Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Review

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 might have a confusing name, but their performance and design are currently unmatched at merely $50. They aren’t perfect, but they’re a worthy investment for a budget commuter.

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 are currently the most affordable true wireless earbuds we’ve tested from this brand. While that shows in the overall performance, you (almost) never feel underwhelmed.

For example, ANC isn’t mind-blowing but eliminates just enough noise to make a noticeable difference. Sound isn’t the most balanced but works well with all music genres.

Battery life is their biggest sore point, lasting only around four hours on a single charge with ANC enabled. Fortunately, ANC isn’t necessary for the best sound quality. More on that later.

So, can these sleek-looking TWS earbuds win you over, or should you pick something at $50? Find the answers in the review below.

Price:

Pros & Cons:

Sound

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 sound unbalanced and a bit boomy with ANC on, but calm down when you turn it off. Changing the EQ preset to “Classical” gives the best results.

Check the Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 – A/B sound test:

Learn how to understand sound comparisons.

Edifier earbuds always deliver bold sound. And TWS1 Pro 2 are no different. Interestingly, the least exciting pair were NeoBuds Pro, Edifier’s top-of-the-line buds (new ones are coming).

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 are a different beast, producing a ton of sub-bass energy and sparkly lower treble. They can easily match the great sound quality of other earbuds under $50, like SoundPEATS Sonic or Anker Soundcore Life A1.

While we would love to play around with custom EQ (which is absent from the app), we’re pleased with what Edifier audio engineers provided.

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Frequency Response

Bass: Boomy & uneven with ANC, slightly more fluent without it

These are the first Edifier headphones we’ve tried that don’t require ANC to perform their best. Normally, enabling ANC changes the sound in a way to clears up the treble or tightens up the bass. But not here.

The ANC presence is most noticeable in the bass. Looking at the frequency response measurements, you can see that it creates a dip between 200Hz and 400Hz.

In practice, this scoop accentuates the low-end punch and sub-bass rumble. However, due to the lack of upper bass energy, some bass lines and guitar riffs occasionally become quiet.

Disabling ANC evens out that scoop. And while the sound may now be a tad too warm, it’s at least consistent in loudness.

Bass kicks are tight and tactile enough, even for listening to metal, rock, or any other genres with faster drumming. You can easily follow double pedals in “Cry of the Black Birds” by Amon Amarth.

However, they pair even better with more bass-oriented music thanks to deep and powerful sub-bass. “Cold Heart” by Elton John and Dua Lipa is a tad boomy but enjoyable, nonetheless.

Midrange: Very natural (with ANC off)

Active noise cancellation affects the midrange by boosting it in the middle. Adding an upper bass scoop gives you relatively thin-sounding vocals and instruments.

Turning ANC off balances out the mid-range and make it much more natural. However, due to the bass boost, there’s still a lot of warmth and occasional muddiness, but nothing too serious.

Without ANC, vocals and instruments sound natural and nicely textured. There’s some clarity missing, but that’s treble’s fault.

Overall, not a lot to complain about the mids.

Treble: Good but could use more energy above 10kHz

High frequencies are decently sparkly, but most energy comes from a 6.5kHz spike. It adds presence to cymbals and vocals and avoids generating sibilance.

The dip at 10kHz calms the lower treble energy, but the next peak at 15.5kHz isn’t enough to clear up the highs. You could also say that cymbals sound a bit splashy at times.

Despite the messy tuning, Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 sound good, even in treble. There’s a good amount of detail if the bass isn’t too strong to mask them.

On the flip side, adding more energy above 11-12kHz would add clarity and air, which is somewhat missing, especially compared to more neutrally tuned earbuds.

The soundstage is on the smaller side, but the sound doesn’t feel trapped inside your head. You get a little more width than depth.

In contrast, imaging accurately places the sounds where they should be. There’s maybe slight blurriness in between the left/right channels, but a mild one.

What’s the conclusion?

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 deserve our recommendation for providing full (although sometimes too full) and natural sound with good clarity for under $50. While not perfect, the flaws at this price aren’t a dealbreaker.

Comfort & Fit

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 have a refined ergonomic shape that fits your ears like a glove. And while they don’t strike you as sports earbuds, they stay in your ears really well.

TWS1 Pro 2 shape reminds us of 1MORE Evo, premium true wireless earbuds with a gorgeous design and excellent comfort. A similar form means that Edifiers fit equally as comfy as the Evos.

I have zero complaints regarding comfort, at least with my ears. They perfectly mold my pinna, so no part presses against the skin. As a result, I could wear them for hours if I wanted to.

Packaging provides 4 pairs of oval silicone ear tips. Upon observation, there’s a significant size difference jumping from size M to L. Fortunately, M fits perfectly in my ears, even if I feel like they aren’t grabbing at all.

