Tronsmart apollo air+ earbuds
Buy now £74.12, Geekbuying.com
- Type: In-ear
- Noise cancellation: Hybrid ANC
- Weight: 43g (including case)
- Battery life: Up to 5 hours, 20 hours with charging case
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2
- Water resistance: IP45
- Voice control: Yes
- Rating: 7/10
Design
The apollo air+ look the part, designed like a mix of the AirPods pro and a slimline version of the Panasonic RZ-S500W. They’re super light, which could detract from a premium feel, but is great for keeping the buds sitting snugly in the ear. On top of this, the earbuds enjoy an IP45 rating, meaning that water splashes, dust and light rain showers are easily dealt with – and your sweaty workout ears also won’t be an issue.
The partner app is simple and straightforward to navigate. Choose between ANC off, ANC on and ambient modes; pick EQ (equalisation) settings from a list of eight, including modes for deep bass and vocal; and choose your preferred touch controls for instructions from volume, to voice control, to noise cancellation.
The in-ear detection function, available with the air+ model only, works well on the whole, and is especially pleasing when you pick them back up, pop them in and your music seamlessly drifts back into action. There’s an argument that the feature actually works too well: make sure you get the right earbud fit, as even the slightest movement out of your ear causes the detection to kick in, which caused a few unwanted pauses before we found the correctly-sized earbud.
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In fact, much of the earbuds’ success comes down to getting the right fit. Even one size out seems to affect sound quality, with a discernible improvement once we’d fiddled with the various sizes provided. Luckily, there are five size sets for you to try, covering most bases.
Battery life is fairly middling, coming in at around five hours, although there’s enough storage in the charging case for 20 hours altogether. Wireless charging might seem like an unnecessary novelty, but we’re coming round to the idea of having fewer USB-C wires lying around the house, so the air+ model’s wireless charging capabilities were a pleasant surprise. The charging case works with most wireless chargers, so make sure you get the right wireless charger for the job.
Sound
The sound is solid. It doesn’t offer the intricacy of more expensive, sophisticated models, but for a pair of earbuds at this price, there’s not much you can pick them up on. The bass can be a little overpowering, but this is rectified with choosing your preferred EQ settings from a list of eight on the Tronsmart app.
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The ANC works well, blocking out a good chunk of ambient noise. The extent is impressive for the price: we were surprised by how much the air+ blocked out, for instance, the fan keeping us sane in the humid heat. The ambient noise setting ably promotes the world around you for an extra layer of safety while exercising or on the road. The earbuds don’t do as good a job at blocking out your own voice as other more expensive rivals, but that’s a minor negative that won’t make much of a difference to usage. There’s more than enough noise cancellation for most workspaces, or to block out housemates or children for a serene half hour.
The air+ use Bluetooth 5.2 to connect, something that’s missing in many more expensive models, and means that your connection stays true further away from your device than even rivals such as the Sony WF-1000XM3. There’s also tech to minimise the chance of delay between the earbuds, or lag between sound and images when watching video, via the powerful Qualcomm QCC3046 chip which supports aptX and aptX Adaptive audio decoding.