RHA TrueConnect

Resolution Ain’t Everything – RHA True Connect TWS IEMs Review


The price of the TrueConnect dropped to 70 USD from 170 they were launched at, making them a pretty good deal now. With a ton of competitors, like Master & Dynamic MW07GO, HIFIMAN TWS600, and 1More Stylish TWS IEMs, they have to fight for their place in today’s review.




Introduction

RHA, as a company, is one of the best there are. Lots of reps, very good english, support above everything you’d expect. They are pretty much the perfect company in everything, and I can totally say that you’re going to have an awesome time purchasing their products. When receiving the TrueConnect, they sent some sweets in as well, and we all know I have a bit of a sugar tooth, so they got me there. Joking aside, they are just awesome in general when it comes to supporting their customers.

It should be noted that I have absolutely no affiliation with RHA, I am not receiving any incentive for this review or to sweeten things out. I’d like to thank RHA for providing the sample for this review. Every opinion expressed is mine and I stand by it, the purpose of this review is to help those interested in RHA TrueConnect TWS find their next music companion.



About me

https://audiophile-heaven.com/p/about.html



Product Link

You can get RHA TrueConnect and other TWS IEMs from www.amazon.com :

Black Color: https://www.amazon.com/RHA-TrueConnect-Wireless-Bluetooth-Sweatproof/dp/B07H5K86B4/

Blue Color: https://www.amazon.com/RHA-Trueconnect-Wireless-Bluetooth-Sweatproof/dp/B07TJHHZ42/



Packaging

First things first, let’s get the packaging out of the way:





The package of the True Connect is actually a bit more interesting than that of most TWS IEMs. Especially their carrying / charging case is a top 10/10 one, and they even have a Type-C cable, a huge selection of tips placed in a metallic support, and overall presented just too nicely to miss.



What to look for when purchasing a high-end In-Ear Monitor

https://audiophile-heaven.com/p/what-to-lookl.html



Youtube Video



Build Quality/Aesthetics/Fit/Comfort

The video review about the RHA True Connect has been one of the first ones I did with the new editing, and I’m happy I took that decision. You’ll notice where this led in a few months, when I manage to complete my setup and the quality will be something else entirely. The True Connect truly deserved me to do that review better, because they are an UK-Based company, with their product offer including some pretty interesting flagship IEMs.


The build of the True Connect is just as good as their top IEMs, with a metallic charging case, that has a Type-C connector. We have Bluetooth 5.0. The battery life is rated at 5 hours on a single charge, with the case offering 4 additional charges. This is much better than MW07GO, which is also more expensive.

RHA also covers their TWS IEMs under a 3-year warranty, and IPX5 sweat proof. With a soft touch cover on the IEMs, and the case, it is a delight to hold and use the True Connect. The ergonomics are ok, not the best, because the IEMs are a bit large, but the carrying case is practical, is not damaged easily. The large selection of tips helps a lot with fit and comfort.


You can push the face of each IEM, as they are buttons, much better than having touch controls. The mic and phone quality of the True Connect is above average, and the person on the other side could hear me clearly, and I haven’t managed to lose connection from my Note 9s phone even once while using them.



Sound Quality

Although the call quality of the True Connect is pretty great, the actual sonic quality is focused on a pretty warm and commercial signature, similar to Skullcandy & Early Beats products rather than catering to the audiophile crown. This means a warm sound, with a pretty smooth treble, not a lot of excitement up top, the detail is normal for the current price, 70 USD, although the soundstage is pretty large, and instrument separation is not bad at all.


The bass is the central part of True Connect’s Sound, it is large, pretty wide, and slow in speed. This works well with Hip-Hop, but not so well with most other music styles, being a bit slow for Trance, and a bit too much for metal / rock. There’s enough bass to satisfy most bassheads, and you never feel like the sound lacks substance. The entire bass is enhanced, and this colors the upper bass, and bleeds in the midrange too.

The mids are colored from the bass, have a thicker presentation, warm tone, and are pretty typical in terms of detail. The soundstage is wide, and True Connect creates a nice 3D presentation, although there’s not a lot of treble and this can be heard in rock and metal music.

