With the true wireless market becoming ever so more saturated, it's hard to separate the best from the rest! If you're looking for true wireless earbuds that focus on stable bluetooth connectivity (i.e. in front pocket), you will get this with the Hifiman TWS600 true wireless earbuds.
The Hifiman TWS 600 support full audio playback control right from the earbuds so, you can control the volume, play/pause and skip tracks, as well as bring up voice assistant from both ear pieces. The single multi-functional buttons control all playback functions via a button press sequence (i.e. three button presses on the right earbud skips tracks backwards.)
Both TWS600 earpieces also control calls so, when receiving an incoming call you can press either the button on the left earbud or button on the right earbud to answer (or reject) the call. You can also accept a second call while on the first call.
The Hifiman TWS600 terminator eye LED design makes them stand out from other true wireless earphones and will definitely make you stand out from the crowd. When the earbuds are charging, the led shows red just like a terminator red eye. While in use, the leds light up blue and can't be turned off. The Hifiman TWS600 have an IPX4 rating, which is enough water resistance protection for sweat but not rain.
As far as call quality, the built-in microphone sounds good with a decent amplification in a quiet setting but not loud enough in busy environments because the TWS600 built-in microphone doesn't integrate background noise cancellation.
The 3.7V 800mAh battery inside the USB-C charging case recharges via 5V 1A input, taking 90 minutes to fully recharged.
There is a battery level indicator, consisting of four tiny leds, which light up solid red. Three solid red leds means 75% charge left. When battery is very low, you will also hear a voice prompt saying "battery low". The charging case can hold charge for approximately 5 days.
Charging is done via USB-C connection, using a USB-C to USB-A cable, which is included. What's neat about the Hifiman TWS600 charging case is that the USB-C port has dual functionality so, it can also output power, which is useful in an emergency situation.
The Hifiman TWS600 earbuds also integrate a small 55mAh capacity battery, which takes about 60 minutes to fully charge. You can get anywhere from 4 hours (85% volume) to 5.5 hours (50% volume) of battery life from the earbuds. Call time is around 4 hours also.
There is no audio delay when watching YouTube videos and gaming, which is unexpected since the Hifiman TWS600 earbuds only support SBC and AAC bluetooth codecs. Both SBC and AAC deliver lossy audio sound quality, which do limit the sound quality potential of the Hifiman TWS600 since aptX codec support would allow sound quality closer to wired connection, thanks to higher bitrate transmission.
The TWS600 earphones power on automatically when taken out of the case and will power off automatically when placed inside the charging case, which weighs 56 grams. Both earphones connect to one another before broadcasting the bluetooth pairing signal and you only have 3 minutes to pair them to a device before pairing gets cancelled.
If both TWS600 earpieces don't pair to one another, they can be manually paired too (see user guide for more details).
You can use the Hifiman TWS600 earphones in mono and stereo mode so, you can pair the left earbud and the right earbud individually to a device to use as a mono headset, allowing you to double the battery life. The earbuds dimensions are 2.5cm long, 1.7cm wide and 2.6cm high, while the charging case measures 4.4cm long, 8.0cm wide and 3.3cm high.
Going from mono listening and/or stereo listening is straightforward when using the left earbud, which is the master earbud. You simply take out the left earbud for mono listening and when you want stereo listening, you remove the right earbud from the charging case.
When using the right earbud for mono listening and/or stereo mode, it isn't as straightforward because the right earbud is the slave earpiece that connects to the left earbud. When taking the right earbud out of the case for mono listening, you need to power it off and then power it on.
When you want stereo listening, you have to place the right earbud back in the case and take out the left earbud out of the case first to connect to your phone and then, the right earbud, which connects automatically to the left one.
As far as fit, the Hifiman TWS600 are fairly bulky but comfortable to wear, thanks to their lightweight (6 grams each) and angled design of the nozzles. The earbuds do protrude a little out of the ears but not massively that is an issue.
The nozzle tips have metal perforated meshes with a standard diameter so, you can use third-party ear tips, which is nice but not all eartips will fit inside the TWS600 charging case. In fact, many of the included eartips like the foam tips won't fit inside the charging case; hence you have to remove them. You do get eight different pairs of eartips, including triple flange silicone tips and foam tips, which is generous.
The Hifiman TWS600 integrate a bluetooth 5.0 chip that has been tweaked to boost the wireless signal up to 50 meters. The strong bluetooth signal is stable indoors and strong enough to get through concrete walls within a 20 meter range, which is nice. That said, to benefit from the superb wireless coverage, the connected device to the TWS600 earbuds also has to integrate a bluetooth 5.0 chip.
The Hifiman TWS600 use a single dynamic driver, delivering a lively, wide soundstage with a natural sound signature, favoring the treble (vocals) more than the low frequencies; hence the bass is not overwhelming.
Because of the nano-material coating on the diaphragms, the Hifiman TWS600 require a minimum of 10-20 hours burn-in to reach their full potential. Most headphone manufacturers do not typically mention a "burn-in" period as most people will burn-in the headphones naturally as they listen to music.
It is a known fact that "burn-in" can improve the sound quality of some headphones. Burn-in time varies from 1 hour up to 500 hours for higher quality headphones. If you want to burn-in the Hifiman TWS600 earphones the process is straight forward. You continuously play music through the headphones for at least 10-20 hours but doing it gradually (4 hours a day) to avoid damaging the diaphragm.
The Hifiman TWS600 earphones come with a 30-day refund policy and a year warranty, which can be extended to a further 3 months by registering the TWS600 earphones online.