they arranged for a courier to collect having discussed the problem at length. This is outstanding service, and is a far cry from many of the AliExpress sellers, who ask for pointless videos to be recorded which will never reveal the problem anyway. The buds were returned working with an explanation and statement of works within 4 days, including two days postage, collection at their cost. Exceptional.

Final Comments

The FreeBuds Pro are rarely mentioned on head-fi, and don't seem to have received the amount of love they probably warrant. With a nice package of good sound, excellent calls, decent ANC, multipoint and good enough comfort once you find the right tips, the only quibbles are the short battery life, lack of water resistance rating and slightly limited app. Mine can occasionally glitch a little - sometimes one bud drops off, and sometimes the mics cycle on and off for no reason, but generally they are extremely reliable runners that do a sterling job, even with multipoint and ANC on.

At £129.99 on release, I think I'd have baulked, but currently £79.99 on the Huawei store, and £89.99 on Amazon, they're worth it for the solid multipoint connectivity alone. Whilst many buds have caught up in terms of features, the number of buds that truly support multipoint is basically Huawei or Jabra - and whilst the price reduction probably means the new Freebuds Pro are around the corner, £80 is still an excellent price for premium buds that tick almost every box for every scenario. Huawei are also offering £50 cashback through selected vendors, so this model could end up being an absolute steal.

Ideal for:

• Commuters
• Those that listen to audiobooks or music while they work, but need the alert of a phone call when necessary
• Those that switch between two devices frequently
• Those that appreciate a warm sound signature

Not so suitable for:

• Those that need market-leading active noise cancellation
• Those on a budget
• Those that listen for long periods without a break
• Those with small ears

Price Weighted Score: 90%
Raw Score: 90%

Huawei NDAA Issue:

The trade war between the US and China stems from a mistrust over the state ownership of Huawei, ZTE, Bytedance, Hikvision and a number of other technology companies, and their involvement in the data that is derived from these products and how it is used accordingly. Their founder, Ren Zhengfei, was a Deputy Regimental Chief of the Engineer Corps in the People's Libertarian Army (PLA) before founding Huawei in 1987, initially importing network switches before developing their own products around five years later, going from provincial supplier to global player within around ten years. Even this journey was not without controversy, as they were revealed to have allegedly supplied equipment to Saddam Hussein's regime at congress in 2001, violating U.N. sanctions

Their stratospheric growth has since been subject to further intense scrutiny, and major question marks over their corporate structure remain. aside from the Balding and Clarke paper which surmises Huawei are essentially an office of the state, and their involvement in the surveillance and mass detention of Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang re-education camps resulted in sanctions from the US department of state leading to the 2018 and then 2019 NDA, preventing the use of Huawei in Government projects. Whilst this should theoretically not impact on consumer behaviour, it obviously does - Huawei were hit hard, and the ongoing dispute between Trump and Jinping hit fever pitch in 2020, with 600 jobs cut in Santa Clara, threats to move their North American operation to Canada, and potential contracts with the UK Government for their 5g rollout also called into question.

Huawei agreed to sell the Honor brand to Zhixin Technology in late 2020, and after Trump was finally ousted, hired lobbyist Tony Podesta - yep, the guy who was investigated for links to Viktor Yanukovych - to try to smooth out relations with incoming president Biden, but the mistrust remains - further details can be found in the Feb 2021 CRS report here

ig: @regancipher

RC049

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher

Model: Tronsmart Battle
Price: MSRP $34.99
Distributor: Aliexpress, Geekbuy
Vendor Website: Tronsmart
Review Reference: RC049

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: Tronsmart
• Model: Battle
• Driver: 13mm Custom Engineered Dynamic Driver
• Chipset: Actions Semi ATS3019
• Impedance: 16 Ohm
• Mic: 4, ENC
• ANC: No
• Volume Control: Yes, double tap
• Codecs: AAC, SBC (I couldn't get AAC to work)
• Earbud Weight: 3.27g
• Earbud Dimensions: 30mm stem length
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 39.81g
• Case Dimensions: 60mm diameter, 33mm depth
• Case Charge Capacity: 400mAh
• Full Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: No
• Input: 5V 400mA
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 5 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 20 hours
• App Support: No
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.0
• Bluetooth Protocols: HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX4

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User manual, Chinese and English
1 x Warranty Card



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the final of four stem-based TWS offerings from our friends at Tronsmart Official - the first semi-in ear release since their popular Onyx Ace, the ultra-low latency 'Battle'.

Tronsmart are now fully established as a mid to premium range earbud vendor, with their focus almost solely on audio products - mostly speakers and headphones. Founder Eric Cheng, a self-confessed geek, founded the company with his first paycheck (where was he working?!), building a lab to disassemble audio products with the aim to recreate them in his own vision at a cost-efficient price point. After bringing in ear-chewing trophy-winning footballer Luis Suarez as an ambassador, the company have gone from strength to strength, building a close relationship with Qualcomm, and bringing two of their chips to market first with the Apollo Bold, and the Apollo Air, which uses the Qualcomm QCC3046.

This release, however, is not engineered for studio-quality sound. Tronsmart have identified that gamers want the lightweight convenience of using earbuds, but need lower latency than any of the Qualcomm-based chipsets, and almost any of the other mainstream chips, can offer. Thus, they have stepped outside of the realms of Qualcomm and BES in their SoC choice, using the Action Semi ATS3019. My only previous experience of this chip manufacturer was in the Enacfire E90, but ATS have also been used by Baseus in their AirNora and Xiaodu in the S1.

The chip is aimed at applications which require low latency, and that it delivers, but are the Battle simply gaming earbuds only? Read on....

The Unboxing - 7.5/10

Unboxing with Tronsmart has become really consistent, and consistently good too. The key features are displayed on the front of the box, and some specific attributes listed on the back. The highlights include 45ms latency, two latency modes, RGB lighting, a novel-looking case and a total of 20 hours playtime.

Inside is quite reminiscent of the Q10 unboxing, with a plastic crate-inlay, but on this occasion the buds rather than over-ears. This also houses the round, semi-transparent charge case, and underneath is the charge cable and manuals.

Once you remove everything from the enclosure, you're left with the essentials above - the buds, a manual, warranty card, the case and a charge cable, USB type-C.



It is worth paying tribute again here to Tronsmart's approach to designing their user guides. They outline the key features, controls and usage guidelines in English, with the universal language of visuals alongside the text.

There is also warranty information, care and maintenance and support contact details printed in English, Italian, Spanish, German, French, Russian and Chinese.

The Case - 7/10

The key differentiator about the Battle case is the RGB lighting effect. The exterior of the case flashes, cycling between red, green and blue to signify the case has been opened, but the colours don't actually mean anything - it's just for novelty value. It would have been nice if they did mean something, but then you probably wouldn't see the full array very often, so I can understand why they didn't add this as a feature.

At first glance, the case looks familiar, with both Edifier (Hecate GM5) and Lenovo adopting similar, round and semi-transparent designs, but there are some subtle differences.

The Tronsmart logo is displayed on the front, and unlike the other brands, rather than displaying any other LED's on the front of the case, the LED's are visually accessible by looking down at the top of the plastic bit which holds the buds in. This 'roof' also guides you which way to put the buds in - which takes a bit of getting used to. The LED shows a solid red light if the battery is anything less than perilously low, and it flashes when you're about to run out of juice. This light only shows when the buds are replaced into the case.

Another differentiator is the way the case opens. Unlike the Lenovo and Edifier, it doesn't flip open from the front - you have to rotate the side. This is a pretty nice feature, and doubles up as a fidget toy, which can be quite addictive - you can see why kids love this stuff! You do get an occasional high-pitched sound when you close it though, which is annoying, and the buds will still carry on playing until the case is fully closed, to the point you wish you could hear inside the case to make sure your battery isn't draining!

The back reveals the USB-C charge socket, and displays the CE logo and some other stuff that was too small for me to read. The location of this is I guess the obvious choice - there's no right place to put it on a case like this. Unless you have some kind of flat docking station, the case is going to be dangling while you charge it, but it's not like this is exclusively Tronsmart's problem - the FIIL CC2, most of the QCY releases, Haylou Moripods...take your pick - plenty of buds struggle with design layout and practicality, and Tronsmart have probably got it just about right here, within the confines of electronics.

The case is moderately-sized - 60mm diameter, just over 3cm depth, and weighs just under 40g, making it super-portable. Despite this lightweight footprint, it's reasonably well made - there's no rattling around and you have to shake it pretty hard to get the buds to only release marginally from the case before the magnet restores it. It's not even visible - you have to listen really closely.

The case claims 400mA input at 5v, and this confirmed, measuring 0.38A at 5.19v. This means a charge time of around 2 hours, with no support for quick charge, and the case gives an extra 15 hours charge on top of the documented 5 from a single playtime.

Ergonomics - 9/10, Build quality - 7/10

The first thing to note about the Battle ergonomics is they fit very nicely in your ears - in fact, they're one of the best fitting semi-in-ear buds I've ever tested.

Not only do they pass the 'shake test', you can hang 90 degrees without them falling out. Very rare to see such a secure fit from this style bud - ideal for when games of Boomerang Fu get out of hand!

Identifying what Tronsmart have done to ensure this is kinda tricky. They are shorter than every other example above - and that certainly helps. At just 30mm, there is no danger of the wind taking them from your ears due to the length of the stem. However the neck also protrudes further than most, and this is also a factor which is influential.

The inside is a similar story - they've gone for a decent weight displacement in the bit that sits in your ear, and a less-chiseled edge than the SoundPEATS TrueAir2+ - it's more akin to that of the Haylou Moripods, and it's a good design that works very well.

Analysing the internals close up, you see nothing especially out of the ordinary here - the battery connectors terminate at the base, and there's a pressure release hole just on the inside, that rests against your antihelix. The thick rim, that I had to sand down on the Haylou Moripods, doesn't seem to affect comfort at all on the Battle.

The outside reveals typical Tronsmart branding. Whilst the colour scheme is pretty generic - black and grey - the glossier outer edge contrasts well with the matte, lighter inside. There is a voice mic at the bottom, and LED's at the top, which signify pairing and battery status. 'Blue and Red flashing' means it's pairing or connecting, and the red lights are as per the case. I was under the impression there is a second ambient mic, but did not see it under close examination.

At just 3.27g the Battle are one of the lightest around, and this unquestionably helps with their comfort too. I did not see any water resistance rating, so probably better to err on the side of caution when it comes to wearing the Battle outdoors - EDIT, I've found out they are IPX4 - even so, only suitable for a light drizzle.

Audio Quality - 6/10 (for the price), 6/10 (raw score)

So perhaps I have a faulty model, but I can only get the Battle to deliver audio via the SBC codec, and this without a doubt has an impact on their performance. They sound like SBC earbuds.

On PC they sound especially thin, lacking any bass and even sounding like there's distortion at high volumes. On iPhone, it's a similar story, with a weak dynamic performance that doesn't sound great, regardless of music style. On the OnePlus Nord, the volume is rather low, and again, it was impossible to select any codec other than SBC.

It's perhaps unfair to judge the Battle on audio quality - the Hecate GM5 weren't great either, and it seems ultra-low latency is going to trade off on audio, regardless of brand or technology.

Call Quality - Indoors - 7/10, Outdoors - 6/10

The Battle are definitely in the 'let everything through' category - your voice sounds natural enough, although it can sound muffled on Teams calls.

Outdoors, the buds are not going to compete with wind and traffic, although they fared better than I expected. If the road is around 15 ft away, you're fine. Any closer and you're going to get lost in the conditions - but if you're gaming outdoors, then when am I getting an invite?!

The ATS3019 supports ENC, so I guess the second mic is somewhere - I just couldn't find it.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 6/10

Like all Tronsmart devices, there is a female voice guiding you with voice prompts rather than blips and beeps, which is welcome, although the 'Power on' and 'Audio Connected' prompts are occasionally out-of-sync - a tad annoying. The high-pitched sound which squeals at you in between powering them on and 'audio connecting' - far worse when the buds are in your ears than when they are sat in the case - is far worse though.

As I said previously, I can only get the SBC codec to work. Even so, latency is very good - around 48Ms, 83Ms source to destination. This outperforms the Hecate by some distance, as well as any of the other buds I have tested, which offer low latency modes. For PUBG, it's the closest I have got to synchronised audio and video.

Touch controls are also quite good on this model. You get to switch between gaming and music mode (music mode adds latency) with a triple left tap, and single-tapping changes the volume.

The Bluetooth version is 5.0, and that is down to the ATS3019 chipset, which means you won't get the benefit of 5.2 when it does finally become mainstream.

Connectivity is fine though with no dropouts, and is responsive due to the low-load power consumption and reception sensitivity of the SoC, although the buds do almost exclusively forget the last device they were connected to almost every occasion taking them out of the case put them back into pairing mode - fortunately, just pressing connect on your device resolves it, but it's something that really shouldn't be happening on modern day buds. Interestingly the chip claims to support multipoint connectivity, although it is not stated by Tronsmart, nor did I manage to get it working.

Tronsmart have one of the more polished TWS apps out there, but sadly the Battle are not supported.

Battery Life - 6.5/10

5 hours from a single use was pretty accurate. I gave up at 4 hours today with volume around 75%, which again is down to the low power consumption of the chip. 20 hours with the charge case is a little lower than BES-and Airoha- based buds, and to compound this, the charge time is long (2 hours) and there's no quick charge support.

Final Comments

After three excellent releases in the Apollo Air, Onyx Apex and Q10, the Battle feel like a bit of a disappointment - but a dose of realism is required when assessing them in terms of their applicability to the market, because despite their great ergonomics and attractive-looking case, the Battle are gaming buds. Period.

If you try and compare these to the SoundPEATS TrueAir2+, you will be disappointed if your use case is anything other than gaming, just as if you tried to compare them as a gamer, you would be perturbed by the TA2+'s latency.

Low-latency buds are few and far between, and those that are on the market invariably disappoint or are high in cost. The Hecate GM5, for example, cost two to three times as much as the Battle, but they aren't great, and certainly aren't three times better. Even so, there are some annoying glitches - like only SBC working, the high-pitched noises, and also the voice prompts changing accent from the trademark Tronsmart voice for certain commands, that make the Battle feel like a half-finished product.

It will be tempting to many to try out the Battle because Tronsmart are a great vendor who often make products that exceed expectation, but take their word for it - they clearly market the buds as gaming buds for a reason.

I am hoping, and if Tronsmart are reading this, encouraging them (wink wink, nudge nudge) to release a non-Gaming version of the Battle, because if they could get the sound from any one of their premium TWS releases into this form factor, along with the Qualcomm or BES chips they usually favour, this could be a smash hit.

Suited to:

• Gamers looking for low-latency, comfy buds
• Those who mostly watch YouTube or other videos on tablets and phones
• Those who just listen to podcasts and make and take occasional calls

Less suited to:

• Those who only listen to music

Price Weighted Score: 69%
Raw Score: 65%

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Tronsmart Review Inventory:

Tronsmart Studio
Tronsmart Apollo Air
Tronsmart Battle
Tronsmart Onyx Apex
Tronsmart Apollo Q10
Tronsmart Onyx Free
Tronsmart Apollo Bold

About Tronsmart:

Tronsmart are now fully established as a mid to premium range earbud vendor, with their focus almost solely on audio products - mostly speakers and headphones. Founder Eric Cheng, a self-confessed geek, founded the company with his first paycheck (where was he working?!), building a lab to disassemble audio products with the aim to recreate them in his own vision at a cost-efficient price point.

After bringing in ear-chewing trophy-winning footballer Luis Suarez as an ambassador, the company have gone from strength to strength, building a close relationship with Qualcomm, and bringing two of their chips to market first with the Apollo Bold, and then the Apollo Air, which uses the Qualcomm QCC3046.

For speakers, the range is now almost as extensive as their earbuds, ranging from 7, 10 and 15w mini speakers through to the 60w Force Pro and Mega Pro.

Tronsmart remain one of my favourite mid-tier vendors, outrunning their budget competitors by releasing flagship products alongside the run-of-the-mill releases, and demonstrating transparency and commitment to quality and innovation with every release.

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
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Model: QCY T11
Price: MSRP $49.99
Vendor Website: QCY
Review Reference: RC048

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: QCY
• Model: T11
• Driver: 7mm Dynamic Driver, Bellsing Acoustics BTC305C90012 moving iron coil BA
• Chipset: Realtek HQ3000
• Impedance: 24 Ohm
• Mic: 4, ENC
• ANC: No
• Volume Control: Yes, switched on via the app
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 3.9g
• Earbud Dimensions: 32mm height, 27mm stem length.
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 44.68g
• Case Dimensions: 55mm (width) x 24mm (depth) x 40mm (height)
• Case Charge Capacity: 600mAh
• Full Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Quick Charge: Yes
• Wireless Charging: No
• Input: 5V 600mA
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 3.5 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 21 hours
• App Support: Yes, IOS and Android
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.0
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: Not Stated, I understand IPX5

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
3 x Pair Silicone Tips!
1 x User manual, Chinese and English



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the QCY T11. The T11 are the third set I've reviewed here at Head-Fi, and it's another sign of their growing portfolio of excellent value buds for those on a budget.

It doesn't seem like yesterday that I scored the T12 very positively, as decent budget semi-in-ear buds with lots of features. The T11 are traditional stem-based, silicon-tipped earbuds, and are the follow-up to their first foray into hybrid armature driver TWS, the T10, which I reviewed what feels like a lifetime ago! Despite a nice fit and low price tag, they rarely received any ear time with me, lacking the refined higher frequencies the BA suggested, and compromising a little too much on lower frequencies, often sounding hollow and lacking dynamism - a shame as they had a lot of promise. What I like about QCY is they seem to recognise and retain the elements that work well, and improve on the areas that are weak with every release, and sure enough, the T11 features upgraded drivers, including a new single channel balanced armature, separate direct driver, and no spelling mistakes on the box!

Whilst perhaps not a household name outside of China, QCY are well renowned in the budget TWS space for developing extraordinarily low cost earbuds that, whilst perhaps lacking some of the bells and whistles of the more lauded chifi brands, deliver to the segment of the market where 'good enough is good enough', providing solid reliability and tremendous value for money. Part of the Hele Electronics Group, as well as designing their own products, they also OEM product for other vendors (Aukey, for example rebrand the T5), with three of their major customers brands you will certainly recognise and in the global top 10 of the TWS market in 2019. In 2020, market research indicated they were the 4th biggest TWS vendor worldwide - no mean feat.

Despite a close relationship with SoC manufactuer Zhuhai Jieli, the T11 and T10 use the Realtek HQ3000, and QCY are not afraid to mix and match components to suit their customers. This often sees a number of releases in quick succession - their T11S are an example of this, released subsequent to the T11, and differentiating with the use of the Qualcomm QCC3040 SoC, to support customers who require the added lower latency enabled by the aptX codecs that the Qualcomm chips support. They did a similar thing with the very popular T5, T8 and T9 - nice to see a vendor using an easy to follow naming convention!

The QCY mission seems to be bringing music to the masses at a very affordable price - they are unlikely to top the charts for sound quality or features any time soon, but I think that's how they prefer it - their bang for buck is often unparalleled, with customers knowing they are getting value....and once again, for those on a shoestring budget, they've got the balance just about right with the T11.

The Unboxing - 6.5/10

The unboxing with QCY is fairly consistent, although you'll note the T11 are using the old logo - since, they've added the T11S, T12S, T13 and very soon, the HT-03.

QCY certainly don't waste a big portion of your 20 bucks on the box - the bare minimum is included to keep the cost down, and in all honesty if there is anywhere I'd want a vendor to be cutting corners, it's with the bit of cardboard you throw away! The user manual is a small, fold out monochrome guide in English and Chinese, and gives a very clear and concise description of what each button touch and LED signifies. There is a QR code which you scan to install their app, three sets of short, but wide bore eartips, a type-C USB charge cable for the case, and the case and buds themselves.

The Case - 7.5/10

The case is not dissimilar to that of the T10, albeit glossy rather than matte. The T10 ended up getting scuffed up pretty badly, so I can't imagine the T11 will fare that much better, but it's reasonably well designed with rounded edges, a nice three-LED lighting scheme on the front denoting charge status - red, blue and green - and a lip at the front to direct you how to open it.

The (old) QCY logo is screen printed in grey on the top, and first impressions overall are a very nice compact case that serves its purpose.

Once opened, the 'hall-switch' feature ensures they connect immediately with your device, and you'll see the lights on the buds start to flash inside the case, red and green on the stem-side, located at the top. The lip is deep enough for single handed operation, and the slightly wobbly, flimsy hinge opens wide enough for you to take the buds out nice and easy without it resembling a challenge from the Krypton Factor like the FIIL CC Pro, snapping shut quite easily, but again nothing like the CC Pro. A friction hinge like on the SoundPEATS T2 would have been welcome here.

The best thing about the case is its size. It is ultra portable at just 5.5cm wide, 4cm high, and just over 2cm wide, and can easily fit in your jeans pocket without gents looking like they're pleased to see anyone. It will also sit comfortably in a handbag pouch.

There is a MFB (multi-function) on the back which allows the buds to be reset or re-paired. There is no wireless charging - the USB charge slot is on the base, but 'quick charge' offers an hour of playtime from 10 minutes of juice, and total charge capacity is around 21 hours, with 3.5 of those provides by the buds. A single charge takes around 1 hour 45 minutes.

The case uses an LPSemi Charge Managment chip which provides low power synchronous boosting and discharge management, and combined with the LP7801T and Saixin 5332A, give over-voltage protection and increased efficiency to prolong the life of the case. LPSemi are a widely used component manufacturer who have featured in many of my previous reviews



Above shows a size comparison with the petite Tronsmart Onyx Ace - yep, the case is tiny.



The portability is further enhanced weight-wise, measuring in at just 37g including the buds - one of the lightest cases I've tested yet. This is almost 20g lighter than the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, for example, and strengthens their billing as very convenient buds you can pop in your pocket for a quick walk, daily commute or trip to the shops.

Ergonomics - 8/10, Build Quality - 7/10

The T11 are almost identical to the T10, with a nice glossy finish on the outside, and matte finish to the inside. The upper LED glows green when you open the case, and blinks red when pairing. Next to the LED is an ambient mic, R024 from Ruiqin Electronics, and at 32mm, with a 27mm stem, the buds are very nicely designed - not too stubby to hinder call quality, and not too long to look ugly. The head is under the 25mm originally measured - it's around 24.3mm with the medium tips on, with a neck of around 8m. This makes them non-invasive, and they sit quite comfortably in the entry to your ear canal, without feeling like you're in a submarine, yet retaining very commendable passive noise isolation.

L-R: Omthing Air Free, Tronsmart Onyx Apex, QCY T11, Haylou W1, FIIL CC Pro

Above shows a comparison with similarly-priced buds. As you can see, they are the least obtrusive and invasive, and probably the comfiest of the group.

The inner side that rests against your concha displays that contrasting matte finish, which adds a little comfort and traction, and a pressure release hole to ensure the electronics don't overheat, and negate the feeling of being in a submarine.



The drivers terminate with a nice, unusual (for TWS) metallic dust-proof mesh, which you only tend to see on KZ or other IEM vendors, protecting the 6.92mm diaphragm moving coil dynamic driver and Bellsing 90012 Balanced Armature. Underneath the mesh on the bottom of the neck is another tuning hole. You can also see here the 'L' at the bottom of the stem, denoting which side bud it is, the charge connectors at the base, meaning minimal contact with your skin, and a voice mic, also from Ruiqin Electronics, the R038. This model is more suited to picking up your voice.



The fantastic ergonomics and fit - a feature of the T10, are not changed much here. Aside from resting very comfortably in your ears for prolonged use, and yet still providing superb noise isolation, they are feather-light at just 3.9g each.

The build quality is 'good enough' - certainly very good for the money, but with the use of a lot of glue inside to protect the termination to the circuit board - what you would expect really at the price point. This means water resistance is compromised a little - so no showering in them. I understand they are IPX5, which is fine for workouts and a spot of rain, and these are one of the few stem-based buds I wouldn't dismiss for working out, due to their reduced footprint form factor.



The very unobtrusive fit is reflected with this side profile shot. Like their T12, they look a touch generic, but don't let that put you off - they look inoffensive, and feel snug but comfy - you can easily wear these til the battery dies without the need for adjustment.

Audio Quality - 8/10 (for the price), 7/10 (raw score)

The T10, it must be said, didn't blow me away at all. The driver balance was all wrong, with the dynamic drivers sounding muddy, even distorting at high volumes, and the BA sounding a little thin. This time they upgraded the driver from the dual-frequency Bellsing BTC231C11011 to a separate dynamic driver and single-frequency BTC305C90012 tweeter.



The above shows the smoother frequency transition, and this is reflected when comparing both sets through One Republic's Counting Stars, where Ryan Pedder's vocal is instantly distinguished from the guitar intro, and the mid-bass slam kicks in around 25 seconds in. The trumpet and ukelele remain nice and clear, keeping good separation with an albeit slightly narrow soundstage. Bass is naturally dialled back due to the form factor, larger driver and potential for distortion, and this is reflected in the real life experience, with subbass sounding very light, and midbass sounding rather thin.

On some tracks - 'She's On the Phone' by Saint Etienne, for example, you may need to notch the treble and perhaps boost the low mids ever so slightly where female vocals can sound a little shrill. No problem. The sound responds far better to EQ than the T10 did, with no distortion when you elevate any frequency band.

Overall it's a big jump from the T10. Out of the box they may require a little fine-tuning, but nothing they can't handle. Now they're not in the league of the Soundpeats H1, but they're also three times cheaper - so horses for courses, for $20 this is very respectable audio.

Call Quality - Indoors - 7.5/10, Outdoors - 7/10

Calls are absolutely fine indoors with the T11. There is a slightly robotic, compressed sound to your voice, but almost all distant background noise is suppressed. Closer ambient noise can cause a distinct static crackle occasionally, but conversations are still not too bad at all. In fact, one of the best budget buds for calls I've tested so far for calls, using two of the newer MEMS silicone mics from Ruiqin Electronics to good effect. The mics use the SoC to work in beamforming formation, and it works very well in this configuration.

Outdoors they seem to suffer the same fate as most other buds of this type. Traffic and wind can decimate your calls, with your voice being elevated to try and compensate. This can cause spikes, and it sounds like your voice is clipping. This is not exclusive to the T11 or QCY - most TWS really struggle with this, either elevating your voice or losing it, as many of the frequencies around us are too similar to our own voices for any configuration to reach the level consumers seem to be looking for.

Mics seem to be the last feature that vendors are focusing on improving, and I'm sure we will see this elaborated on as we move into 2022.

Controls & Other Features - 7/10

Controls are quite straightforward - there is sadly no volume control by default, but the app does allow you to remap the buttons, including volume, to double or triple tap - remarkable at this price. The manual details clearly how to initiate different functions, and also what the LED status and prompt is. Rather than a Chinese sounding (or in FIIL's case, a Chinese-sounding Chinese-speaking-) voice, you get a single tone. The touch control sensitivity is fine out of the box, and can be adjusted to suit your needs via the app. They support voice assistant, which is hailed with a left-triple-tap by default.

Latency out of the box is not their strong suit, with a very evident lag on YouTube - around 380ms average source-to-destination using SBC on Windows 10 (Intel AX200 adapter, firmware 1.50.7), and slightly lower on my Poco X3 with AAC (approx. 240ms - aptX is 180-220 as a reference), but still evident. 'Low latency', aka 'Gaming' mode, is initiated by triple-tapping the right bud, and it does reduce latency to get close to lip sync on YouTube and around 100ms on average, but at the expense of sound quality. There are no codecs supported other than AAC and SBC - no QUALCOMM chip, so no aptX, and AAC performs better on the few android devices I tested than IOS.

TWS apps - whether QCY, FIIL, Tronsmart or Edifier - require a lot of permissions to be enabled in order to use them uninterrupted, so I tend to steer clear of them. I gave the app another try, and whilst the UI is clearly improved since the rebranding, the same complex process of getting the buds to connect and be recognised by the UI persists. Again, this is not exclusive to QCY, I have found the same with FIIL, 1More and even Tronsmart.

To the app's credit, it does, however, allow you to customise touch controls (including volume) and has a 'find my buds' feature ala Samsung. There is a ten bar equaliser, as well as six preset modes, and whilst I prefer to use Wavelet, it's still a nice addition at this price, and especially useful for iPhone users. You also have the option of updating the firmware, and I believe QCY did release a patch for them a little while ago, so be sure to check this when you receive them.

There is no ANC, although passive isolation is very good, and whilst Bluetooth is only 5.0 (many releases now support BT 5.2, including the T13), I found no connectivity issues with a stable connection indoors and outdoors for the usual 10 or so metres line of sight, but putting other obstructions in the way did seem to scramble signal at times. Nevertheless, they did not disconnect at all at the usual spot in my house where earbuds tend to drop off - audio was illegible, but still they at least tried to connect.

