TWS true wireless earphones - under $50
4.5 STARS - Insightful, excellent highs and outstanding bass - the Haylou T19 sounds so good, you will forgive its downsides - including one very typical one.
Specs of the Haylou T19:
Bluetooth 5.0 with AptX and AAC codec
IPX4 water proof (light rain and sweat resistant)
5 hours listening on a full charge
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 4 times
Comes with 3 sets of ear tips and USB-C cable
$30 on AliExpress (possibly cheaper here) - check current price!
Below this Haylou T19 review, you will find comparisons of the Haylou T19 vs Haylou GT1 Plus, QCY T5, Edifier X3, SoundPEATS TrueDot and Fiil T1X.
Update January 2021: As the quality of new TWS wireless earbuds keeps improving and there are more and more great models on the market, the overall score for this model has been adjusted from 5 to 4.5 stars
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Design, comfort and battery life
The design of the Haylou T19 is a matter of taste. The earpieces have a stem-design, and from the side, they look like AirPods in your ear, albeit with a copper-colored ring in the middle and a mediocre fit. That's because these aren't half-in-ear earphones. They have the AirPods-shape and then a nozzle and rubber-tip attached. They go entirely in your ears.
That said, comfort is great due to the small part that goes into your ears. The Haylou T19 can be worn for hours on end, and you may even forget you're wearing them. It also offers decent battery life for its price, delivering 5 hours playtime on a charge.
The charging case is larger than that of most other stem-design earphones, but it looks decent in all-Xiaomi-matte-white. In the front, a bright glowing LED-light indicates the case charges the earbuds, and underneath you'll find the USB-C port to recharge the 600 mAh case. It can also restore power via wireless charging. The case needs new power after four full recharges of the earpieces.
Connectivity and controls
The Haylou T19 has a neat trick. It has sensors that detects whether the earbuds are in your ears. When you take a single one out, it automatically pauses the music - and the T19 resumes playing when you put it back in.
Unfortunately, this comes with a flaw that can be hugely annoying: before it has a sensor, there isn't a pause/play button. Imagine having your hands full, and you'd like to pause the music. Get ready to fumble one earpiece in your hands.
Because this play/ pause control function misses, you can't resume listening to one earpiece if you're charging the other one, without touching controls on your phone.
Please don't do this again, Haylou.
Don't expect situations like this? Good - the rest of the controls may not always respond well, but they do work better. Double-tap the right bud to skip a song, double-tap the left one to return a track. Hold down a side to activate the voice assistant on your phone. That's it.
Unless... you install the free Haylou-app, which lets you change the controls. More on that later.
The basis of the connectivity are great on the Haylou, happily. The Bluetooth 5.0 connection holds strong up to ten meters, even with thin walls in between, and also when you're walking or cycling with them.
Calling and watching movies With T19
It's easy and enjoyable to watch videos with the Haylou T19. The audio is lipsync with the video on both Android and iPhone, including the challenging YouTube-app. There is a noticeable delay in sound effects when you're playing games, as is the case on almost all wireless earbuds.
Call quality on the Haylou T19 is sufficient. The strangest thing about calling with these is that your footsteps are audible. They don't threaten call quality, but the other one can hear you moving around.
Happily, your voice comes through loud and clear. Surrounding noises in the background (such as traffic or people murmuring) are reduced nicely, but nearby sounds can somewhat interfere with the call.
Haylou T19 app-support review
It's unbelievable, but like budget earphones from sister-brand QCY, the $30 Haylou T19 comes with app support. It's built into a sports band app from the same manufacturer and requires making an account. It also asks you for health permissions on your smartphone, which you can deny for this purpose.
The app has a single function that changes things: you can change the controls. There are only two controls to change (double-tapping a side), but trading the double-tap to return a song for a pause/ play button, may be worthwhile. You can also implement volume controls on the sides, but keep in mind it will then be your only controls on the earbuds.
Furthermore, the app shows the battery levels of the case and earbuds, shows the position of your earbuds on a map (with a 100 meter margin, it appears…) and lets you choose between different equalizers. While there is some difference between them, they all reduce the earphones' volume, so the original setting is by far the best. It's points like these you can see Haylou is a sister-company of QCY.
—> Also see: All TWS under $25 reviewed and rated
Sound quality of Haylou T19: Wonderful
On to the highlight of the Haylou T19: its sound. It's transparent, balanced, detailed, with excellent highs and a surprising amount of detail in the bass.
The T19 delivers a steady mid-bass slam, sure to empower modern music genres like pop, dance, and hip-hop and their audience. The bass has a juicy thickness, but isn't too boomy. It can strike fast. It's best when it can speak to the sub-bass, the darkest rumbles available in songs. In audiophile works like that from Jon Hopkins, the sub-bass shifts from left to right, giving a slight rumble and a sense of space even in these low frequencies. It's not an earshaker-effect but does have impressive depth.
The lower-mids (like drums and darker electronic tones) enjoy a fair amount of presence, without intertwining with the bass or coloring the music overly dark or warm.
As good as the lows are, are the highs.
The Haylou T19 has incredibly transparent, clear upper-mids. It extends highs well, providing body and nuances in higher-pitched (female) vocals and giving impressive texture to cymbals and violins.
If you've been on Scarbir.com before, you might know that the QCY T5 has one of the best-balanced highs you can find on a $25 wireless earphone. The Haylou T19 takes the highs of the T5 up a notch. The highs are more neutral (or colder if you will), without the warm blanket they get on the T5, and they reach even higher, but without sounding harsh anytime. Outstanding.
It doesn't stop there. The soundstage is convincing too, with instruments and sound effects all around you, coming in from your left and right, distant and nearby - while vocals often come from the middle - where they should be.
Balance, transparency, tightness. The Haylou T19 is a low-budget triumph for music lovers.
Haylou T19 comparisons
Haylou T19 vs Haylou GT1 Plus
The Haylou GT1 Plus is one of the best sounding wireless earbuds under $25 and the most balanced sounding one to date. And now, the T19 builds upon its fundament. The T19 still sounds balanced, but also delivers more power in the bass, and more extended highs, to provide more vocal detail. Even mids are more outspoken. The T19 gives instruments like guitars, piano, and vocals more body and detail, with better placement in the soundstage as a bonus.
Haylou T19 vs Edifier X3
The Edifier X3's musical qualities can't quite reach the other earphones' level in this comparison, but it is the most practical of all $25 budget wireless earbuds. Its case is almost half the size of the T19, battery life is an hour longer, and controls respond better. Soundwise, the T19 has more definition in the mid-bass and sub-bass, it has more precise instrument placement, and highs are extended further and sound more natural. The Edifier X3 has a bigger mid-bass slam, however.
Haylou T19 vs QCY T5
As two crown-bearers for great sound quality for an ultra-budget price, let's talk sound here. The QCY T5 has a warmer undertone and a slightly fatter bass thump with easier firing sub-bass rumbles. It also puts more weight onto the lower-mids. The Haylou T19 extends highs further and has more spacial details, with more precise instrument placement and more impact from mid-tones, such as guitars and the piano. Its bass is tighter and its sub-bass more detailed. The biggest difference is tonality, however, with the T5 sounding warmer and a bit friendlier. This is a choice only you should make.
Haylou T19 vs SoundPEATS TrueDot
The SoundPEATS TrueDot is another musical treat for the incredible $25 price point. It sounds warmer and also darker than the Haylou T19, with a fatter (yet still refined) bass, more presence in the lower-mids, and a warmer undertone under vocals. Both have great soundstage, instrument placement, and tonality - with a slight edge in mid-tone instruments for the SoundPEATS, but more nuances in the upper-mids and highs on the Haylou.
Haylou T19 vs Fiil T1X
Putting the Haylou T19 against the best-sounding TWS under $100, the Fiil T1X, the latter has a smaller soundstage, but places instruments even more precise within it. It resolves more microdetail around you, and there are some vocal nuances and string-pulling the T19 can't quite grasp. Lower-mids are also thicker on the T1X, and the bass is more uplifting. The T19 sounds thinner in comparison, and also brighter. The sport-wings and better (indoor) call quality make the T1X a better all-rounder, but then again - you could buy 2 Haylou's for its price.
Verdict
The case is big, the earpieces aren't lookers, and the controls are lacking - but for its price, you may just forgive it all for its fantastic sound.
4.5 stars - Great
Buy Haylou T19/ check current price:
Buy Haylou T19 on AliExpress (possibly cheaper here)
I bought the Haylou T19 myself for testing and review purposes. My reviews are 100% independent and non-commercial. I test and review all audio products equally honest - read about it here.
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