The treble is recessed, with no particular peak, as everything tends to roll off after the upper midrange. In fact, even the upper midrange is fairly rolled off, resulting in a pretty relaxed sound, with a really smooth treble.




Comparisons

The main competitors are MW07GO, TWS600 and 1More Stylish TWS IEMs. You guys asked me about the comparison between the True connect and Lypertek Tevi, so I decided to add it as well to this review!~


RHA TrueConnect vs HIFIMAN TWS 600 (170 USD vs 200 USD) – TWS600 is pretty much at the same price as True Connect at the moment of writing this review, which makes them pretty even. In terms of sound, they are similar only in detail, as both are pretty average. TWS600 has a very light, bright sound, where True Connect is thicker, warmer, has a more substantial sound with more impact, and a sweeter midrange. Much smoother and relaxed treble.

RHA TrueConnect vs Master&Dynamic MW07GO (170 USD vs 200 USD) – Mw07GO is much more expensive than the True Connect, but it also sounds much better, with more resolution, a wider soundstage, and actually has better comfort, having a more ergonomic design. The thing is, True Connect is now less than half the price of Mw07 GO, but still manages to have a much better overall life, charges quicker, holds more, simply being better for a portable TWS IEM.

RHA TrueConnect vs 1More Stylish TWs IEMs (170 USD vs 50 USD) – 1More is pretty similar to True Connect in general, they have similar ergonomics, similar sound, although True Connect is a bit more even, where 1More Stylish TWS is even more of a basshead IEM. The biggest difference between them is in the build quality, or rather the aesthetic. Both use high-quality materials, but one is golden, sparkly, and pretty feminine, while RHA feels more professional, more masculine and the design makes it easier to pick iof you want to keep a low profile.

RHA TrueConnect vs Lypertek Tevi (170 USD vs 100 USD) – Tevi is about 100 USD right now, and it is V-Shaped, so more sparkly, more exciting and although the box and the IEMs feel cheaper than the True Connect, I consider Tevi a much better fit for Audiophiles who may desire the sonic performance above everything.



Value and Conclusion

In terms of value, we have no value. This might have been what RHA realised or decided when they lowered the price from 170 USD to 70 USD, which is much closer to the value, at least for the sound of the True Connect. Although I really liked the presentation, ergonomics, quality of the build materials and everything else, the sound of True Connect wasn’t a good value at 170 USD. At 70, they are a fair deal, and even better than some of the competition. There’s also a True Connect 2 out there, which I plan on reviewing in the near future.


The package is pretty simple, but effective, with a cool aesthetic & Design. Also, coming with a good number of tips, RHA made sure you’d get a good fit with their True Connect.


In fact, if you’re comfortable with a commercial sound, you’ll be in love with True Connect, especially if you come from a Skullcandy product, as you’ll be surprised by a better overall definition, clarity and a much much better build / materials quality.


At the end, if you’re looking for a commercial-sounding TWS IEM, with good call quality, good bluetooth signal, and a beautiful aesthetic, nice build quality, and a good price tag, RHA TruConnect should be right for you.



Product Link

You can get RHA TrueConnect and other TWS IEMs from www.amazon.com :

Black Color: https://www.amazon.com/RHA-TrueConnect-Wireless-Bluetooth-Sweatproof/dp/B07H5K86B4/

Blue Color: https://www.amazon.com/RHA-Trueconnect-Wireless-Bluetooth-Sweatproof/dp/B07TJHHZ42/



Full Playlist used for this review

While we listened to considerably more songs than those named in this playlist, those are excellent for identifying certain aspects of the sound, like PRaT, Texturization, Detail, Resolution, Dynamics, Impact, and overall tonality. We recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new most, most of them being rather catchy.




Youtube Playlist



Tidal Playlist

https://listen.tidal.com/playlist/64555551-ec3c-4279-ae44-248fdfcf6c4b

I hope my review is helpful to you!