Battery Life - 6.5/10

The buds are pretty loud, so you can achieve the 3.5 hours advertised at around 55% volume. Whilst it is more efficient than the T10, that still isn't great by today's standards, with many recent releases doubling the single use playtime, some even with ANC on.

They do, however, support quick charge, where 10 minutes of charge give you one hour of juice, which is convenient, and will satisfy most users. For most applications, the 17-21 hours total playtime is more than sufficient - that's an additional 5 charges from the case, which is a decent compromise.

Final Comments

In a crowded market, QCY have brought to the market yet another very respectable set of buds at an extraordinarily low price, that improve enough on the T10 to justify their release.

Delivering good sound at a low cost is their mission, and whilst the hybrid drivers may not quite live up to what wired IEM users expect, at $20 this is pretty impressive stuff. With most in-ear, stem-based releases focusing on ANC these days, finding comfy-fitting earbuds that aren't trying to pack in every bit of tech possible isn't always easy, so QCY have set themselves apart here. Their smart approach - cutting out the bells and whistles that many will see as unnecessary whilst still offering some high end features, such as app support, low latency, quick charge and control mapping - has a place in the market for those on a budget, without taking a gamble on the unknown quantities on Amazon, that tend to be very weak in comparison.

As you can tell, the best feature of the T11 is comfort. Comfy buds with good sound at a low cost are always a winner - priced similarly to the KZ SKS, whilst the sound isn't quite as good, the mic is far better. You can use the tips included and they will be comfy enough, something that can't be said for many mid-range releases, let alone the sub $25 range.

At just the cost of a double vodka and coke in London, the T11 are a bargain. QCY once again deliver on their promises with a very decent set of buds that demonstrate that they listen to the market and learn from their mistakes - if you bought the T10 and were disappointed, you should absolutely have another go with the T11, they're a cut above and worth the extra ££.

Ideal for:

• Low-budget customers that need a good set of buds for today
• All round users that value comfort, good sound and good calls
• Those on the move, that see value in the small case
• Those that appreciate a balanced sound signature

Not so suitable for:

• Those that need active noise cancellation
• Those with a bigger budget
• Those that need ultra low latency
• Those that listen for long periods without a break

Price Weighted Score: 80%
Raw Score: 74%

QCY Review Inventory:

HT07 Arcbuds
HT05 Melobuds ANC
T20 Ailypods
T18
G1
T17
T16
T13
HT03
T12
T11

About QCY:

Whilst not quite a household name outside of China yet, QCY are well-renowned in the budget TWS space for developing extraordinarily low cost earbuds that, whilst perhaps lacking some of the bells and whistles of the more expensive brands, deliver to the segment of the market where 'good enough is good enough', with solid reliability and tremendous value for money.

Part of the Hele Electronics Group, as well as designing their own products, they also OEM product for other vendors (Aukey, for example rebrand the T5), with three of their major customers being brands you will certainly recognise and in the global top 10 of the TWS market in 2019. In 2020, market research indicated they were the 4th biggest TWS vendor worldwide - no mean feat.

Despite a close relationship with SoC manufactuer Zhuhai Jieli, QCY are not afraid to mix and match components to suit their target market. This often sees a number of releases in quick succession - their T17S are an example of this, released subsequent to the T17, and differentiating with the use of the Qualcomm QCC3040 SoC, to support customers who require the added lower latency enabled by the aptX codecs that the Qualcomm chips support. They did a similar thing with the very popular T5, T8 and T9 - nice to see a vendor using an easy to follow naming convention! The G1 use the newest Pixart chip in order to reduce latency - horses for courses!

The QCY mission seems to be bringing music to the masses at a very affordable price - they are unlikely to top the charts for sound quality or features any time soon, but I think that's how they prefer it - their bang for buck is often unparalleled, with customers knowing they are getting value from a brand they can trust.

RC047

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Model: Edifier NeoBuds Pro
Price: MSRP $99
Vendor Website: Edifier
IndiegogoIndiegogo
Review Reference: RC047

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: Edifier
• Model: NeoBuds Pro EDF200051
• Driver: 10mm Dynamic Driver, Knowles RAN-34200 moving iron coil BA
• Chipset: BES2300YP
• Impedence: 24 Ohm
• Mic: 6, ENC
• ANC: Yes, up to 42dB
• Volume Control: Yes, switched on via the app
• Codecs: AAC, SBC, LHDC (up to 900kbps), LDAC
• Earbud Weight: 5.3g
• Earbud Dimensions: 34mm height, 30mm stem length.
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 44.68g
• Case Dimensions: 65.5mm (width) x 48.2mm (depth) x 25.6mm (height)
• Case Charge Capacity: 500mAh
• Full Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Quick Charge: Yes
• Wireless Charging: No
• Input: 5V 1A
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 6.5 hours (ANC Off), 5.5 hours (ANC On)
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 30 hours with ANC off, 24 hours with ANC on
• App Support: Yes, IOS and Android - Edifier Connect
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.0
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IP54

Includes:

1 x 25th Anniversary Presentation Box
1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
7 x Pair Silicone Tips!
1 x User manual, 25th Anniversary warranty card
1 x Nylon Edifier Grey Carry Sack



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the world's first hi-res certified TWS, the Edifier NeoBuds Pro.

When I discovered Edifier were releasing hi-res earbuds, I wasn't going to hang around and hope they would send me a pair. Edifier crowdfunded the product through the Indiegogo platform, and not without controversy. The Neobuds, on paper and visually, were little different to the NB2 Pro - surely this wouldn't need to be crowdfunded, not least by a household name like Edifier?!

Nevertheless, I wasn't going to be swayed by the business side of things and signed up for the early bird release. Whilst the headline price of $99.99 takes them out of the budget end and into mid-range, I actually only paid £59.99 - around the same as what I paid for their TWS NB2, and less than the 1More Comfobuds Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, and other similar grade branded buds - just marginally more than the Huawei FreeBuds Pro-homage, the FIIL CC Pro and, it pains me to say, the Boya BY-AP4. So a lot of features for a mid-range price.

I was delighted when they landed in the UK around three weeks ago, and have been putting them through their paces ever since.

Beijing Edifier Technology Company, Ltd have a rich history in the hi-fi world. Founded in 1996, they were the first to the market with all-wood, anti-magnetic speakers, which are still available even today if you look hard enough! In 2006 they started to branch out to headphones, acquiring Japanese brand 'STAX' five years later, as they began to really take off as an enterprise. However, the pace of their releases over the last three years has been frenetic - I reviewed the NB2 here, but their list of released products is long and at times a little confusing. Their biggest sellers, the X3, TWS1, TWS200 (which were OEM'd by TaoTronics) and the NB2 (OEM'd by Earfun) all received by and large positive reviews, and more recently they have celebrated winning over 20 industry awards, including the prestigious Red Dot design award, and received further acclaim at CES. This success has enabled them to keep growing, and they were registered as employing over 3,000 staff in 2020, taking full advantage of the booming TWS market.

The biggest indicator of their success lately is probably their Indiegogo funding campaign for these very buds. They hit an incredible 15652% of their target, generating to date around $400k in revenue. Not bad - around 4,000 pairs sold even before they've hit Amazon or Aliexpress!

The Unboxing - 10/10

The NeoBuds Pro turned up in a very impressive, large cardboard box with the Edifier Logo and Model (not pictured) printed on the side. Once inside, your treated to an even more eye-catching glossy and shiny presentation box - definitely a break from the norm, even for Edifier (pictured above). Style and extravagance are ratcheted up to the extreme here - Edifier are clearly excited and proud of this flagship release.

The back of the large box, like the NB2, outlines the key features very clearly, in a number of different European languages, as well as Japanese.

Just as you start to feel like the unboxing is like playing with RuZZian dolls, sliding the side of the inlay reveals the third and final box, which proudly announces Edifier's 25th anniversary on the front. Interesting that Edifier's year of conception was, like 2021, a year that football was meant to be coming home....but didn't.

Once inside you're greeted with a really impressive enclosure. The cushioned top to the outward opening lid helps keep the buds secure, giving that 'soundproofed-studio' vibe that resonates their 'quality audio' messaging.

Here you get the first look at the charge case, an impressive seven sets of colour-coded tips (which are excellent quality - much better than the usual rubbish), a nylon carry case, manual and warranty card.

Overall it is a really impressive unboxing that signals Edifier mean business with this release, miles ahead of anything I've seen previously in the earbud world.

The Case - 8/10

First impressions of the charge case are very positive. It is a well-finished and well-designed case that builds on the good bits of the NB2 case and adds some extra finesse to differentiate it quite nicely.

The size is similar dimensions-wise to the NB2 - albeit very slightly smaller at 65.5mm (width) x 48.2mm (depth) x 25.6mm (height). Like the NB2 it is pebble-shaped, but they've done away with the faux-leather look in favour of a smooth matt black (which I think mirrors the Earfun OEM of the NB2), with the notable exception being the metallic grooved finish on the top.

Edifier have also fine-tuned the back, with a bevelled-out USB-C charging socket, something which makes perfect sense spatially, and gives a little protection to a potential single point of failure.

More differences are discovered when you open the case up. Firstly, the Knight Rider-style red strip on the lip, which pulsates when charging, kinda like a heartbeat....very 80's, and definitely different!

Unfortunately it doesn't offer any kind of guidance as to how much battery the case has. This can be found in the app, but it feels a bit like a step back from the NB2, which had a coloured light on the inside and an LED at the back.

I always enjoyed taking the NB2 into London on my commute, not least because the case is nice and easy to use and just feels well-designed in terms of it's proportions and functionality.

The strong portability is further justified by the weight - only 56g - not the lightest case around, but not the heaviest either, and the shape of it means they displace the weight quite well, and are definitely suited to a jacket pocket or handbag. Probably not something you would want in your trouser pocket, but I have, and unless you're in skinny jeans, you should be OK.

L-R, Edifier TWS NB2, Edifier NeoBuds Pro

An additional point of note is the shaped gaps on the inside of the lid, which help keep the buds secure. This means no jiggling around in the case and dropping battery connection. As you can see alongside the NB2, this is a nice little adjustment that improves the longevity and alleviates the frustration of your buds not charging because you've been running with them and they've come away from the magnets.

Like the NB2, there is a reset pairing button in the centre, and I did need this, so ignore it at your peril. I suffered a couple of times with the iPhone declaring that it was no longer able to connect to the buds and the reset button came in handy, sadly I'd already left the house with no case so I had to wait until I was home- lesson learned!

This is the second pair of earbuds I've tested recently with this style case (see above comparison to the Haylou W1) and I have to say I like it. It's much easier to use than the FIIL CC Pro, for example, which is a real ball-ache getting the buds out without dropping them, and the USB-C connection being at the back is really handy - I hate it when they stick it on the bottom, especially on non-wireless charging cases, with your case dangling aimlessly on your desk. I found this with the QCY T10, T12, Haylou Moripods and FIIL CC Pro / CC 2, not to mention countless others.

The design of these cases, though, whilst making them easier to use does compromise something - it almost certainly prevents the use of alternative eartips. Trying to squeeze the buds in the case with spinfits is likely to end in tears, and this is especially problematic on the Haylou case, which won't even close with any tips other than stock, and the tips are far poorer quality than the excellent Edifier ones. The magnets are very good, meaning the risk of accidental dropping is minimised - the NeoBuds have a satisfying 'click' when dropped back into the cockpit.

The total charge time is around 2 hours, but the buds charge fully in one hour, and they also support quick charge, giving you 1 hour playtime from 10 minutes of juice. A full two hour charge provides an additional 15 hours with ANC on, and 18 hours with ANC off, taking the charge time to between 22 and 30 hours, real life experience.

Edifier have used a Wei'an WP1430 overvoltage protection IC, Yongfukang CS5652E lithium battery charging management IC, Shengsheng Micro SS881A microcontroller and LowPowerSemi LP6261 synchronous boost converter to regulate and prolong the life of the case - an interesting combination, but not unheard of, with Jlabs, Xiaomi, Realme and others using similar combinations of components.

The case also features hall switch mode, which initiates pairing or connection immediately- as soon as it opens - and I found this to work very well other than the occasions where the iPhone forced me to re-pair.

Overall Edifier have done a really good job balancing performance, style and ergonomics with the charge case.

The Ergonomics - 9/10, Build Quality - 8.5/10

The NeoBuds have that distinctive 'Edifier' look about them, retained from the NB2 and no doubt fine tuned again for the forthcoming NeoBuds S. The design is short-stem, angular, albeit very well finished, with good comfort and ergonomics.

They measure slightly shorter than the NB2 at 30mm stem length, and look slightly less obtrustive from the front as a result. (pictured further down)

The edges are less 3D and Robocop-like, with a nice soft chamfer along the top and bottom, giving them a more premium and less 80's look and feel.

Close up you see the gun metal finish, and meshed, dust-proof cover to the upper noise reduction ambient mic and bottom voice mics. These features improve the aesthetics but also contribute to the IP54 rating, which covers both dust and water ingress, unlike most buds which are focused solely on WR.

The top of the bud reveals a mesh protected opening which provides access for the pressure relief cavity and tuning hole, and there is an additional one when you remove the tip. This is important when trying to balance ANC strength, comfort and acoustic performance, and Edifier have not disappointed in this respect with an incredibly comfortable style, shape and form factor, and strong ANC.

They also feature charge connectors on the inside, along with a designated L or R notation, and the diaphragm terminates to a round nozzle, which is covered with a very nice hybrid finish eartip which has a soft outer finish but reinforced inner ring. This gives a little traction in your ear, increasing stability and optimising the ANC performance further.

Now bearing in mind I am a habitual tip roller, from Spinfit to Dekoni to Feaulle to Tanchjim back to BGVP, for me to not even bother removing the tips they come with is unheard of. They're that good. I've also used the other sizes on my Elevoc Clear and QCY T17.

The exterior design is quite bulbous, but not in the same way the Haylou W1 or FIIL CC Pro are. This shallower, less pronounced footprint renders them, for me at least, slightly more comfortable for prolonged use than many of their bulkier peers.

At just 30mm stem length, only the Tronsmart Apollo Air are shorter, but this doesn't detract from call quality, and is far comfier and more stable than the FIIL CC Pro sat next to it.

The buds are objectively quite heavy at 5.3g each, but in contrast to the FIIL CC Pro - similarly heavy buds - they don't feel it. They are perfectly secure for a light jog, and probably exercise too, but given their water resistance rating (IP54) they are certainly better suited to the daily commute, where a dash in a rainshower and being exposed to dust particles maps closer to their impact rating than repeated sweat, and a strict no-no, showering!

From the front, the profile is unobtrusive and clearly well-fitting - notably nestling nicely into your concha, far more so than the NB2, which I found a little awkward at times.

The build quality is also very good. Like Jabra, Sony and other 'ground up' designed TWS, dismantling the buds shows they've been designed in harmony with the components, rather than the usual pick and mix of components to fit an ODM design.

Audio Quality - 8.5/10 (for the price), 8.5/10 (raw score)

The NeoBuds Pro support hi-res codecs, as I may have already mentioned once or twice! However, the lack of universal support for these codecs - many smartphones don't support LHDC yet, and LDAC wasn't supported out of the box from Edifier (it was added via firmware update some months later) mean that your source may automatically default to either AAC or SBC.

AAC is acceptable, although Edifier have stripped down the codec in order to achieve good latency, and this results in a max VBR of around 265 kbps (compared to 320 kbps for cd quality). SBC 'looks' normal enough in terms of the bit pool etc, but sounds anywhere between passable and dire, and it is this which Windows and Linux defaults to, thus hindering my ability to judge their performance at handling FLAC's. I gave them a blast through Tidal though, and was impressed with what I heard. LHDC is more an incremental step than a revolution, but the combination of dual armature drivers and higher bitrates is enough to lift the NeoBuds Pro into the 'elite' category.

Default sound signature regardless of codec is elevated in the lower frequencies without the chasmic dip in the midrange that we come to expect on wireless earbuds. The improved driver array and higher resolution codecs allows Edifier to release the midrange a little more, and it achieves excellent results with a very detail oriented sound signature with plenty of body, and without bloat in those lower mids.

The overwhelming low end isn't too much of an issue - tantamount to Edifier 'willy-waving', but I did notice a little bleed on some more complex tracks. The 10mm dynamic driver is tuned to be beefy, and with the Knowles RAN-34200 handling the treble, you get a nice impression of clarity and instrument separation on the majority of genres. Vocals and high hats are fairly crisp and clear, without causing the mids to recess, which provides an element of depth and warmth without disappearing into a muddy mess.

The soundstage isn't as wide as the airy SoundPEATS H1 though, with everything feeling a little tighter, and the treble delivery isn't quite as crisp, but it's certainly good by TWS standards. They handled Saint Etienne's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' respectably, giving the track the warmth it deserves, letting Sarah Cracknell's vocals slide through as the bass and midbass thump away. I haven't enjoyed that track as much for quite some time.

At times female vocals can sound a bit lispy - Rebecca Ferguson has a really nice vocal range, so she's one of my go to's when it comes to testing earbuds, and 'Nothing Real But Love' shows the best and worst of the NeoBuds, with her voice sounding a touch harsh and the subbass rumbling away to the point of fatigue - you'll almost certainly want to notch both the top and the lower frequencies with Wavelet or Jet, or the customised mode in the Edifier Connect app, which gives you four channels, the frequencies adjustable.

Nevertheless, once you get your EQ how you like it, detail and sound are really impressive, and in my top three sounding TWS buds. If they're this good on AAC then here's hoping that translates upwards!

In October Edifier rolled-out an update which allowed for LHDC support, and on the OnePlus 8T I was able to finally test out LHDC performance with Tidal Hi-fi. Even at 960k it streamed without jitters or breaks, which was great to hear after the horror stories I'd read elsewhere on other LHDC attempts. However did I notice a huge leap in audio quality? I'd have to say no. If you're expecting miracles, don't - the Neobuds Pro sound good anyway, but the hi res codec attribute doesn't feel linear - it doesn't sound like the same gulf of difference that moving from, say, 160-320k does.

Call Quality - Indoors - 8/10, Outdoors - 8/10

The earbuds feature a 6-mic array with an ambient mic on the top outer edge for environmental noise reduction, and strangely two voice mics per bud. Usually its the other way around, so I was interested to see how this fared.

On cell and zoom calls your voice sounds nice and natural with only slight background noise, not too boomy nor over-compressed - if anything it is a little quiet. Outdoors, or with background noise fed into the scene, it isn't quite as impressive, with ambient sound coming through very mildly bleeding into your voice, in the same way, albeit less extreme, as the NB2.

Even so, in retrospect I have changed this review, as they performed particularly well in my blanket test. See here for the indoor test of twelve popular sets of buds - only the Elevoc Clear performed better (although not included in that test, you can find it on my channel)



They didn't disappoint on the outdoor test either, as one of the star performers in my test of 28 different tws in a challenging outdoor environment:



A slightly annoying feature is just before a call connects, the mics drop into ambient mode, and then back to normal mode, so you get a brief blast of sound. If you're making several calls in a row, it's a little off-putting.

It seems mic performance is still not quite where we would all like it to be, even in 2022. Regardless, you can have a conversation without too many issues, but it remains the weak link in the chain for non-Apple TWS (other than the Elevoc Clear, which have their own frailties - see my review for details!)

ANC - 8.5/10

ANC on the NeoBuds takes a backseat in their marketing in favour of the hi-res codecs, but don't let this fool you - it is one of their best features, and one of the best on the market in 2021. I've seen very mixed reviews of the ANC, and I have to concede that like the 1More Comfobuds Pro, it is very fit dependent. Do not concede until trying all of the supplied tips - they give you lots of options, they're superb quality, and once you get it right you'll be impressed.

'High noise cancellation' mode is crazy strong - it doesn't keep out keyboard taps, certainly not with a mechanical brown switch keyboard, but traffic passing outside the nearby window is inaudible, fans are muted, and distant sounds almost eradicated altogether. Really impressive stuff. Outdoors, they suffer far less from wind than the CC Pro and 1More Comfobuds Pro, but don't manage to deal with it perfectly, as you would expect.

The NeoBuds Pro have two additional ANC modes - 'low noise cancellation' and 'ambient mode'. 'Ambient Mode' has a slider bar with six settings (-3 to +3) which can be activated through a slider bar on the Edifier Connect app, and is very welcome - at it's strongest it is clear, at it's weakest it is still suitable, and noticeably different to ANC off.

The best compliment I can give the NeoBuds Pro is that the feeling you get with Sony headphones on a plane, when you take them off and suddenly everything seems crazy loud - well, you get that sensation with these, without the vertigo or jawache. To date, this is the best ANC I've tested in any TWS.

Connectivity, Controls and other Interactive Features - 7.5/10

Connectivity is rock solid, although it was a little disappointing to see only BT5.0 is supported. Not that BT5.2 is going to take over anytime soon, but psychologically it feels like you're being cheated out of something a little.

The buds use the BES 2300YP chip, the same as the 1More Comfobuds Pro and Soundcore Q30, so this was never going to be an option, as was the lack of support for aptX codecs which is only possible with Qualcomm-based buds. This is a moot point, as LHDC and LDAC are there for higher definition and low latency mode gives you the improved efficiency, but there are still some users out there that prefer aptX - well, it's up to you as users, but I don't really notice any discernible benefit these days. Edifier's NeoBuds S have you covered for the Qualcomm codecs, including Snapdragon Sound.

The controls are OK - similar to the NB2, you're stuck with only double and triple taps, and whilst you can select volume control (it isn't native) in the section of the app that allows you to map the controls, you have to forfeit something else. Default settings are double tap to answer or end a call, left double tap for ANC mode, right double tap for play/pause, left triple tap for gaming mode, right triple tap for next song.

The app is where you can switch through ANC modes, EQ, adjust tap sensitivity, set LHDC quality level (400, 560 and 900 kbps are all configurable) and see how much battery the case and buds have remaining.

Latency is really good out of the box, so it's unlikely you'll need low gaming mode unless you're a gamer. There is no wear detection on the buds, which will annoy some and please others. Quick charge is supported, but there is no Qi wireless charging.

Battery Life - 7/10

I got around 4 hours 45 minutes with ANC on, with moderate usage connected to a Windows PC, and this is not far off the advertised 5.5 hours, so credit where credit is due, this is not far off the advertised.

Connected to an Android phone, using LDAC with ANC on and taking occasional calls, the battery life dropped off quite sharply to 3 hours 52 minutes. Whilst this isn't ideal, it is fairly normal for the combination of hi res codecs and ANC together. More battery life would of course be preferable, but a larger battery would also require a greater footprint in terms of ergonomics, so it's fine for me, but I accept others may not be so keen.

With a total of 30 hours battery available from the case (24 with ANC on) battery life is about right for this form factor and performance, but some way behind the likes of the SoundPEATS Sonic and ZMI PurPods. Still, this will be enough for most, and the quick charge feature is really very helpful when using them as all-dayers.

Final Comments

The NeoBuds Pro will soon be hitting the market for anyone to buy, and before you know it they'll be on Amazon. Edifier have cheated a little, with a finished product really just being fine-tuned to support the addition of LDAC and LHDC, and it's even more frustrating that within a matter of months, OnePlus released the Buds Pro with the successor chipset, the 2500YP - this would have allowed for Bluetooth 5.2 and multipoint connectivity support, all the more frustrating and no doubt a sign that the NeoBuds S are coming within the next couple of months.

That aside, judging the earbuds on their merits, they are a fantastic option that gives you sufficient future proofing for when sources do start to support these codecs at a very respectable price.

The comfort, ANC performance and sound quality alone are enough to make me recommend these buds, and some minor quibbles aside, there is a lot to like about the NeoBuds Pro. For commuters, the dust-proof and water resistance rating, great call quality and comfortable fit make them a really excellent choice in this respect.

Overall, a very impressive release from Edifier, and whilst the sound isn't quite as energetic as the SoundPEATS H1, it's a more discernible sound signature that boasts hi res support and an all-round performance that justifies the fanfare and should be high on the list for anyone in the market for TWS in 2022.

Ideal for:

• Those that value excellent ANC
• Preference towards a mid-centric sound signature
• Commuters

Not so suitable for:

• Those that use buds mostly for exercise
• Those that need wireless charging

Price Weighted Score: 89%
Raw Score: 88%

ig: @regancipher

RC046

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher

Model: FIIL CC Pro
Price: MSRP $69.99
Vendor Website: FIIL
Review Reference: RC046

Manufacturer Blurb:

• Brand: FIIL
• Model: CC Pro
• Driver: 10mm Dynamic Driver
• Chipset: Airoha Luoda AB1562A
• Impedence: 32 Ohm
• Mic: 6, ENC
• ANC: Yes, up to 39dB
• Volume Control: Yes, switched on via the app
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 5.15g
• Earbud Dimensions: 21.9mm wide, 32mm stem length. Nozzle - 9mm x 7.2mm
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 44.68g
• Case Dimensions: 61.4mm (width) x 23.8mm (depth) x 47mm (height)
• Case Charge Capacity: 420mAh
• Full Charge Time: 150 minutes
• Quick Charge: Yes
• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Input: 5V 0.5A
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 6.5 hours (ANC Off), 5.5 hours (ANC On)
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 30 hours
• App Support: Yes, but only on Chinese app as of 3.1.1.6
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX4

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
3 x Pair Silicone Tips
1 x User manual, warranty card



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the long-awaited FIIL CC Pro. Having rated the CC 2 and T1 Pro amongst my favourite TWS of the last 12 months, a hybrid of the two should theoretically be my dream earbuds, especially given the addition of one button device switch, FIIL's answer to the growing clamour for multipoint connectivity in TWS.

FIIL were founded by Chinese rock-star Wang Feng in 2015, aiming to emulate the successes of Dr Dre in the US, and is heavily involved in R&D and tuning. Bringing in Leon Wu as CTO from Plantronics was part of this journey, and the $30m+ ploughed in by VC seems to have pushed them in the right direction so far. After their Diva Pro succeeded on Kickstarter and received rave reviews across the board, they became the top selling mid-range headphone manufacturer in China within 2 years of their foundation and have won various design awards - IF Dot and CES, to name but two.

The CC Pro are FIIL's first attempt at full in-ear, stem design earbuds, featuring some headline specifications, including quick charge, wireless charging, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and up to 39dB Active Noise Cancellation, however, as we have learned over the years, specifications are not everything. Given FIIL's stellar track record, how would their new release stack up in a congested market, especially with the likes of Edifier raising the bar with LDAC/LHDC support?

The Unboxing - 8/10

The unboxing is typical of FIIL's branding, with the key features outlined at the top, and the model at the bottom above their slogan 'the art of audio'.

The back is a similar story too, with a focus on their 'unique design', wireless charging, low latency modes and dual control mode (I guess this is their name for quick device switch)



The biggest difference compared to previous FIIL releases is that the box folds outwards. The inside of the box pictured above, as well as the instruction manual, are 100% Chinese - no other languages are referenced. The same can be said for the voice prompts and app - a clear sign they were meant for the Chinese market.

The Case - 7/10



Measuring 61mm wide, 47mm high and 24mm deep, the CC Pro case is nicely sized and well finished.



It's proportions are not too dissimilar to the CC2, albeit rotated 90 degrees.



Weighing 44.68g, with its rounded edges and weight spread through the flat design, it feels very portable and sits nicely inside your jacket pocket without being too obvious or feeling too heavy.



The case features USB charge on the bottom, but also supports wireless charging, and the FIIL logo lights up when it is on charge, and pulses when the battery is really low. It doesn't, however, give you any indication of charge level. Would have been nice if each letter represented a quarter of the charge, or even if the FIIL logo turned red when really low, but no, you have to guess, or check through the app.



Opening the case, however, immediately reveals the issues I have with it - silly mistakes that could have been avoided. Firstly, getting the case to stay open for this image has taken about a week! The lid just snaps shut with very little encouragement. This makes single-handed operation impossible, despite the handy lip on the outside, and even worse is yet to come....



For reasons only known to FIIL, the hinge does not retract fully 90 degrees. This makes getting the earbuds out, even with my child-like skinny fingers, practically impossible without dropping the case or dropping the buds. Unlike the Huawei FreeBuds Pro, which suffered with a similar issue, there is nowhere logical to dig your fingers in to get the buds out. Had they positioned the stems at the front, it would have been far easier, as the top of the stem is the bit you grab onto. Instead they made this fatal design flaw that has you flustered even before you've tried the earbuds on.

Now if you've ever owned or sampled the Huawei Freebuds Pro, you'll probably recognise this issue. Aside from the above, the Freebuds Pro case has a friction lid, so you can rest it down on you desk while pulling the buds out, and the lid tilts back a few degrees further - just enough to get the buds out without dropping them. Had FIIL gone this step further, it wouldn't have been an issue.

So a real mixed bag here - nice to look at, wireless charging great, but lack of indication of charge level and a poor design spoils an otherwise excellent case.

