The TWS earphones revolution in India began a while ago, therefore, capturing the interest of tech enthusiasts and those who are passionate about music. Currently, the market is flooded with so many brands offering true wireless earphones ranging from Rs 1,500 and going up to Rs 15,000. Sony, Samsung, Apple and OnePlus are the biggest players in the premium range category. Whereas Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, LG and others are contending in the affordable to mid-range segment.
Now there is a new entrant, AIWA is a Japanese consumer electronics brand that has re-entered India with the launch of 5 audio devices ranging from Rs 699 to Rs 7,999. We have reviewed the AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones that are priced at Rs 1,799. Let’s find out how well these performed and the features it offers. Here is our review.
AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones review: Design
AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones fall under the budget category featuring an ergonomic design. The build quality says it is more of a budget one and gives more of a plasticky feel. We used the white colour option, however, you can also go for a black variant, too. The device is bundled with an additional pair of silicone ear tips and a micro USB cable, required for charging.
The casing of the earphones is oval in shape, which has the company branding along with the model number on the top, whereas the lower side shows some details related to the charging capacity of the earbuds as well as the charging case. The micro USB port is given just below the hinge that fastens the edges of the casing. It has a magnetic casing. There is a small display between the two earphones that shows the battery percentage of the case. Both the buds contain LED indicators and as said, come with a plastic build.
There are physical buttons as well as inbuilt volume controls on both earbuds. The ear tips have mesh layering to protect them against dust. So no complaints from the build quality given the price point they are in.
AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones review: Performance
Coming to the performance side, AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones come with Bluetooth 5.1 support that assures better stability, but sadly the individual bud has mono mode support, which means there is no support for dual pairing. Talking about the waterproof rating the TWS earphones have IPX4 certification guaranteeing protection from water splashes and dust.
In terms of battery capacity, each bus equips a 38mAh battery, whereas the charging case comes with 200mAh inbuilt battery. According to the company, when these earphones are fully charged the earbuds deliver 6 to 8 hours of music time. However, during our testing, AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones could only deliver 3 hours of music time at 100 percent volume level, which is on the lower side.
The charging case is capable enough to charge the earphones three to four times over. AIWA claims that the TWS earphones can offer 24 to 30 hours of total music time. Unfortunately, the device is bundled with a micro-USB charging cable instead of Type-C support, which is its biggest drawback in today’s time. Also, it doesn’t support fast charging. In 10 minutes of charging it offers 26 minutes of music playback whereas these buds along with the casing take about 1.5 hours to get fully charged.
Coming to the most important aspect of AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones is their sound quality. The earphones come equipped with 8mm drivers that offer a good sound quality. But if you are a rock music lover then these earphones are not recommended because they lack a bit of thump, which one wants. Otherwise, for daily use, the bass, treble and vocal were above average and the device is loud enough. There is no touch support instead the earbuds come with physical buttons to access calls, volume and more.
The second most important department is the mic quality, AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones have a single mic. The audio quality is just fine in a quiet room environment, but when you are outdoors the environment noise will be the first to reach the listener. Though the earbuds are lightweight, the design is not super comfortable as we felt these are slipping out of the ears.
Conclusion
Coming to the final verdict, if you are looking for TWS earphones under Rs 2,000 then there are lots of options available in the market offering better sound quality. Note that AIWA is a Japanese brand that was much popular in India back in the 90s, but the company completely vanished from the market. Now the company has made a comeback with AIWA AT-X80E TWS earphones in India. The company claims that the earphones come with AAC, SBC support, but it only supports the latter one. Also, the device has micro-USB support instead of Type-C might be a deal-breaker for some. All in all, if you are on a budget you can look at them, if you can spend a little more there are better options from Oppo and Xiaomi.
Pros
Compact packaging
Lightweight
Decent build quality
Cons
Average Sound quality
Not recommended for bass lovers
Lacks dedicated gaming mode
No touch controls
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