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Yahama has launched a budget-friendly pair of true wireless earbuds with aptX Adaptive Hi-Res sound, and it seems to offer budget-watching audiophiles a way to get impressive performance without breaking the bank.
Yamaha’s TW-E3C earbuds, the third entry in the TW-E3 series of true wireless earbuds, appear to have a feature set to rival some of the best wireless earbuds out there – in a package that will run you just $79. 95 / £89 (about AU$110).
The TW-E3C earbuds combine aptX Adaptive Hi-Res sound – a codec that allows them to stream at much higher quality than regular Bluetooth, but also maintain a rock-solid connection even when there’s interference – with what Yamaha calls ‘True Sound’ ‘. These are acoustic features designed to allow the earbuds to produce a realistic soundstage rich in clear mids and high frequencies, as well as bass notes with a solid feel.
The earbuds will also include a few smart extras, such as a low-latency game mode that reduces audio lag, multipoint connectivity so they can be connected to two devices at the same time (making it easier to switch between devices), and a pair of microphones that would should be able to isolate voice for calls, even in fairly noisy environments.
You might also want to consider picking up some if you’ve recently scanned our pick of the best workout headphones. Thanks to their IPX5 water resistance rating, they should be able to withstand sweat – just remember to take them off before swimming.
The Yamaha TW-E3C earbuds have nine hours of battery life from the earbuds, which is almost on par with the best (the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus can handle 10 hours, but what’s an hour between friends), but can be extended even more another 15 hours thanks to the charging case, giving them up to 24 hours of use before needing to be reconnected. 24 hours of use is absolutely nothing to sniff at, especially at this price point.
However, don’t expect them to have everything. You won’t find active noise canceling technology in these earbuds, even though some affordable earbuds do. Given their design, the earbuds block out quite a bit of external noise, but without this technology the Yamaha TW-E3Cs may not provide the level of isolation you are looking for. You might fare better with something from our best noise-canceling earbud buying guide.
We haven’t tested these earbuds ourselves either – so can’t speak to how they perform – but Yamaha’s other audio products (such as its Yamaha YH-L700A Headphones) received solid scores from our reviewers. In addition, the predecessors of the TW-E3C earbuds, the TW-E3B, were quite popular; as expected, they don’t offer the same build quality and features as more expensive models, but their audio performance and bass clarity far outweighed their weight.
If you’re after a pair of these earbuds, they’re available to order in the UK in a range of six different colors (grey, black, red, blue, beige and green) and should be available to ship in soon the US.
If you can’t wait for the new Yamaha earbuds, check out our picks for more of the best cheap wireless earbuds to buy today.