The Ergonomics - 6/10, Build Quality - 7.5/10

Heavily influenced by their original CC2 design, the stems are visibly shorter - 32mm compared to 40mm on the CC 2. Not only that, they have mirrored the design of the Haylou W1 and Edifier Neobuds, as pictured below, by raising the area that houses the driver above the top of the stem, and dropping down to sit against your concha.



The similarities are clear to see when compared against the aforementioned contemporaries, however, whilst the square design worked well in the CC, where you could pinch the top to adjust, if you try that on the CC Pro, you will initiate the controls. Yep, again for reasons only known to FIIL, the controls are precisely where you would want to adjust the buds, and right next to the feedback mic. Baffling. They aren't the only vendor to do this, but every time I see this it leaves me scratching my head wondering why.



Whilst the position of the battery connectors (the base) is ideal for those with nickel allergies, the inside (above) shows that the diaphragm drops very low and deep into your concha, and unfortunately that isn't aided by the gigantic nozzle that can be extremely uncomfortable until you find the right tips. Again, this isn't exclusive to FIIL - they Airpods Pro are similarly hindered, and to a degree the Huawei FreeBuds Pro also suffer the same fate.



The 'nozzle' measures around 9mm at it's widest, and just over 7mm at it's narrowest. This is huge by TWS standards - dwarfing the Tronsmart Onyx Apex - which was pretty uncomfortable without a tip change, so I didn't have high hopes for trying to get these to fit, since our ear canals are generally far narrower than this. Only the Huawei Freebuds Pro measured bigger.

I noticed in El Jefe's review he had Spinfits on them, and when I first tried the CC Pro out, I immediately realised why - the stock tips are horrendously bad. You have to change them out for any degree of comfort, but when you bear in mind most tips are designed for round nozzles and a diameter of around 4-6mm, this makes tip rolling a real challenge. It also means whatever you choose is going to have pros and cons.

My first choice were the BGVP W01L - it's large enough to fill your ear, augments ANC, and it improved comfort marginally. However it still became uncomfortable after around 1 hour. You can see these pictured in the image showing the buds weight on the mini scales a few pictures down.

Eventually I settled on two preferred options. First, the Feaulle h370 food-grade latex tips.



The Feaulle have a nice wide bore perfect for the CC Pro. They were the comfiest, sticking in your ear, preventing them from slipping as was the case with the FIIL stock tips, and putting some distance between the sound and your ears, giving the perception of a slightly wider soundstage. They are very similar in design to the Sedna Xelastec tips and slightly taller than the Spinfit CP1025, minus the adapter.



They don't really help ANC though, and when I tested them outdoors the trade-off was very obvious. Wind noise became almost unbearable. They DO thankfully fit in the case with the buds though.



The second option is the NICEHCK 07L. These low cost, high quality tips are the perfect companion for the CC Pro, and actually triggered me to increase their overall scores. Not only are they comfy, they increase stability, fit inside the case when fitted, augment ANC, and improve the sound. With a height of 9.2mm and width of 14mm, they certainly aren't small, but the thick inner ring enhances the feel of the buds, and they are now my go-to for the CC Pro, removing one of the major issues.



The stability of the CC Pro is not helped by their weight - 5.15g, a whole 1g heavier per bud than the Tronsmart Apollo Air. This no doubt contributes to the buds feeling loose in your ears with the stock tips.



They look a little odd sticking all the way out your ears, and the stubbier design doesn't help with call quality either. You can see why they've done it - to fit in the case - but this is a prime example of taking a success (their 'Germanic-design) and applying it where it doesn't really work. Compared to, not just the buds pictured above, but also really low cost buds like the QCY T11, they are really quite uncomfortable and unnecessarily difficult to get to fit, not to mention the dodgy control positioning.

Audio Quality - 7/10 (for the price), 7/10 (raw score)

I tested the sound with a number of signature tracks in FLAC using the AAC codec, and was very surprised at the sound signature. Firstly, with the stock tips, the sound stage is really quite narrow and flat. In fact, they sounded pretty uninspiring - bass sounded a little flabby, and the high mids over-compressed. Not a good start.

Changing out the tips for the Feaulle puts some distance between the sound and your ear canal, and this does them the world of good, giving the auditory sensation of a wider soundstage than first experienced with the stock tips. 'Don't You Want Me' by Human League is a prime example of where the sound totally changes, the drums echoing around your ears, the bass clean, and the vocals coming forward when they have to. The high mids and rolled off quite well, but it can sound a little messy there at times. 'I've Got Your Music' by Saint Etienne, sounds at times surprisingly analytical with the vocals whispering at times, but 'I Was Born on Christmas Day' by the same band can thin out, with a heavy reliance on snares and high hats coupled with Sarah Cracknell's lispy vocals leaving you feeling a little disappointed. Having got used to the balanced armature drivers in more recent TWS releases such as the SoundPEATS H1 and Edifier Neobuds, the notable absence of detail in higher frequencies stands out far more these days, and this is the area where the CC Pro fall flat.

I've seen some reviews proclaiming a overpowering mid bass - maybe it's the tips, but I don't hear it as often as I expected. 'We Found Love' by Calvin Harris sounds really thin, extending Rihanna's vocals right to the front, but lacking a thump that you come to expect when the drop hits. Where the mid bass comes on strong are tracks like 'No One' by Alicia Keys, which has far more body to the lows whilst letting Alicia's amazing vocals echo around your ears. Really nice. After playing with them a little while longer, I noted they are far better suited to RnB and Rock tracks, where you have a lot of simultaneous mid and subbass, and rely on detail, speed and separation in those lower frequencies.

Overall, I don't mind this sound signature, but I do understand why it has received a little criticism from those expecting the rawness of the T1 Pro. The CC Pro aren't worse, just different. I find I listen using the classical EQ setting much more than the default though, and they respond very well to EQ adjustments, whether through their own app or Wavelet.

Call Quality - Indoors - 7/10, Outdoors - 7/10

The earbuds feature a 6-mic array with an ambient mic on the top outer edge for environmental noise reduction, a voice mic on the bottom and a feed through mic somewhere on the inside.

On cell calls your voice is clear enough but can sound over-compressed. It's the same story on Zoom. Any ambient noise seems to add crackle to the sound whilst it tried to nullify whatever it is picking up. This isn't atypical for TWS, so I wasn't altogether surprised, but when you see 6 mics you expect something intelligent going on...and it doesn't seem like there is.

Something I noticed on Android, was that my voice kinda echoed - the person on the other end of the phone couldn't hear it, but I could. This may have been an isolated issue, but it happened with the same caller, twice, so maybe not.

ANC - 7/10, PNI - 6/10

ANC has never been FIIL's strong point, and it doesn't really flex with the CC Pro either. They are heavily reliant on having a good seal, which is not easy with those over-sized nozzles. When you are able to, it's okay. You can still very clearly hear traffic, and wind is particularly pronounced. They fall some way behind the Edifier Neobuds, SoundPEATS T2, Tronsmart Apollo Air and 1More Comfobuds Pro, however, and this is mostly down to fit - when you push them further in your ears, you can hear the ANC is working, but the shape of the buds simply doesn't really facilitate it.

It isn't for lack of trying either - FIIL give you lots of options to customise your ANC experience. They have a wind reduction mode, which doesn't really seem to do a lot but is designed to obviate the issue with wind circling through the mics and creating a weird sound whilst you're walking, running or cycling, and transparent or ambient mode, whatever you want to call it, isn't great either, seemingly no different to ANC off. These attributes are victims of the design - evidencing a real absence of passive noise isolation.

There is also a 'voice mode', which is kinda like a cross between wind reduction and ambient, designed to negate low frequency distant sounds and elevate voices. Nothing fancy going on here, just a fine tuning, but it gives another option and no doubts some will see the benefit.

On a positive note, and perhaps this is better suited to the controls section, but the FIIL+ app allows you to map the different ANC modes to the two second hold action of each earbud. So for example, if you want to map ANC on or off to the left bud, and wind/ambient to the right bud, or vice versa, you can. Having all of the ANC modes available through button presses rather than using the app is really handy.

It is worth noting that in single mode, ANC just switches off and is not configurable.

Connectivity, Controls and other Interactive Features - 7.5/10

Connectivity is rock solid, with LDS and Bluetooth 5.2 seeing no drop outs, and no accidental 'single bud starts' like with the Qualcomm QCC3040-based buds. This is a real strength with the FIIL products, and reflective of the necessity given the population density in the areas where this product will most likely be used the most.

The controls are theoretically OK, but like with all FIIL products, they ship with the basic control scheme as default, so in order to activate full control mode, you need to navigate to it in the app. With this mode enabled you gain the ability to hail voice assistant (quadruple tap!), adjust volume, etc...but it not only becomes confusing due to the amount of times you find yourself tapping, is also counter-intuitive to use, especially if you had the CC2 before, because the touch area is much higher up than on the CC2 - practically covering the ambient mic. This makes for a lot of accidental touches, and since the voice prompts are all in Chinese, half the time you haven't a clue what you've just done, and it sounds kinda weird when you tap over the mic and disrupts your flow a little. It's another major design fail that adds weight to the view they rushed the release just to keep pace with the other vendors who are releasing this style bud without these needless problems.

The FIIL+ app has been done to death in my previous reviews. You activate the controls, button functions, latency mode, wear detection, EQ and Bluetooth device switch through the FIIL app, and whilst this array of features is incredible at the price point, just opening the app sees your blood pressure start to rise...it is an absolute nightmare, as has been elaborated on many times previously. These were made for the Chinese market, and as such the app is by default in Chinese, or if you use the Global app, not even available as a configurable device. I host the Chinse version of 3.1.1.6 here, but I'd recommend getting the English version, well, when I say English version, I mean a version that some kind souls over on XDA managed to translate just so consumers outside China understand what the hell is going on - you can download that version here.



Above shows the Chinese app vs the translated app - once again, kudos again to XDA member dominj97 for a superb job deciphering and coding, as it is definitely needed here given the complexity of options.

Latency is really good out of the box - around 160ms - so it's unlikely you'll need low latency mode unless you're a gamer, but it reduces it by around 10% and is also accessible via the app. Wear detection is annoying - just taking one bud out will pause it, so being able to disable this is welcome.

Bluetooth Device Switch, FIIL's answer to multipoint, is a welcome attempt by FIIL to work around a chip limitation that deserves to be lauded, but isn't really the messianic feature we were all hoping for. To enable it, you need to switch it on in the app, then pair with two devices. Once you've done this, holding the controls for approx. 4 seconds will then activate the switching process, which itself takes around 4 seconds. So in this time, you will likely miss a call if you want to switch from, for example, Windows to Cell. The other way around, it's not so bad, but generally we want multipoint because we want to know when our phone is ringing and to jump on a call seamlessly...and it doesn't quite do the job in this respect. Nevertheless, kudos for trying.

Battery Life - 8/10

I got just over 5 hours with ANC on, with moderate usage connected to a Windows PC, and this is not far off the advertised 5.5 hours, so fair play this is not to be sniffed at.

With a total of 30 hours battery available from the case, and the support of quick charge and wireless charging, FIIL have tried to make the buds as convenient as possible, and again, kudos to them for offering these features at the price point.

They do get extremely hot when on charging wirelessly though, which may be cause for slight concern - even with the case covering them, when I put them in my ear it was almost like they had been in the microwave!

Final Comments

Overall the CC Pro are a fair release, but not the ground breaking innovation that the T1 Pro and CC were. Being a huge FIIL fan - I loved the CC2 and T1 Pro, and favouring many of the features the CC Pro offer on paper, I was really excited by this release, as FIIL typically push the boundaries with the Airoha chipset and deliver features that make a mockery of their price, but we don't wear headphones on paper - we wear them in reality, and the features that make them attractive become frustrating, due to lack of English voice prompts and flakey app support.

This release feels like FIIL have looked at the Huawei Freebuds Pro and tried to mould this release fusing hem in the style of the CC2. The problem is, they've copied all of the worst elements of that model, and made them even worse (albeit for a third of the price!)

I can't even give FIIL credit for the English version of the app - it was translated by some guys over on XDA here, and even with this, the position of the touch controls means half the time you have no idea what you're pressing. The annoying issues with the case, design and ergonomics make this a release to avoid unfortunately, unless you have wide ear canals and are fluent in simplified Chinese or Mandarin - and even then, the sound may not be to your liking.

It may sound like a slightly harsh verdict, and over time they have grown on me a little - the NICEHCK tips have made them far more stable in your ears, and the multi-device switch does actually work, even if it is a little slow. This is rarely seen in TWS, so it's nice they've at least tried to address it, even if it is somewhat impractical.

The ANC in-ear stem-based market is congested to say the least. We've seen solid releases from Tronsmart with the Apollo Air and 1More and their Comfobuds Pro, which are a similar price and offer a frustration-free experience, and more recently the Edifier Neobuds Pro and OnePlus Buds Pro, which support higher definition codecs and much greater comfort.

FIIL really don't stand out from the crowd with this release, which is a shame as they had so much promise - but we should remember this was not a global release but one for the Chinese market. Let's wait and see what FIIL do next, with talk of a CG Pro already hitting the jungle drums!

Ideal for:

• Native Chinese speakers
• People with small fingers and big ears!
• Those that switch between two devices frequently
• Those that appreciate a warm sound signature

Not so suitable for:

• Those that need strong active noise cancellation
• Those with a bigger budget
• Those that listen for long periods without a break
• Those that need ergonomic stability

Price Weighted Score: 74%
Raw Score: 74%
2022 Score: 68%

instagram: regancipher

FIIL Review Inventory:

CC Pro
CC2
T1 Pro
T1 XS

About FIIL:

FIIL were founded by Chinese rock-star Wang Feng in 2015, aiming to emulate the successes of Dr Dre in the US, and is heavily involved in R&D and tuning. Bringing in Leon Wu as CTO from Plantronics was part of this journey, and the $30m+ ploughed in by VC seems to have pushed them in the right direction so far. After their Diva Pro succeeded on Kickstarter and received rave reviews across the board, they became the top selling mid-range headphone manufacturer in China within 2 years of their foundation and have won various design awards - IF Dot and CES, to name but two.

RC044

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher

Model: Soundpeats TrueAir2+
Price: £29.99
Soundpeats Website: Here
Review Reference: RC044

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: SoundPEATS
• Model: TrueAir2+
• Driver: 14.2mm bio-compound diaphragm
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
• Impedence: 16Ω
• Frequency Response Range: 20-20000Hz
• Mic: 4, cVc 8.0
• ANC: No
• Codecs: AptX, AptX-adaptive, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 3.89g
• Earbud Dimensions: 24-26mm wide, neck approx. 13mm, 20mm height
• Case + Earbuds Gross Weight: 37g
• Case Dimensions: 52mm (length) x 52mm (width) x 21.7mm (height)
• Case Charge Capacity: 300mAh
• Full Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Input: 5V 1A
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 5 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 25 hours
• App Support: Not currently
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX4

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless earbuds
1 x Type-C USB Battery charging case
1 x Type-C USB charging cable
1 x User manual, quick guide, warranty card



Real Life Experience

Having already enjoyed the TrueAir2, which I rated as my number one semi-in-ear bud for 2020 here, I was excited to hear that SoundPEATS had released an updated version in Japan. Having landed in the UK a few weeks ago, it was good to see not too much has changed. In fact, other than wireless charging and aptx-adaptive, good luck spotting the difference.

The addition of wireless charging in particular distances them from the Air3, and indeed it appears the TrueAir2 are now unofficially out of circulation, drawing a clear line in the sand between the two products.

The Unboxing - 7/10

Again, not much to say here. SoundPEATS have added instructions on how to place the Qi charge case on a wireless charger...and that's about it.

The Case - 8/10

Some minor tweaks that earn half a mark extra. Firstly, the case is still more or less the same size. The height is around 0.5mm more, and it weighs around 4g more at 37.5g, but kudos to SoundPEATS for managing to squeeze QI in there without a drastic redesign. The screen printed specifics have been removed, and it looks a little tidier as a result.

Some comparisons:

SoundPeats Air3 - 31g
QCY T12 - 33.13g
1More Comfobuds 2 - 35g
SoundPeats TrueAir2+ - 37g (Only case to support wireless charging)
Haylou Moripods - 39.76g
Tronsmart Battle - 39.81g
Tronsmart Onyx Ace - 41.1g
FIIL CC2 - 44.39g
TaoTronics SoundLiberty 80 - 46.9g

On the face of it, bar microscopic size differences, it is very difficult to tell between the + and original version.

Removing the protective wrapper reveals one of the key differences - now you get a coloured light inside to denote charge status, with green approximate to 50% (12 hours) to 100% (25 hours), amber 10-49% and red 1-9%.

The case also takes an additional 30 minutes to charge.

The Ergonomics - 8.5/10



Spot the difference? OK...don't waste your time, there is no difference!



The buds are 3.8g, 37mm long, and if anything they could have angled the neck a little more, but overall they're pretty comfortable and still very well made.

Audio Quality - 9/10 (for the price paid), 8/10 (raw score)

While the Sonic were fatiguing, the TA2 are far more palatable. The 14.2mm drivers are no doubt a help, but it goes beyond this - many earbuds at this price point have the same driver size and sound awful. SoundPeats get it bang on with the tuning of the TrueAir2 - even the soundstage, for buds of this type and price, is in the goldilocks zone - roomy without feeling too light. In fact, it is warm compared to other semi-in ear buds, lifting the mids a shade. This prevents the lower frequencies from feeling excessively bloated, but makes sufficient room for vocals even in rock and jazz tracks - toughies for this kind of earbud.

Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz and Beautiful by James Blunt both show off the highly impressive frequency response and lucid soundstage. All of Me by John Legend shows how well vocals are represented - baritone, falsetto, counter tenor all extend beyond the orchestral elements enough to strike a good balance between breadth and warmth. Instrument separation is tougher with female voices - mezzo-soprano's like Leona Lewis see the mids recess a tad. But I'm splitting heirs here, if this is all I have to complain about then that speaks volumes. Note - this is by TWS standards, not IEM.

The TrueAir2+ are no different to the TA2, with latency improved slightly with the addition of the aptX-adaptive codec for android users.

Call Quality - Indoors - 8/10, Outdoors - 7/10

Not bad at all. On cellular they are clear, very good indoors, can suffer a little with echo in enclosed spaces as you would expect, but I had Catherine O'Hara wailing in the background on Schitt's Creek and it completely muted her on my call.

I then took the earbuds outside. The receiver didn't even hear some of the cars going past. Eventually some noises did inevitably filter through, and your voice is elevated and thins out a bit. It also dips from time to time, but is still distinguishable.

It was a similar story on Zoom calls, except my voice sounded even more natural. TrueAir2+ again exactly the same as the original.

Overall, really quite impressive for the money. Feel free to listen for yourself here:



Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7.5/10

Connectivity is, like the Sonic, absolutely rock solid. Distance was marginally shorter than the Sonic and on par with my SGBL.

Controls are extensive, but sensitive. Play/Pause and Answering calls are predictably a double tap. Volume up and down is a single tap - nice to have on budget buds. Hold the buttons down for skipping tracks back and forth and rejecting calls. Triple tap for siri/hey google. This is uniform with the Sonic and seems to be their new system - and it's good.

If I try to adjust the buds, however, I will inevitably change track. Not much they can do about it, but app support to turn them on or off would solve the problem. For £29.99 I feel like an idiot for suggesting it, but these buds could sell for double easily and I would still feel like they were a bargain.

Single mode is possible, but I don't generally use it so I'm not sure how. My white set were shipped like it, and it took a reset to get them back to dual mode.

Bluetooth 5.2 and the aptX-adaptive codec are both present, which I doubt took much work since the chipset is the same as the TA2.

Battery Life - 8/10

Advertised at 25 hours total, my experience was between 3 and a half and 4 and a half hours from a single charge. This is far better in real-world tests than the 1More Comfobuds and Taotronics SoundLiberty 80, which barely gave me 2 and a half hours.

The case adds an additional 3 charges. Perfectly adequate for this form factor, and average by market standards:

Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro - 6.5 hours / 27 hours
1More Comfobuds 2 - 6 hours / 24 hours
FIIL CC2 - 5 hours / 27 hours
SoundPeats TrueAir2+ - 5 hours / 25 hours
Haylou Moripods - 5 hours / 25 hours
Tronsmart Battle - 5 hours / 25 hours
SoundPeats Air3 - 5 hours / 17.5 hours
QCY T12 - 4 hours / 20 hours
TaoTronics SoundLiberty 80 - 4 hours / 20 hours

Summary

The TrueAir2+ are a nice little re-rub of an already excellent set of earbuds. Only adding £5 to the price, they've included wireless charging, lower latency, a red/amber/green light to denote charge and, well...that's about it. A little disappointing not to see SoundPEATS take the buds a little further, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it I guess. Perhaps a TrueAir Pro would be the next logical step, but I can understand why SoundPEATS added some key features that embellish the product further without drastic redesign, and within 6 months of the already cutting-edge TrueAir2.

Since the TrueAir2 were released, FIIL added the CC2, Haylou the Moripods, and a few others added their take on the old airpod design, but SoundPEATS remain the best all-round option at the sub £30 mark. If you already have the TA2, I'd have a hard job justifying buying these as well, but if you're new to the game and looking for good value buds of this form factor, the difference in price is justified.

Price Weighted Score: 96%
Raw Score: 87%
2022 Score: 86%

SoundPEATS Review Inventory:

SoundPEATS Mini
SoundPEATS Air3
SoundPEATS TrueAir2+
SoundPEATS TrueAir 2
SoundPEATS H1
SoundPEATS T2
SoundPEATS Sonic

About SoundPEATS:

SoundPEATS seem to have become an overnight sensation, wiping up a large portion of budget TWS earbud market share with a business model that has served them (and Anker before them) exceptionally well - good distribution channels (via Amazon), good support, a catchy name and product that performs well at a very competitive price point. In reality, they have been around a long time - whilst Shenzhen SoundSOUL IT Co LTD is a different trading name to Ginto E-Commerce, they share the same business address (including room number) as them - you may know their brand name better as Dudios. With Dudios not sounding quite so cool as Soundpeats, maybe the brand transition has been instrumental in their success, but having been around since 2010 and patents in Bluetooth tech stretching back to 2015, they are not the plucky upstarts that some may think - they know their stuff, have a great network of contacts, and now a very solid brand in Europe, and deservedly so.

The thing that sets SoundPEATS apart from other vendors, and makes them my favourite budget earbud vendor, is that they are completely transparent over their components. Whether they use Realtek, Qualcomm or Airoha chips in their buds, they are totally open about it, and as a reviewer this really helps, because whilst I have, and do, dismantle buds to check the way that certain things have been implemented (such as the power management, mems mics, etc) and I really don't like having to do it with every set of earbuds, because they then become unusable.

RC043

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher

Model: Tronsmart Apollo Air
Price: MSRP $69.99 - usually around $30 on AliExpress
Vendor Website: Tronsmart Apollo Air
Distributor: Geekbuying
Review Reference: RC043

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: Tronsmart
• Model: Apollo Air
• Driver: 10mm Customised Graphene Drivers
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3046
• Impedence: 32 Ohm
• Mic: 6, cVc 8.0
• ANC: Yes, 35dB
• Volume Control: Yes
• Codecs: AptX adaptive, AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.19g
• Earbud Dimensions: 25.6mm wide, neck approx. 17.9mm, 32.7mm stem length
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 39g
• Case Dimensions: 62mm (width) x 32mm (depth) x 37mm (height)
• Case Charge Capacity: 500mAh
• Full Charge Time: 150 minutes
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: No (Only on Air+)
• Input: 5V 1A
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 5 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 20 hours
• App Support: Yes, but not fully, and issues on IOS
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX45

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
3 x Pair Silicone Tips
1 x User manual, warranty card
1 x Bag Silicone Gel (Random!)



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the first of four stem-based TWS offerings from our friends at @Tronsmart Official, hot on the heels of the Onyx Apex - which I reviewed here, but received first.

Tronsmart are now fully established as a mid to premium range earbud vendor, with their focus almost solely on audio products - mostly speakers and headphones. Founder Eric Cheng, a self-confessed geek, founded the company with his first paycheck (where was he working?!), building a lab to disassemble audio products with the aim to recreate them in his own vision at a cost-efficient price point. After bringing in ear-chewing trophy-winning footballer Luis Suarez as an ambassador, the company have gone from strength to strength, building a close relationship with Qualcomm, and bringing two of their chips to market first with the Apollo Bold, and this release, the Apollo Air, which uses the Qualcomm QCC3046. The only major difference between this and the QCC3040 is the support of an external quad-SPI peripheral, designed to make flash memory run faster and reduce bottlenecks.

Last month Tronsmart celebrated their 8th birthday, with a roll-out plan of four sets of buds - the Apollo Air, Apollo Air+, Onyx Apex and Battle. The Air+ are essentially the same, but feature in-ear detection and wireless charging.

The Unboxing - 8.5/10

The unboxing of the Q10, after redefining the expectations with the Apollo Bold, was a bit of a damp squib, but Tronsmart have returned to form with some key changes in their branding and marketing that push them above the average budget earbud.



The branding is sharp, bright and distinctive, with their orange and purple colour schema retained, and the key features clearly outlined on the front and back. The box is larger than the Onyx Apex.



As per the review of the Onyx Apex, the manual clearly demonstrates controls, charge indication, parameters, and provides easy to follow visual instruction on how to use the buds. Not only that, they've managed to retain consistency which I hope they keep up. Whilst the real-life diagrams are only accompanied by English text, the parameters and support details are in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.

That aside, you get the usual fare of spare tips, warranty card, charger cable and charge case, but it's up a notch from what I usually see - and that's definitely a good thing in this case. The tips are reasonable quality and shaped appropriately for the fit and form factor.

No vouchers for 5 star reviews here - always good to see a vendor stand behind their products without the need for bribes. The Apollo Air are available in black or white, with the 'Plus' version supporting wireless charging

The Case - 7/10 (Black), 7.5/10 (White)



The case is finished in a generic-looking matte black with the Tronsmart embossed into the top. The finish and build quality is evidently a step up from the Onyx Apex. The white case scores half a mark higher for looking a bit nicer- the finish seems more scratch resistant and the blue lighting scheme looks really nice against the color of the case!



The case is smaller than the Onyx Apex, and more akin to that of the SoundPEATS Sonic. The height and depth make it very portable.



This time, the four lights denoting charge have been replaced with a single light, which flashes blue three times if above 10%, and red three times if below. Whilst charging, the light is red until fully charged. This feels like a bit of a backward step from the Onyx Apex, and a red/amber/green scheme would definitely have been a better option. It doesn't help that in the app, you just get a bar for the remaining battery of the buds rather than a percentage, or any indication of what juice is left in the case. You do get a voice prompt telling you when battery is about to die, but by that point it's a it late.



Just as with the Onyx Apex, there is no lip for single handed use. There is a little more give in the hinge. The buds sit flat, as opposed to angular on the Onyx Apex, and the parameters are printed on the inside of the lid, rather than the bottom. Even so, using the case is quite enjoyable - I much prefer this style to cases that don't sit on the desk, so you can pop the buds back in with the case upright as well as seeing charge status. These facets make it a good case for sitting on your office desk (as opposed to dangling off the end of a USB cable which is often what happens when the USB socket is on the bottom)



Whilst the rear looks like there are large gaps, it is a shiny edge which runs all the way round the case to the hinge. Unlike the Apex, there is a pairing button on the back, but I found they went into pairing mode automatically anyway since they feature hall switch mode. Like the Apex, they are charged with USB-C, and the 500mA capacity is pretty large by case standards- as a result it takes a little longer than usual to charge the case and buds fully.



Weighing in at less than 39g fully loaded, this is without doubt one of the more portable cases around, almost 10g lighter than the Apex, and 15g lighter than the FIIL CC Pro so it is ideal for both inside and outside jacket pockets. This is almost the same weight as the SoundPEATS Mini, so Tronsmart have done extraordinarily well to keep the weight down.



The case charges slower than the Apex, and I struggled to get the full 500mA at 5v input, which is likely down to overcharge protection components, which will prolong the life of the product and are always a welcome feature.

Ergonomics - 8/10, Build quality - 8/10



From the front, there is only a marginal protrusion of the buds despite their alternative, hairdryer style shape.



Side view shows they actually protrude a fair bit more than the Apex and do require periodic re-adjustment to stop them sticking out a bit. Nothing major, but a side-effect of the shape.



First impressions of the Apollo Air are of another very well-finished earbud. The buds themselves are, once again far nicer than the case. Very glossy black can sometimes appear a little cheap, but it is clear that unlike some of the very budget buds (Haylou, etc.) care has been taken with the QC, with no rough edges or sharp lines. The white are also impressive, with the glossy finish and, again, consistent chamber sizes and finishes commensurate with the 'Apollo' branding.



The first thing to note is the shape. Now I no longer own the Dudios T8, but I reviewed them here, and that's probably the closest comparison I can find.

