TWS true wireless earbuds - under $50
FOUR STARS - With solid call quality and a bright, yet airy sound, the SoundPEATS Truebuds is a fine choice to have among cheap half in-ear wireless earbuds.
Specs of the SoundPEATS Truebuds:
Bluetooth 5.0 with AAC codec
IPX5 waterproof (sweat and rain proof)
3,5 hours listening on a full charge
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 20 times
Comes with USB-C cable
$40 on AliExpress or Amazon US/ Amazon Europe/ other Amazon stores - check current price!
Below this SoundPEATS Truebuds review you will find comparisons between the SoundPEATS Truebuds vs SoundPEATS TrueAir, Tronsmart Onyx Ace, Edifier TWS200 and Baseus W09.
Update September 2020: Due to increased overall competition with more functionality and/ or better sound, this TWS has been decreased in overall score. Check out the best earbuds on the Leaderboard.
Some better sounding, new alternatives are the Xiaomi Mi Air 2 SE, Fiil CC, and 1more E1029BT.
Design, comfort and battery life
The Truebuds marks SoundPEATS second attempt at AirPods-like wireless earbuds. Whereas the SoundPEATS TrueAir resembles the look and feel of the AirPods quite a bit, the Truebuds has a more original design in both the earpieces and the charging case.
Starting with the case. It's about twice the size of 'regular' AirPods cases, and quite a bit heavier too. With reason: its massive battery is capable of recharging your smartphone with the USB-port, or twenty (!) recharges of the earbuds.
SoundPEATS Truebuds (left) and Edifier TWS200
Each charge gives the SoundPEATS Truebuds 3,5 hours of playtime, which isn't a great score and a lower score than the Edifier TWS200 and Tronsmart Onyx Ace, which both clock in at 4,5 hours. It will still do for commuting and most daily usage. The round brand logo and black color give them an own design, further accommodated by the stems, which are slightly longer than on competitors.
Being half in-ear, you can easily 'hang' the Truebuds in your ears. Comfort and fit are great, but as always, with half in-ears, their fit may not be steady enough for sports and sweating. You will also hear some wind through your music when biking or running.
Connectivity and controls on TrueBuds
The SoundPEATS Truebuds uses touch panels on the logo part of the buds that you can control easily.
Tap once on the right bud to increase the volume, tap the left bud to decrease it. You play or pause the music with two touches, and skip or return a track by holding the right or left bud for 1,5 seconds. The Truebuds gives you a gentle beep to confirm you can let go of your touch.
A press you will need also is the long touch that powers on the earpieces. Strangely, the Truebuds don't always instantly pair in stereo when you take them out of the case.
It's only a minor annoyance because by pressing the earpiece you can't hear for 2 seconds, it powers, and the sound becomes stereo instantly. It's always possible to quickly swap between one and two earpieces - listen to one when the other charges, for example.
The overall connectivity on the Truebuds is robust. The Bluetooth 5.0 signal is reliable outside and indoors, up to ten meters, even with thin walls in between.
Video and call quality of Truebuds
The SoundPEATS Truebuds offers solid call quality, especially indoors. You may sound a bit robot-like at times, but come through loud and clear to the other end of the line. It's perfectly doable to have an hour-long phone call or video conference with these.
Outside, your voice becomes increasingly robotic and may sound a little soft. Surrounding noises from traffic is suppressed nicely, but wind noise still comes through. Happily, so does the one you're calling with. You should hear the other perfectly. If you want half in-ears with even better call quality, look at the comparably priced Edifier TWS200. But calling outside with these is well possible.
Watching videos on the SoundPEATS Truebuds fairs well on Android, and video services like Netflix and Amazon Prime on iPhone. Unfortunately, audio doesn't sync with video on the YouTube-app on iPhone. There's also a noticeable delay when playing games - as is the case with almost all wireless earphones.
Also read:
Sound quality of SoundPEATS Truebuds
With so many half in-ear earbuds, including Apple's own AirPods, sounding downright dull or bad, the SoundPEATS Truebuds make a pleasant exception. They deliver an entertaining sound.
Half in-ears blast the sound into your ears sideways, instead of into your ear canals. As a result, the music on half in-ears is often less full and detailed than on fully in-ears. Nevertheless, the SoundPEATS Truebuds still performs convincingly.
The Truebuds has a steady bass thump. Its kick is more fierce, more direct than that of Apple's AirPods, and will have your head bopping easily on pop and dance tracks, even though the lower-mids don't have the most weight to them. The bass is fairly detailed, with different bass lines audible for bass guitars and the typical electronic slams. As with most half in-ears, don't expect the darkest sub-bass rumblings - but there's still plenty to it.
The SoundPEATS have a very open sound. The higher frequencies are surrounded by air on the Truebuds. Sonic effects appear left and right of you, and the music seems at a slight distance from you, rather than shouting directly into your ears. Tonality is also convincing.
Like the bass, the highs are pretty far extended on these half in-ears. There's an emphasis on violins, cymbals, and female vocals, and typical mids like guitars also come across relatively bright. Open and airy the sound may be as a result - it can strike as sharp or tiring at times.
You could opt for a more relaxing-sounding half in-ear earphone, but the SoundPEATS Truebuds deliver more detail and liveliness than most other half in-ears.
Selected comparisons
SoundPEATS Truebuds vs Edifier TWS200
While the Edifier TWS200 may be seen as a mid-centric pair of half in-ear earbuds, yet sounds quite full and dark next to the more open Truebuds. The SoundPEATS offers more space in the lows and more emphasis on vocals and higher tones. The Edifier TWS200 has more body in the lower-mids. It may not have volume controls, but it scores better on battery life and even better on handling phone calls.
SoundPEATS Truebuds vs SoundPEATS TrueAir
The TrueAir looks and feels more like the original AirPods than the Truebuds. The Truebuds offers more definition in the lower frequencies, but also extends the highs much further than the TrueAir. The Truebuds delivers more detail in instruments and vocals, but the TrueAir sounds smoother and has slightly more body in the lower-mids. The Truebuds offers better call quality.
SoundPEATS Truebuds vs Tronsmart Onyx Ace
Surprise: the $30 Tronsmart Onyx Ace doesn't just look like Apple's AirPods; it sounds like Apple's product too. If you think that's a good thing - think again. The Onyx Ace sounds more muffled and congested than the Truebuds. The SoundPEATS is brighter and more detailed; it has better vocal presentation and more bass definition. The sound quality is comparable.
SoundPEATS Truebuds vs Baseus W09
The $25 Baseus W09 has been on the Scarbir.com shelves for a long time, not reviewed because of its mediocre sound quality, comfort and call quality. The SoundPEATS Truebuds outperforms it in all aspects, with more opened-up highs and more refined lows. The sound is just more engaging overall. The only thing you could prefer the Baseus over the Truebuds, is the possibility to get them in all kind of colours.
Buy Baseus W09 on AliExpress (no review)
Verdict
The SoundPEATS Truebuds sounds engaging and lovely airy in its sound - even though the brighter character may not be everyone's taste. If the 3,5 hours battery life does the job for you, this is a great choice.
Four stars - very good
Buy SOundPEATS Truebuds/ check current price:
I received the SoundPEATS Truebuds myself to test and review. I also already bought it myself for testing purposes. I test and review all audio products equally honest - read about it here.
Consider buying this earphone? I'd really appreciate it if you use the links in this article. It won't cost you extra, yet it will financially support me a bit in my ongoing quest for great affordable audio. <3
Also read:
