In Summary
- Although there are a number of TWS available in the price range of Rs 2,000, these often come with compromises, especially on the sound front.
- The Edifier X3, however, deliver very good sound and come with aptX support, dust and water-resistance as well as a surprisingly compact form factor and decent battery life.
- They are not perfect but if it is the good sound you want, these are easily the best TWS you can get for about Rs 2,000.
- Launched at Rs 2,990, the Edifier X3 are now available at select portals for Rs 2,090.
They have no wires but when it comes to truly wireless earphones (TWS), it seems that great audio-only comes with big prices. Sure, you can get a TWS from a well-known brand for as low as Rs 1,499 or even for below that, but do not go expecting very good sound, controls, or battery life from them – that low price tag does mean compromises. And that’s okay in our book – after all, there’s only so much you can get for a particular price.
Competitive at Rs 2,990, super at Rs 2,090
This is why we are kinda sorta excited about the Edifier X3 TWS. These were launched last year at a price of around Rs 2,990, and were a very good proposition even at that price point, although they faced competition from the very good OnePlus Buds Z and TWS offerings from Skullcandy, Realme, and Xiaomi, among others. However, the TWS have recently got a very big price cut of almost a third and are now available at Rs 2,090 on Amazon India and TataCliq.
And at that price, we can confidently say that these are perhaps the best TWS you can get for around Rs 2,000, and are streets ahead of not just the Redmi Earbuds S and the Realme Buds Q, but are now a very good alternative even to more expensive options like the OnePlus Buds Z and the Mi True Wireless Earphones 2C. They are well designed and among the tiniest we have seen in the budget TWS segment and even the charging case is surprisingly small. They are made of plastic but come with an IP55 rating for dust and water, which makes them reasonably gym-friendly. You also get eartips of different sizes in the box – these do fit very snugly though, providing very good noise isolation. The case has a matte finish and these do not look like low-cost TWS at all from any angle – they look sleek and minimalistic.
Scoring on sound
The big thing about them is the sound quality. These TWS come with support for the aptX codec which is very rare at this price point. And they do sound very good indeed. The bass is a little pronounced but it does not dissolve other frequencies, so you will be able to hear vocals and other instruments very well indeed. They are impressively loud too, without distortion, which is again kinda not very common at this price point. There is no dedicated app, but we had no problems connecting the buds to our device, and they come with Bluetooth 5.0.
Then there is the battery life. You will get close to six hours on the buds and another eighteen hours from the case. That is again pretty good for a price point that is close to Rs 2,000.
Not perfect, but the best for the price
That does not mean that there are no issues with the Edifier X3. You will not get the greatest call quality, and honestly, we really think this is where budget TWS players need to up their game. Then there is the fact that the carrying case cum charging box comes with a micro USB port, which seems out of sync with current times (some of our sources say that there is a USB Type C version but the ones on sale seem to be micro USB ones). They tell us the box and buds get charged in about two hours, which again is not too bad, considering the price.
Then there are the gesture-based controls, which can be a little difficult when you consider how small the buds are, but then again, they tend to work well once you get the hang of them. Our biggest gripe is the fact that the case does not have a battery level indicator, so you do not know just how much battery is left – you need to keep checking on your phone.
At Rs 2,990, they had a lot of competition, but at Rs 2,090, the Edifier X3 are the best TWS you can get for a budget price, and in our opinion, the best in terms of audio quality (which gets compromised all too often).
If you want to get rid of wires and still get decent audio quality, these are the best you can get for around Rs 2,000! They definitely beat others in terms of design and sound quality.
Buy Edifier X3 on Amazon
Buy Edifier X3 on Tata Cliq
(Note: the price mentioned was available at the time of writing this article. It might be withdrawn in the coming days)