The 'hairdryer' design is definitely not the norm with earbuds, and I did fear for their fit on first glance, but actually it seems to work out OK - despite the lack of contouring, the shape still complements noise cancellation and isolation, and over a few hours use they still feel very comfortable. If you chop the top off the Boltune BT-BH024 I guess they are fairly similar, although feel less invasive due to a shorter neck.



Close-up comparisons of the Apollo Air and Onyx Apex show that the Apex are really relying on that solid seal for isolating sound, but the Apollo Air have little to no contour, albeit with a similar, oval driver protector. It is nigh-on impossible to capture, but the Apollo Air feature an additional feedback mic, on the outer edge at the top of the stem.



The differences with the Onyx Apex start to unfold when we flip the bud over. The 6 mic array is accommodated with a larger, hairdryer-style rectangle at the top, but Tronsmart have elongated the stem slightly and the voice mic is on the inside rather than within the base. The battery connectors are slightly beveled, and sit at the bottom on the inside. The bevel is not deep enough to circumvent contact with the skin, so they would not be ideal for those with nickel allergies - bear this in mind.



They are still shorter than average at just under 33mm stem length, and this is really highlighted when pictured alongside some other popular stem-based, in-ear models, where the average is around 37mm in length. Despite the stubbiness of the Tronsmart offerings, call quality does not suffer, which is testament to the implementation of the mic array.



At 4.19g they are heavier than the Apex, but still not heavy in the ears. Anything above 5g I find starts to wilt after a while without a fin, so despite the bulky middle section, they still fit comfortably and securely and add stability, which is needed given their bulky shoulders.

Like the 1More Comfobuds Pro and Huawei Freebuds Pro, they suffer a little bit with their form factor being really tip-dependant. Like the Comfobuds, to get good fit and performance you need to tip roll - but unlike the Comfobuds, the best bet is the Feaulle h370 latex tip. It improves the stability immeasurably. With the latex tips, the Apollo Air just stay sticky in your ears and feel great. It gives them a new dimension.

Overall Tronsmart have done a very decent job shaping an earbud for a very specific use case - good calls and good ANC, and whilst it may not look especially appealing at first glance, the Apollo Air looks good in your ears and the form factor is conducive to performance, whilst demonstrating a novel design that sets them apart from the crowd.

Audio Quality - 8/10 (for the price), 7/10 (raw score)

I tested the sound with a number of signature tracks in FLAC using the aptX codec, and above you can see the frequency response using SBC on Windows 11.

The sound profile is quite similar to the SoundPEATS Sonic. The bass is beefy and can feel a little bloated, even rumble, bordering on dark at times. 'So Sick' by Neyo is a simple track but on default setting the subbass is way too boosted for my liking out of the box. When you notch the subbass down in the EQ, it's a much more palatable experience, but this is unquestionably the fullest sounding earbud from Tronsmart since the Apollo Bold.

Tracks with plenty of high hats and snares like Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' and 'Got To Have Your Love' by Mantronix benefit from the rolled off treble, giving a warmth to the sound that makes them pleasant, if a little unambitious listening. 'Outstanding' by Kenny Thomas separates out his vocals, piano and drums quite nicely, and although the sound feels constrained at times, this does come to life a bit on more complex tracks, which the Apollo Air deals with reasonably well.

Tracks which really push the boundaries in terms of soundstage, such as Crazy by Seal, the Apollo Air have trouble conveying the passion and intent of the production.

With a tweak of the subbass and an uplift of the high mids, you can achieve a nice enough sound signature from the Apollo Air. They won't be for everyone out of the box, but respond very well to EQ - if you favour a slightly more neutral, less consumer-focused signature, you'll appreciate the tuning here.

There is no LDAC or LHDC support, and with the competition releasing hybrid driver buds now, I feel like this is the next natural step for Tronsmart - they've eeked everything they can out of single driver buds now.

Call Quality - Indoors - 7/10, Outdoors - 7/10

With 6 mics, I expected calls to be good, and they did not disappoint. Just like the Comfobuds Pro, your voice sounds extremely natural, and simulated background noise indoors is practically eradicated completely. The only issue is on Teams, I got the occasional crackle. Otherwise this is market-leading stuff.



Outdoors the compression works so well that you start to think maybe cVc 8.0 was designed for 6 mics. Impressive stuff. Even in a very busy scene traffic was reduced to a minimum and your voice, whilst it gets a bit raspy, is perfectly discernible.



Incidentally, whilst perfect on Zoom and Teams calls, I had instances of crackling on IOS cell calls. I contacted Tronsmart support and it turned out there was a minor issue with the way the ANC behaves when a call initiates. This will undoubtedly be fixed with a firmware update, but for reference, if you do experience this, then tapping the buds to switch ANC off is a workaround that quickly resolves the problem.

ANC - 8/10

Without question, ANC is very good on the Apollo Air. With some vendors now offering multiple modes, like wind reduction etc, there's an onus on Tronsmart to make sure high noise cancelling works well - and it doesn't disappoint.

There may only be three modes, but it outperforms the 1More Comfobuds Pro, notably in low frequency sounds, and only struggling a little with higher frequencies such as keyboard taps, but even they are still substantially muted. Using the hybrid (FF/FT) method, with a good seal you can achieve very good performance. I took the Apollo Air out on a run in the rain, and only splashes from cars hitting puddles were audible, even with my podcast on quite low volume.

Ambient mode works very well, although if you are in a very busy environment it can sound quite piercing. This is the benefit and the curse of 6 mics - when it lets all that noise back in it's quite a shock to the system!

In terms of strength, the Apollo Air is not quite on the level of the market-leading Edifier NeoBuds Pro, but for this form factor, it's the best I've tested so far. It is quite fit-dependent, like always with TWS, so ensure you have the right tips. I used the Feaulle h240 latex tips, and they do the job really well.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7.5/10

So first things first, Tronsmart have a pretty nice app on both IOS and Android, which supports a lot of their products- the Apollo Air, Apollo Bold, Studio, Spunky Beat Pro, Q10 and their forthcoming release are all supported. Having this single source app is really nice, and there are no nasty permission settings or requirements, it's really simple.

Selecting the model is quite straightforward - you scroll from left to right on the main screen and press select and then it scans for the Bluetooth connection and takes you into the control page. On IOS, when the Apollo Air were first released I had some trouble getting the app to recognize the buds even though they were connected. This has sorted itself out over time - sometimes it takes a couple of attempts, but it's generally very reliable and polished by TWS standards.

The app doesn't do a great deal, but what it does, it does well. You can check the battery, adjust ANC, use the EQ which has numerous presets (I use wavelet anyway) update the firmware and read the manual,.

However the best feature of the app is button configuration - you can customise practically every button touch, including single touch, which is a big benefit if you're set in your ways and don't like the Tronsmart control scheme. Not only that, it gives you a really clear explanation of every change. This puts them ahead of brands like 1More and Edifier, who allow some customisation, but not all.

The buds do not advertise aptX-adaptive, but they default to it on Android. On Windows, it's aptX, and latency is practically lip-sync - very good latency of around 180Ms (source+destination). AAC is also well-scoped, with a capped max variable bitrate of just under CD-quality. There is no circumventing- chopping out MPEG2, like FIIL et al did. YouTube and other video sources show little to no lag, although gamers will notice the usual slight delay. There's no gaming mode to reduce the sound quality and speed up the delivery- you'll need the Battle for that.



Controls are really intuitive and accurate. I posted above the default control scheme, but this can be adjusted in the app as per the above explanation. Touch controls are really easy and reliable due to the fingertip-shaped notch.

Voice prompts are delivered in both ears and in a English-speaking female voice - the same as previous Tronsmart releases, and a welcome escape from random beeps (Haylou) or Chinese (FIIL) or Chinglish (KZ) prompts! (no offence meant, of course). It's professional and enhances the user experience. Well, it does if you speak English like I do anyway!

One of the really nice features which Tronsmart don't really talk about much is the 'regenerative braking'-style pause, which slowly stops your music, rather than grinding it to a sudden halt. This really improves the audio experience - once you've experienced it, not having it is a real nause!

Like every QCC304X chip earbud I've tested so far, they do not always connect to each other when you take them out of the case. Just holding the guilty bud down will power it on, so make sure not to change that button setting! Either that or put them back in the case. This is evidently a 'Qualcomm thing', not a 'Tronsmart thing', and may even be source-specific...i.e. it requires a certain version of one of the connection protocols to be implemented and enabled. I noticed Scarbir mentioned it in his review of the Apollo Air, and spoke to him briefly about it and how it seems to be a feature of the chip rather than the bud. I will reach out to the wider earbud review community and see what they have experienced, and hopefully a fix can be found- it certainly isn't a deal breaker.

Otherwise connectivity is very good - they retain stability much longer than the other QCC304X buds I tested lately, similar to the Haylou Moripods - over 10m LOS is impressive. I've noticed with Qualcomm's chip shortage many vendors have turned to BES and Airoha in their product designs, and I've found whilst these SoC's have their merits, retaining strong, consistent connectivity over distance isn't one of them, so Tronsmart's loyalty to Qualcomm has paid dividends in that respect.

Aside from that, there's no wireless charging or ear detection - you need the plus version for that, and I kinda feel like Tronsmart should've bundled that in and released one version of the product.

Battery Life - 7/10

5 hours from a single use was pretty accurate. I got 4 with volume around 60% and ANC on - volume is loud on these by default. This is just shy of where the majority of the market are, but Tronsmart close the gap by being much closer to the advertised number than some of their competitors.

20 hours juice with the charge case is a little lower than the Apex, but about right for Qualcomm buds, although Qualcomm will need to keep pace, as the BES-and Airoha- based buds are offering double that now, with the caveat that ANC reduces the charge level sizeably. It has less of a difference with the Apollo Air, which is good if you use ANC a lot, not so good if you're an infrequent user.

To compound this, the charge time is long (over 2 hours) and there's no quick charge support. The charge case has one of the largest capacities on the market, so Tronsmart have not skimmed on components - it's simply a sign that this chipset is powerful and requires a lot of juice. Even so, warp charge has become so common you do actually miss it when it's not there, but 20 hours should get you through the day anyway.

Recommended Tips



For the Apollo Air, to ensure maximum comfort around the massive nozzle, the Tanchjim T-APB 300T Medium are the ideal tip. The inner nozzle is wide enough at 5.4mm, and reinforced, providing a comfortable barrier between your ear canal and the hard plastic edge. They are relatively short at 8.5mm, the 11mm width is sufficient to provide a comfortable fit and optimise hybrid ANC, but the constricted yet thickened nozzle also takes some of the flabbiness out of the bass and allows cymbals and high-hats to shine.



Another option is the Feaulle h370. These latex tips hold the buds in your ear really nicely, and work very well at optimising ANC on this model. I've settled on these, as they provide extra stability and are really comfy. Whilst ANC isn't quite as strong as with the Tanchjim, it is still very good and has transformed the Apollo Air into one of my daily drivers.

Final Comments

The Apollo Air are a really solid release from Tronsmart, that are clear front runners in the mid-budget ANC market, especially if you prefer your buds stem-based.

The sound is good, without hitting the heights of the new BA releases - namely the Edifier NeoBuds Pro and SoundPEATS H1 - but their solid call quality makes them a good option for the commuter or anyone working from home, adding practicality where the others are unsuited, at a stupidly low price.

The ANC is very underrated on this model. I rarely hear it mentioned in the same breath as the 1More Comfobuds Pro, for example, despite it clearly outperforming it.

Tronsmart have a really nice portfolio of products now, but the slow pace of their TWS releases means they have to take risks, such as new chips, to stay relevant - a challenge when you develop products across multiple segments. Tronsmart were once again the first to the market with the new Qualcomm chip, and had some early challenges. It's testament to them as a brand that so many bugs in early releases are fixed quickly and quietly. with Soundcore, for example, it often feels like one step forward, two steps back. However, fixing most of the issues, the ones that remain: calls 'sounding lispy' at your end with ANC on, and occasional failure to connect to the app, will put some off, and it's a shame Tronsmart didn't really follow through and resolve them all with this release in the way that they did with the Apollo Bold.

By spreading their design resource across both speakers and earbuds, their releases sometimes feel a little 'me too' these days - I'd love to see them take an even bigger risk with future releases, just as they did with the one that brought them to my attention, the Apollo Bold.

Nevertheless, it is a welcome return to form from Tronsmart, with two excellent sets of buds hitting the market and addressing different needs at different price points. Over time I have to say the Apollo Air have really grown on me to become a firm favourite - at this price point. They offer far greater bang for buck than the 1More Comfobuds Pro, and give you a feature set and performance that wouldn't look out of place at double the price. If you're looking for ANC and great calls at a mid-tier price, and can overlook the minor quibbles, look no further.

Price Weighted Score: 80%
Raw Score: 73%

instagram: regancipher

Tronsmart Review Inventory:

Tronsmart Studio
Tronsmart Apollo Air
Tronsmart Battle
Tronsmart Onyx Apex
Tronsmart Apollo Q10
Tronsmart Onyx Free
Tronsmart Apollo Bold

About Tronsmart:

Tronsmart are now fully established as a mid to premium range earbud vendor, with their focus almost solely on audio products - mostly speakers and headphones. Founder Eric Cheng, a self-confessed geek, founded the company with his first paycheck (where was he working?!), building a lab to disassemble audio products with the aim to recreate them in his own vision at a cost-efficient price point.

After bringing in ear-chewing, trophy-winning Uruguayan international footballer Luis Suarez as a brand ambassador, the company have gone from strength to strength, building a close relationship with Qualcomm, and bringing two of their chips to market first with the Apollo Bold, and then the Apollo Air, which uses the Qualcomm QCC3046 - still not yet seen in the TWS world.

Also manufacturing speakers, the range is now almost as extensive as their earbuds, ranging from 7, 10 and 15w mini speakers through to the 60w Force Pro and Mega Pro.

Tronsmart remain one of my favourite mid-tier vendors, outrunning their budget competitors by releasing flagship products alongside the run-of-the-mill releases, and demonstrating transparency and commitment to quality and innovation with every release.

RC043

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
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Model: Tronsmart Onyx Apex
Price: MSRP $48
Vendor Website: Tronsmart Onyx Apex
Review Reference: RC043

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: Tronsmart
• Model: Onyx Apex
• Driver: 10mm Dynamic Drivers
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
• Impedence: 32 Ohm
• Mic: 4, cVc 8.0
• ANC: Yes, Entry Level
• Volume Control: Yes
• Codecs: Aptx-Adaptive, AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.92g
• Earbud Dimensions: 24.8mm wide, neck approx. 19.3mm, 30.4mm stem length
• Gross Case & Buds Weight: 46g
• Case Dimensions: 62mm (width) x 41mm (depth) x 30mm (height)
• Case Charge Capacity: 400mAh
• Full Charge Time: 90 minutes
• Quick Charge: Yes
• Wireless Charging: No
• Input: 5V 1A
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 5 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 24 hours
• App Support: Not currently
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX45

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
3 x Pair Silicone Tips
1 x User manual, warranty card



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the third of four stem-based TWS offerings from our friends at @Tronsmart Official

Tronsmart first caught my eye just over a year ago with some fantastic budget releases - the Spunky Beat and Onyx Free, which received great reviews from the likes of myself, Scarbir, El Jefe, Kenneth Tannaka and many members at Head-Fi for their bang-for-buck. Last year was a pivotal year for them, releasing the 'Airpod Killer' Onyx Ace TWS, Mega Pro and Shadow Elite series speakers, the highly acclaimed Apollo Bold TWS and Apollo Q10 over-ears. My review of the Apollo Bold even made the front page of Head-Fi, and they remain today one of the leading choices for ANC buds despite the TWS market moving at such a frenetic pace.

Last month Tronsmart celebrated their 8th birthday, with a roll-out plan of four sets of buds - the Apollo Air, Apollo Air+, Onyx Apex and Battle. It was difficult to see where the Onyx Apex would fit into the portfolio, but having received them at the same time as the Apollo Air, I will later add a comparison between the two, and you can judge based on your own priorities and preferences.

All of the buds are using the newer Qualcomm Bluetooth 5.2 ready SoC chips, this model using the QCC3040.

The Unboxing - 8.5/10

The unboxing of the Q10, after redefining the expectations of TWS with the extravagant Apollo Bold, was a bit of a damp squib, but Tronsmart have returned to form with their new releases, making some key changes in their branding and marketing that push them above the average budget earbud, and embellish the consumer experience according.

The branding is now sharp, bright and distinctive, with their orange and purple colour schema retained, and the key features clearly outlined on the front and back. However gone are the days of cheap plastic inlays and monochrome manuals
- they've upped their game considerably, and you feel like you're getting far better value for money.

One area of clear maturity is the product collateral. Now I mean no disrespect to Haylou - this could have been a QCY, FIIL, KZ or pretty much any other budget earbud vendor comparison, but what would you rather read, the top one, or the bottom one?

The Tronsmart manuals clearly demonstrate controls, charge indication, parameters, and provide visual and written instruction on how to use the buds. Not only that, they've managed to retain consistency between this and their last release, the Apollo Air. Whilst the real-life diagrams are only accompanied by English text, the parameters and support details are in French, German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.

That aside, you get the usual fare of spare tips, warranty card, charger cable and charge case, but it's up a notch from what I usually see - and that's definitely a good thing in this case. The tips are reasonable quality and shaped appropriately for the fit and form factor.

No vouchers for 5 star reviews here - always good to see a vendor stand behind their products without the need for bribes.

The Case - 7/10

The case is finished in a generic-looking matte black with the Tronsmart logo screen printed in grey on the top. At first glance, the finish is nice enough, but like most matte-black finish cases, shiny patches soon appear, and the look very quickly starts to fade. A week in a handbag will show a lifetime of wear - always a danger with this type of case. My pearlescent 1More Comfobuds case, by contrast, looks as good as the day I bought them.



The case is not altogether dissimilar to the SoundPEATS T2, with it's four indicator lights denoting how many charges the case has left. Placing the buds back into the case immediately displays the remaining percentage (in quarters) with single glowing white lights, which diminish quickly - albeit a little too quickly at times. This is an underrated feature that they over-complicated with the Apollo Air, although it would be good if the lights came on when the buds weren't in case, but the case was closed, too.

Note the gap between the top and bottom sections - this is something I am seeing more and more lately, and unfortunately it makes for a very wobbly lid that doesn't feel great. When you analyse closer, you see some reinforcement to the hinge as a compensating control, but compared to the Apollo Air, it is a little flimsy. If the lid can actually wiggle in your hand when the case is closed then that is not a good sign of longevity for me, but a month or two later and its still going strong, so what do I know?!



At 62 x 41 x 30mm, with rounded edges, it is quite appropriate to fit in your pocket, despite being on the larger side compared to the lipstick - style cases of the FIIL T1 Pro and 1More Comfobuds Pro, and differs from the SoundPEATS T2 case by not tapering inwards. Symmetric cases are always nicer in my opinion, and more practical when you're storing loads of TWS together.



Weighing in at 46g fully loaded, it is not especially heavy, so portability is generally pretty good, whether in a handbag or jacket pocket, although single handed operation is impossible with this shape and absence of any grooved lip. You really do need two hands to operate this case easily.



Another set of buds released at the same time with the same chip, the Haylou W1, have a slightly different style case, but is easier to replace the buds when you finish with them - they just slot in, face first, in the 12 O'clock position. Overall I prefer the case of the Haylou, but it does take more desk space and is less portable, if that's a problem to you.

The re-insertion of the Apex buds into the case is actually more reminiscent of the Omthing Airfree / 1More Pistonbuds, although they sit tilted slightly at an angle, and this can make getting used to their placement a bit of a learning curve as they lean slightly upwards. It feels like they're in the wrong place at first, even though they aren't. It's very difficult to show this in photos so you'll have to take my word for it!



The case met the documented battery draw criteria in the specification sheet of 5v 1a. I did not dismantle it to check on the overcharge components etc as I actually quite like them and only have one set!

The case also supports hall switch, connecting or pairing immediately, without the need for removing the buds.

Ergonomics - 8/10, Build quality - 8/10

From the front, there is only a marginal protrusion of the buds despite their bulbous shape. This is in contrast to recent releases the ZMI PurPods Pro and 1More Comfobuds Pro, which protrude a fair bit and are clearly visible face - on.

Side view shows a well-thought out and subtle profile that is not too 'in your face', although the Apex are not excessively comfortable for prolonged use, as unlike the Haylou Moripods and QCY T11, for example, Tronsmart have focused on strong passive noise isolation, and the trade off when you do this is always comfort. They're absolutely fine for a few hours, but an all - day session can put some pressure on your concha. My recommendation is tip roll. After finding some BGVP tips which are also flat but higher quality than the stock buds, I found them very comfortable.

First impressions of the Onyx Apex are of a very well-finished, premium earbud. The buds themselves are far nicer than the case. Their very glossy black finish feels and looks pristine, and whilst the camera doesn't capture how striking they appear adequately, rest assured they have all the hallmarks of a top quality earbud, and feel well made, with no rough edges or sharp lines that you find with the likes of QCY, Haylou and others in that price bracket.

The buds come with large, flat tips with a sizeable bore to facilitate the over-sized driver surround. The bulbous nature is, as I alluded to prior, evidently designed with passive isolation in mind, and in this respect, it works very well. Below the Tronsmart logo is an indicator light, which flashes blue and red when pairing, blue when paired, and red when replaced into the case. Otherwise, no bright lights when the music stops, thankfully!

A closer look shows you just how big that medium sized tip is - it is like a donut compared to my old trusty spinfits, and when you put them in your ears, you kinda understand why it is designed in this way.

The plastic surround separating the driver and the tip is oval and rather large. Like the airpods pro, this is likely the primary attribute that can make them feel a little tiresome during lengthy sessions. I'll reiterate here, getting the right tip is important, and I'm still tip-rolling now to maximise comfort and isolation. I have a bunch from BGVP, Tanchjim, Spinfit, Dekoni, Feaulle and some others that I'm still waiting for, and when my website launches there will probably be a more appropriate place to include those tests, but I'll retrospectively add my preferred tips here later anyway. At the moment the BGVP W01 ML are pretty good, increasing comfort and supporting the sound.

All of the supplied tips are flat, the larger are simply larger in diameter rather than thickness. The idea is for them to fill up the intermediate area around your antihelix. This is similar logic to the Apollo Bold, and the Edifier TWS NB2 also appeared to be designed with this principle in mind, although Tronsmart have refined it a little here.

The inside of the bud is evidently shiny - in fact, the whole bud is very shiny - and it features a pressure release hole towards the top. This is no doubt useful when activating ambient mode. You can also just about detect the L on the bottom there - each bud has its individual 'side' designated.



The battery connectors are slightly beveled, and sit at the bottom on the inside. The bevel is not deep enough to circumvent contact with the skin, so they would not be ideal for those with nickel allergies - bear this in mind. Below is the voice mic, situated in the bottom of the outer edge. Once again you see the oval shape to the nozzle, which discourages the buds from being forced down your ear canal, and is an approach I support. Nobody wants listening to music to feel like a trip to the gynecologists'. Whilst it's large enough to discourage being inserted too deeply, it's small enough to avoid discomfort, unlike the FIIL CC Pro, which is uncomfortable however you insert them.



The Tronsmart logo is nicely screen printed onto a flat, very responsive and intuitive touch control area, that is well designed and well-finished. The way that Tronsmart really underline the shape of the touch area means missed touches and false positives are very infrequent. Getting this right isn't easy - the FIIL CC Pro is a great example of how not to do it.



At less than 4g they are not heavy in the ears, which is good, because if they were then this would probably make it a deal breaker. By filling you concha and minimising the weight displacement on the outer edge, it means they aren't fighting with gravity. I had this issue with the Soundpeats Sonic, where they crammed so much tech in on the outside, they would eventually start wilting outwards. No such issues here.



I always enjoy comparing different buds of a similar ilk to try and second - guess why designs have been implemented in a certain way. At 30.7mm, the Apex are actually marginally shorter than the Boya BY AP-4, but the inner design lends itself more to the Haylou W1, elevating upwards slightly before contouring down with a flatter - indeed the flattest - tip. Not pictured are the 1More Comfobuds Pro, but their tips are similar, although they offer alternative thickness tips within the 4 sets they provide. That wouldn't work with the Apex due to their design.

In terms of comfort, as I said earlier, they lag behind more simple buds like the W1 and BY-AP4, but are comfier than the shortest in my range, the 1More Pistonbuds, which, whilst initially comfy, fatigue after prolonged use due to their invasive, long neck, and fight with gravity to stay in your ears if you move around too much. It's difficult with stem-based buds to get this comfort factor perfect for everyone. The QCY T10 and Haylou W1 are incredibly comfortable, but the poor supplied tips help with this because they're flimsy and don't support the sound quality. On the flip, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 were incredibly uncomfortable regardless of tip, but are generally quite well supported, so it's worth adding here fit is wholly subjective and once again underlines the need to tip roll to optimise your purchase, whatever you choose to buy.

Overall Tronsmart have done a very decent job balancing looks, ergonomics, comfort, and form factor, but I definitely recommend tip rolling with these buds. The shape is not what I'm used to, certainly, and it took a while to get the right fit and angle. Once you get it right, they fit nicely and provide excellent passive isolation.

Audio Quality - 8/10 (for the price), 7.5/10 (raw score)

I tested the sound with a number of signature tracks in FLAC using the aptX codec, and unlike the Apollo Air, the default sound signature is quite bright. Not as bright as the Haylou Moripods, but a shade too much sibilance on female vocals on treble-heavy tracks manifested on my first test track - He's On The Phone by Saint Etienne, where Sarah Cracknell's lispy vocal struggles around cymbals and snares. This is not unusual, and is why I tend to use that album first.

The Onyx Apex are better suited to tracks with an emphasis on lower frequency instruments. When you have a Contralto like Rebecca Ferguson, who is my guilty pleasure (I love her deep, expressive vocal style) - singing amongst jazz, blues and acoustic guitars, you can sense an airy but intimate separation that is really quite nice. Jazz and Blues really stand out with the Apex.

Middle-chest vocals like Ryan Tedder do not disappoint either. Ryan is another underrated vocalist, and as he passes passagio on Counting Stars the buds do not distort or push the instruments too far back, which you often detect on poorly tuned drivers.

Phil Collins' unmistakable high tenor vocals on In The Air Tonight do not degenerate either, despite the heavy reverb. So maybe it's just the ultra-soprano range that they need a tweak with. It underlines that a balanced armature driver would have taken these to the next level, and probably would have been the ideal differentiator to the Apollo Air.

Tronsmart advertise these buds as bassy, and maybe that's a fly in the face of the recent craze for BA TWS, but in reality bass is actually not a strong point with the Apex. Without any EQ the bass response is typically fast albeit sometimes flabby, but they've clearly learned lessons from the Apollo Bold as the subbass is really reigned in compared with the v1 firmware on their flagship bud from last year. Now they were bass monsters.

The instruments move around quite well for in-ear. I mean, it's not at the level of the BA earbuds I've tested lately, but still an enjoyable listen for the money, and they respond well to EQ - I struggled to get them to distort on a ten band, so there's lots of wiggle room for getting your signature sound right.

Call Quality - Indoors - 8/10, Outdoors - 7.5/10

The earbuds feature a 4-mic array with a mic at the top for ambient noise, and a voice mic at the bottom. And like other QCC3040 buds, they use cVc 8.0 noise reduction to try to improve the mic.

In all honesty I am struggling to tell the difference between most of these buds when it comes to calls. Call quality is more than good enough indoors. Your voice is extremely natural sounding. With simulated background noise, it performs well. After a few seconds of acclimatizing, it adjusts and nullifies high frequencies quite well.

Outdoors most sounds around you are nullified, although it doesn't handle outdoor calls anything like as well as the Apollo Air - compression is good, but your voice can clip.

Like most other earbuds of this form factor, outdoors they struggle a little with wind, whilst kids voices come through quite clearly, sometimes ahead of your own. That said, the cVc8.0 noise reduction is characteristically pretty good at distinguishing sounds around your own voice frequency, so traffic and other similar low-rumbling sounds are negated rather well.

Their performance is summarized quite well in my blanket test of 28 different tws in a challenging environment here:



ANC - 6/10, PNI - 8/10

ANC is described as entry level, and you definitely get that impression. Even with ambient mode on, it doesn't have that over-emphasis of ambient sound that you get on many buds. Ambient mode is not a huge leap from ANC like it is on the Comfobuds Pro or Apollo Air, and that is mainly down to the other models using 6 mics, as opposed to 4.

Noise cancellation is nevertheless surprisingly good at all round 'taking the edge off' - I can hear keyboard taps, but they are nullified. Low frequencies are nullified. The TV is nullified. Everything is nullified. You can hear noise there, but there is no white noise being pumped through to amplify the experience, so it's quite natural, and in all honesty, feels a bit weak as a result. It is no doubt helped by the excellent passive noise isolation, and is augmented even further when you switch tips. I didn't mind the stock tips, but after switching them for BGVP W01 L ANC improved immeasurably.