Speaking of grabbing your ears, TWS1 Pro 2 are surprisingly stable. Even during a headshaking test, they remain in my ears without notable changes in sound.

While I haven’t tried anything more extreme, I managed to make them sweaty and a bit waxy to test the fix during a normal workout. Surprisingly, they didn’t budge. Since earbuds lack ear fins or similar accessories, the stability is admirable.

Earbud’s surface is smooth, with a glossy finish on the inside to improve friction (and a more stable fit; at least, that’s how earphones achieve better stability).

The outer part has a matte finish that serves no particular purpose other than to grab them with your fingers a bit better.

Durability

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2, earbuds are the charging case, feel really sturdy and without visible weak points. The only thing to keep an eye on is the IP54 rating, which means dust and sweat resistance, not waterproofness.

From a price standpoint, TWS1 Pro 2 are made incredibly well. Earbuds feel solid and without wider gaps between the seams. It would be difficult to crack open accidentally.

Furthermore, earbuds are rated for an IP54, meaning two things:

• First, they can prevent small particles like fine sand from entering the enclosure.
• Second, they can resist sweating and light sprays of water.

You can wear them outdoors on dusty roads or in the middle of a light rainfall without an issue. However, it’s best not to bury them in fine dust or dunk them underwater.

Apart from accidentally dropping them in water, the glossy exterior might get scratched. But that’s a cosmetic issue, not a functional one.

Speaking of glossy, the charging case is made entirely of shiny plastic. It’s small and sleek, but the black version is so dark you could have difficulty finding it inside a backpack.

The case isn’t rated for an IPX rating, so it’s best to keep it away from water, sweat, and even moisture from sweaty clothes.

Regarding durability, though, it feels sturdy and without rattling noises. The lid shuts down firmly, with strong magnets preventing it from accidentally opening.

Battery

Battery test results: Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 have a below-average battery life of 4 hours and 40 minutes (with ANC enabled). Fortunately, there’s fast charging but no Qi wireless support.

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 Battery Comparison

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 are mediocre when it comes to battery duration. They aren’t hiding that in their marketing material; they even tell you lower playtime expectancy than what you can actually expect. Here’s the official data:

• 4 hours + 12 hours in the case (with ANC)
• 6 hours + 18 hours in the case (without ANC)

In our battery life test, where we leave headphones playing music at 50% (and enable ANC), we got:

• 4 hours and 40 minutes.

That puts them somewhere at the bottom of the list, with only a few models performing worse. Fortunately, ANC isn’t necessary to get the best sound quality, so you can only enable it when needed. Meaning that you can extend the battery life for at least a few hours.

Furthermore, earbuds support fast charging. It’s on the slower side, but it’s always good to know that:

• A 10-minute charge adds an hour’s worth of playtime.

On the flip side, they lack Qi wireless charging, which is okay for the price. They will fully charge from 0-100% in 1.5 hours using a USB-C jack.

Features

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 offer almost all features you typically find in premium Edifier models, except for customizable EQ. You even get a good mic quality, at least in a noise-free environment.

As stated at the beginning of this review, Edifier made cuts where they don’t ruin your user experience. Features are a great example since they work well enough to satisfy all the basic needs.

The Edifier Connect app offers most functionalities of the other Edifier models, like multiple ANC modes, ambient sound mode, and even Wind reduction mode. More on that under noise cancelling part of the review.

Furthermore, you can:

• Change controls
• Switch between EQ presets
• Set a Shutdown timer
• Activate the Game mode
• Listen to Soothing sounds

Controls

Within the app, you can tweak double-tap and triple-tap commands. Single-tap commands don’t work, probably to avoid ghosts or accidental touches.

The app lets you pick between commands for:

• Music playback
• ANC mode
• Game mode
• Voice assistant

However, you can’t change EQ presets via controls. Another thing worth mentioning is that only the left side can raise the volume, whereas the right side can only reduce it.

EQ presets

You can pick between 4 different EQ presets:

• Classic
• Pop
• Classical
• Rock

They mainly differ in bass boost, with the Classical one having the most natural tuning. Also, the Pop preset is almost identical to the Classic preset.

Soothing sounds

The soothing sounds feature offers 32 audio samples of nature, like rain and waves, to animals, like frogs by the pond. And even some ambiental tracks.

Audio samples’ length varies from 23 seconds to a few minutes. By default, when a sample ends, it starts playing another one. So, ensure you set the player on repeat if you only want to listen to one track.

Microphone quality

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 have a good call quality when speaking in a quiet room, with some audible distortion when speaking next to a busy road.

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 microphone test: (no noise test from 0:00-0:25, background noise test from O:25-0:47)

TWS1 Pro 2 show a great performance in quieter environments. Your voice sounds decently full and without distortion. You may appear slightly muffled, though.

