REVIEW – Yeah, I’m trying to outrun that storm brewing behind me while testing out my new earbuds (the things I do for you guys…). I’ve got the Tronsmart Apollo Air+ Earbuds shoved in my listening holes. Maybe that noise cancelling feature will drown out the pending thunder. To the review!
What is it?
The Tronsmart Apollo Air+ ANC Earbuds are wireless earbuds with active noise canceling and wireless charging.
What’s in the box?
You’ll get your buds that come with a charging/storage case, a travel bag, and a USB charging cable. The package also includes replacement silicone bud sleeves in a couple of different sizes.
Hardware specs
- 35db Full Frequency Hybrid Active Noise Canceling.
- Industry-leading Qualcomm QCC3046 Chip.
- TrueWireless Stereo Plus Binaural Synchronous Transmission Technology.
- High-Quality Qualcomm® aptx™ & Qualcomm® aptx™ Adaptive Audio Decoding.
- Customized Graphene Driver for Better Sound Quality.
- Wireless Charging.
- In-ear Detection Function.
- Intelligent APP Control.
- Up to 5 hours of play time without recharging the buds.
- 20 hours of play time from fully charged base unit.
- 2.5 hours to charge the base unit.
- IP45 water resistance.
Design and features
The Tronsmart Apollo Air+ ANC Earbuds come in a durable little combination case/charger that keeps them protected and juiced. This little hard case is good enough that I don’t even use the included travel bag.
The rear side of the case includes a port for the included charging cable, and a button for pairing. I love that they include a simple pairing button. It saves work, and enables quick switching between my iPhone and iPad.
The charging cable is a nice extra, but I really dig the fact that this particular unit charges wirelessly on your charging pad as seen below. The case holds enough juice to get you 20 hours of play time. The earbuds themselves will work for roughly 5 hours between charges, which means you get 4 recharges before needing to recharge the base unit. I’ve been using this for my rucks every other day, and I’ll go for a couple of weeks before recharging the base unit. The color indicator gives you the charging status (red means charging).
Crack the case and you’ll find your buds. This set will automatically pair with your device when you remove the buds from the case, then disconnect when you put them back in.
Each Tronsmart Apollo Air+ ANC bud has a chunky tap-pad for operation…
…and here’s the end that gets stuck in your ear.
The controls for the earbuds are, well, challenging. Basically, you use the usual combination of taps and tap/holds to get stuff to work. I’ll save the explanation and show you the instruction chart:
See what I mean? These wireless earbud controls are never easy, but this particular unit has taken a lot of getting used to. Maybe it’s the sensitivity of the tap pads, but I find myself just going to my phone more often than not to manage controls.
I’ll drop in some headshots here so you can see how the Tronsmart Apollo Air+ ANC Earbuds fit. The dongles tend to stick out a bit from my small ears. I’ve never had an issue with knocking them loose, but you may find that to be an issue if you’re continually managing them.
I was able to find a pair of sleeves in the kit that made for a snug fit. I noticed a little movement if I am working hard & sweating, but nothing a quick adjustment couldn’t handle.
There’s also a nice pause feature built into these headphones. If you take an earbud out the unit automatically pauses your music or podcast, then restarts it when you put them back in again. I really like this feature, especially if you need to pause and talk to someone in your journey.
The Tronsmart Apollo Air+ ANC Earbuds sound and stereo quality are excellent, with crystal clear reception and crisp sound. Same goes for calls; I’ve been told that my audio is excellent on the receiving end.
The active noise canceling is a different issue. I honestly did not see a big difference in audio quality in ANC mode or not. According to Tronsmart the ANC mode is adaptive based on your environment, but I had difficulty seeing a difference between that and the natural design of the buds that fill your earholes. It’s also a pain to set up with those controls, so I pretty much don’t mess with it.
I almost forgot to mention that I did get caught in that downpour. But the IP45 water resistance in these headphones kept them chugging along like nothing was happening. I consider that battle tested for exercise and outdoor activity.
What I like
- Great sound quality
- Well designed case/charging unit
- Easy to pair
- Wireless charging of the case/charging unit
What needs to be improved
- Operation of features is difficult
- ANC feature didn’t perform significantly different from normal mode in my tests
Final thoughts
I think the best use case for the Tronsmart Apollo Air+ ANC Earbuds is probably “set it and forget it” use to power you through your workout, your run, or your walk. The sound quality is really good, you get water resistance, and they stay put even when sweaty. While they are great for calls in a pinch, I find that the controls would probably get frustrating if you’re messing around with them on a regular basis.
Price: $99.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Tronsmart.
