Teenagers love listening to music. Thinking back to my teenage years I loved listening to my Walkman (which I then upgraded to a Discman, and eventually to an MP3 player as I got older and the technology advanced). Long gone are the days of personal portable music devices such as the Walkman, Discman and even dedicated MP3 players with most people now using their phones to play music they have downloaded or stream to their devices.
But whilst teenagers love to listen to their music, everyone else doesn’t necessarily want to hear it, music is a personal choice after all. That’s what makes wireless earbuds the perfect Christmas gift for teenagers and young adults. Wireless earbuds are perfect not only because they keep whatever they are listening to private, but they are easily portable, allow much more freedom of movement over their wired counterparts as they are no wires getting in the way and can be charged on the go.
With lots of wireless earbuds on the market, Edifier kindly sent us a pair of their TWS NB2 Pro True Wireless Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation to try out.
The Edifier TWS NB2 Pro wireless earbuds are supplied in a very luxurious looking box, perfect for gifting. In the box:
- Pair of NB2 Pro Wireless Earbuds
- Charging Case
- 3 pairs of silicone ear tips (small, medium and large)
- USB-C Charging Cable
- Drawstring Bag
- Instruction Manual
The NB2 Pro wireless earbuds are in-ear truly wireless earbuds that connect to your devices (phones, tablets etc.) using Bluetooth v5.0 and are packed with lots of clever technology. They feature:
- Hybrid active noise cancelling technology
- Dual-mic noise cancellation
- Three-dimensional audio technology
- Total 32 hours of playtime is supported
- Fast 15-minute charging for 2 hours playback
- Auto in-ear detection
- Ambient Sound Mode
- Support EDIFIER CONNECT APP
Out of the box, they may need charging (ours came fully charged with some charge left in the case). This is achieved by leaving the earbuds in their charging case and using the USB-C cable to charge the case (which in turn charges the earbuds). Charging time is quite fast – around 2 hours to completely charge the case and around 1 hour to charge the earbuds themselves. Fully charged earbuds will give you between 8-9 hours playback (they have a 60mAh battery capacity), but playback time will vary depending on what options you are using (if you have the active noise cancellation turned on you will only get around 7 hours of use for example). The charging case has a 500mAh battery capacity and will give you up to another 23 hours of playback – between a fully charged case and earbuds you can have up to 32 hours of playback time). They also feature fast charging, so a 15-minute charge will give the earbuds 2 hours of playback. And you don’t even need to worry about finding a power outlet to charge the earbuds, as long as the small and portable charging case has power it will charge the earbuds once they are placed back in the case.
Once charged, they need pairing to the device that you want to use them with, your phone or tablet for example. This really is simple. The earbuds first need to be in the charging case, then press and hold the button on the case for around 3 seconds to enter Bluetooth pairing. From your device, go to Bluetooth and select EDIFIER TWS NB2 Pro and you are good to go. No complicated pairing or set up needed. Once paired, they automatically connect to your device once you remove them from the case (and can be used singly).
When you are ready to use (make sure you are using the correct size ear tips to fit your ear so that you get a good seal and fit) just pop them in your ears (they are labelled L and R).
Controlling them takes a bit of time to get used to and you need to tap the left and right earbuds to control functions, so it does take time to learn them. On the right earbud, when playing music if you tap the earbud twice you play/pause a track, tap it 3 times for next track, if wanting to answer a call or hang up a call tap it twice. On the left earbud, if you tap it twice you can cycle through normal mode, ANC mode, ambient sound mode, you can also tap it twice to reject calls. Tap it 3 times to enable game mode or spatial audio. Volume is controlled by your phone or tablet, not be tapping the earbud. They also feature automatic in-ear detection – remove one earbud from an ear and the sensor kicks in and pauses the music, put it back in and it starts to play again. The automatic in-ear detection can also trigger the noise cancellation mode.
The earbuds also feature Hybrid ANC Digital Noise Cancellation. This means that they have a built-in dual-MIC to provide better noise cancellation, which enables up to -38dB, allowing you to focus on your music or conversation in the midst of traffic, busy gyms, office chatter, or airplane droning. ANC works even no songs are playing. You really do notice the difference between using and not using it.
They also have Deep Bass Powered by 10mm Big Drives. They adopt dual 10mm low-distortion composite dynamic drivers, with a high-resolution decoder built-in and SBC audio coding technology, which provide you with crystal clear sound and strong deep bass with an authentic treble to match.
They are also rated IP54 Water and Dust Resistant. No need to worry about damaging them with sweat with when exercising.
Overall, we found the Edifier TWS NB2 Pro wireless earbuds to be very stylish complete with superior sound and very effective noise cancellation, excellent Bluetooth connectivity and a very good secure and comfortable fit. They are slightly chunkier than some other wireless earbuds but are light and a good fit. Charging is superfast and with up to 32 hours playback it is enough for everything that you are doing before needing to plug them in for a full recharge, and the 15 minute fast-charge is perfect for 2 hours use.
For the gamers out there, the game mode is excellent. They are perfect with their ultra-reactive gaming mode as the latency is reduced to as little as 80ms. This means that there is no real lag between what you see happening on the screen and the sound reaching your ears.
Answering / rejecting phone calls is effortless, and the sound is perfect, especially with background noises effectively being filtered out to give a much clearer call.
You can also download the Edifier Connect app to your phone to customise settings and check battery life on the earbuds.
We love the TWS NB2 Pro truly wireless earbuds. The style and fit are outstanding, as is the quality of the sound, call quality and charging speed. The comfort is superb, even after extended periods of time and they are very easy to use once you learn have many taps on each earbud control what. They are definitely a premium pair of excellent quality wireless earbuds with excellent sound quality and features. You really won’t be disappointed using these, we certainly aren’t. The TWS NB2 Pro make wearing earbuds a really pleasurable experience and would make a perfect Christmas gift for music and game loving teenagers, as they spend so much time with their phones they might as well be comfortable doing so and enjoy the audio experience.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £69.99 (available in black, ivory and grey)
For more information, visit www.edifier.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