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MY VERDICT

RHA’s first truly wireless in-ear headphone offering excels in sound quality, build quality, battery life and fails to serve the purpose of this kind of IEMs by having poor wireless connectivity. Poor wireless performance negates whatever positives its sound quality brings to the table.

DESIGN, BUILD & FIT

RHA TrueConnect comes in a well-built case made of metal and plastic. Case is quite ergonomic and can be carried easily in pockets. Outer part of the case is made of aluminum and the body which holds the IEMs is made of plastic and is finished in soft touch matte black finish same as the IEMs themselves. The body swivels front to show the IEM compartment which also charges them through magnetic strips instead of wireless charging. The case has three LEDs on outside to indicate its charging levels. The IEMs are held together with nice magnetic force and won’t fall off even the opened case is turned upside down. IEMs come with buttons which need to be pressed rather than swiped. And those buttons are mushy and won’t exude confidence while using. Controls, like single press to pause/attend/disconnect, double press to increase volume and triple press to decrease are not that intuitive but can be get used to it. Microphones have been placed at the bottom of both the earpiece’s stems. Though it has excellent build quality, it is extremely smooth, slippery and catches grease and fingerprints quite easily. It has an average fit and isolation. For me, only the large size silicone tips and comply foam tips kept them from falling off my ears very often. Isolation too improved vastly with the provided Comply foam tips.

SOUND IMPRESSIONS

Sound quality out of 6 mm dynamic driver is very good. Has fun sound and is very enjoyable right out of the box. Bass gets prominence here, with good depth and slam. Even though bass is punchy, it spreads over headroom and slightly cloud the mids. Mids are sweet and clear. Resolution is good. Instrument separation and imaging are very good. Sound stage is spacious and big for a TWS IEM. It has got good width and depth. Treble is detailed, reserved and non-sibilant to a large extent, with certain spikes in upper treble region.

WIRELESS PERFORMANCE

This is where this IEM falters big time. Wireless reliability is poor. Bluetooth range is mediocre and there are instances where I lost connection for a few seconds even if I am 5 meters away from my phone. I observed there are connectivity issues between the left and right earpieces too. Call quality is mediocre too, with both the caller and receiver sounding unnatural to each other. Being a true wireless IEM and failing in its main purpose is a disappointment. RHA, though, said to have rectified these issues in the latest batches, is a good thing. I rather wish they should have done it prior to release itself.

BATTERY LIFE

RHA claims good figures in battery life section and I found my real time usage almost matching those figures. RHA claims 5-hour battery life for the earpieces and 20-hour battery life for the case. I got 3 hours and 30 minutes out of it when I continuously played music through it and good 5 hour 30 minutes with mixed usage. That mixed usage consists of 40-minutes of each videos, music and phone calls. Mileage may vary with your usage though.

COMPARISONS

Samsung Galaxy Buds+: Samsung's latest TWS IEM, Buds+ is a dual-driver IEM launched along with their latest flagship S20. It comes in an even smaller case than the TrueConnect and has a very pocket able design. Battery life is leaps and bounds better than the TrueConnect, with Buds+ surviving a handsome 11 hours on a single charge, whereas TrueConnect could only muster half of it in mixed usage and worse in continuous music playback. Sound-wise these sound balanced compared to the warm and fun tuned TrueConnect. Buds+ has got cleaner mids, slightly crispier treble than the TrueConnect. But TrueConnect pulls ahead in the bass section with its bass being more punchier than Buds+. Buds+ has less bass in quantity. Call quality and connectivity is definitely lot better in Buds+ as i could hear clear voices at the other end and connectivity is better with no latency whatsoever, whereas TrueConnect only managed to give me muffled voices during calls and pretty ordinary connectivity. At the end, choosing between these two just boil down to preferences. Buds+ is for those who are after balanced and clean sound signature, better call quality and connectivity and RHA TrueConnect is for those who prefer warm, fun sound, bass prominent and with good performance all over the spectrum. But it fails in the other prominent aspects of a TWS: calls and stable connectivity.

VERDICT

Even though I am very impressed with its very good sound quality and decent battery life, I cannot recommend this to any prospective buyer for the obvious glaring issues mentioned above. RHA lost a golden opportunity to score a winner. Can’t buy a true wireless IEM for just sound quality alone, it should also fare well where it’s needed.

Please note that it is a review unit sent for review by Headphone Zone.

RHA has been one of my favourite brands. I have used the famous RHA MA 390 and recommended it to a lot of my friends. I also have the RHA MA 750 wireless. RHA always have amazed me with their premium design, comfort, ease of use and sound. When the True Connect arrived for review, I was really excited to experience another RHA product.
So did the True Connect came up to my expectations? We will know that in some time.

DESIGN:

The True Connect is the first truly wireless product by RHA. It features a Apple Airpods like stem design. But unlike Airpods, these have the nozzle like that of a usual in-ear design. My unit is a all matte-black colour including the charging case. The earphone and the case has a soft rubber coating. The earphone is controlled by the button on each earbud, they can be used to connect via bluetooth, play/pause, increase/decrease volume, disconnect call, activate google assistant. The control scheme is pretty minimalistic and I got used to it pretty easily. Both the earbuds have an led indicator which indicates if the earbuds are active or not.
The case features an unique swivel design and whenever opened shows the battery level on the 3 white LED lights present on the top right conrer of the case. The type-c charging port is present along the side of the case. The case is extemely well built with a coating of soft rubber.

FIT:

The earphone fits really well in the ear. They felt pretty light and I didn't find anything bothering in regards to the weight. I have used it for 3-4 hours straight and they are really comfortable. As a truly wireless earbud one would have high expectations while using outdoors and True Connect are really impressive. I would use them frequently while commuting to work, which includes walking as well and never felt any compromise on the fit. They stay put on the ear and I never had to worry about them falling out. I am usually too lazy to go to a gym or go out for jogging, but since truly wireless also has the use case of listening to music while working out in a gym or while going for jogging, I did go for jogging to test them. They tend to stay put in this case too. So in terms of fit, they were good to go. The IPX5 active sweatproof rating makes them a perfect use case for any workout activities, however anything highly aggressive might still make them fall out of our ears.
The soft rubbery coating is another thing that makes sure the earphones sit comfortably in our ears without causing any irritation.

CONNECTIVITY:

The True Connect comes with Bluetooth 5.0 which offers high bitrate audio streaming and better connectivity. It is backwards compatible with Bluetooth 4 devices as well. The pairing process is pretty easy, one just needs to click and hold the button on the right side of the earphone until it shows up on the unpaired devices list of your phone. Just choose RHA True Connect and it gets connected. As soon as we put them inside the charging case, they get disconnected easily and similarly when we bring them out of the case they get connected to the recently paired device. This feature is very convenient and leads to a great user experience. During my use, I didn't find any connectivity issues. At a certain situation where another device is connected to your phone via bluetooth gets disconnected automatically, the earphone also gets disconnected for a brief 2-3 seconds which I feel isn't the fault of the earphone. The range as marketed is 10 meters. But when I kept the phone in another room, then the earphone doesn't face any connectivity issue for atleast 15-20 feet (5-6 meters approx).

SOUND:

The True Connect features 6mm Dynamic drver which gives a rich detailed sound. I haven't tried much in the wireless category, but even in the standards of the wired counterparts, the True Connect does pretty well. The sound feels balanced with good extension on highs but not too bright. There's good amount of details. Bass is natural and is in appropriate amount, which might disappoint the bass lovers but I never felt the bass lacking in any form of music I tried. Mids are rich with slight emphasis towards the upper mids. The mids aren't forward neither recessed, makes them very natural sounding. Highs are well extended and very detailed. I was surprised to find such details in a pair of wireless earphone. I have used the RHA MA 750 wireless which was pretty brilliant but the True Connect retrieve details at another level. The soundstage isn't too wide though but I guess it wouldn't be fair to expect on the levels of wired earphones. Nevertheless, the soundstage and imaging are pretty decent for a pair of truly wireless and I am pretty satisfied with the quality of sound the True Connect offers. It connects via AAC codec which is pretty good and performs better than the usual SBC codec. However MA 750 wireless had Aptx enabled and I believe, in today's date Aptx HD on the True Connect would definitely push them to another levels.
I used it extensively to watch Netflix and didn't find any lag in the sound. Same goes for Youtube or any other video streaming as well as for offline videos.

