TWS true wireless earphones - under $100
4.5 STARS - Unique looks and stellar build quality, impressive battery life, and great sound quality all come together in the Edifier Uni-Buds.
Liberfeel x Edifier/ Edifier Uni-Buds specs:
Bluetooth 5.0 with AptX and AAC codec
IP65 waterproof rating (heavy rain, dust and sweat resistant)
8 hours listening on a full charge
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 4 times
Comes with 4 sizes ear tips, 3 sizes ear fins, USB-C cable, and pouch
$70 on AliExpress
Below this Liberfeel x Edifier Unibuds review, you will find comparisons between the Edifier Unibuds vs Fiil T1 Pro/ Fiil T1 Lite, Samsung Galaxy Buds+, Cambridge Audio Melomania, Edifier TWS6, and Edifier X3.
Note: Edifier calls this product both Liberfeel x Edifier, Edifier Unibuds and Edifier Uni-Buds.
Update July 9th 2021: As there are more and more great wireless earbuds coming out, the overall score has been readjusted from 5 tot 4.5 stars. Check out the Edifier TWS1 Pro, for example.
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Design, comfort and battery life
Oh my. The Liberfeel x Edifier Uni-Buds is something else.
As part of the more fashionable TO-U line of the Chinese brand Edifier, the Uni-Buds drips with character. The charging case has a bit of a vintage radio vibe, or perhaps a Steampunk-vibe as a reader calls it, and it doesn't stop there.
It already starts with the packaging - the fanciest one to date on any wireless earphone, really. It resembles some kind of wind-up music box. There's a drawer with the manual, some ear-tips and ear-fins, the charging cable, and even a pouch. On the top, it may not have a ballerina dancing when you open the lid, but you will find the case lying in it. The presentation is wonderful.
The Liberfeel x Edifier Unibuds is available in white, green, red, creme-white or the currently tested dark-blue with gold accents. Even though its material is prone to fingerprints, it looks amazing and feels of high quality. On the case, you'll find a golden knob on the front. Press it, and the display shows the battery life of the case - and more. It also shows animations of pairing, connecting the earbuds, and more. Due to the pebble-shape of the case, it gives a Tamagotchi-like feeling just pressing that button.
It's not just a well-designed case, too. It charges via USB-C and with a full charge, it can fully recharge the earbuds four times before needing new power itself.
The earbuds themselves deliver up to 8 hours of playtime on a single charge, which is an outstanding score on its own, but even more impressive considering the buds' tiny size.
Seriously: these buds are tiny. They're fairly round and metal with a gold accent on the outside; rubber with a small ear fin inside. The package comes with three sizes of these fins, which prevent the earbuds from falling out your ears. The Unibuds have a snug fit and are comfortable to wear for hours. Along with the IP65 waterproof rating withstanding sweat, dust, and heavy rain, these can be used for runs and workouts perfectly. Due to the tiny size, it's just as easy to sleep with them. With their battery life, they'll last the entire night.
Convenient, well built, and full of character: this is quality stuff.
Connectivity and controls
The first time you connect the Liberfeel x Edifier Unibuds with your phone, you need to press the knob on the case for three seconds to initiate proper pairing. Only then when you will find the Edifier Uni-Buds option in your Bluetooth list. Connect to this one, not the L or R variant, as these can give some connectivity issues for stereo listening.
Furthermore, the Uni-Buds don't immediately work when you grab them out of the case. Open the lid, wait for the opening-up animation and maybe even wait for the smiley, which indicates the connection to your phone. Then it's safe to take them out. Take them out too quickly, and the Uni-Buds may fail to connect to your phone. Here, the animation is a bit of a drawback. It's not too annoying, but you have to get used to it.
Everyday connectivity on the Edifier is solid, with a strong Bluetooth connection a little over ten meters from your device, even in areas crowded with wireless signals.
Controls on the Uni-Buds are straightforward:
Tap R twice to play/ pause music
Tap L twice to activate the voice assistant
Tap R three times to skip a track
Tap L three times to return a song
You can't change the volume by touching the earbuds. Happily, there aren't any touch controls that trigger by just tapping once, which prevents many unintended actions. This and the comfort of the Uni-Buds also means that these are great wireless earbuds for sleeping.
