Review of wireless headphones Edifier TWS NB

Edifier TWS NB is the name of the true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation. And while the sound is great, durability is dependable, and ANC works, they do have their own problems.

Their bulky design protrudes out of the ears quite a bit. And after wearing them for a while you always feel them inside the ear canal, which can get a bit irritating.

Nonetheless, for the latest features in a TWS (true wireless) design, they are one of the best you can get for the price. ANC true wireless buds are rare around $120

Sound

Star Rating 4.0 Great

The sound quality is naturally balanced. It’s a perfect signature for all music genres, but those who like stronger bass might want to pick something else. The clarity and details are far better than what you’d expect from headphones in this category.

The highs are clear and only slightly harsh at max volume. You can hear all the details in the vocals, the vibration of the singer’s voice, it’s has a natural representation.

The bass isn’t super strong but still present with a deep rumble and mild punchiness when needed.

Surprisingly, the soundstage is better than with most in-ear headphones. You can hear clear instrument separation and positional cues.

These are perfectly suited for users who want balanced audio that sounds good with all music genres without coloring the original recording.

Though they don’t sound as good as the premium Sony WF-1000XM4 (or older Sony WF-1000XM3 ).

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 2.5 Average

Edifier TWS NB are big earbuds that sit in the ears nicely and generally stay stable, but after more extended use, always leave a feeling of tenderness in the ear area.

The wireless in-ear headphones are big and bulky. They had to store all the electronics somewhere, but this makes them somewhat clumsy.

To get a stable fit, you have to push them in the ear canal quite deep, and while it’s not uncomfortable you always feel a bit of pressure.

And, after a while, the ear canal and the area around can get a bit irritated. It’s never painful, but always saying, “Hey, You’re wearing big earbuds.”

Bigger weight and size will do that, there are no small active noise cancelling TWS buds. Comfort is sacrificed for additional functionality.

Thankfully, they give you 2 pairs of memory-foam eartips that offer superior comfort and noise isolation. These tips conform to the shape of your ear canal and feel soft. You can use regular silicone eartips, 3 pairs, too if you want.

Also, the box lid closes harder with the largest ear wings in place, but it’s just big enough to fit the buds.

Noise Cancelling

Star Rating 3.0 Good

Noise cancelling in Edifier TWS NB is surprisingly good. While it’s not at the same level as the Sony WF-1000XM4 it isn’t ineffective. We’d estimate it reduces around 30% of the background noise.

Update: The newer Edifier TWS NB 2 have less effective noise cancellation that this version. If you want better ANC, get these instead.

Measuring noise cancellation isn’t an exact science since you experience different frequencies of noise to varying levels in the real world.

So, instead, we measure it with airplane cabin noise. It’s the standard test for all ANC headphones.

And, one advantage of these earbuds is their passive noise isolation, which is great. If you put on the memory-foam eartips, you’ll already block out most of the unwanted sounds.

When you turn on the ANC, everything becomes even more silent. It’s a quick change, and it’s good to know that it doesn’t change the sound quality.

Many budget noise cancelling headphones suffer from audio quality changes when you turn on the ANC, not these.

The active noise cancellation still creates a bit of a hissing sound when not playing music, but in a noisy environment, you don’t even hear it.

You can choose from 3 ANC modes:

Noise reduction turned on

Ambient sound mode (which amplifies sounds around you, so you can talk to people)

Noise reduction turned off

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

Passive noise isolation in Edifier TWS NB is better than with most in-ear headphones. With the combination of memory-foam tips, the earphones block a good amount of noise without ANC.

If you don’t know the difference, isolation is different from cancellation, here’s more info.

Wind noise: Due to a bulky design, the earbuds create quite a bit of noise in a windy environment. It’s just something that comes with the size. Wind creates a lot of background noise, so these aren’t headphones suitable for cycling.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 4.0 Great

With the latest Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX, you get stellar wireless connectivity. The Bluetooth earbuds normally work over 1 wall but start losing connection after the 2nd wall, like most Bluetooth headphones. Also, there’s no distortion with your music device nearby.

Most new wireless headphones come with Bluetooth 5.0, which offers more stability and supposedly better battery life. It’s the best Bluetooth version yet.

You get the standard 33ft (10m) range of stable connection, after which it gets spotty.

We did have some problems connecting the earbuds initially but followed the simple user guide and successfully connected.

Once the in-ear headphones remember your smartphone, they connect automatically when you take them out of the box.

Is There a Delay When Watching a Video?

No. You can watch videos normally as the delay is minimal and unnoticeable.

Battery

Star Rating 3.0 Good

The battery life of Edifier TWS NB is promised around 5 hours with ANC and 11 hours without. And we actually got slightly over 5 hours when the right side earbud died (with ANC on and at mid-volume). The left side would work for 1.5h hours more. So, you can reliably expect around 5 hours on average.

You can expect a much longer battery life if you listen to music without noise cancellation. ANC uses quite a bit of power, which diminishes the overall length.

To get them fully charged from 0 to 100% takes less than 2 hours, but you probably won’t ever need to do that.

The earphones charge every time you put them in the charging box. It holds about 22 hours more, which is plenty of power, even for power users.

Charging is fast and straightforward with the latest USB type C cable. And when you put the buds in the case, there is a 4-LED indicator on the side that shows how much power is left.

Durability

Star Rating 4.0 Great

The noise-canceling earbuds are entirely plastic and without water-resistance. But the build quality is high, and there are no major weak points. Still, you don’t want to drop them on the floor.

Edifier is known for its high-quality products, and TWS NB are the same. Durable plastics will take the punishment from daily use but don’t expose them to water.

Without even basic sweat-resistance, these aren’t suitable for working out (find earbuds that are here).

The charging case is one of the best we’ve seen. It has a nice sleek finish that mimics more expensive models. It has soft corners, and the lid snaps down due to magnets and sturdy-feeling hinge. It actually feels better than the PowerBeats Pro case.

Features

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

Apart from wireless Bluetooth connectivity, noise canceling, controls, microphone, charging case with LED indicator, the earbuds also come with weird blinking LED lights on the casing and no volume controls.

Also, for some reason, the LED lights on the earphones flash every 4 seconds. There seems to be no reason for that except communicating that the earphones are turned on. In a dark airplane cabin, you flash like the wings. It’s probably a bit annoying to others around you (you can turn them off with the app).

With the Edifier Connect app, you can change the ANC modes, skip tracks and edit power settings, reconnect, re-pair, and more.

These are all functions you can do without it. But there’s one useful thing, you can turn off the blinking LEDs, schedule a timed shutdown, and enable ambient sound mode.

Apart from that, ANC earbuds are usually feature-packed, and the Edifier TWS NB come with many options.

You can make phone calls with the built-in microphone, which works fine for normal environments. But the voice call quality isn’t clear in an airplane cabin. It’s terrible.

The multi-function button is on both sides and controls most things except volume. There’s no way to make music louder, which is a shame.

Also, you can use one earbud only. Turn on the other one and use it as a headset.