CALL QUALITY:

As a pair of wireless earphone, call quality is another important factor. The call quality is pretty good, I never faced any issues while hearing on the earphones and neither realised any issue with the mic. The person on the other end was able to hear me clearly even in outdoor noisy situations. On video calls I didnt face any lag in the speech.

BATTERY:

The earphones are rated at 5 hours of battery life and an additional 20 hours from the case. During my use the earphones did last 4-5 hours easily and the charging case charges the earphones 4-5 times atleast. Under normal uses, I had to put the case on charge on alternate days.

ACCESSORIES:

The True Connect comes with plethora of accessories in the box: One type-c charging cable, ear tip holder, 7 pairs of silicon eartips (S/M/L) and 3 pairs of Comply Foam TrueGrip Ear Tips. The multiple pairs of eartips are really helpful considering different people have different types of fit.

CONCLUSION:

Well now we have arrived to the part where I can go ahead and say that these are easily recommended. I love the design approach of RHA and with True Connect they have done it again. While functionality wise they almost have it all, sound-wise too they did great! RHA offers a whopping 3 years warranty, not that you are going to need it but the procedure is hassle-free.

My Rating: 4/5

Hello fellow Head-fiers


Just dropping by to share my thoughts on this product, the RHA Trueconnect, true wireless IEM.

I've always been curious about TWS since they first came about. The early attempts we can all admit were rather disappointing to say the least, with a few sparkly gems hidden in between the rough, I'm looking at you Apple.

I know the Airpods aren't like "audiophile" and they don't particularly sound amazing, but they still have a pleasant sound and they're definitely a step up over what you'd get free with your iPods. What they do excel in however is functionality, the call quality, battery life, ease of use and portability. It's probably worth mentioning that it's now widely accepted to wear oral hygiene accessories in your ears as a statement of superiority, or so people seem to think, we can all admit we've probably spent more than £159 on earphones at some point.


I've been using the Airpods for a while now, their compact size and somewhat pleasant warm sound had kept me ticking over on my short morning commute, up until recently when the RHA Trueconnect caught my eye.



I've had my eye on the TWS threads on here for a while, looking for something that might tick all the boxes of the Airpods with better isolation and sound quality. I'll admit, the Trueconnect have been on my list for a while, but reviews of horrendous connection issues have put me off for some time. I recently picked up the Bose Soundsport Free in hopes they'd offer me what I was looking for, they're great, at least in the sound department, but the lag during video was just unusable, luckily I bought them direct so I was able to return them on the Bose 30 day guarantee, hopefully their new Earbuds 500/700 will be better later this year.

Anyway, I ordered the RHA from Amazon UK. No risk really as Amazon have such a laxed returns policy, any issues and I could return them. With that in mind I decided to settle my curiosity and order a set.

Packaging:

The Trueconnect come in a solid cardboard box with various printed information and infographics. The box is laiden with a foam insert both top and bottom to keep the contents secure in transit. You're immediately greeted with the buds facing up, subtle RHA logo on both, and the charging case. Upon removal of the first layer you have two cardboard sections dividing the ear tips and a USB C cable to charge them back up. The usual spiel, paperwork and a packet of silica gel are also thrown in for good measure. Before anyone gets any bright ideas, you cannot eat the silica gel. The tips are all inserted into a steel credit card like board, there's a lot here so you'll never be short although I will talk about those later on.


The case:



The case is actually one of my favourite aspects of this product. It's very well built, the aluminium bar that sits across the top is very sturdy and rotates beautifully. There's something very satisfying about the case of the Airpods, the opening mechanism is very tactile and this is also very apparent in the Trueconnect. The case opens and closes both with magnetic assistance, so there's very little effort involved but it wouldn't openly swing by itself. It closes with a very solid click and it's super satisfying, I love it, great experience, 10/10 would recommend the case.