Calling and watching movies
The Edifier Uni-Buds has very acceptable call quality. Your voice can be a little soft, but it does have telephone-like clarity. It also sounds louder than sounds from your surroundings. People chatter, traffic passing by, accelerating vehicles: they turn into subtle 'zoof' like sounds in the calls and are reduced nicely. Like every so often, fierce wind noise can battle your voice - but it's easy to call with these both indoors and outside.
When it comes to video calls, the Liberfeel makes your voice sound crisp and clear, but you may want to turn the microphone volume up on your Windows or Mac, as you sound a little soft.
Watching videos is a flawless experience on the Uni-Buds as well. Audio synchronizes perfectly with video on both Android and iPhone, including the challenging YouTube-app. Not only that, because of the sound signature of these earphones, movies, and TV shows sound spacious and impressive.
Unfortunately, Edifier didn't add a low-latency gaming mode on this set, unlike the Edifier TWS NB2. Therefore, there is a noticeable delay in sound effects when you're playing games.
App support of Edifier Unibuds
The Liberfeel x Edifier Unibuds has support from the free Edifier Connect app on iPhone and Android. It has some neat features, like showing the separate earbuds' battery status, quick access to the manual, and changing the controls' tap sensitivity. You can also setup initiate a timed shutdown when you want to sleep with them, from 10 to 90 minutes.
More importantly, the Uni-Buds app comes with four different equalizers that change the earbuds' sound.
Classics: The standard setting, described in the sound part of this review
Pop: Adds subtle weight to the lower mid-tones, and elevates upper-mid vocals, letting in a bit more harshness in the higher notes
Blues: Softens peaks from brighter instruments, adds a little space in the sound, can sound a bit more shallow
Rock: Gives the lows and upper-mids more body, and shifts the center-mids to the back; can be a bit more peaky
While the equalizers alter the sound, you'll need a trained ear to hear the differences clearly. They are all a bit alike. It's still a nice bonus, though.
On Android, the app shows a drawer with these equalizer settings and battery status between your notifications, which is convenient but also needs to be on all the time - and you'll need to give the app questionable permissions like needing to read pictures from your phone. You don't get the same shortcut to the app on iPhone, but the app needs fewer permissions as well.
Also read: The best wireless earbuds under $100
Sound quality of Edifier Unibuds: Wonderful
The Liberfeel x Edifier Unibuds has a slight focus on treble. It gives the sound a lovely airiness.
Vocals always take center stage on the Unibuds. From the vocal depths of Leonard Cohen to higher-pitched male singers like James Blake, to soothing female voices in dance tracks - they are the centerpiece of the music - and sound forward, vivid and detailed.
Instruments benefit from the the focus on treble, the extended upper-mids and highs, as well. Especially acoustic instruments sound natural. You can hear plucking of guitar strings in higher quality recordings, sputtering in trumpets, piano strokes, and snare drums resonating.
There's impressive separation and even space between the different instruments and musical layers. Instruments and details come widely from the left and right.
Still, the elevated treble does come at a small cost. The Edifier has some sibilance - a noticeable emphasis on sss-sounds. It's audible in music, and more so with people talking in podcasts or movies.
While the sound of the Unibuds is relatively bright, it also offers plenty of power in the lows. The lower-mids are boosted slightly to give drums impact and darker electronic lines enough presence, and it gets even better in the bass. The mid-bass has a strong slam. It's not overly tight, but it doesn't have to be - as the strong pump now delivers weight and joy to the lows. Very strong mid-basses can see a limit from the tiny drivers, as music can crackle a bit on rare occasions. The sub-bass adds in some extra fun, however. It can show a lovely, gentle rumble in these deepest bass-tones.
The Uni-Buds volume can go from lovely soft to very loud on both iPhone and Android. Even on typical background volume during workdays, the bass keeps surprising with its juicy thump, without distracting from the music's higher frequencies.
To get this sound quality in wireless earbuds that also look and feel so good - it's a thing of beauty.
