REVIEW – I wear earbuds several times a day for different activities. I’ve typically gravitated toward the in-ear style that closes off your ear canal. Those sound great and can have noise-canceling technology, but they block out environmental sounds and can get uncomfortable afterward. I’ve been looking for an open-style earbud to overcome these issues during long days of meetings, and especially while running, so I can still hear approaching cars. The Tozo Open EarRing buds accomplish this and add a digital display on the case that shows battery status!
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $49.99
Where to buy: Tozo and Amazon
What is it?
The Tozo Open EarRing Buds are an open-style Bluetooth earbud. That means they don’t close off your ear canal so you can still hear what’s going on around you.
What’s included?
- Open EarRing Earbuds
- Wireless Charging Case
- User Manual & Quick Guide
- USB-C (A to C) cable (20″)
- Manual
Tech specs
Click to expand
- Type: Open-ear
- Model: Open EarRing
- Color: Black, Khaki, Pink
- Driver: φ12mm dynamic driver
- Frequency response range: 20Hz-20kHz
- Audio codec: AAC/SBC
- Bluetooth version: Bluetooth 5.3
- Effective Bluetooth range: 10m
- Battery capacity: 60mAh(earphones)/400mAh(charging case)
- Music play time (AAC, default setting, 50% volume)*:
- 10h (single charge)/40h (with charging case)
- Cable charge time: 1.5h (earphones)/2h (charging case)
- Charging port: USB Type-C
- Water resistance – earphone: IPX5
- Weight (each ear): 5.1g（±0.2g）
Design and features
Most earbuds fit into your ear, and rely at least partially on the friction of that fit to keep them in place. These work differently – they have a smooth round ‘bulb” that fits inside of your ear, but not in the ear canal. The drivers are in the bulb. The battery and touch controls are on a slightly larger and more rectangular “bulb” that fits behind your ear.
The two bulbs are connected by an easily bendable memory steel wire covered with skin-friendly silicon. The fit is really infinitely adjustable and very comfortable. Perhaps my favorite feature is on the case, which features a digital display that shows the battery status of both the case and the individual buds (when they are in the case.)
There is also an app available in the Play Store and App Store, which allows you to customize EQ settings, assign functions to the touch controls, and check the battery status of the buds when they are not in the case.
Performance
First off, how do they sound? Good, for what they are. Over-ear and in-ear audio will always be better than open earbuds, by design. If you are looking for optimal sound, these are probably not what you need. But if you want good sound with comfortable buds while still being able to hear the world around you, the Tozo Open EarRings are a good choice.
What about comfort? They are super comfortable. I can wear them all day and not notice them, which says something! The fit is very adjustable thanks to the memory wire that connects the speaker bulb with the battery bulb. And once you put them on, they stay on. Even while running, I did not have to re-adjust or reposition the buds.
The battery life is downright impressive. The specs from Tozo state that you can get 10 hours of music playback on a single charge of the buds, with an additional 30 hours from the case. Those are very impressive numbers, and at first, I thought they were inflated. But they are very close to reality! In the month that I have used these pretty extensively, I have only had to charge the case twice.
Unfortunately, not all is wine and roses. The touch controls are a challenge. Most buds allow you to set functions like start/stop, or skip forward/back to single or double taps. For some reason, Tozo has chosen to not use a single tap, but allow you to assign functions to double tap, triple tap, and long press (a VERY long press). Assigning through the app, you can choose different functions for each tap sequence for the left and right buds. My challenge is why not use a single tap? While sitting still on the sofa, it’s easy to double or triple tap. But while running, or even just walking through the house, this can be a challenge. I’ve all but given up using the touch controls while running and instead use the controls available through my watch. This is unfortunate because I actually like to use the touch controls a lot while running. I wish they would allow the assignment of a single tap.
Final thoughts
Despite the challenges with the touch controls, I still really like the Tozo Open EarRing buds. The combination of comfort, long battery life, good sound, and the open design which allows me to hear the world around me makes these my go-to buds for just about everything but cycling (they can’t stand up to wind noise).
What I like about the Tozo Open EarRing Buds
- Good sound
- Very comfortable
- Great battery life, with a display!
What needs to be improved?
- Improve the touch controls
- Add wireless charging
Price: $49.99
Where to buy: Tozo and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Tozo. Tozo did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