Other notable mentions are the USB C charging, it's 2019, everything should be made with USB C these days, I refuse to believe it adds enough cost to a product that companies are actively avoiding it and putting micro USB on TWS products these days, RHA I salute you for going the extra mile. Lastly there are 3 white LED's on the case which indicate the cases battery level and whether or not the buds are charging. I've not owned them long enough to have needed a recharge yet but I trust they'll hold out long enough that I'll not need to moan about it.


The Buds:



The buds are obviously the centrepiece of the Trueconnect, they support bluetooth 5.0 which is a massive must for TWS I believe. A lot of the chinese firms are claiming 5.0 these days and it's absolute garbage, glad to see that RHA have done right but us and given the genuine service. The thing is, you can really tell, the audio lag when watching videos is near nil and the connection is absolutely unbreakable. I was definitely put off when reading numerous reviews about the poor connectivity of these earphones but I've genuinely not had a single issue since I've had them. I did some distance tests to try and push these to their limits as my apartment is quite long, I placed the phone by the front door and went to the far back of the living room, it's a fair 10-13m away with numerous walls in between. I was shocked to see that there wasn't a single blip in the connection, they really stand up to their name of being truly connected. If anyones curious I use an iPhone XS Max, hence the Airpods, I'm not sure what other people were using but perhaps it's something to do with the phone, or perhaps the bluetooth chips in both devices just work very well together, either way, the connect was faultless in my case.


Each bud has a large circular button on the outside for playing and pausing music, holding the button gives you access to whatever assistant your phone uses. Overall the buds are nice, they aren't as stand out as Airpods, I wish apple made a matte black Airpod. These definitely don't stand out as much, and that's a good thing for sure.

The Sound:

I've never owned an RHA product before so I have no idea what their sound is like. I'm aware that a few companies such as Sennheiser, B&O ect have their own house sound, I assume RHA have a similar thing going on with their products. From what I can tell so far they're going for an engaging, fun, rich sound signature.

I mentioned that I'd touch back on the eartips again later. Basically I've tried the silicone ones and I've tried the included Comply ones. Wouldn't even give the silicone ones the time of day, they gave me a horrible feeling of a plunger in my ear, pulling my eardrum out of place and to be honest it really hurt, as if that wasn't bad enough they just don't sound anywhere near as good as the Comply ones do. The silicone tips sound like a whole lot of mud and that might have something to do with how tightly they sealed my ears but I'd stay well clear of those.

The Comply tips are fantastic, their foam allows some breathability to there was no suction and no agony, just a great seal and comfortable fit, not to mention the sound really came alive with these.

Lows:

As I previously mentioned RHA definitely have a warmer signature so I guess that means their focus will be on a decent low end. It’s a very rich enjoyable sound, which I feel is great for commuting. I came to the realisation lately that having the most accurate sound reproduction isn’t always best, I was listening to my Flares Pro 2 HD and while I love them, sometimes I just found it a bit too accurate and some tracks just really aren’t for me. Anyway, the RHA do low end relatively well, they’re very enjoyable with anything upbeat and electrical. Certain songs have a real rumble to them and it’s well handled here. I do feel there’s some mixture between the mids and that’s sometimes okay but you’ll have to decide that for yourself. The bass isn’t massively tight and controlled but it’s good enough for the purpose of the product.

Mids:

The midrange on the RHA is great, it’s just a pleasant experience and I’m completely satisfied with that they’re providing here. It’s detailed and does the job nicely, there’s great separation and vocals are very clearly depicted through these earphones. I spent a lot of time listening to Jamiroquai and London Grammar in order to give me a good idea of what I’m dealing with and the results were very pleasing, especially from London Grammar, very nice indeed.