Liberfeel x Edifier Unibuds comparisons
Edifier Unibuds vs Fiil T1 Pro/ T1 Lite
The class-leading Fiil T1 Lite ($35) or Fiil T1 Pro ($65, sounds almost the same, apart from a bit of added highs) see a strong competitor in the Edifier Unibuds. The Fiil's have thicker mids presenting even more detail in typical mid-instruments like guitars and background sounds when watching a TV show. The Unibuds has a bigger soundstage, with more air surrounding the higher notes. The Edifier has a more defined sub-bass, the Fiil's mid-bass is more pronounced. The Edifier can have some sibilance; the T1 Lite and Pro can be a little harsher in upper-mid outbursts. As the Edifier has 8 instead of 6 hours battery life and is even more comfortable, it shows that the Unibuds is among the best earbuds under 100 dollars.
Fiil T1 Lite review ($35)
Fiil T1 Pro review ($65, adds ear wings and ANC noise cancelling)
Edifier Unibuds vs Samsung Galaxy Buds+
The Edifier Uni-Buds is the first (200!) tested affordable wireless earphone on Scarbir.com that matches the Samsung Galaxy Buds+' build quality, now available under $100. The earpieces of the Edifier are more compact and comfortable; the Samsung blocks more outside noise. Both earbuds stay in your ears perfectly thanks to different sizes of ear fins - but the Samsung is more practical, as it offers a Transparency mode and an app with more equalizers, changing the sound of the Buds+ more actively than the Edifier equalizers do.
Both earphones have airy, extended upper-mids with lots of clarity and naturality in more acoustic and classic genres, yet the Buds Plus reaches further into the highs still. The Unibuds instead opts for more lower-mids and bass; there's a stronger bass thump (even than the Dynamic or Bass equalizer on the Samsung), while the Samsung has a faster mid-bass but lacks bass depth. The Samsung's crisp highs are still something special, but the Edifier delivers a more engaging sound.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus review ($80-100)
Edifier Unibuds vs Cambridge Audio Melomania
The $100 Cambridge Audio Melomania is a bit older and still recharges via micro-USB, but it too delivers 8 hours of playtime per charge from surprisingly tiny earbuds. The Cambridge Audio has a more neutral sound signature, with more weight in the lower-mids. Highs roll-off earlier, making the sound friendlier but also taking away some of the UniBud's texture of higher-pitched vocals and instruments. The bass on the Melomania is a little dryer, as the Uni-Buds has a stronger thump and deeper sub-bass. Both the Edifier and Melomania offer great detail, but the Melomania throws in more lows, the Edifier more treble.
No Cambridge Audio Melomania review (yet), buy on Amazon US, Amazon Germany or other Amazon stores
Edifier Unibuds vs Edifier TWS6
The Unibuds isn't the first Edifier with these tiny earbuds. The $60-$80 TWS6 boasts the same form factor, although its touch sensor doesn't have an inlay, and its touch controls are more limited. The Uni-Buds offers longer battery life and better call quality and looks and feels better. Mostly, the Uni-Buds sound more engaging, with heftier and deeper bass. The TWS6 has more open upper-mids and highs but sounds a little thinner due to the lows' lack of body. The UniBuds also has a somewhat warmer undertone.
Edifier Uni-Buds vs Edifier TWS1 Pro
The Edifier TWS1 Pro has a slightly more generic look than the Uni-Buds, and while comfortable, its earpieces are a bit bigger. It has even better battery life, however, with 11 hours playtime on a single charge. The Uni-Buds can be a little bit sharper sounding in the higher frequencies. It also has a thicker mid-bass and more prominent vocals. The TWS1 Pro has more air in the sound, however, and its bass is faster and tighter. As such, it can hit harder. The Uni-Buds is slightly fuller, whereas the TWS1 Pro can sound flatter in fuller songs.
Edifier TWS1 Pro ($50)
Edifier Unibuds vs Edifier X3
Is the Uni-Buds worth the extra cost over the highly popular $20-$35 Edifier X3? If you have the money - yes. The Unibuds has deeper and more defined sub-bass and more detail just about everywhere in the mids and highs. Vocals sound more dynamic, instruments a tad more natural, and the Uni-Buds has a bigger soundstage with better separation and placement. Even rationally, the Uni-Buds could be a better choice by offering 8 instead of 6 hours battery life and a more comfortable compact design.
Verdict
Unique looks and stellar build quality, impressive battery life, and great sound quality all come together in the Edifier Uni-Buds.
4.5 stars - Great
Buy Liberfeel x Edifier Unibuds/ check price:
I bought the Edifier Unibuds/ Uni-Buds myself to test and review myself. 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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