I took them out for an outdoor mic test and they struggled to blot out the wind, but if you purchase these with the notion that ANC is not their primary feature - it's just a handy add-on, then it serves its purpose.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7.5/10

So first things first, Tronsmart have a really nice app. Sadly, the buds don't work with it yet. That was a bit disappointing. Hopefully this will change in the future.

The buds do not advertise aptX-adaptive, but they default to it on Android. On Windows, it's aptX, and latency is practically lip-sync - very good latency of around 180Ms (source+destination). AAC is also well-scoped, with a capped max variable bitrate of just under CD-quality. There is no circumventing- chopping out MPEG2, like FIIL et al did.

Controls are really intuitive and accurate. I posted above the control schema. They also offer quick charge - 10 min gives you 1 hour playtime, there is no wireless charging but you do get voice assistant and volume control. Voice prompts are in an English female voice - the same as previous Tronsmart releases, and are a welcome escape from random beeps or Chinese (FIIL) or Chinglish (KZ) prompts! (no offence meant, of course)

Like every QCC3040 chip earbud I've tested so far, they do not always connect to each other when you take them out of the case. I have noticed Scarbir mentioned it in his review of the Apollo Air and will reach out to the wider earbud review community and see what they have experienced, but it's certainly the case for me. Just holding the guilty bud down will power it on, but that could have implications with certain control schemes. Otherwise connectivity is good - this chip does not add range in my experience (other than the Haylou Moripods), and they support Bluetooth 5.2 for future compatibility.

Battery Life - 7.5/10

5 hours from a single use was pretty accurate. I got just under 5 with volume around 70%. 24 hours with the charge case is about right for Qualcomm buds, although Qualcomm will need to keep pace as the BES-and Airoha- based buds are offering double that now.

Final Comments

The Onyx Apex are a great return to form for Tronsmart. There is a clear delineation now between the likes of Tronsmart and SoundPEATS, who are offering mid- to premium performance and general overall package, and the also-rans at the bottom end.

The case is a little disappointing - like SoundPEATS, you can see where they have cut corners to balance quality and cost, and I'd rather it be in the case than the buds. All in all, the Onyx Apex are unquestionably high quality - well made, well fitting, well designed, perform well across the board, and do all the basics very well. The ANC, whilst not particularly strong, is a bonus (Tronsmart make up for it with the Apollo Air, which is probably the better choice if ANC is your main target feature).

Hopefully Tronsmart will add the Apex to the app so we can tune the sound, but otherwise it's another great release, bringing some good features at a low cost.

Next I would like to see Tronsmart push the boundaries and include BA drivers or even hi res codecs, but with no stem based releases in their portfolio, They have quickly added the essentials to their range, and I have no doubts both models will be a great success.

Well done Tronsmart on another top release!

Price Weighted Score: 83%
Raw Score: 81%

instagram: regancipher

Tronsmart Review Inventory:

Tronsmart Studio
Tronsmart Apollo Air
Tronsmart Battle
Tronsmart Onyx Apex
Tronsmart Apollo Q10
Tronsmart Onyx Free
Tronsmart Apollo Bold

About Tronsmart:

Tronsmart are now fully established as a mid to premium range earbud vendor, with their focus almost solely on audio products - mostly speakers and headphones. Founder Eric Cheng, a self-confessed geek, founded the company with his first paycheck (where was he working?!), building a lab to disassemble audio products with the aim to recreate them in his own vision at a cost-efficient price point.

After bringing in ear-chewing trophy-winning footballer Luis Suarez as an ambassador, the company have gone from strength to strength, building a close relationship with Qualcomm, and bringing two of their chips to market first with the Apollo Bold, and then the Apollo Air, which uses the Qualcomm QCC3046.

For speakers, the range is now almost as extensive as their earbuds, ranging from 7, 10 and 15w mini speakers through to the 60w Force Pro and Mega Pro.

Tronsmart remain one of my favourite mid-tier vendors, outrunning their budget competitors by releasing flagship products alongside the run-of-the-mill releases, and demonstrating transparency and commitment to quality and innovation with every release.

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher
Squiglink: regancipher
Socials: Biolink

Model: QCY T12
Price: MSRP $20
Vendor Website: QCY
Review Reference: RC042

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: QCY
• Model: T12
• Driver: 13mm
• Chipset: Jieli (aka Jerry) AC6972A
• Impedence: 32 Ohm
• Mic: Dual MEMS
• ANC: No
• Volume Control: No
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.17g
• Earbud Dimensions: Stem Length 35.8mm
• Gross Weight with Case: 24.79g
• Case Dimensions: 45 x 44 x 25
• Case Charge Capacity: 380mAh
• Full Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: No
• Input: 5V 400mA
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 4 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 20 hours
• App Support: Yes
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.1
• Bluetooth Protocols: HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX5

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User manual, Chinese & English



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the QCY T12.

QCY are well renowned in the TWS space for developing extraordinarily low cost earbuds that perhaps lack some of the bells and whistles of the more lauded chifi brands, but deliver to the segment of the market that need 'good enough', reliability and value for money. Part of the Hele Electronics Group, as well as designing their own products, they also OEM product for other vendors (Aukey, for example rebrand the T5) with three of their major customers in the global top 10 of the TWS market in 2019, and in 2020 they were the 4th biggest TWS vendor in the world, according to market research.

The last time I reviewed a set of QCY earbuds - the T10 - was a bit of a damp squib. I shouldn't have expected much, but the lure of balanced armature drivers at less than $20 was too much to ignore. Unsurprisingly, they turned out to be, well, as good as you would expect for $20 - nothing more, nothing less. However, QCY are very quick learners - straight after the T10 came the T11, and they were much improved. What I like about QCY is they seem to keep the elements that are good, and improve on the areas that are weak, with every release. Fit and comfort on the T10 were great, but they lacked a little in audio quality. The T11 retained the form factor and simply improved the audio delivery - smart decision.

The QCY mission seems to be bringing music to the masses - they are unlikely to top the charts for sound quality or features any time soon, but I think that's how they prefer it - their bang for buck is often unparalleled, with customers knowing they are getting value....and this time, they got it just about right.

The Unboxing - 7/10



Like Haylou, whose Moripods and W1 I recently reviewed, there is nothing fancy about a QCY unboxing. What is noticeable is that they have upped their game in recent releases. The change in branding and logo is evident, and the key features - 13mm drivers, low latency and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity - are all detailed clearly on the front. Inside the buds are held securely in a plastic insert, along with the case, the type-C USB charge cable.



The user manual is a little primitive, and in English and Chinese only. Some of the print is a bit small so make sure you have your reading glasses on!



The back of the box features some of the key characteristics and a QR code for their app.

The Case - 7/10



The case is an 'open cigarette box-style' - similar to the FIIL CC2 - and that can cause a problem with foreign objects getting inside the case and obscuring the charging sensors - so be aware of this.

QCY have favoured a glossy, but solid plastic over the metallic finish of the FIIL, which is robust and very solid. Compared with the FIIL, it provides a much lower total charge capacity.



It is very portable - one of the smallest cases I've tested. The case is visibly smaller than the Haylou Moripods (top left), FIIL CC2 (bottom left) and SoundPEATS TrueAir 2 (bottom right).



It is also extremely light - less than 24g fully loaded, and unlike previous QCY releases it has a nice glossy finish, and the build quality feels more premium than the price would suggest.

A single light on the front glows red when the case is on charge, and green when charge is complete, but there is no indicator of percentage. The light for the buds does the same, and is on the outside - the same side as the case. This makes it very straightforward to see whether they need charging or not and is a nice feature, although it takes an eternity for the lights to go off!

Ergonomics - 7/10, Build Quality - 7.5/10

The shape of the T12 is rectangular, which, like the Moripods and CC2, makes it very easy to adjust them without accidentally initiating the touch controls. There is no obvious sign of the ambient mic on the outside, although the marketing material claims they do have it - where it is, I'm not really sure.

The 'head' of the buds is much thicker than any of the other models above, and this, combined with their very short length (35.4mm) can make them a little lopsided in terms of weight displacement, and consequently quite loose fitting if you have a shallow concha, so these are better suited to those with slightly larger ears, or ears that droop down only a little to enhance stability.

The SoundPEATS and Haylou models get round this with more angular necks to hook better on the ear, and the 1More, FIIL and Taotronics, have a more refined nib which is designed to rest further in the ear canal. To be honest none of them will fit everyone perfectly so it should be remembered fit is entirely subjective, and is especially pertinent with this semi-in-ear style.

They driver surround terminates in a nice metallic mesh cover though, differentiating them from the pack - usually we see this on IEM's, so nice to see on TWS. The build quality is much better than the rough-edged Haylou Moripods.

On the inside we see what is probably the second mic, and a pressure relief hole, commonplace on buds of this ilk. The glossy finish throughout again looks nice, but doesn't help secure them like the traction of the rubberised Comfobuds or matte finish of the TrueAir2 and CC2.

Weighing just 4.17g, they are very light, although as I mentioned earlier, the weight displacement is better suited to those with deep conchas.

Above shows how they look in the ear - a little generic - but they look very nice overall and the LED lights do not flash once they are out of the case and in your ears - a bug bear I have with other manufacturers.

Audio Quality - 7/10 (for the price), 6.5/10 (raw score)

Unlike most buds at this price point, the focus has been on elevating the mids a little, but not too much. This can give the sound a warm, intimate feeling, and whilst they lack a little tonality, they can also sound spacious and airy thanks to the form factor creating a little room between you and the source. High mids are rolled off, which makes them less fatiguing when worn for long periods, but can sound a little muddy on more complex tracks.

I gave them a tweak through Wavelet and Windows, and they responded pretty well through both. It is worth remembering these are $20 buds - the sound is perfectly acceptable for the money. If you're mainly going to be listening to audiobooks or podcasts, these are a great option, as they lack the harshness associated with the v shaped, consumer sound signature typically present on buds at this price point.

The buds support AAC and SBC codecs. QCY mostly use the Jerry chipset range, which supports Bluetooth 5.1, but does not facilitate the aptX codec range as it isn't a Qualcomm SoC. This relationship with Jieli is one of the reasons QCY can keep the buds affordable, and the sound is very good for the price, and especially good for the offer price!

Call Quality - Indoors - 7.5/10, Outdoors - 6.5/10

Calls are surprisingly very clear and natural, if a little boomy, at this price point. Your voice comes across very clear in both cell and Zoom calls, and most sounds that are more than 5m away are blotted out. Closer sounds feel dulled but definitely present, although your voice is elevated above them quite clearly.

Outdoors they seem to suffer the same fate as most other buds of this type. Traffic and wind can completely decimate your calls, and your voice gets lost. This is not exclusive to the T12, more a feature of TWS that all vendors have to compromise on.

Controls & Other Features - 7.5/10

Controls are quite straightforward, and whilst there is no volume control by default, the QCY app does allow you to remap the buttons - remarkable at this price. The manual details how to initiate different functions, and also what the LED status and prompt is. Rather than a Chinese sounding voice, you get a single tone. QCY's YouTube channel gives you very nice visual instructions on how to use the buds here.

Low latency mode is initiated by triple-tapping the right bud, and left triple tap hails voice assistant. Latency came in quite good on this model

The app, like most TWS apps, requires a lot of permissions and doesn't always connect straight away. It does, however, have a remarkable amount of features, including touch sensitivity, button mapping (detailed above), a ten-band equaliser and a 'find my buds' feature a la Samsung. Some very impressive features for the money.

Battery Life - 7/10

The buds are pretty loud, so you can achieve close to the advertised 4 hours at around 55% volume comfortably, and 20 hours from the case is respectable, if unspectacular. In fact, it's pretty low by today's standards, although for semi-in-ear it's still about right.

The lack of quick charge is a shame, and wireless charging would have been a nice to have, but at the price point, it is understandable that it has been ommitted.

Final Comments

In a crowded market, QCY have offered a very respectable set of buds at an extraordinarily low price that do nothing outstandingly well, and nothing badly, still providing some high-end features, such as app support, low latency and control mapping that bely their incredibly low price tag. The build quality is very impressive - the semi-in-ear market is dominated by SoundPEATS' excellent TrueAir 2, FIIL CC2, 1More Comfobuds and Haylou Moripods, but the T12 are definitely more solid than all of the above, and whilst they don't top the charts overall, they also costs a lot less. If the above buds price you out of the market, or you want a spare pair to use in case the others fail, you can do a lot worse than the T12.

At just $16 - you can pay more for a beer in London - QCY deserve major kudos for once again delivering a reasonable attempt at an extraordinary price point.

Ideal for:

• Low-budget customers that need a good set of buds for today
• All round users that value comfort, good sound and good calls
• Those on the move, that see value in the small case
• Those that like to hear their surroundings

Not so suitable for:

• Those that need active noise cancellation
• Those with a bigger budget
• Exercise

Price Weighted Score: 79%
Raw Score: 74%

QCY Review Inventory:

HT07 Arcbuds
HT05 Melobuds ANC
T20 Ailypods
T18
G1
T17
T16
T13
HT03
T12
T11

About QCY:

Whilst not quite a household name outside of China yet, QCY are well-renowned in the budget TWS space for developing extraordinarily low cost earbuds that, whilst perhaps lacking some of the bells and whistles of the more expensive brands, deliver to the segment of the market where 'good enough is good enough', with solid reliability and tremendous value for money.

Part of the Hele Electronics Group, as well as designing their own products, they also OEM product for other vendors (Aukey, for example rebrand the T5), with three of their major customers being brands you will certainly recognise and in the global top 10 of the TWS market in 2019. In 2020, market research indicated they were the 4th biggest TWS vendor worldwide - no mean feat.

Despite a close relationship with SoC manufactuer Zhuhai Jieli, QCY are not afraid to mix and match components to suit their target market. This often sees a number of releases in quick succession - their T17S are an example of this, released subsequent to the T17, and differentiating with the use of the Qualcomm QCC3040 SoC, to support customers who require the added lower latency enabled by the aptX codecs that the Qualcomm chips support. They did a similar thing with the very popular T5, T8 and T9 - nice to see a vendor using an easy to follow naming convention! The G1 use the newest Pixart chip in order to reduce latency - horses for courses!

The QCY mission seems to be bringing music to the masses at a very affordable price - they are unlikely to top the charts for sound quality or features any time soon, but I think that's how they prefer it - their bang for buck is often unparalleled, with customers knowing they are getting value from a brand they can trust.

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
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Model: SoundPEATS H1 Premium
Price: MSRP $90
Vendor Website: SoundPEATS
Review Reference: RC041

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: SoundPEATS
• Model: H1 Premium
• Driver: 8.6mm Dynamic Driver & Knowles BA
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
• Impedence: 16 Ohm
• Mic: 4, cVc 8.0
• ANC: No
• Volume Control: Yes
• Codecs: AptX-adaptive, AptX, AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 6.18g
• Earbud Dimensions: 24-26mm wide, neck approx. 13mm, 20mm height
• Case Weight: 41g
• Gross Weight: 53g
• Case Dimensions: 70mm (width) x 41mm (depth) x 30mm (height)
• Case Charge Capacity: 500mAh
• Full Charge Time: 90 minutes
• Quick Charge: No
• Wireless Charging: Yes
• Input: 5V 1A
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 10 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 40 hours
• App Support: Not currently
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX5
• Firmware Tested: 0.2.9

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C & Qi Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
3 x Pair Silicone Tips
1 x Pair Comply Foam Tips
1 x User manual, warranty card



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the eagerly-anticipated SoundPEATS H1. This is my fourth SoundPEATS review, and it is pleasing to see them improving incrementally, gradually moving up to higher specifications (and higher price tags). Originally a Kickstarter product, this is now available through the usual procurement channels, and retails at the relatively high price of around £69.99, taking them outside the budget sub $50 category for the first time. This is their first attempt at hybrid multi-driver bud, and having been so disappointed with QCY's T10, and to a degree, KZ's SA08, I was cautiously optimistic that SoundPEATS would deliver where the others failed. And they did.

The thing that sets SoundPEATS apart from other vendors, and makes them one of my favourite budget earbud vendors, is that they are completely transparent over their components. Whether they use Realtek, Qualcomm or Airoha chips in their buds, they are totally open about it, and as a reviewer this really helps, because whilst I have, and do, dismantle buds to check the way that certain things have been implemented (such as the power management, mems mics, etc) and I really don't like having to do it with every set of earbuds, because they then become unusable.

The Unboxing - 7/10

Despite this being SoundPEATS' flagship product, the unboxing is identical to all of their other recent releases, which isn't a bad thing, but it certainly isn't in the league of the Tronsmart Apollo Bold, for example. Perhaps this is something SoundPEATS need to have in mind if they are going to cross the Rubicon and release truly ground-breaking products like the H1 again - whilst I have no issue with corners being cut on the bit of cardboard it comes in, sometimes people will judge a book by its cover, so that could be an area to look to embellish if they are going to establish as a truly global brand.

It is evident that SoundPEATS have marketed the product as a sports earbud, which is surprising as they are only IPX5 moisture resistant. That said, IPX5 is more than suitable for a bit of sweat and even light rain, so don't be too concerned from that aspect.

The other side reminds us that the buds are their first attempt at hybrid drivers, but the branding isn't really 'in your face' like some brands - a more understated approach is taken.

Once inside you get the usual user guide and warranty card, but you also get a set of COMPLY TRUEGRIP foam tips. I like foam tips, but the supplied silicone tips are also decent quality, so you have some decisions to make when it comes to fit and function. With the foam, you get slightly better isolation - estimated up to 28dB, which is not far off ANC levels, and I'm sure it will change the sound profile slightly, so will add to the review once I've tested that element out.

The manual comes with instructions in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Chinese and gives a very clear indication on how to use the buds, including the control scheme, which is very nicely detailed with easy-to-understand graphics as well as a text box. You also get a USB-C charge cable, not that I need any more of those!

The Case - 8/10



The case is reminiscent of the one SoundPEATS used for the Sonic, albeit slightly wider, with a nice gun metal-style finish on top. The bottom section is a more generic-looking semi-matte black, with the SoundPEATS brand name screen printed on the top, giving them a true two-tone look. At 7x4x3cm, it still has a relatively low footprint and decent portability, but you wouldn't want them in your trouser pocket in skinny jeans.



The case weighs in at around 41g, and 53g with the buds inside. As you can see above, they have moved away from the red/amber/green lighting scheme used on the Sonic to a more accurate 'four quarters', which aligns well with their total battery life - approx. 40 hours (4 full charges).



The buds slot in the top, and there's a medium strength magnet pulling the buds in, and a slightly flimsy hinge securing the case when shut. I love the 'friction-style' hinge on the BOYA BY-AP4 and SoundPEATS other recent release, the T2, which has a satisfying 'stop' that prevents it from accidentally shutting, but this is a minor quibble and not worth losing any sleep over! The front is very similar to the Sonic case, and whilst there is a small lip to assist with opening it, it can't feasibly be prised open with one hand, well, not easily anyway, due to the width of the case.



At the back, there's a USB-C charge socket. There is also a light next to it, which turns red when you plonk it on a Qi wireless charger - yep, the case supports wireless charging. There is no indication 'quick charge' is supported - a full charge takes just 90 minutes though, which is still very impressive considering the total playtime.

The Ergonomics - 9/10



The fit on the H1 is more like the True Engine 3SE than the Sonic or T2, thankfully, with a curvature that ensures excellent passive noise isolation, and the buds don't feel too invasive whilst still remaining secure during exercise - something the Sonic really struggled with, and is a feature of buds like the FIIL T1XS, Jabra Elite 75t and Alien Secret QCC010.



From the side, the buds clearly shape around your concha quite nicely, and the light at the bottom underneath the logo thankfully only displays when no media is playing. I like to think of this as an 'it's OK to shout at me' prompt to anyone approaching!



When we take a closer look at the design compared with some of its peers, we see that whilst they are relatively wide (27mm) when you factor in the neck, they do not feel as invasive as the Jabra, Alien Secret QCC010 or FIIL T1XS, but lacks the truly custom fit of the SKS. Nevertheless, this makes for a nice balance that ensures they are comfortable for prolonged use and is more universally acceptable than something like the SKS, which fit my right ear perfectly, but aren't quite so comfy on my left.




From the back, you get a welcome view of the BA, and see the wide bore of the tip.



A well-finished mesh protects the driver, unlike the Jabra. Nevertheless, they should still be cleaned on a regular basis to ensure they don't get clogged up.



You get the feeling of a very premium product when you start to analyse it under closer scrutiny. This is far more impressive than the T2, for example, which feels a little generic. No such issues here. The teardrop style shape really works, and and the SoundPEATS logo is not too overt, disappearing in certain lights, and the outer ambient mic is the only evident addition to the surface area.



The tips are good quality, with a thicker inner ring protecting your ear from the driver surround, which is important, because earbuds can feel a little uncomfortable if you have shallow ear canals.



Weighing in at 6.18g, they are by no means light, but weight displacement has been handled well - they don't feel at all heavy.



SoundPEATS have done a really good job here balancing build quality, aesthetics, practicality and comfort - their best in-ear fit and finish by some distance.

Audio & Sound Signature- 9/10 (for the price paid), 9/10 (raw score)

I tested the sound against other BA earbuds, and was not disappointed. Whilst not quite my go-to sound signature in every music style, it is pretty damn close, and will definitely receive widespread acclaim as it does not fall short in any category, regardless of genre.

Whilst the soundstage is nice and wide, providing plenty of clarity and space, unless you like that consumer friendly, punchy edge to your music, I think you'll be hard pressed not to want to notch the subbass a little, which can be fatiguing, and the top end, which can, with certain tracks, feel like SoundPEATS are just plain bragging about the capabilities of the balanced armature moving coil - again, this could do with a tweak around the 8k mark to negate any sibilance, but only a touch as you'll want to retain the dynamism that accompanies kicks and percussion.

Male vocals feel prominent and forward, whereas female vocals sound a little more detached, although by bringing down those peaks via the EQ, this can be remediated quite easily.

It's a relatively unfamiliar sound signature, certainly in budget Bluetooth TWS, that's both dynamic and flat, and thanks to those hybrid drivers, you can EQ and still get a fantastic sound. There is little to no bleed in the mids, and only the lower midrange frequencies get a shade congested without a ten band EQ - the H1 are now supported by the SoundPEATS app, so along with Wavelet, you have plenty of options to resolve this.

Listening to 'Rose Rouge' by St Germain, a really nice clear instrument separation is immediately obvious, although the wide sound stage does not flourish until you start to hear the brass instruments dance around the vocals. The sax sounded a little too shrilly, so I had to notch the treble a tad here, but this is a very minor complaint, and on the volume I settled on - 68% - the notch was not essential and down to personal preference.

The mids are recessed, but not to the detriment of the experience on 'Retrospect' by Kokiri, a simplistic house track that sounds so much better through decent buds - I'm used to this sounding a bit tinny, but no issues here. Bass is fast and punchy. More challenging dance tracks like 'Mama' by Jonas Blue, a toughie for most TWS, is handled well, with only minor low-mid congestion. Only the SA08 separated better on this track.

Now here's the caveat - not only does the treble occasionally require taming, so does the bass. 'Joy' by Kokiri and 'Mama' by Jonas Blue show how the lower frequencies can, with certain tips, ripple through your ears to the point of discomfort. They can be mitigated with EQ, and still sound great, but seem to lose a little tonality when you do. Tip rolling can also help slightly.

'Rich Kids Blues' by Lyyke Li is extremely well organised and her vocals still shine through. Baritone vocal tracks sound rich - I tried a few John Legend tracks and they sounded magnificent - warm, yet retaining a brightness that prevents it from ever sounding dull.

I don't remember which track it was but something came on on Spotify, and even that sounded nice. I think it was 'Watermelon Sugar' by Harry Styles...a track I would never play, but damn it sounded good!

Resolution is not going to trouble high-end IEM's or even premium bluetooth buds, but it is adequate for the price.

I've really dug deep here to find issues - for $60 this really is gold standard stuff. The KZ SA08 and SKS are the only other buds that come close to the sound quality in budget or even mid-budget TWS. I've not tested any of the recent premium releases, but the H1 (and the SKS for that matter) outperform the Jabra 75t and some of the Soundcore buds I've tested lately too. Very impressive for a budget pair.

Call Quality - Indoors - 6/10, Outdoors - 5/10

The earbuds feature a 4-mic array with a mic at the top for ambient noise, and a voice mic at the bottom of the teardrop. This form factor usually struggles compared with stem-based buds, for obvious reasons - the call mic is further from your mouth, and squeezing in some kind of AI voice sensor is, well, a little while off being both cost-effective and perform better than a decent USB mic.

There have only been a few notable exceptions in mic development in TWS- Taotronics used the Elevoc Voc+ module in a couple of their SoundLiberty releases, and Samsung and Huawei used bone conducting modules and accelerometers in their Buds Live and FreeBuds Pro. In both instances, call quality definitely improved, but modules are just one part of it - far more has to be taken into consideration, usually compromising on other features. Elevoc seem to be doing just that with their imminent release, which I'm really looking forward to, but these are isolated examples- usually mic implementations are, if you'll pardon the expression, different shades of crap!

Soundpeats have shown several times on their in-ear releases that call quality is bottom of their list of priorities - and the H1 is no exception. Calls are good enough indoors. You can sound a little distant at times - to be expected given the form factor - so it's necessary to speak a little louder than stem-based buds, but your voice is reasonably natural and doesn't sound too over-compressed, and that is pretty much all you can ask for really given the above constraints.

Like most other earbuds of this form factor, outdoors they struggle with wind. Whilst kids voices come through quite clearly, sometimes ahead of your own, a blast of traffic virtually wipes out your voice. That said, the cVc8.0 noise reduction is characteristically fairly good at distinguishing sounds around your own voice frequency, so low rumbling sounds are negated rather well. The problem is everything is so muffled it's just too difficult to hear you, demonstrated here in my outdoor call test of 28 different tws models in fairly challenging conditions:



On Zoom and Teams, I found they sometimes scrambled the sound a bit. This is almost certainly down to my Bluetooth adapter - it is has happened with every QCC3040 set I've tested so far - very strange, but as I said, likely a feature of my adapter, not the buds themselves, since it has happened too many times now.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 8/10

Connectivity is good. You get a 'Power On' message when you initiate them, like with all SoundPEATS buds, then a 'connected' sound when they connect to your device, along with a chime. AptX-adaptive is the default codec on Android.



Controls are good - intuitive and accurate. Unlike the Sonic, these are touch control, and they operate without too many false positives. They've changed the control scheme around this time, with single tap for volume (left decrease, right increase), double tap for play/pause and answering or hanging up calls.

As detailed above, you are also able to switch between calls, activate voice assistant and initiate game mode. Single mode is activated easily by simply taking one bud out. They do not auto pause, which will please many, as it seems it's a feature I am in the select few to appreciate. And like the Sonic, it is really seamless, although sometimes it can lag if you go back to twin - a feature of all QCC3040 buds I've tested so far.



Latency is about as good as it gets - I measured just over 170Ms with game mode on, and just over 200Ms with standard aptX-adaptive. This is very close to lip sync and ideal for gamers. NOTE - while the material claims the latency is 40-60Ms, remember you need to add in the source too.

Voice prompts are more muted than the Sonic, which is good, because they were deafening! There is no quick charge, but they do support QI wireless charging, and a red light comes on at the back to let you know. There is no app - well, there is, but it was pulled before release. Never a bad thing. If you really need to EQ, Wavelet is fine on android.

Despite no ANC or quick charge, and no multipoint, the H1 are feature-rich where you need them most, and when you consider they've been an active product for over 6 months now, it's even more impressive. Plus, with the Tanchjim tips you may as well have ANC - the difference is very marginal between the PNI provided by this combination and the lower-end ANC buds.

App Support



In January 2022, SoundPEATS have rolled out app support for the H1 and Air3, and whilst the app is still somewhat embryonic, it does give the option to upgrade the firmware, deactivate LED's, initiate gaming mode and either use the custom 6-band equaliser or choose from a number of presets. You can find more detail in my review of the Air3.

Interestingly, as well as the custom equaliser, SoundPEATS included 'Adaptive EQ'. This, like with other vendors, plays through a series of frequencies, testing your hearing, and applies the EQ it deems best fits your hearing. Whilst it works, it gives the warning it is an 'experimental feature', and like Anker and other brands, I didn't find it improved my listening on the Air3 or the H1 immeasurably - on the H1 the difference was far clearer with the mids culled, but the bass was still far too prominent. Even so, a nice feature at the mid to lower price tier budget. There is sadly no button mapping available, and the noise reduction section has no effect.

The app also requires sign up to SoundPEATS' cloud server - not my favourite process by any means, but that's the price you pay with many of these TWS apps.


Battery Life - 9/10



Whilst not reaching the heights of the market-leading Sonic, you get around 40 hours worth of battery in total, with over 6 hours quite realistic from a single charge at a decent volume. I got approx. 36 hours at around 70% volume, so this is not misleading. My tester showed 5.01v, 0.24-0.38A, 1.29-1.9w at full input power.