Highs:

The highs on these are decent, they definitely aren’t front and centre but they’re definitely there, I’d just say you’ll probably notice the lows and mids a bit more than the clarity of these earphones. I’ll touch on the fact that I don’t think they were designed to be the most analytical sounding. Me personally I’m not a fan of anything too high because I find it too piercing and I’ll always pick warmer sounding gear. I’d not say that I’m disappointed with the treble, because personally it’s exactly what I like, but others may not be massively blown away by the clarity as much as the lower end reproduction.

The conclusion:

Do I recommend the RHA Trueconnect? Absolutely!

They definitely tick all the boxes for someone like me who commutes and occasionally likes to walk around the house with my earplugs in without the hassle of wires. Connectivity through my iPhone was stellar, they paired within seconds of being removed from their case and stayed connected until I put them away.

RHA have taken all the great things about the Airpods that I loved and wrapped it in silky smooth delicious sound. Personally I really rate the sound quality of these earphones, they are rich and engaging, full of life with great bass and the seal with the Comply tips really puts the icing on the cake, just make sure you don't dislodge your brain with those toilet plunger silicone tips.

I genuinely think I've found my endgame TWS product, at least until RHA do something else spectacular.

Introduction
Since 2011, RHA has developed a range of acclaimed noise isolating in-ear headphones using premium materials and innovative design. Combining elegant, functional design and intuitive features, RHA creates audio products with personality, transforming the way audiophiles interact with sound, technology and the people in their life.
True wireless or truly wireless earbuds have been a new wireless trend in audio market now. A lot of big players such as Sony, Sennheiser and Jabra have leaped into the catagory. Their involvment in this region changed the rules of the game - Freedom and Sound Quality can co-exist.

I have long experience with RHA since 2015. I am always impressed by RHA products such as MA750, T10 and T20. Nicely tuned by the engineers while the durability is never compromised. RHA succesfully leveraged their expertise in sound quality to the wireless industry. MA750 wireless is one of my favourite wireless earphones. In 2018, RHA launched their new TrueConnect which surprised the audio community including me. After spending some quality time with the unit, I decided to wirte a review on this charm.

Specifications

• 5+20 hours battery, with fast charging
• IPX5 sweat, splash and weather resistance
• Driver: 6mm dynamic
• Frequency range: 20-20,000 Hz
• Range (unobstructed): 10m
• Weight (earbuds): 13g
• Charging (from 0%): 15m to 50%; 1h40 to 100%

In the box

• RHA TrueConnect true wireless in-ear headphones
• Charging case
• USB C charging cable
• RHA TrueConnect silicone ear tips: 2xS, 3xM, 2xL
• Comply™ Foam TrueGrip Plus ear tips: 1xS, 1xM, 1xL
• Stainless steel ear tip holder

Design
When I first get the unit, I find the design of RHA TrueConnect looks like Apple AirPods - A black Apple AirPods. After taking a closer observation, there are a lot of difference between the two. The charging case is larger as compared to AirPods' charging case. However, it looks more sturdy as compared to the plastic case of AirPods. Fraid not! You can save much effort by owning RHA because you do not need to find a additional case to protect the case.


TrueConnect is covered with matte finishing which could potentially give a better grip as compared to AirPods. Smooth finishing in truly wireless earbuds is a flaws because oil in the ear will make it slippery and eventually slip out from the ears. Nice selection of material by RHA.

Besides the matte finishing, RHA utilized in-ear design with silicon eartips. This design helps to improve the fitting also because the weight is now further spread out and supported by different part of the ears. Aside from better fitting, this design can give a better seal and ultimately lead to a better bass performance. I will further elaborate this later in this review.

Fitting
As mentioned in the previous section, RHA TrueConnect indeed provides a good fitting by using matte finishing and in-ear design. However, some flaws are spotted. I have a relatively large ear but I felt my ears were stretched horizontally when wearing this. This could be potentially caused by the bone in my ear. Fitting of wireless earbuds are very subjective so I would advice to have an audition before buying. This truly wireless earbuds are finished with sweat proof coating of IPX5. Sport enthusiasts can use this earbuds when hitting up to gym on jogging around the neighborhood. I believe the matte coating can reduce the chance of the earbuds to slip out from your ears because the friction is stronger as compared to those with smooth finishing.