Conversely, others will hear you somewhat distorted when walking down a noisy street. The noise reduction tech works really well, as you can hardly hear any background sounds.

Usually, this kind of aggressive reduction meant heavy distortion, whereas, in the case of Edifier TWS1 Pro 2, it’s relatively mild. But it’s there, nonetheless.

Therefore, try to avoid noisy places if you want others to understand you loud and clear.

Noise Isolation

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 have a pretty average passive noise isolation with poor mid-range but good high-frequency reduction. Playing music should help you mask outside noise.

Some earbuds are better at passive isolation than others. However, the ear canal fit of the Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 is too gentle and shallow to ensure excellent performance.

What you get is average passive isolation, which primarily reduces higher frequencies. Compared to similarly priced EarFun Air S, the latter are a hair better in the mids but worse in treble.

That level of isolation isn’t suitable for using TWS1 Pro 2 as some kind of hearing protection. You can also hear external noise pretty clearly. So, playing music or enabling ANC is a must if you don’t want outside distractions.

Noise Cancelling

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 have a decent active noise cancellation performance, which, despite poor measurement results, reduces noise in all places where it matters.

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 active noise cancelling test:

Earbuds have a decent-to-good ANC performance for the price. They can reduce bass notes to 11dB from 20Hz to 1kHz. Afterward, the passive isolation does the rest.

While this can’t entirely reduce loud engine noise, it can effectively block a fan or air conditioning.

That’s far from what more expensive earbuds can do, like Edifier W240TN or EarFun Air Pro 3, which cost $30 more. However, for $50, you won’t find better-performing buds.

You get 3 different active noise-cancelling modes:

• Low ANC, which reduces bass frequencies by 6-7dB.
• High ANC, which reduces bass frequencies by 11dB.
• Wind NR, which only reduces lower bass by 10dB, but does slightly better at frequencies above 8kHz.

What about ambient sound mode?

The ambient sound mode in Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 naturally boosts sound up to about 2.6kHz, which is standard performance, even in premium models.

By slightly over-boosting frequencies between 400Hz and 2.5kHz, you hear human speech clearer and louder.

Bluetooth

Edifier TWS1 Pro reach an indoor connection distance of 40 feet and only pack an SBC Bluetooth codec. However, despite the Game mode, the latency in games remains visible.

The Bluetooth performance of the Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 is identical to the Edifier W240TN. Both earbuds have exact features and connection ranges, leading us to believe they share similar Bluetooth 5.3 internals.

Regarding our indoor Bluetooth range test, TWS1 Pro 2 manage to reach:

• 40 feet (or 12 meters), with audio beginning to stutter right after passing the second brick wall.

That’s about average, considering all the Bluetooth headphones and earbuds we’ve tested in recent years. It should be enough to walk around your apartment without taking your phone.

Unfortunately, earbuds lack Bluetooth multipoint to connect two devices simultaneously.

How to pair Edifier TWS1 Pro 2?

1. They immediately go into pairing mode when you use them for the first time.
2. To pair them with a new device, put them in the case and hold the button on the side until you see the LED start flashing.

What Bluetooth codecs do they use?

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 only support the SBC Bluetooth codec. They even lack AAC, which is common, even in cheaper Bluetooth buds.

That said, sound-wise, you shouldn’t get inferior performance on Apple devices.

Is there an audio lag?

You can easily use Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 to watch videos on social media, YouTube, or movies on your smartphone or laptop.

On the flip side, the lag in mobile games is pretty apparent. Enabling Game mode helps but doesn’t entirely eliminate it. Meaning that they’re suitable for casual games but not competitive ones where audio cues are vital.

Should You Get Edifier TWS1 Pro2?

Despite some of the shortcomings and average performance in some areas, Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 are overall great ANC earbuds for merely $50.

Their best features are:

• Ergonomics & stability: Suitable for sports as they stick in ears well.
• Sound quality: They sound good out of the box, and you can adjust it with sound presets (in the app)
• Lots of features: Despite the low price, the app offers most features of other Edifier models.
• Cheap but not cheaply made. Value for money is through the roof.

On the other hand, they’re very light on battery life and might not entirely reduce loud rumble for frequent travelers.

Who are they for?

They’re perfect for budget-conscious students, commuters, or gym-goers.

How do Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 compare to the competition?

While they have a Game mode, the latency is still visible and unsuitable for competitive gaming.

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 alternatives

EarFun Air S

Edifier W240TN

EarFun Air Pro 3

What’s in the Box?

• Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 true wireless earbuds
• Charging case
• USB-C charging cable
• 4 pairs of silicone ear tips (XS, S, M, L)
• User manual

Specifications