Recommended Tips



For the H1, the Tanchjim T-APB 300B Medium work well for me. Despite being slightly taller than most tips I use at 9mm high, the 12mm width is sufficient to provide a comfortable but secure seal, when exercising or casually listening.



You may find this fit too invasive, and I have toyed with the extremely flat tips that come with the Elevoc Clear. This enables a pretty much perfect fit, but at the expense of weaker noise isolation.

If you prefer foam or hybrid tips, the Misodiko Mix460 work well.

Final Comments

SoundPEATS have got pretty close to the perfect earbuds here. My previous top-scoring buds, the FIIL T1 Pro, have a nice small case, ANC and wing tips, perform better on outdoor calls, and have quick charge, but the H1 sound far far better than the FIIL, with clearer trebles, better instrument separation and soundstage, and better overall looks. They also feel more comfortable for prolonged use, even more so with the Elevoc tips.

The one minor issue here for SoundPEATS is that they were essentially a 'kickstarter' or indiegogo product (I don't remember which) for the first 7 months of their life. 7 months is a long time in the TWS world. They've aged well considering, lacking no features other than ANC that would be comparable today, but the competitive edge a proper release would have given them in November has been lost a little. It's kinda like the chicken and the egg I guess, but it gives me hope that SoundPEATS can continue their excellent run of releases going forward. Adding app support is a belated but welcome addition, and hopefully this will not be the false start that accompanied the app's initial launch in 2021.

Honestly, having the SKS and H1 to review in one week has been thoroughly enjoyable. It feels like TWS are genuinely reaching that next level. And whilst I mention the lack of ANC, this really should not put you off. The passive isolation is still very good, and for the money you get a truly superb set of buds that support all music styles - ANC becomes kinda irrelevant in the scheme of things when you're getting all the other good stuff that the H1 bring.

The H1 have taken the top spot as the number one earbuds under $100. Well done SoundPEATS!

Ideal if:

• You like a detailed but dynamic sound signature
• You like a snug fit and good passive isolation
• Bang-for-buck is important
• Music is your top priority

Not so suitable for:

• Those that need market-leading active noise cancellation
• Those on a budget
• Those that use the mic a lot
• Those who don't like messing with the EQ and want an extremely neutral sound out of the box

Price Weighted Score: 93%
Raw Score: 90%
2023 Score: 80%

2023 Comments:

The H1 are still a very competent set of earbuds in 2023, at least in terms of audio delivery, although they aren't a stand-out any more like they perhaps were on their release. The H1 were the first SoundPEATS model that really shined, selling a lot of units, and as a result some quality control issues were magnified, with a high number of reported failures. My model is still kicking along without any issues whatsoever, and SoundPEATS continue to support it with further firmware updates.

SoundPEATS Review Inventory:

H2
T3
Mini
Air3
TrueAir2+
TrueAir 2
H1
T2
Sonic

About SoundPEATS:

SoundPEATS seem to have become an overnight sensation, wiping up a large portion of budget TWS earbud market share with a business model that has served them (and Anker before them) exceptionally well - good distribution channels (via Amazon), good support, a catchy name and product that performs well at a very competitive price point. In reality, they have been around a long time - whilst Shenzhen SoundSOUL IT Co LTD is a different trading name to Ginto E-Commerce, they share the same business address (including room number) as them - you may know their brand name better as Dudios. With Dudios not sounding quite so cool as Soundpeats, maybe the brand transition has been instrumental in their success, but having been around since 2010 and patents in Bluetooth tech stretching back to 2015, they are not the plucky upstarts that some may think - they know their stuff, have a great network of contacts, and now a very solid brand in Europe, and deservedly so.

The thing that sets SoundPEATS apart from other vendors, and makes them my favourite budget earbud vendor, is that they are completely transparent over their components. Whether they use Realtek, Qualcomm or Airoha chips in their buds, they are totally open about it, and as a reviewer this really helps, because whilst I have, and do, dismantle buds to check the way that certain things have been implemented (such as the power management, mems mics, etc) and I really don't like having to do it with every set of earbuds, because they then become unusable.

RC040

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
Instagram: regancipher
YouTube: regancipher

Model: Haylou W1
Price: MSRP $40
Vendor Website: Haylou - not actually listed on their site yet!
Review Reference: RC040

Manufacturer Info:

• Brand: Haylou
• Model: W1
• Driver: Dual Knowles BA, Single composite diaphram dynamic driver
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
• Impedance: 32Ω
• Microphones: 4 mic array, cVc 8.0 ENC
• ANC: No
• Volume Control: No
• Codec Support: AptX, AptX-Adaptive, AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.58g
• Case Weight Gross: 41g
• Case Dimensions: 63x45x35mm
• Charge Case Battery: 310mAh
• Charging Time: Buds 2 hour, Case 3 hours
• Quick Charge: No
• Qi Wireless Charging: No
• Charge Case Input : 5V ( 500 mA)
• Charge Case Output: 5V (100 mA)
• Single Playtime: 6 hours
• Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 20 hours
• App Support: No
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX4

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless headphones
3 x Pair Silicone Tips
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case (no wireless charging)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User manual (English, Simplified Chinese)

Real Life Experience



Hot on the heels of their Moripods, which I reviewed here, Haylou have released their first 'premium'-style earbud, the W1 - so new it isn't even on their website! The W1 (or T60 as they are known in China) are silicone-tipped, whereas the Moripods are semi-in-ear, so now they have the full shooting match within their portfolio.

Importantly, they are also Haylou's first dual-driver release, with a Knowles balanced armature driver and 7mm dynamic driver promising clarity, facilitated by the Qualcomm QCC3040 chipset, which uses Bluetooth 5.2, increases transmission rate and reduces power consumption.

Haylou are a brand that have been prominent in the Chifi market for some time, and have had some popular releases within the TWS community, notably their last stem-based, the T19, but also the GT1 and GT2 which received good independent reviews. Many of Haylou's releases look 'familiar' - an example would be the T16, which are essentially a less-glam version of the QCY HT01, and a deeper look into their background gives you a clearer picture of how the TWS market works in China.

Haylou is a brand belonging to Dongguan Liesheng Electronic Technology, a subsidiary of Dongguan Hele Electronics. Dongguan Liesheng Electronic Co., Ltd. was established in May 2015, securing Series A funding from Xiaomi and thus becoming an early member of the Xiaomi Ecological Chain. Hele Electronics and Liesheng Electronic are the OEM for Xiaomi's Mi / Redmi Airdots. ODM is a big part of their business - i.e. you may have already tried their buds without a Haylou logo on, or based on their design, so to cut to the chase - that's why their buds often look generic or familiar.

The Unboxing - 7/10



The W1 is a larger box than the Moripods, and has a more premium feel to it. The Moripods arrived bashed up and in a very budget-style box, whereas this is a little more substantial. The USB-C cable and tips are in small bags, and the manual is, like the Moripods, in Chinese and English.



The rear of the box very clearly outlines the key features - Knowles drivers, the Qualcomm chipset and Bluetooth 5.2 compatibility, and the usual standard features we come to expect.



The inner box has Haylou embossed into the centre, and takes a little while to work out how to open it!



The visuals and text in the manual are very clear - despite being a bit flimsy it's still very straightforward.

The Case - 7/10



The W1 case is matte plastic, and whilst it lacks the quality of a SoundPEATS or 1More case, it still does a job. The logo is nicely embossed into the centre, but like the QCY cases, the finish around it can get shiny with a little wear sat in the drawer, let alone carried around.
A very convenient three-light array on the front denotes the level of charge left in the case, and a small but convenient lip for single handed operation. I.e. you can flip it open with your thumb.



In terms of portability, the W1 is great - one of the smaller cases around at just 6cm wide, 4.5cm in depth, and 3.5cm in height, and the aforementioned lightweight feel.

The way the buds slot into the case is not only intuitive, but it's easy to remove and replace them. When you do, you are greeted with a red light (as above) to denote that they are not fully charged, and a white light to denote they are. The case thankfully does not topple over when opened!



At just under 41g (31g without the , the case with buds inside is still one of the lightest cases around.



There is no wireless charging, only USB-C, and they do not support quick charge. The case contains a thermister to detect the temperature of the battery, and this connects to the mainboard via the FPC.

Over-voltage protection is provided by a combination of the XB5335A IC and Microsource LP6260 Synchronous Boost converter, and a Coetec T60 MCU is the central nervous system of the case, aggregating charge, discharge, lighting, comms and power management.

The case has 'Hall-switch' effect, which means pairing can initiate as soon as the box opens. The hinge could be more robust. As you can see in the above picture, some of the finishing leaves a little to be desired, much like the Moripods.

Overall it is a nice enough, albeit slightly flimsy case that uses common components and does the job it is meant to, without being too flashy.

The Ergonomics - 9/10



Unlike the Honor Magic, 1More Comfobuds Pro or ZMI Purpods, from the front profile, it is difficult to see you are wearing any earbuds, which is a positive or a negative depending on your preference.



The design reminds me a little of the Edifier TWS NB2, and these small buds are not only comfortable, but also secure. They would certainly suit females or those with shallow conchas.



The Haylou logo is screen printed on the side. This time around, Haylou made the right bit glossy and the right bit (the bit that goes in your ear) matte, and maybe it's a bit of a placebo but it feels a shade more secure in terms of fit. The hole at the top is a light, which you will have noticed when the case was open, and the contour at the bottom aids with the positioning of the voice mic, which is a well protected MEMS I2601 2111 mic that slots into a protective rubber cover and mesh exposure area.



I initially mentioned in the title that the W1 are everything the QCY T10 should have been, but decided to change the title because QCY quickly remedied their mistake with the T11, but I guess now is the time to start to elaborate on that statement. The T10 were the first budget BA buds to the market, and you can see some similarities in the physical design, the main difference being the position of the charge connectors and stem length. The T10 were also extremely comfortable, but as you can see, much shorter. This aids the W1 in terms of the mic position, which I'll discuss in the calls section.



Actually, the T10 were a bit of an anomaly - other than the Boya BY-AP4 and Enacfire E90, mostly the buds I'm testing of this type are between 36-42mm in stem length.



The W1 are a bit light on promo material, and a bit light in terms of weight as well at just 4.58g each. This adds to the comfort, and you can easily forget they are there.



On the underside is an ambient mic, although it is difficult to see here - it's there. There is a pressure relief hole near the mouthpiece and a metal dust-proof net protecting the driver.



Like many buds these days, the outer driver protection section is oval shaped (-ish) but the plastic edge is not sharp, the diameter narrow, and this adds to the comfort. Even with the stock tips they wear really comfortable.



Overall they are quite nicely finished and offer great ergonomics, with design suiting the performance.

Audio - 7.5/10 (for the price paid), 7/10 (raw score)

Just like the Moripods, the sound profile out of the box is a bit too bright for my liking. Unlike the Moripods, Haylou have used a Knowles RAN-62462 moving iron BA, and an 8mm dynamic driver, but the balance isn't quite right, with the dynamic driver offering little to no low end punch and consequently, the timbre just sounds a little artificial.

The highs and high mid details are predictably handled pretty well, with decent separation on high hats, cymbals and female vocals.

Even so, '49%' by Royksopp betrays the tuning issues, with the sibilance bordering on fatiguing very quickly, and whilst notching the treble a touch in Wavelet helps, lifting the non-existent subbass results in congested lower frequencies that lose detail almost effortlessly, especially in the low mids. For example, on Rose Rouge by St Germain, which I used as a reference track today, the tenor sax separates OK, but the trumpet is a little too difficult to discern. On other tracks the reverse can be true.

This makes them, well, kinda what you would expect at the price point; OK, but nothing special. Now, I've revisited this review on 11th July and upped the score ever so slightly because changing the tips to the wider-bore BGVP W01 L improved the low ends and actually slightly improved the highs too, but did make them a little less comfortable. So I'm still tip rolling to get these right.

Note - they are, seemingly like all QCC3040 buds, loud. They also defaulted to Aptx-adaptive on several Android devices I tested. Bravo!

Call Quality - Indoors - 7/10, Outdoors - 7/10

Just like the Moripods, the W1 are good for calls - in fact, they're even better. Normally cVc 8.0 does diddly squat, but there is clearly some noise reduction going on. Indoor calls sound nice and reasonably natural if a little thin, outdoors they seem to perform pretty well. I couldn't give them the usual tests, but with plenty of traffic going past at around 5m away you could barely hear the traffic and my voice came through very clearly with hardly any evidence of the ambient sounds.

The W1 feature on my 2022 Call Quality Test...




Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7/10

Connectivity is very good, not quite as good as the Moripods, but still solid. The QCC3040 SoC supports True Wireless Mirroring, but also balances out the power distribution between the buds, and it definitely feels like a huge upgrade on the QCC3020 chip, which did not support this feature. Single mode is possible, simply by putting the other bud in the case, and role-swapping/bud-to-bud handover is seamless.

Latency is also very good, coming in at around 175ms on Windows, and unquestionably lower on Android, where aptX-adaptive is supported. This is really noticeable on videos - I tested on VLC for Android and lipsync is pretty close.

Controls are straightforward enough and responsive with no lag - sadly no volume control again though.



There is no ANC, which is a little bit of a shame, and they're not supported in the Haylou app.

They're IPX4 sweat-resistant (no showering with them - a spot of rain and they will be fine) and they are available in blue or white/silver.

Battery Life - 7/10

Battery life is the low baseline 20 hours with the case. 6 hours from a single charge would have been great in 2020, but with other non-ANC buds such as the ZMI PurPods and SoundPEATS Sonic now hitting the 8-10 hour mark, I was a little disappointed in the specs. On real life testing, the W1 actually performed pretty close to the 6 hour mark even with calls - it's one of the benefits of being naturally loud out of the box, you can comfortably listen to them at 60%, and that naturally conserves battery accordingly, closing the gap with the aforementioned buds, which could drop as low as seven.



That said, 120-150 minutes for a full charge is also little inconvenient, and not as good as the Moripods. This is unfortunate, as many buds now offer quick charge or wireless charging, neither of which the W1 support, although there are very few of the new Qualcomm chip products that seem to support quick charge, so perhaps this is symptomatic of the chip and the work required to facilitate it.

Final Comments

The W1 are my second tested Haylou buds, and a release they are evidently quite excited about - despite the absence of promo material on their official website, their socials have been banging the drum for them ever since.

Having experienced disappointment with budget DA drivers in the QCY T10, I hate to say it but the W1 aren't quite there for sound either, but are a step in the right direction. Even so, dual driver products such as the Tronsmart Onyx Prime, arrived not long afterwards and absolutely blow them away.

They also suffered the misfortune of arriving at the same time as the Soundpeats H1, and that's an unfair comparison as the H1 are nearly twice the price, but had I reviewed straight after the T10, I'd probably have been a little more excited, although again...a slightly unfair comparison as the W1 are almost twice the price of the
T10

The basics are all very there - good call quality, decent battery, well-functioning if a little flimsy case, good looks and comfy ergonomics, but the trebles, whilst detailed and well separated, outshine the dynamic drivers so much that getting the right sound signature can be a tiresome process unless you get a set of tips that unleashes their full potential. Then you have the problem of fitting the buds in the case. Switching to the Tanchjim T-APB T300 B may be the solution.

I think this is partly also a tuning issue, because tweaking the EQ can achieve desirable results, but improving those dynamic drivers will unquestionably help, and I'm sure Haylou will improve this in the future.

If you want a set of low-cost, comfortable in-ear stem-based buds that look nice, the W1 are an OK option, but there are other buds out there which provide slightly better sound quality across all frequencies, especially for bassheads. So a good job from Haylou overall - certainly a decent value proposition, and some pretty obvious areas where to improve for future releases.

Price Weighted Score: 77%
Raw Score: 73%
2022 Score: 70%

ig: @regancipher

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)

Model: KZ SKS
Price: MSRP $30-40
Vendor Website: KZ
Review Reference: RC038

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: KZ
• Model: SKS
• Driver: 1 x 10mm dual magnetic dynamic, 1 x 30019 balanced armature
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
• Impedance: 16 Ω
• Sensitivity: 116dB
• Microphones: Dual
• ANC: No
• Codec Support: aptX, AAC, SBC
• Earbud Weight: 4.28g
• Case Weight Gross: 52g
• Case Dimensions: 60x60x31mm
• Charge Case Battery: 400mAh
• Charge Case Input : 5V
• Charging Time: 2 hours
• Quick Charge: No
• Qi: No
• Single Playtime: 2.5-4 hours
• Total Playtime: Approx. 20-30 hours
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: Not specified

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless headphones
3 x Pair Silicone Tips (Transparent)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case (no wireless charging)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User manual (English, Simplified Chinese)

Real Life Experience



Welcome to the @regancipher review of the KZ SKS.

Some background on KZ, in case you have come here from anywhere other than head-fi: A well-established name in the IEM market, KZ, or Knowledge Zenith to their friends, were founded by Keith Yue (a former AT engineer) and Zen Li, a classical musician, in 2008, and whilst not my first, second or third choice IEM, they still manage to consistently knock out decent sounding buds with a wide variety of tuning and configurations, not afraid to break from the norm with their driver set up. It makes for a bit of a mixed bag whereby they even have their own thread on head-fi for enthusiasts trying to work out what they're going to do next. They are cheap though, and generally very good value for money.

I've reviewed several KZ TWS over the last couple of years, and this is one area they have failed to learn lessons in the past. Their SA08 was one of the best sounding earbuds I've ever tested, but lacked practicality and had terrible battery life. Their previous iterations, the Z1 and S1, lacked the sound quality of the SA08 but had the same issues with battery life, and terrible connectivity. So I wasn't expecting much when the SKS arrived.

Once again, I've been proven wrong when I least expected it.

The Unboxing - 6/10



When earbud vendors cut corners on the unboxing, I always hope it's because they are trying to optimise margin on the irrelevant stuff, because the product quality is high. Usually this is very wishful thinking on my part, but I'm not going to begrudge a company making profit if the product is good. It paves the way for the next wave of development.

The SKS hardly scream premium from the first impressions - in fact, it is far from some of their IEM releases, and even the SA08. Particularly frustrating is the lack of detail about the particulars of the buds, either on the box or in the accompanying documentation. They come with a set of spare tips and loose, short USB-C charge cable inside a battered box that looks like it has come on an epic journey from Shenzhen via the Netherlands. Funny that!



The back is similarly vague in terms of components - these weren't aimed at a Western audience. It would be nice to see what KZ are putting in the buds, because as much as I enjoy taking buds apart, the KZ are pretty well built, so my fingers are going to live to fight another day - I'll have to take their word for it.



The quick guide, or 'First Fast Use' as they call it, is reasonably straightforward, although very hard to read. What is written in English is mirrored in Chinese overleaf, as pictured above.

The Case - 6.5/10



Other than in colour, the case is identical to the SA08, Tronsmart Apollo Bold, S1D, Cleer Ally Plus, etc. It's a generic case with a puck-style shape about it that has the KZ logo etched in the top, and KZ Acoustics inside. The buds nestle into their magnetic holders quite gently, and the space in the top of the lid gives information on the charge capacity, etc. The gentle magnets and roomy interior lid did give me concerns about whether I could face a scenario where the buds dropped out and failed to charge, but this hasn't happened yet, and is probably paranoia on my part.



At 6cm diameter, 3cm height, the case is not really pocket-friendly, but you could get away with it unless you're in skinny jeans. As far as TWS cases go, it's a bit chunky, but not a deal-breaker.




KZ advertise the case as 55g in weight, but they over-egged it slightly, coming in at 52g. This is one of the heavier cases out there, similar to the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live in this respect, although much larger in surface area.



It's kinda going over old ground here as we've seen this case so many times, but the buds will light up red once in the case, and the centre light denotes charge with a red/amber/green configuration telling you how much juice remains. Red is less than 30%, Amber 30-70%, Green 70-100%. Whilst taken for granted a little now, it's still a 'good to have' feature.

As you may notice, the case has scored half a mark higher this time around. That's because you get an additional 7 full playtimes out of a single charge. Now this is likely nothing to do with the case and more down to the efficiency of the buds, but nevertheless between 24 and 32 hours charge is exactly where it should be today.



The case is charged with USB-C and has a charging input of 5v 1a, and an output of 100mA. In terms of overcharge protection etc. - who knows. No wireless charging, no quick charge.

The Ergonomics - 9/10



KZ are no strangers to custom-style fit earbuds, so it goes without saying I expected a good fit with the SA08, and was disappointed when they didn't deliver, leaving me feeling like I was wearing lego bricks in my ears. This time, they nailed it.


The depth of the buds (23mm) is a whole 4mm shallower than the SA08, and it makes the world of difference. Instead of feeling like they will topple out at any point, they nestle in really nicely and feel super comfortable.



This time around, they've reduced the exterior footprint, and it makes the world of difference. Like SoundPEATS with the H1, they've gone slightly bulbous at the neck, and it provides very respectable passive noise isolation.



However, where they excel is by adding in 'shoulders' which tuck the bud into the top of your concha quite nicely. The result is a non-invasive feeling bud, unlike the Jabra Elite 75t, for example, which has an elongated neck and thus relies on sitting right in your ear canal to achieve a seal, which many find uncomfortable.



This design feature is further reinforced by the wide bore driver nozzle - as I said, they got it right in almost every aspect here.



As you see above, the surround is metallic, which encourages regular cleaning, and there is space for a pressure-relieving hole below the battery connectors. At least, I assume it is, as there are two additional holes - an ambient mic on the top, and a voice mic in the bottom.



The ambient mic hole is quite wide, and you see very clearly that the buds are reasonably well constructed with good quality plastic. They also change colour a lot in the light, which makes them aesthetically pleasing especially in the sunlight. The outside is teardrop shaped, and is emblazoned with the slogan 'restart'. As new beginnings go, this is definitely pretty apt, as after many false starts in the TWS market, this release is pretty much like a second chance for KZ, which they have taken very well.



At 4.28g they are fairly lightweight. I didn't weigh buds on every review, but these are lighter than the Jabra, Soundpeats T2, H1 and only marginally heavier than the Enacfire E90, which were super light.

It makes for wonderful ergonomics that don't just look good, they actually facilitate a better audible experience.

Audio - 9.5/10 (for the price paid), 8.5/10 (raw score)

Whilst not quite providing the clarity of the SA08, the SKS retains the nice wide soundstage of its predecessor whilst delivering a warmer feel. The 30019 handles the highs and mids nicely, sounding natural and minimising sibilance. Despite using the same BA as the ZAX, it is tuned closer to my preferred sound signature. Most surprising is the bass. The 10mm dynamic drivers do not disappoint, with a thumping midbass and growling sub.

I tested them with 'Rose Rouge' by St Germain, a notoriously tough track for TWS especially when the brass elements kick in. Typically, Marlena Shaw's vocal pierces through and the instruments take a back seat, but that isn't the case with the SKS. The mid-bass has a thump to it and comes into its element in 'So Flute' from the same album, making plenty of room for the snares and piano. Really pleasant experience without any hint of fatigue.

'Mama' by Jonas Blue also avoids distortion which I detect when the low-mids get congested shortly after the chorus. Whereas the peak at 5k will bring out the illusion of detail most of the time, on some tracks such as 'Other Side of Love' by Kokiri, a track I was in the studio for while it was being produced, the dipped 8k peak demonstrates where the slightly rolled-off highs can at times make the sound a little too warm and at times too laid-back. House tracks will occasionally need a minor uplift to get those high hats through, otherwise it's tuning at its best, certainly for my palette.

Be careful - the buds are unbelievably loud. 60% volume is more than adequate for me. I would not recommend going any higher, not because of distortion, but because they will cause permanent damage to your hearing.

As with any buds there is compromise. The buds deliver far better sound on aptX than AAC, certainly on IOS anyway. AAC seems like bitrate has been clipped, with overall sound duller, so bear this in mind. On Android, AAC sounded better, but noticeably not as good as aptx. Go figure!

Call Quality - Indoors - 7/10, Outdoors - 5/10

Pretty bad in all honesty. The mics are clear enough - just - for indoor calls, but outdoors they're practically unusable, which is a shame, but something to work on in the future. A step back from the SA08 which actually weren't too bad. Any kind of background noise just wipes your voice out - wind, traffic, air...you name it

They finished bottom of the league in my test of 28 different tws models in challenging outdoor conditions:



Zoom calls also scrambled a few times - this may be down to my Bluetooth adapter though, as I have had similar issues with other new earbud models.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7/10

Touch controls are adequate, even pretty good. Exactly the same as the SA08, single tap plays or pauses, answers or ends a call. Double tap moves through tracks, long press while a call is coming through rejects the call, and any other time it initiates voice assistant. Low latency mode is triple tap.

Despite using the QCC3040, aptx-adaptive is not provided as an optional codec on any platform I tested. This chip allows binaural use, which reduces power consumption and thus boosts battery life, and also improves connectivity, and this was evident when connected to both iPhone 8 and Poco X3.

It's possible to use the buds in single mode, but they lack a few desirables such as wireless charging, quick charge, any kind of water resistance, ANC and app support.

Latency was around 220Ms in Normal Mode and around 170Ms in High Performance.

Battery Life - 7/10

Unlike previous KZ releases, the battery life on the SKS is much better, bottoming out at 2.5 hours, but typically topping 3.5-4 hours. With 8 further charges from the case, this puts them well and truly back in the game.

Final Comments

KZ have finally delivered a top notch set of TWS. One of the frustrating things about their foray into bluetooth was that they got the basics wrong, and they've rectified that here with the SKS, whilst still retaining the KZ identity. The fit and ergonomics are great, they improved the battery life, and you're getting a pretty decent chipset as well as well-tuned drivers at a remarkably low price.

If your default sound signature is Harman-style tuning, then you will enjoy the SKS out of the box. No screwing around on Wavelet trying to get them to suit your preferred experience - they just are.

They won't suit every application. The lack of WR rating and dire mic make them still impractical for the commuter dash. Nevertheless, at £22 (today's price) they are an absolute steal, one of the best value earbuds on the market today.

Price Weighted Score: 91%
Raw Score: 81%

ig: @regancipher

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)

Model: MU6 Ring
Price: MSRP $89 - currently on sale at $79
Vendor Website: MU6
Distributor Store: Genhigh/Gadget Plus
Social Media Links: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube
Review Reference: RC037

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: MU6
• Model: Ring
• Chipset: Not known
• Microphones: Dual-mic array
• Bluetooth Version: 5.0
• ANC: No, open design
• Driver: 16mm
• Impedance: 20 Ω
• Codec Support: AAC, SBC
• Operation Range: 10m
• Multipoint: YES!
• Charging Time: 90 minutes
• Standby Time: 200 hours
• Single Playtime: 6.5 - 9 hours
• Power Input: 5v-200mAh (Micro-USB)
• Water Resistance: IP55
• Protocols Supported: HFP / A2DP / AVRCP / HSP
• Weight: 35g
• Size: 157x121x20mm

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless headphones
1 x USB Type-Micro Charge Cable
1 x User manual (English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, French, German)
1 x Warranty Card
1 x Reflective Stripe
1 x Carry Pouch

Real Life Experience:



Welcome to the regancipher lowdown on a product I've been intruiged about since Gamesky reviewed them back in February, the MU6 Ring.

Now it's fair to say these are not my usual style earbud, so reviewing them has been a little odd with little to reference them against, but I'll give my honest appraisal and have ordered in some similar buds to test them against. When Genhigh aka Gadget Plus contacted me and asked me to provide a review, it was with my usual caveats that there are NO PAID REVIEWS in the world of regancipher! So it was positive that another vendor was prepared to put their product reputation on the line - many don't agree to these terms, so kudos to them for that.

Now my first thought was 'ugh - bone conduction'. Bone conduction headphones give me jawache and vertigo, so I was not keen, and many of the reviews I read were a little negative, saying they 'weren't really bone conduction'. However, after reading the marketing material Mu6 make it abundantly clear these are NOT BONE CONDUCTION HEADPHONES! When I watched the Gamesky video, he explained they are in fact 'air conduction' - and there is a difference.

MU6 do not have the patent on air conduction. That belongs to Edward Kellogg, who between 1925 and 1929 invented and patented the loudspeaker. Yep, these are essentially mini speakers! To summarise them as this is a little simplistic - there is some intelligence in the design to ensure sound is piped into your ear canal at the optimal angle, but the principle of their design is similar to that of semi-in-ear buds, whereby the pressure of silicone or foam tips is negated. MU6 have just done it in a slightly different way.

MU6 are not a household name in audio, even in the Chifi world. Their parent company, Shenzhen Senji Technology Co, have an annual revenue of around $5m having been established in late 2017 - not bad going. Their core products have been smart devices - their Neabot Nomo vacuum cleaner crowdfunded over $250k on Kickstarter last year, and this is not their first foray into audio - they released the over-ear Space 1 and Space 2 (which were reviewed here on Headfi, and having been present at CES in 2020, it is clear audio is a primary area of focus for them going forward, despite a now congested market.