Control
A lot of the truly wireless earbuds do not have much control on the earbuds except for play/pause and voice assistant. RHA did a breakthrough here. You can do volume control and track skipping on TrueConnect. The complete details can be found in the user manual. No rocket science here, as long as you can understand the language, RHA TrueConnect works flawlessly!

Battery Life
RHA TrueConnect enables you to submerge yourself in your audio world continuously for 5 hours. The charging case hold 4 charges, meaning 20 hours of battery life. For those who are taking long journey of train, you can safely arrive at your location without worrying the battery of your earbuds. RHA utilized Type-C USB charging port for TrueConnect which supports fast-charging. Technology advancement is showing up here again.

Connectivity
TrueConnect is embedded with Bluetooth V5.0. Bluetooth 5.0’s primary benefits are improved speed and greater range. In other words, it’s faster and can operate over greater distances than older versions of Bluetooth. The official Bluetooth marketing material from the Bluetooth standard organization advertises that Bluetooth 5.0 has four times the range, two times the speed, and eight times the broadcasting message capacity of older versions of Bluetooth. Again, these improvements apply to Bluetooth Low Energy, ensuring devices can take advantage of them while saving power.

While spending time with this earbuds, I find that strong signal from the surrounding can cause interference with the Bluetooth signal. One instance, when I was waiting at the junction to cross the road, the signal from traffic light actually cut the signal. After further checking, almost 10/10 of the truly wireless earbuds will be interfered by stronger signal from the surrounding. Something to take note here.

RHA TrueConnect does not support any other codec besides SBC. I think this could be a space for improvement for the next generation. Hi-Res Audio is dominating the audio market now and I think in no time truly wireless earbuds will leverage on this bullet train and embark their journey in Hi-Res Audio. We shall wait for this.

Sound
I tested this earbuds with my LG G6 playing Spotify Premium. I do lossless library but I do not think it makes any significant difference here. The soundstage of this wireless earbuds can be considered as wide. I think this is one of the widest I can find in truly wireless range. Depth wise is sufficient. I can feel the layering when the lows are kicking in. The expertise and experience that RHA owned are well utilized in designing this earbuds. The overall sound signature can be considered as dark. It reminds me of MA750 when I first listened to this. I can see the shadow of RHA's IEMs in TrueConnect.

Lows
The lows is taking the back of the stage. The bass is kicking energetically from deep. Personally I find the bass is sufficient even for bass head unless their eardrums are completing damaged. Sometime I really struggle when they tell me the bass of a headphone is insufficient and I actually classified the headphone as bass-head headphone. Well, subjective right? The lows attack fast, precise and take short time to decay. This tuning controlled the lows and minimize the chance of lows bleeding towards mids.

Mids
Mids are neither forward nor recessed. Vocalists are standing right in the center of the stage as the star. I like this tuning. If the mids are too forward will make the overall performance dull and lack of musicality. Recessed wise will make me use much effort to focus on the vocalist. RHA did it right here for TrueConnect. Male vocalists sound energetic and rich while female vocalists sound sweet and airy. For those who like pop songs, RHA TrueConnect is a right choice.

Highs
I find the highs are a little bit shy in TrueConnect. This could be caused by the more emphasis in the lows region. However, the presence is still considerably sufficient. The highs are not exaggerate. It is well extended and decay is managed well without causing any distortions which can be commonly seen in many earphones. The sound produced by cymbals hits you like a wave instead of a needle that pierce through your eardrums. I can listen to this for long.

Conclusion
New Bluetooth V5.0 earphone is rare in the market and RHA TrueConnect is one of them. Besides the stellar connectivity, the supreme sound quality of the TrueConnect can easily beat a lot of major players in the market. Fitting wise is subjective but from the shape we know it can fit most of the people. RHA hears what audio community need and designs according to the needs. I like RHA approach here - Do it once, do it right.

Well done RHA! I love it!