The Unboxing

MU6 have a very clear marketing slogan - 'Be Your Days'. I'm not sure what this means, but essentially it is promoting the concept of situational awareness - being able to hear calls, music, podcasts, etc. whilst still going about your day-to-day business. At least that's how I interpreted it.

The box leaves you under no illusions as to what you're getting, and the back elaborates further, designating the key features - open air design, long playtime, mics and a lightweight design. On the side they declare use-cases as running, driving, cycling, office and home - more on that later.

The packaging is a little flimsy considering the price, but as regular regancipher subscribers will testify, I am not in the business of judging a product by the strength of the cardboard they use.



As a package MU6 have included all the essentials. The headphones, which at first look like an alice band, are nicely enclosed in a plastic inlay, and they come with a small carry bag, quick start guide (which is in English, French, German, Chinese and Japanese), reflective stickers and a micro-USB charging cable.

This is a little disappointing - I would have liked to have seen USB-C included, but I understand these took a while to get to market, so we can let them off for that.

The quick start guide is very clear and concise, giving easy to understand instructions on how to wear them, using visuals and text to good effect.

Design & Ergonomics

As stated above, the band is somewhat like an alice band in style, and when you're not wearing them, they can hang around your neck quite nicely. The first thing you notice is how light they are - they are advertised at 35g, which is lighter than some charge cases! Considering the average set of earbuds I review are around 11g across the two buds, MU6 have displaced the weight really well.



The finish of the headphones is really nice - despite being mainly plastic, there are no sharp edges or poor QC, certainly not on the model I received. The rubber pads ensure plenty of comfort - the Ring were so light I often forgot I was wearing them. There is also plenty of flexibility in the rotating audio section - up to 120 degrees, and with a width of 121mm and length of 157mm, they even allow for big heads like mine, with a lot of give and no impact on comfort.

Now I'm not sure what the hole below the rubber pad is - it could well be an ambient mic, perhaps a pressure relieving hole, but it doesn't detract from the water resistance, well, strictly speaking sweat and light rain resistance - these are IP55, so no showering or swimming. You will notice that the hole is on an inclined grooved edge - this is to allow for extra comfort for those wearing glasses, and for many models, such as my Persols, the indent sufficed, although it took a little fiddling around to get right, and is definitely firmer on one side than the other.



RING is emblazoned on the outer edge (and inner band) next to an LED, which flashes different colours depending on what it is doing. This is clearly outlined in the manual, and each of the LED statuses is shown below under the controls section. Unfortunately the LED does stay on intermittently when music is playing, but it isn't strong, and does at least let people know you're listening to something if they interrupt you.



Due to the dreadful weather here in the UK it is difficult to show everything without pointing it out, so hopefully the above demonstrates the level of thought that has gone into the design.



Flexibility and durability are also important in headphones like these, so I gave them the full works with no signs of any degradation.





The appearance of the Ring can be a little odd, but when paired with a hat, it looks a lot less obtrusive. Now on the use cases - for running, I will let them have that one. They passed the shake test and I found them decent for a light jog. For cycling, I think it's going to very much depend on your glasses and helmet. I tried the earphones with a helmet and it didn't quite work for me, but I've seen others have managed it successfully. For driving - well, if you don't have Bluetooth in your car, maybe it's a solution, but not many cars don't have Bluetooth these days, or maybe I'm being presumptuous - I don't know.

For home and office - forget about it! If you have nobody within 10m from you you may get away with it, but even on 70%-ish volume others can still hear, and that's the only minor drawback with the design - leakage, but I've experienced similar with semi-in-ear style - even the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live leak a bit, just not as much as this. As many of us are working from home, in this respect they are useful. They pair to two devices, so Zoom and Cell don't require a fumbling around and changing earbuds, and nobody will be bothered by the leakage. But be aware, it exists.

Overall, the ergonomics and design get a thumbs up. They have put quite a bit of thought into them.

Controls



Controls are initiated by a single button on the right side of the headphones, which does, well, everything. Kinda like Jacob in Lost.



Above describes how to initiate an action using the button, and the consequential LED or voice notification. Everything actually seemed to work fine, but I rarely use controls on earbuds anyway. The single button does take some getting used to though - you have to feel your way around it a little bit to make sure you're definitely touching it, and if you need to increase the volume during a call - well, I wouldn't risk it. It would have made sense to add an additional button on the other side, but hey-ho, it is what it is.

Connectivity

Connectivity is good and bad. Good because it allows for Multipoint, which is extremely rare with earbuds (although my sleepy mask also allows for it!) and bad because the range is a bit limited. 10m is ambitious - it can drop out earlier if there are other similar-frequency devices in close proximity.

Sound Quality

I'm not going to try and convince you the sound is B&O-quality. Despite the 16mm drivers, in order to facilitate multipoint, MU6 have essentially had to split the codec. So on AAC, you have a upper limit variable bitrate of 128kbps, 44.1/48kHz frequency stereo. This will be fine for many, but anyone expecting audiophile quality is asking to be disappointed. For podcasts and streaming services it is absolutely fine and even mid-bass on tracks I tested was OK, but subbass is virtually eliminated in order to avoid distortion - makes perfect sense in the context.

I tested a few flacs with them and they didn't sound terrible. I've actually heard worse Bluetooth earbuds! The soundstage is pretty airy like most semi-in-ear buds, which I like. Latency is not bad at all, which is to be expected given the low bitrate.

Calls

Calls are surprisingly not too bad, much better than I was expecting. At least from the perspective of your voice. Unfortunately due to the open nature, others around you may hear the content of the call, so where they have been marketed for driving or home office, this makes perfect sense. Nevertheless, I was surprised how effective they were.

Battery Life



Battery is charged with the supplied micro-USB cable, and advertise up to 10 hours battery life. I got close to 8 hours with a few calls and light listening to podcasts. Overall, not too bad at all, although earbuds have caught up, with buds like the Soundpeats T2 and ZMI PurPods giving you almost the same.

There is no quick charge, but it takes around 90 minutes for a full charge, and the LED changes colour to let you know when charge is complete.

Summary

Pleasantly surprised! the MU6 Ring were not at all what I expected, but reading and listening to some other reviews makes far more sense. They have some great features - multipoint connectivity is great for home office, IP55 moisture resistance is impressive given their form factor, they're comfortable and well thought-out for those wearing specs, and audio quality both in sound and calls are perfectly passable.

That said, sound leakage is a bit much for all of the use-cases they have described, and wearing under a helmet may not be ideal. I also would have liked to see USB-C. The price is also pretty high for us earbud consumers who are used to paying $20-30 for often pretty good quality buds, although there are regularly promotions so wait for the price to drop, and remember, for headphones of this type, the price does tend to be higher.

Nevertheless, I always look for use-cases when I buy headphones, and these definitely have one. For indoor cycling, running, home office, etc - there are definite merits. Just don't buy them thinking they are bone conduction then complain in the review!!!

Overall, a very good effort by Mu6, and if you're looking for headphones of this type, I can only recommend them.

RC036

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)
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Model: 1More Comfobuds ES901
Price: MSRP $99.99
Vendor Website: 1More
Review Reference: RC036

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: 1More
• Model: Comfobuds Pro ES901
• Chipset: BES 2300 HP3
• Driver: 13.4mm dynamic moving coils
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Microphones: 6 mic array, Sanmai smart call noise reduction
• ANC: Yes, QuietMax dual-band ANC and wind noise reduction up to 40dB!
• Impedance: 32 Ω
• Operation Range: 10m
• Charging Time: Buds 1 hour, Case 2 hours
• Single Playtime: 8 hours (ANC off), 6 hours (ANC on)
• Total Playtime: Up to 28 hours (ANC off), Up to 20 hours (ANC on)
• Charge Case Battery: 3.8v, 450mAh, 1.71Wh
• Charge Case Input : 5V (500 mAh)
• Charge Case Output: 5V (200 mA)
• Quick Charge: Yes, 15 minutes gives 2 hours use
• Bluetooth Version: 5.0
• Protocols Supported: HFP / A2DP / AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX4

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless headphones
4 x Pair Silicone Tips (Transparent/Black and Red)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case (no wireless charging)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User manual (English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian)
1 x Warranty Card
1 x Sticker
1 x Carry Pouch
1 x Case Protector (Only with the Black Mode)

Real Life Experience



After running a competition to join 1More's product testing group, I hash-tagged the hell out of my past reviews of 1More products on Instagram (not always good reviews, but for the most part I like their products) to try and snare a review model of these long-awaited, CES 2021 award-winning buds. Not only did I not get picked, they actually trolled me when I commented I was the only person on Instagram to use the hashtag they deemed a pre-requisite to join this elite band of merry bloggers, so I had every reason to give them a bad review! Nevertheless I bought them anyway, both in white and black, after Amazon UK ran a sale on them, dropping the price to as low as £56.

1More (or Wanmo, as they are known in China) need little introduction, having been mainstays in the audio market for over 5 years, operating as a trading name of Tiinlab Corporation (or Tinlab to the rest of us). They also use the trading name Omthing for their budget range.

1More's investors includes, predictably, Xiaomi, GGV Capital, and Singapore Equity Investment Group GIC. After selling over 10 million sets of earbuds in China in 2014, they have expanded to San Diego and have expanded distribution to 26 different countries. With awards such as the RedDot Award for Innovation in 2017, and CES awards in both 2018 and 2021, and Grammy winning artist Luca Bignardi on their books assisting with tuning of their releases, 1More are here to stay and a brand that each new release brings a degree of excitement - their core product is audio, unlike the likes of Soundcore/Anker, who specialise in other areas and also have an audio range. And yet despite this, their footprint in the UK is relatively shallow - hopefully I'll go some way to raising awareness of their excellent products in this and other reviews, as they really are a best-kept secret.

This is the fourth set of 1More Earbuds I've tested, after the Comfobuds, Colorbuds and Stylish. If you include the Omthing Air Free, re-labelled as the 1More Pistonbuds, it's five. And they've got progressively better over time. The Comfobuds Pro promised to be the hiatus, with a host of features such as 40dB ANC and their patented QuietMax technology added to an already firm favourite of mine, the original Comfobuds. But moving from semi-in-ear to in-ear, would they float my boat?! Read on to find out....

The Unboxing - 8.5/10



The Comfobuds Pro box in 2D looks identical to the Comfobuds box, which I gave 7/10. So why the inconsistency? Well, they've actually upped their game (see my video review on instagram for details!)



I quote the esteemed headphone blogger Regancipher 'Unboxing the Tronsmart Apollo Bold is like unboxing a Tag or Longines watch - not quite Rolex, but they've made a bloody good effort!' - and 1More seem to have been listening. Unboxing is only really important if you're giving these as a gift, which I'd be more than happy to given the premium feel they've applied to the Pro. The box opens up all-in-one, telling the story of the buds in sketched italics and signed 'Luca'. Bravissimo!

The back and the sides also direct you to their key features - 28 hour playtime, ANC, Quietmax, Auto Pause/Play, Quick charge, and enclosed in a cardboard box are the USB-C charging cable, a number of sets of tips, and a 1More Carry Bag, which is handy for carrying the charge cable, case and tips.



Less glam, but arguably more important, is the insert within which the case is held. It gives directions on how to take the buds, which is important as I missed this, and found myself cursing the process when actually, if you read this it is pretty simple.

I read one review, I think it may have even been Gamesky - someone far more reputable than me anyway - where they critisized the 'removability' of the buds from the case. Really, it isn't difficult once you read that top section!



The manual is in a wide array of languages - English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Ukraine - and you also get a mini teddy-bear sticker and a warranty card with the QR printed to take you straight to the appropriate page on the site.



The bag is not pictured as I left it in the car and couldn't be bothered to go out and get it! I tested the mic and ANC at a motorway service station last night, so it was for a good cause! It's white, grey logo, small drawstring....etc. EDIT - I found it, needed it as the tips were giving me some discomfort.

On the tips - 1More advertise the product coming with 3 sets of tips. This is not true, they come with 4: the stock set, small and narrow, medium, large and large and flat. I never use large, but like with the Edifier TWS NB2 which also has oval ends, the large fitted me best. However, due to the flatter profile this was far more comfortable. It is a point which I think has been overlooked in every other review I've seen, but is worthy of note as it is these small things that differentiate 1More from the pack.



The black version comes with a rubberized cover for the case too. I eventually got round to attempting to affix it to the case. Don't bother - it is ill-fitting, misaligns very easily, and causes more problems than it offers benefits.

The Case - 9/10



The case looks beautiful. The distinct pearlescent look of the original Comfobuds has been jettisoned in favour of a very high quality matte finish, and for me, whilst both have their merits, it looks nicer.

TaoTronics adopted the same schema with the SoundLiberty 80 but whilst it looked good from the get-go, it aged badly. The off-white colour used by 1More is definitely a better bet than the bright white that Tao used. Likewise, the hint of gold in the 1More case and on the buds is well-thought-out. You get the impression this will age much better than the Taotronics case did - it just feels high quality in every way.



The beauty of the original Comfobuds case was the portability, and whilst the Pro is a little larger, it doesn't lose that aspect - still small compared with other semi-in-ear and in-ear offerings and improves in many others.



The case measures in at just under 8cm wide, 4cm depth and 3cm height. For gents, it remains trouser-pocket friendly.



The USB type-C charge socket is located at the back, which makes it easy to see whether the buds are charging when sat on your desk. This is the approach used by 1More with the Comfobuds, Boya with the BY-AP4, SoundPEATS with the TrueAir2 and many others. It is, for me at least, more practical than the base, which is the common location for earbud charge sockets - see the TaoTronics 80, 92, 95, Haylou Moripods and QCY T10 for typical examples of this.

There is a nice little nod to the 1More messaging displayed on the reinforced area that protects the hinge and socket.



The case is 50g fully loaded, just under 15g heavier than the original Comfobuds.



Whilst retaining some of the core features - it still has the 'traffic light' charging status indicator in the form of a small LED visible on the front of the case, and importantly, whilst charging. This makes it much easier to see whether the buds need a quick top up or not, and is also displayed in the app. The case still has the metallic surround to protect the USB socket and hinge, and has most of the parameters etched (as opposed to screen printed - nice) on the bottom.

There is an ample 'lip' at the front, the size of which has increased proportionate to the case, for flipping the case open with one hand, although operating it with one hand may be tricky, because as per the unboxing, you have to press the buds down at the tip in order to release them from the magnets, and remove from the case, as below.



This takes a little getting accustomed to, but you get used to it, and is no worse than the rigmorol of trying to get buds to sit correctly in cigarette-box style cases such as the FIIL CC2 and Taotronics SoundLiberty 95.



There is also a reset button in the centre, and if your buds are shipped in single mode or you're having pairing difficulties, then holding this button for 8 seconds should clear the memory and solve many of the problems people face with issues of this kind.

Long battery seems to be increasingly important for the earbud consumer, and vendors are going to some lengths to ensure that the life is longer and safer. The battery design of the case is in-keeping with new earbud models from the likes of ZMI Xiaomi, Edifier and JBL. 1More have used the Chipsea CSU38M20 8-bit RISC MCU, which acts as the charge box 'brains', managing charge and discharge, power, comms, upgrades etc.

The rest of the components are also common in newer releases - the battery is from Zijian Electronics, and I've seen this in a number of other earbuds lately, and the over-voltage and over-current protection is handled by LPS LowPowerSemi Microsource, using the LP5305 also seen in the Realme Buds Air 2 and Anker Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2. Unlike the latter, it does not support wireless charging.

Overall, the case is one of the better ones out there. It looks good, supports quick charge, offering 2 hours use from 15 minutes of charging, gives strong battery life from a full charge, is highly portable, robust, and easy to use. Plus, everything 1More state in their marketing material is correct - I checked a number of the parameters and they are all within tolerance.

Battery Life - 8/10



The buds use the AEC Guoguang Electronics R1250 3.8v, 0.19Wh, and it provides the buds between 6 and 8 hours of charge from a single use. I've had ANC off today, am at 4 hours and 42 minutes and still showing 70% remaining battery, which is outstanding. With ANC on it was around the 6-hour mark, nevertheless still very impressive and testament to the progression of TWS.

This gives a total of between 20- and 30-hours battery life, which is up there with the SoundPEATS T2 and ZMI PurPods Pro, but with an impressive quick charge feature making them ideal for on-the-go commuters.

Ergonomics & Design - 8/10



The Comfobuds Pro are longer-than-average stem-based water-drop-style earbuds, with a short silicone tip designed to minimise invasiveness but still retain a seal. This is in contrast to the original Comfobuds, which were essentially semi in-ear. So more 'Airpod Pro' than 'Airpod'.



The shape is only 1mm more bulbous than the original Comfobuds, but it does make them stick out a little more, as you would expect from silicone-based buds, and they can look a bit angular and pointy at times, making them not especially attractive compared to the ZMI PurPods Pro. This can be mitigated to a degree by using the larger, flat tips - again, I can't stress the importance of these enough. Even so, the Comfobuds Pro have definitely gone against the trend of reducing stem length in TWS, and I can't say I wholeheartedly approve.

The Comfobuds Pro are clearly the big sister of the Comfobuds, with a similar inner design. Measuring in at 42mm long, they protrude slightly longer than the Comfobuds, and many of the other models released during 2021, and when you combine this with the protruding angle, it can make for a slightly awkward looking, and not always altogether stable depending on your ear anatomy, ergonomic that not everyone will be able to get on board with.

The battery connectors have moved from the stem to the neck - bear this in mind if you suffer allergies, as they now make direct contact with your concha.



Like many recent releases, the surround that separates the driver and the ear canal is oval, determining the tips used to get the appropriate fit, and also requiring the user to insert them as intended by 1More. Rather than a large mesh exterior to the outer ambient LaserDiao 0AS64 MEMS mic, they've made it more of an indentation, with a dust-proof net and a lot of glue keeping the mic clear from debris and the internals from moisture. You can see this above on the bottom.



The buds are slightly heavier than the original Comfobuds, but still slightly lighter than the likes of the ZMI Purpods Pro, which would be a direct competitor in features and form factor.

The exterior is consistent with the Comfobuds, with blue and red flashing lights at the base denoting pairing status. The buds flash red intermittently when the battery is getting low.



The bit that goes in your ear has charging contacts either side of a sensor array, comprising of a TXC PA22 distance/light sensor which detects whether the earbuds should pause or not, which can be toggled in the 1More app. Next to the sensor is the third mic, another ambient MEMS mic which works with the detection sensor to assist in ANC and ambient sound reduction.



For prolonged use, the Comfobuds Pro are very comfortable, no doubt assisted by a large pressure-relieving chamber at the bottom of the neck of the buds. They can feel extremely light in your ears, despite ANC being on, which is great for those using them as 'all-dayer's' for work calls and webinars.

I eventually suffered a little discomfort from fatigue in the ear after a day of use. They aren't quite as comfortable for me as the ZMI PurPods, but as in-ear buds go, they achieve the design objective of comfort for all-day use.

Noise Cancellation - 7.5/10

1More advertise up to 40dB noise reduction. I am not a fan of 'spec sheet top trumps' as I find it is often tested by the vendor with an inconsistent methodology, unlike something like driver size which can be tested with a calibrated multimeter. Whilst 40dB gives the impression it is better than 35dB, I'd always take that with a grain of salt and test regardless.

ANC on the Comfobuds Pro is good, and whilst not as strong as the Edifier NeoBuds Pro or Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro, they seem to achieve it without piping too much white noise at high frequencies through, or at least at frequencies I can discern anyway. This will probably make them a more popular option for younger ears that haven't had the audio destruction of years in nightclubs.

The app provides five different modes - Off, Strong, Mild, Pass-Through and WNR. You can also toggle most of the modes by holding the stem for a couple of seconds. Each mode is signified by its own personalised tone. This is a nice additional feature, and the switch between modes is far more pleasant than Anker's Q30, which feels like you've dropped a floor in an elevator.

'Off' provides little in the way of passive isolation unless you choose the flatter, larger tips.

'Strong' is 'ANC on' for the majority of us - good for most frequencies, both near and far. As I said, not as strong as the NeoBuds Pro or even Tronsmart Apollo Bold, but on par with the Honor Magic, and also fit-dependent - a minor adjustment can improve it immeasurably - so make sure you have the right tips.

I found ANC worked more effectively outdoors with a caveat. On a normal day, I found little motorway noise coming through at the aforementioned service station and virtually no ambient sound other than birds chirping. The achilles heel for the Comfobuds Pro seems to be wind. Wind comes through quite clearly regardless of ANC mode. This can be borderline uncomfortable at times. It may be down to fit, so I'm not going to determine it as gospel, but I could hear a seal (when the earbuds make that sound in your ears to say the gap is plugged, not the giant animal you see at sea life centres, nor the former husband of Heidi Klum who topped the UK charts with 'Killer' and 'Kiss From a Rose') so I assume it is a tradeoff of having ultra-sensitive mics. It can be improved slightly with those larger, flatter tips, but not eradicated altogether.

'WNR' or Wind Noise Reduction takes the edge off the typical ambient sound and is useful for runners or cyclists who need some situational awareness. The sensitivity of the mics means vendors that are using a wide mic array simply have to offer this option to avoid passthrough mode sounding like you're in Limitless - which it does here, as you would expect from having such excellent mics - if you let noise pass through then that's what happens. WNR is a very useful, happy medium.

Indoors, ANC on the Pro is not as effective - I could hear traffic on the adjacent road to my testing area, which I can't with my T2, and they won't blot out screaming toddlers with no music playing. That said, unlike many earbuds, the ANC modes don't worsen the sound quality, which is not always the case. 'Mild' offers very little difference to Strong, certainly that I could tell - it seems to apply a blanket level of noise cancellation across all frequencies, whereas the 'Strong' setting is much more in favour of low frequencies. Keyboard taps are paradoxically more prevalent in Strong mode.

Overall, ANC is not quite market-leading in terms of strength, but impressive in how it has been implemented. It's just a shame all modes can't be toggled from the buds without customizing the buttons and compromising volume or track skip, for example.

Call Quality - 8/10 (Indoors), 7.5/10 (Outdoors)

Call quality on the Comfobuds Pro when you have very little ambient noise is about as good as it gets on sub-$100 TWS and doesn't fall too far short of premium offerings like the Apple Airpod Pro or Huawei FreeBuds Pro.

Indoors your voice sounds very natural. I found both on telephone calls and on Zoom it was one of the more natural sounding earbuds I've tested - similar to the Omthing Air Free, but better at noise reduction. The intelligent 6-mic array works well at negating ambient noise - it is still there, but even loud sounds are more of a 'crackle'.

I never recommend earbuds for home office as the mic is rarely strong enough due to bluetooth bandwidth - a USB mic will always trump TWS whilst Bluetooth is the way it is, but for occasional calls the Comfobuds are as good as you would expect a mid to premium set of buds to be at this price point.

They were part of my 2021 indoor mic test, where I wore a mask in a kids climbing area and hosted to YouTube, and were one of the better performers that day:



Outdoors they performed very well on a normal day, but struggled with extreme wind. My voice sounded muffly and the background noise crackly. The Airpods Pro clearly outperformed them in extreme conditions.



With most earbud mic tests I stimulate wind by standing on a nearby railway bridge. The Pro had the misfortune of falling in a testing window where trees and fences are the cause of traffic problems because nature has decided to rip them from their roots and plonk them in the middle of the road, so don't be too alarmed at the description - no earbuds would have performed well in that test!

Sound Quality - 8/10 (for the price paid), 7/10 (raw score)

Audio on the Comfobuds Pro is predictably right up my street. I like a balanced sound, and Luca Bignardi and his team never fail to deliver. For some this lack of edge will sound instinctively a little boring, but I don't mind it, and it fits with their design as all-day buds that work for all music styles. The 13.4mm dynamic drivers are tuned with longevity in mind - if you want to make the sound punchier, Android users can tweak the sound with Wavelet, and they respond predictably very well with no distortion.

Trebles are notched a little to guard against listening fatigue, although they aren't the strongest point - they lack a little detail and crispness, and this is particularly evident on cymbals and strings. The mid-bass is well represented, highlighted by 'I'll Be There' by Jess Glynn and 'Mama' by Jonas Blue, which can often sound fatiguing and even distort on bass-centric earbuds, but are much more palatable here. The sub-bass and lower frequencies are also toned down quite a bit - 'Ripgroove' by Double 99 and 'Moaner' by Underworld certainly sound less bloated than your typical v-shaped offerings. These are tracks I'm used to feeling wobbling my soul in tents at festivals, but whilst the bass resolution is OK, it lacks a little excitement. Everything sounds quite balanced and reasonably clear - ideal for long sessions of listening to Spotify or YouTube music whilst working, but as previously mentioned, you'll need to consult an EQ like Wavelet to appeal to all scenarios, and sadly this isn't possible with the white or black models in the 1More app.

The sound stage is seemingly a little narrower than I typically prefer, but I suspect this is a constraint of the design more than anything else. I never find in-ear buds to give me the satisfying soundstage that the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live do, for example. Even the original Comfobuds sound a bit wider, which I suspect is auditory illusion created by the position of the drivers in relation to your ears.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7/10

With no QI wireless charging, 1More rely on their excellent quick-charge feature to satisfy those to whom battery matters. 2 hours charge from 15 minutes in the case is really market leading stuff.



The Pro use the same app as other 1More products. App support is OK - there's nothing exciting about the UI, but it's consistent on both Android and IOS. It handles the basics well. You can change auto-pause and play settings, change controls and upgrade firmware. They shipped with up to date firmware thankfully, as other 1More buds have had tortuously long waits (up to 4 minutes for download and install)

As detailed in the ANC section, the primary screen is concerned with detailing your battery status and ANC mode, where you can toggle through freely. One annoying point of note is they don't always seem to remember your last ANC decision, so you have to go back in the app if you want to choose WNR, for example. This can be a PITA if you're taking them out of the box and popping them back in a lot. In fact, ANC is off by default, so straight away you have to set that. There is also a 4 second delay before the app realises the buds are connected, which is a pain when you pick up a call.

The touch control adjustment feature allows volume control to be programmed, but it is not native - you have to switch it for another command - probably from voice assistant which I did above. They support voice assistant, but I can honestly say it's an earbud feature I never use. If you assign a specific control feature (volume for example), you have to apply it to both earbuds. You can't customise controls to a single bud. Not an issue for me, but I've heard complaints elsewhere about it.

Single mode is possible, and they did accidentally default to single mode on one occasion, which was briefly disconcerting. Latency, whilst not showing the figure in Bluetooth Tweaker, is very low - not quite lip-sync, but not far off.

It is clear that honing their AAC profile has been the focus - the buds do not support the proprietary Qualcomm codecs, nor do they support LDAC or other high resolution codecs, which is a shame. The BES2300 chip is popular with earbud vendors currently, and although this is a variant I haven't seen yet, like the others it does not support Bluetooth profiles beyond 5.0. Whilst not a major issue today, the pace of technology means the shelf life could be shorter than you would hope at this price. You only have to look at the release dates between the Soundcore Q20 and Q30 and compare to the Q30 and Q35 to see that earbuds and headphones are aging far quicker than they did two years ago, propelled by the mobile phone and semiconductor markets.

When you remove the buds, they pair with each other instantly - well, it takes a second or two before the blue light initiates on both buds, but the app can sometimes be slow to pick them up, which can be frustrating, and whilst connectivity is solid for the advertised 10m, the Haylou Moripods set the standard for what can be achieved lately with rock solid connection without line of sight. No such joy here.

Water resistance is IPX4, which means you can get caught in the rain and work out, but no showering. Decent water resistance with ANC is rare - I won't bore you with the details why, but it's down to the way the buds are built and designed.

I was able to open up one of the sets of buds to check the design, and other than the use of a load of glue around the top mic, it was nice to see a custom designed main board from Tiinlab with some of the critical components shrouded for protection, but unlike the Haylou Moripods, for example, the slimmer form factor as they graduate almost to a point at the base of the stem has prevented them from using, for example, a rubberised cover around the mems mic, because there simply isn't enough room.

When I promote specific earbuds (not for any profit or reward from the vendor I might add - instead I just get trolled by them ) on sites like Hotukdeals, where the average consumer is ambivalent to the design, ODM, OEM and manufacture cycle that is prevalent in electronics, one of the things I can't really articulate is the tangible aspect of this very point. 1More have seemingly designed these from 'the ground up', and it explains to a degree why some tech features are slightly late to the market, but it does ensure that the build quality is likely to offer greater reliability and longevity.

Recommended Tips

A new addition to my reviews, I recommend using the BGVP W01 L Silicone Tips with the Comfobuds Pro. Compared with stock, they open the sound out further with a wider inner bore, but are also marginally flatter at 8.09mm high, and at just over 12mm wide, marginally wider, augmenting hybrid noise cancellation whilst simultaneously improving comfort.

Final Comments

The unique form factor of the Comfobuds left me wondering if the Pro would suit me. Thankfully, they are one of the few in-ear, ANC-supporting buds I actually enjoy wearing.

Like their little sister, the balanced sound synonymous with 1More gives them a neutral, natural profile that translates well to most music genres. The case makes them ideally portable for the daily commute, and the mic, battery life and ANC performance makes them useful for users of all varieties, from commuters to home office to sports.

The MSRP of $99.99 is not cheap, but compared to the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro, which retails much higher, I do feel you're getting more for your money, although the lack of support for Bluetooth 5.2 and high-res codecs make them buds for today, but not for next year.

Despite these omissions, 1More have delivered again with a decent alternative to the AirPods Pro that doesn't cut too many corners. At $99.99 it would be hard to justify given the proliferation of releases now featuring the newer BES2500YP chip (OnePlus Buds Pro), Hi Res codecs and Hybrid drivers (Edifier NeoBuds Pro) and Multipoint connectivity (Huawei FreeBuds Pro), but with 1More dropping the price globally recently, as low as $60 in some places, that's much more competitive and a price commensurate with the fluid technology landscape. If you can get them for that price, do it. If you can't, you may want to hang on a little longer.

Price Weighted Score: 87%
Raw Score: 86%
2022 Score: 76%

2022 Comments:

The Comfobuds Pro remain a decent option for well-priced ANC stem-based buds, performing reasonably well across the board. However, specifications-wise, they've fallen behind a little bit now, with 2022 releases priced at the original MSRP now supporting high-definition codecs and improving on the slightly awkward ergonomics. At the regularly reduced price (approx. £50) it's difficult to recommend them over something like the Soundpeats Air3 Pro, but if you're a die-hard 1More fan, they are still a fair choice at that price.

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)

Model: Haylou Moripods
Price: MSRP $34.99
Distributor: TomTop
Vendor Website: Haylou
Review Reference: RC035

Manufacturer Info:

• Brand: Haylou
• Model: Moripods T33
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
• Microphones: 10502 2211 MEMS 4 mic-array, CVC8.0
• Driver: 12mm dynamic moving coils
• Codecs: AptX adaptive, AAC, SBC
• ANC: No
• Power Management: LP6260
• Operation Range: 10m
• Battery Capacity: 40 mAh
• Charging Time: Approx. 1.5 h
• Single Playtime: 3-6 hours
• Standby time: approx. 105 h
• Charge Case Input : 5V ( 500 mA)
• Charge Case Output: 5V (150 mA)
• Battery Capacity: 310 mAh
• Charging Time: Approx. 2.5 h
• Standby time: Approx. 5 months
• App Support: No
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
• Water Resistance: IPX4

Includes:

1 x Pair wireless headphones
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case (no wireless charging)
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User manual (Chinese only EDIT - English too)
1 x Quick Guide (Chinese and English)



Real Life Experience

Haylou are a brand that have been prominent in the Chifi market for some time, and have had some popular releases within the TWS community, notably their last stem-based, the T19, but also the GT1 and GT2 which received good independent reviews. Many of Haylou's releases look 'familiar' - an example would be the T16, which are essentially a less-glam version of the QCY HT01, and a deeper look into their background gives you a clearer picture of how the TWS market works in China.

Haylou is a brand belonging to Dongguan Liesheng Electronic Technology, a subsidiary of Dongguan Hele Electronics. Dongguan Liesheng Electronic Co., Ltd. was established in May 2015, securing Series A funding from Xiaomi and thus becoming an early member of the Xiaomi Ecological Chain. Hele Electronics and Liesheng Electronic are the OEM for Xiaomi's Mi / Redmi Airdots. ODM is a big part of their business - i.e. you may have already tried their buds without a Haylou logo on, or based on their design, so to cut to the chase - that's why their buds often look generic or familiar.

This is the first time I've tested a set of Haylou buds. I purchased these - they have had no contact with me at all regarding this review. The buds were purchased through Tomtop - my first time ordering there, no issues!

The Unboxing - 6/10



There is nothing glam about the Moripods unboxing. The front clearly demonstrates their key feature - aptX adaptive, and whilst my instagram review shows the unboxing clearer there's a hint of 'QCY' about the presentation, with a flimsy cardboard box and the basic parameters listed on the back and key features - the chip, the mics, IPX4, usb-C and smart touch control - listed on the side, along with a QR code for their site.



The manual is in Chinese and English, but a quick guide adds a (bizarrely) repeated procedure for powering the buds on!! First time around I didn't notice you have to unfold the user guide to reveal the English translation.

First impressions are not exactly exciting - very budget stuff, and a small, white USB-C cable chucked inside, but if you have to cut corners - the box is where I'd rather it done. And that is exactly what Haylou have done.

The Case - 7/10



As with their sister company QCY, the case is not where the development goes. The material is lightweight, matte and actually quite nice looking in the blue model, but after a few weeks marks have started to show and whilst the hinge is easy enough to operate with one hand, even with a pretty fierce magnet.



Getting the buds back into the case is, as with many cigarette-box style cases, often a PITA, but fine once you get used to it. There are lights on the top of the buds, and they glow when powered on, and flash twice when powered off. Otherwise they remain off, thankfully.



It has a nice little Haylou logo on the side and takes around 2 hours to charge the case and buds fully, which is fairly efficient, but there is no quick charge and no wireless charging.



Charging is only via the USB-C at the bottom, this and gives a solid 25 hours worth of charge with around 3-4 extra charges. The case uses the Saixin Micro XB5335A battery protection IC to prevent against overcharge and overdischarge, and this provides the prolonged standby time they outline in their marketing material, and is a common component used by the likes of Edifier, Honor and Anker in many of their products.



The case is essentially 46x46x24mm, which makes it one of the smallest cases of this type. Measuring in smaller than the FIIL CC2, and adding a lid which is always useful, and similar in dimensions, if not design, to the SoundPEATS TrueAir2, only the 1More Comfobuds out-size it by some distance.




The portability is further enhanced by its weight. At 39g, this is one of the lightest cases I've tested, although there is a compromise - the hinge is extremely flimsy and it doesn't seem like it would pass the toddler test - so if you have kids, keep them away from it.

The case also lacks the 'green, amber, red' charging scheme of the 1More Comfobuds, for example, with only a single red light appearing from within the case when battery is low but charging.


The Ergonomics - 7/10

There are lots of good points about the design of the Moripods. Firstly, whilst they seem a little 'cuboid' compared to the rounded edges of the likes of the TaoTronics SoundLiberty 92/95, actually this works in their favour, as adjustments are easier to make without initiating the touch controls.

However there are also some negatives. The bit that goes in your ear is glossy rather than the matte finish of the rest of the bud. This should really be the other way around - they can feel a bit 'slidey' in your ear - the matte finish of something like the SoundPEATS TrueAir2 would have given them a bit more traction.



At 37mm they are one of the shortest buds around.



Coming in 0.5mm shorter than the TrueAir2, 2mm shorter than the 1More Comfobuds, and 3mm shorter than the FIIL CC2, although we are talking semantics here - alongside the Comfobuds, the difference is so academic that at certain angles they look longer.



Note above that like the others, there is a small filter for pressure reduction, and like the FIIL, the battery connectors reside on the base of the bud. This is handy for those with Nickel allergies as it makes them less likely to make direct contact with your skin.



At 4.24g, the Moripods are one of the heavier of their ilk, weighing in heavier than the TrueAir2, Comfobuds and even the FIIL CC2, although again, this is academic and makes little difference in their comfort or ability to remain in your ears. In fact, if anything, it makes them slightly more secure.



More pertinently, they have reduced the lip size around the edge of the mesh over models such as the Edifier TWS200 and TaoTronics SoundLiberty 95. This makes them actually rather comfy once you get the right fit, but the left bud was not well finished so I had to give the edge a very light sanding with 6000 grit sandpaper. Now it's perfect. The rough edges are not just metaphoric when it comes to the Moripods - there are plenty, and it's something you have to accept at this price point.



The lacklustre QC can be noticed throughout when you look closely, with the mesh and holes all seemingly badly finished, as you would expect at this price point, although from a distance they actually look quite nice - certainly not as divisive as the CC2 or Taotronics Soundliberty 80.



The length is well proportioned for calls, and they perform OK (see mic for further elaboration) in this respect. They also passed the shake test well (see my instagram video for more details) and feature IPX4 water resistance. This is mainly achieved with a lot of glue, like many buds of this type, but getting caught in the rain won't render them ready for the knackers yard.

Call Quality - Indoors - 7/10, Outdoors - 6/10

There are a limited pool of MEMS mics around, and the QCC3040 chip uses Qualcomm's cVc 8.0 echo cancellation and noise suppression technology to try to separate your voice and other noises. Generally this is something Qualcomm are not particularly outstanding at, and this is more a limitation of the chip rather than the components, but Haylou have done their best to try to remediate this by covering the MEMS modules with protective silicone covering.

Indoors your voice sounds OK on cell calls, but on Zoom or Teams it can sound compressed and pretty hollow. Calls are clear, but lack the naturalness of many of their competitors. That said, minor disruptions around you are handled really well. I had my daughter clapping repeatedly for a minute and that was inaudible on the recorded call at the other end.

Outdoors it struggles a little with the usual problems - passing traffic and wind come through pretty loud, and your voice becomes thin and robotic as the buds try to compensate.



There is little earbud vendors can do to combat this. Positioning of the ambient mics helps, but accelerometers or AI engines such as the elevoc voc plus used in the TaoTronics Soundliberty 80 just add layers of cost, when for most people, the mic will be more than adequate for basic tasks.

Audio - 7.5/10 (for the price paid), 7/10 (raw score)

The sound profile out of the box is a bit too bright for my liking. The treble is far too 'raspy', and this was especially evident on 'I was born on Christmas Day' by St Etienne, where Sarah Cracknell's vocals sounded extra lispy.

As expected, the lows are toned down a little, but this doesn't really bother me too much. If you're a basshead, these buds are probably not for you, with subbass rumbles of the Jabra 75t I was listening to earlier in the day the polar opposite, and yet the mid-bass is still reasonably well represented and permits an airy soundstage that is clean, without managing the detail you would expect on IEM's - but that's a Bluetooth problem, not specifically a Haylou issue. That said, listening to techno wasn't a disappointment after tweaking the EQ, and typical tracks that trouble cheap earbuds from John Legend, Bruno Mars and Leona Lewis all performed OK.

Fortunately, they respond pretty well to EQ, both on Android and Windows, with no degradation in performance as a result. I tweaked the subbass up a notch, lifted the low mids and reduced the highs, and noticed no distortion.

Note - the Moripods are extremely loud. They also defaulted to Aptx-adaptive on several Android devices I tested. Bravo!

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 7/10

Connectivity is excellent, possibly the best I've tested so far. I can listen to conference calls on my PC whilst lying in the bath, which is around 10m away, but not line of sight - usually a challenge for most buds. The Moripods QCC3040 SoC supports True Wireless Mirroring, but also balances out the power distribution between the buds, and it definitely feels like a huge upgrade on the QCC3020 chip, which did not support this feature. Single mode is possible, simply by putting the other bud in the case, and role-swapping/bud-to-bud handover is seamless.

Latency is also very good, coming in at around 175ms on Windows, and unquestionably lower on Android, where aptX-adaptive is supported. This is really noticeable on videos - I tested on VLC for Android and lipsync is pretty close.

Controls are straightforward enough - a short press of either bud will play/pause or answer call. A long touch rejects the call. Double tap left plays the previous track, double tap right goes forward a track. Triple tap is voice assistant. There is no volume control, alas. Unfortunately, the touches often result in a loud beep, which can't be turned off.

There is no ANC - pointless anyway in this form factor - no wake word voice assistant (a blessing IMO) and no app support (an even bigger blessing)

Battery Life - 7/10

Battery life is pretty good by semi-in-ear standards, coming in at around 3.5-5 hours, but realistically closer to 5 if you keep the volume low, and you should as they are very loud.

120 minutes for a full charge is a little inconvenient, but it gives the buds 25 hours total charge - one of the best in its class. Testing showed the charging power at just below the documented 1.15Wh, and the battery capacity of 310mAh may not seem amazing, but it is more than sufficient to charge the buds at least twice.

Final Comments

The MoriPods are my first Haylou buds, and I went for the blue, rather than the white, pink or black. They look pleasant and make a nice change from the usual. That Haylou have made the jump into using the new Qualcomm chip relatively soon compared to their competitors is reflective of their status in China, and its perhaps unfair to score them lower for not having a fancy box and international manual like 1More or Honor.

The operation of the buds is easy thanks to the shape, and they have some good features - the sound is decent for the money, the battery life is very good, the latency is excellent, the connectivity is out of this world, and they're reasonably comfortable.

That said, there are more tangible reasons why they fall slightly short of some of the competition. Aside from the build quality, which under the loupe clearly lacks some finesse, they aren't quite in the same league as the FIIL CC2, 1More Comfobuds or SoundPEATS TrueAir 2 for calls, the sound signature is a bit fatiguing unless you have access to a 5 band minimum EQ, and the case could do with better indication of battery life.

That said, at just £23 the Moripods are great value - given their aptx-adaptive and bt5.2 support, they represent a solid, if somewhat 'mass-produced' feeling option, and for US/EU/UK customers, if you find the TrueAir2 uncomfortable but are dead set on semi-in-ear buds, the MoriPods might just be worth a try.

Over the last few days I've grown to really like them - the fact I can still be brushing my teeth at 9.03am whilst pretending to be on a conference call due to the amazing connectivity might be the driver for this, but I'm sure I won't be the only one that will welcome that!

Price Weighted Score: 77%
Raw Score: 71%

ig: @regancipher
About Haylou

Haylou's product portfolio ranges from wireless audio, smart wearables, to IoT and other categories. And its business has covered more than 100 countries and regions, serving tens of millions of users around the world. We are committed to establishing a digital health ecology by integrating a "user-device-data" scenario via technological innovation. Embracing the values of "Empowering & Awakening", Haylou aims to inspire you to keep challenge, explore your potential and find a better self.

Other Haylou Reviews:

S35 ANC Headphones
Purfree Buds
Purfree BC01 Bone Conduction Headphones
W1
Moripods

How I review: (See Previous Reviews)

Model: Jabra Elite 75t
Price: MSRP £149.99
Vendor Website: Jabra
Review Reference: RC034

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: Jabra
• Model: Elite 75t
• Driver: 6mm
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC5126 (no aptX support though?!)
• Codecs: AAC, SBC
• Mics: 4
• Volume Control: Yes, also physical mute
• ANC: Yes, upgraded via the app
• App Support: Yes
• Earbud Weight: 5.75g
• Case Weight: 49.22g
• Gross Weight: 43.06g
• Earbud Dimensions: 21.9mm x 19.4mm x 16.2 mm
• Case Dimensions: 60mm x 36.5mm x 27.1mm
• Single Charge Playtime: 5.5 hours
• Earbuds and Case Fully Charged Music Playtime: 28 hours, 24 hours ANC on*
• Earbuds Charging Time: Earbuds 1.5 hours
• QI Wireless Charging: Optional
• Quick Charge Support: Yes
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.0
• Bluetooth Protocols: HSP v1.2, HFP v1.7, A2DP v1.3, AVRCP v1.6, SPP v1.2
• Water Resistance: IP55
• Warranty: 2 Years

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
3 x Pair Silicone 'EarGels'
1 x User manual, warranty card, safety information



Real Life Experience

Welcome to the Regancipher review of the Jabra Elite 75t. With Jabra and Samsung seeing mass price cuts on former-flagship models, I decided to go back and review a few sets of headphones that I tested over a year ago - before my time on head-fi- and document my findings, whilst asking the question - are they still worth it, especially with the new iteration of Jabra buds already released with more to come in Q4.

Jabra are a wholly-owned subsidiary of GN Netcom A/S, a global hands-free mobile technology company, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, with their core business in headset products, hands-free phones, and video conference-related tech, and their messaging has typically been focused on B2B AV, with a good reputation for reliability and customer service. This gave them a pretty nice starting position in the consumer TWS market, where customer service generally involves sending the buds back to Amazon or if you're really unlucky, Aliexpress. However, this is a market that moves at frenetic pace - Moore's Law is dwarfed these days! Even with the supply shortages in the semi-conductor market vendors find ways of eeking out more from their existing technology, such as stripping out legacy codec elements, etc. Even Jabra themselves have updated their leading model to the 85t.

The 75t are a much-loved, but expensive option even by today's standards, but their upgrading of certain features via firmware updates - ANC for example - is a sign that the tech that went into them back in the day was cutting edge. Today I'll be looking back at the 75t from a view of 'are they still worth it', and comparing the various elements that made the buds stand out- even compared to many of today's mid-range offerings.

The Unboxing - 8/10



Both the front and back of the Jabra 75t box clearly outline the key features, including app support, which is notable as it is one of the better apps out there and pretty much crucial to getting the best experience from the buds. Note, ANC is not advertised - I bought mine before they added it via a firmware update, but today I think they either changed the packaging or added a sticker.



After a lengthy process of jimmying the yellow box out, there is a very premium decasing which reveals the buds, fitted with medium earjels, the charge case, a USB type C charge cable and a small box which encloses it all, along with a manual and safety warning. The manual I unfortunately misplaced, but the safety warning is in so many languages I lost count, which is reflective of the premium, global branding offered by Jabra.

When you spend this kind of money on earbuds, you expect more than the standard cheap enclosure, and this delivers, although it falls short of something like the Tronsmart Apollo Bold, which is like a story of the history of audio! The USB cable isn't the best quality, and even the earjels appeared to be missing the 'mesh' that is included on the 85t.

The Case - 7/10



The Jabra 75t case is simple, but pretty effective. It is very slim, lightweight, has a large and secure magnetic hinge, and good quality (but not too strong) magnets luring the buds into the case.



The buds sit intuitively in the the top of the case, and LED's flash different colours depending on the status. Below is taken from the Jabra website:



Note, the LED is located at the rear, next to the USB-C charge point. Jabra have released a model with Qi wireless charging, but this wasn't available when I purchased them.



Portability is top notch. Even with some margin for error, they weigh in below the 46.4g advertised, and the cylindrical shape is suited to fitting in jacket pockets, although probably a bit too beefy for trousers.



Jabra list the width at their longest points, but in reality it 'feels' 6cm, and doesn't feel wide in your pocket. The other measurements are also overbaked on the specification sheet. This makes for a nicely portable case that is commuter-friendly enough, at least for jacket pockets or handbags.

Typically, the mAh is listed on the case- not so here, but the pdf reveals it offers a further 3-4 charges and takes 2 hours 20 minutes to fully charge (long by today's standards), and it supports quick charge, giving 1 hour playtime after 15min juice, holding standby power for around 6 months.

The Ergonomics - 8/10



The 75t offer tactile buttons, which is often welcomed over touch controls which can be hit and miss, especially in this form factor. Whilst they are more accurate and less prone to accidental touches than more typical contemporary touch controls, their shape - with their long neck and invasive design - means that those button presses can feel at times like a lobotomy.



If you're used to testing a lot of buds, the 75t are a little unorthodox, dipping low like the Kinera YH623, mapping quite nicely with your ear shape, without boasting the custom feel of the Kinera or KZ SKS. The neck length is comparable to the Alien Secret, and width comparable to the TaoTronics Soundliberty 94, and whilst reasonably snug, they can feel a touch invasive - not only when you apply pressure to the buttons, but also just in general, especially when subjected to prolonged use. To negate the slightly invasive design, they add in-ear pressure relief chambers, and they work to reasonably good effect.



From the front, whilst they are visible, they aren't in-your-face, although the profile could have been better with a flatter design. This is exemplified when placed alongside custom-IEM style buds like the KZ SKS (see below). Whilst, as I said previously, the shape is fine, they may feel a bit too bulbous for some. In trying to balance noise isolation and comfort, neither are quite perfect, but it's a happy half-way house that has been improved upon since, and I'm sure will be improved further in Jabra's next generation.



Unlike many earbuds, they position the ambient mic on the bottom of the buds, very close to the voice mic. This seemed a little odd, as most position it at the top. Mic tests will judge whether this had any impact.



They also leave a little gap at the top of my concha, and whilst this is difficult to see, it can make them a little wobbly after lots of exercise. This is something that the SoundPEATS Sonic - a similar design - also suffered from. SoundPEATS remedied this on the H1, and KZ went a step further with the outstanding-fitting SKS.



One way of getting the buds to fit better is to use alternative tips. I used the BGVP S01, which cover the entire neck, and the sound and fit seem much improved as a result. The tips fill your concha and provide a bit of resistance. It also augments ANC, which will naturally diminish if the seal breaks.



On the inside of the buds, you see the designated L or R (hard to see below), I assume the inner, ambient mic, pressure relief chamber and battery connectors. Note, if you suffer from nickel allergies, this brings them into direct contact with your skin. If you look closely, you'll see that a dust-proof mesh is omitted on the 75t, which is a bit of an insult given the cost - KZ included one on buds that cost less than 20 bucks.



At 5.75g, they are one of the heavier buds out there - heavier than the beefy SoundPEATS T2 at 5.42g, and the same weight as the stem-based Huawei FreeBuds Pro. This is noticeable during strenuous cardio, where as I said previously, they can potentially wiggle free.

The buds are only IP55, which means dust proof and maybe a little rain, but no showering or swimming. They released the 75t active with a higher moisture resistance rating, although many users here use the 75t for exercise without any issue.

Noise Cancellation - 7/10

It is perhaps a little unfair to judge a product that added ANC retrospectively, but Jabra have done a fair job of adding a feature that is essential to many users.

In fact, I would postulate they maybe even allowed for it, given they offload the signal transmission from the SoC using NFMI (Near-field Magnetic Induction), freeing up processing power for future features. NFMI deserves to be referenced in the features really, as it allows for automatic pause when the buds are a certain distance apart without the use of proximity sensors. Not great for Frank Sidebottom, but a clever design that's worthy of mention.

By offloading various processes intelligently, this allows Jabra to use the SoC to do more, so I wasn't surprised that ANC was introduced via firmware. The ANC is not especially strong, but it does have the advantage of being configurable via the app.



Above is the start of a journey whereby you can personalise the ANC according to your own auditory experience through the app. I found this to be useful, because indoors you need different frequencies blotting out compared to commuting, but overall it falls short of the likes of the Edifier NeoBuds Pro, which is just plain stronger all round. It even falls a little short of the Tronsmart Apollo Bold, which were released almost 18 months ago now, and this may be down to using only 4 mics rather than 6 to kick in at full strength - something many newer releases offer as standard these days. Max strength ANC is more akin to the Honor Magic or FIIL T1 Pro. I found indoors it was borderline impossible to nullify distant noise altogether, but it kinda 'muffles' it. Compare to the Soundpeats T2, which are able to completely negate drilling next door but let through keyboard taps, and you get the picture - all frequencies are reduced evenly, all reasonable well, without focusing and excelling in one specific area.

Overall it's a nice add-on feature that is customizable, and works quite well, but not a standout feature by today's standards.

Call Quality - Indoors - 7.5/10, Outdoors - 6.5/10

Calls were, by 2020 standards, very good for in-ear buds, as was the case with the 65t, and this isn't really surprising given Jabra's background. However in 2021 they started to show their age.

When I listened back to recorded calls between my iPhone 8 and Poco X3, my voice sounded predictably distant compared with stem-based buds, but they do a decent job of nullifying distant ambient noises such as traffic and wind without removing them altogether.

Jabra use a 4 mic array which communicates with the DSP element of the SOC to isolate your voice from background noise. Whilst not as effective as the accelerometer method used by Samsung in their Galaxy Buds Live, it is not bad at all, although again, you would expect better given the price tag.

In 2021 they have been surpassed by even budget buds such as the Soundpeats Mini and even QCY'S budget 2021 releases, which retail at less than a tenth of the release RRP.



Outdoors, they fare pretty well for their form factor, elevating your voice somewhat to negate background noise, and whilst it doesn't complete with stem-based offerings that bring the mic closer to your voice, it's not a bad attempt from a brand known for good mic performance, certainly on their headsets, but again, compared with newer models from even the budget brands, it hasn't really stood the test of time:



Audio - 7/10 (for the price paid), 8/10 (raw score)

Perhaps I should start grading with percentages, because it difficult giving this a similar score to other buds when I know it is performing better, and even more so when I know the buds are a year old. All that aside, the 75t are simply too bass-centric out of the box.

My preferred sound signature favours detail over dynamics, and unfortunately the Jabra have been tuned with the latter in mind. As a result, you get a nasty subbass rumble that can overpower the mid bass to the point that the timbre sound off in familiar tracks. This is especially notable in baritone soul and RnB tracks, and even opera, where detail is everything.

Fortunately, this can be overcome to a degree with a little tweak in the app, or in Wavelet or Poweramp if you prefer. Response to EQ is one of the key barometers for good earbuds, and the Jabra were good enough in this respect, but lack the responsiveness of high quality hybrid driver buds, which these days retail at a fraction of the 75t MSRP.

Below you can see I started to tune them, I ended up elevating the mids ever so slightly, dropping the lows further and also edging up the higher frequencies. The result was still somewhat tinny, so you really do need that 10 band EQ to get the most out of them.



As far as the app is concerned, it's not bad at all. Not only do you get a customised EQ, there are some presets too.

The soundstage lacks the airiness of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, but is still very respectable for in-ear silicone-based buds.

So long story short, not too great out of the box, but can be tuned without degradation to a level where the sound isn't a disaster.

Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 8/10

Connectivity is OK, it got a bit patchy on a run earlier and I do sometimes suffer drop-outs with the 75t where they will suddenly disconnect from my phone then reconnect.

Now kudos to Jabra, because very few buds out there support multipoint connectivity, where you can connect two two of 8 paired devices simultaneously, listening to music on one device and being interrupted by your phone ringing as it remains connected to both devices. This is an absolute godsend. On paper.

Hearing 'two device connected' is marvelous, music to my ears. On IOS 14.4 I had a few issues with the connection dropping. This seemed to have been sorted in 14.5 but the behaviour has repeated again a few times since. I'm using an AX200 Bluetooth Adapter on my desktop PC, and to be fair to Jabra it could be Windows or Intel causing the interruptions. When your phone rings you hear a sudden 'device disconnected' as it focuses on the call only, but again, much of this can be customised in the outstanding app.

TWS apps standards are usually turgid affairs that feel like a data-harvesting dream. Thankfully, the slick Jabra app doesn't feel like that at all.



When you arrive, it takes a while for the app to realise your buds are connected. You can 'find your jabra' from here, and also pair a new set.



Once it realises you're already connected, you get the option to adjust ANC immediately, and a clear visible battery life for both the buds and the case.



Hitting the wheel in the top right gets you into the above menu. Here you can update the latest firmware, set up the headset configuration, audio experience, and call experience. Whilst not pictured in full, when you first receive the device it will walk you through a number of different frequency sounds that require you to tap when you hear them. This is designed to fine tune the buds to suit your own hearing. It is in the 'headset configuration' section where this can be toggled.



You can also determine what happens in hear-through mode and auto pause.



Call experience and multipoint behaviour are also set here. Now unfortunately I've hit the limit of images to upload, but there are some other nice features in the app such as being able to assign a physical mute button - I have uploaded a video to show how this works to my instagram, but needless to say it's a welcome feature that is often asked for. You can also toggle how long the buds should wait before entering sleep mode, voice or tone guidance, which noise cancellation modes you want to be active, and much more.

Whilst there is no Qi wireless charging, Jabra have now released a case which does support this feature. The other minor grumble is that latency isn't as good as recent offerings, again that's simply technology moving fast.

Overall it is hard to argue with the features offered by Jabra with the 75t - it is easy to see why they were so popular on release, and remain so today.

Battery Life - 8/10

Battery life on the 75t is excellent. I got a good 7 hours, short of the advertised but that's to be expected. The case charges up to around 25 hours total - for ANC buds I find this perfectly acceptable, but not in the realms of more recent offerings such as the ZMI PurPods Pro.

The quick charge feature is extremely handy, but the 2 hour 20 minute total charge time is pretty monstrous by today's standards.

Final Comments

The big question - are the Jabra 75t still worthy of their lofty price tag a year later - is difficult to answer. The 75t have a lot going for them - the app is fantastic, the sound (when tuned) is good, calls are pretty good, ANC is pretty good, comfort is pretty good...you get the picture. Everything is 'pretty good' - they are not outstanding at anything, but they come into their own with multipoint connectivity. So few buds on the market offer this, it makes the 75t almost essential for everyone using earbuds for pretty much anything.

Jabra have tried to craft buds that anyone can use for just about any scenario. This is stark contrast to the likes of SoundPEATS and FIIL, who are skilled at designing lower-cost but excellent value buds which fulfil a specific use-case.

If you want one set of buds that can do everything, the closest you will get is still the Jabra Elite 75t, and if you can get a set through Amazon Warehouse for the crazy prices I've seen lately (as low as £49.99) then absolutely DO NOT HESITATE!

MSRP Price Weighted Score: 86%
Raw Score (on release): 89%
2021 Score: 84%

ig: @regancipher