Hey guys, it’s Greg with Apple Explained and today we’re going to take a look at
these ESR True Wireless Earbuds.
They’re going for $59.99 on Amazon in black or white, and we’ll be looking at the black
model.
Now I’m a huge fan of Apples AirPods but when I’m in a noisy environment like the
gym I want in-ear headphones that isolate my music from outside noise.
So I was looking around for completely wireless in-ear headphones and found these earbuds
from a company called ESR.
They were actually generous enough to sponsor this video so I could spend time giving you
guys a detailed look at the experience these earbuds deliver.
So when you order these things they’ll show up in this sleek black box, and on the front
you’ll find the ESR company name and a little pop of color at the top there.
There isn’t anything printed on the sides of the box, and the backside features some
additional information about the product like its model number and battery capacity which
is 400mAh.
You can also find ESRs contact information here in case you have any trouble using the
product.
So the box is sealed by two pieces of tape on either side which I’ve already broken,
and the lid lifts off the same way as most Apple products.
Now once we’re inside we’re greeted by a quick-start guide that’s made from a nice
frosted paper stock and helps us begin using these earbuds as quickly as possible.
Now there’s also a more detailed user manual that’s included and we’ll get to that
in a minute.
So right off the bat we’re presented with the wireless earbuds themselves, along with
their charging case and three sizes of soft silicon ear tips.
I like how ESR chose to package the earbuds independent of their charging case since it
gives us instant access to the product we purchased.
Now before we look at these earbuds and their charging case in detail, let’s see what
else is in the box.
So after removing this foam insert we find what almost seems like a hidden compartment
that contains a lot of helpful extras like the detailed user manual I mentioned earlier,
an extra set of silicon ear tips in case you lose one of the others, a quality control
certificate, a power cable which charges the case, and a small fiber carrying pouch.
As for the earbuds themselves, they have a very sleek and attractive design but the left
earbud has certain capabilities that the right does not.
That’s why ESR calls the left one the master earbud, and the right one the partner earbud.
So the master earbud has a microphone that you’ll use for calls and it’s the only
earbud that’ll play audio during a call, so don’t be surprised when the right earbud
goes silent.
ESR said the reason for this is because audio from a phone call is in mono rather than stereo,
although AirPods don’t have this issue so I’m not sure what’s going on there.
But both earbuds have a large multifunction button on the outside that does a whole lot
of things like controlling music and answer calls, but like most third party earbuds one
thing it doesn’t do is activate Siri.
Something else you’ll find on these earbuds is a built-in LED indicator that flashes blue
and green while pairing and shines a solid green while charging inside their case.
And you’ll know the earbuds are fully charged when their LED lights turn off.
You can also see the electronic contacts on the other side of the earbuds and those automatically
connect with two charging pins when dropped in their case.
And I want to mention that just like the AirPods, these earbuds cannot be charged individually.
So don’t lose the case or else your earbuds will become useless.
Now the last thing I want to point out on these earbuds are the symbols they use to
distinguish between left and right.
The left earbud is marked with a black L inside a white shape, while the right earbud is marked
with a white R inside of a black shape.
This color contrast really helped me figure out the correct earbud orientation without
becoming frustrating.
I should also mention that the symbols are located on the outside of each earbud which
means they won’t begin to fade like they did on my AirPods, since they won’t come
into contact with your skin.
Now let’s take about the charging case.
It has a smooth aluminum finish with plastic caps on the top and bottom, along with a narrow
opening here that actually allows you to monitor the earbuds LED lights so you know when they’re
fully charged.
On top we have a mini-USB charging port and the usual regulatory approvals on the back.
Now this is the first time I’ve seen a pair of wireless earbuds use a cylindrical case
but I actually like the design for a few reasons.
It fits really comfortably in my pocket since there isn’t any edges jabbing into my thigh
like what usually happens with rectangular cases.
I also like how it sits upright on my desk and I think the way it opens is pretty cool.
So around the top of the case we can find two little finger scoops and we’ll use those
to grip the top and slide it out.
It’s a very smooth action that feels satisfying and quite solid which came as a surprise considering
the affordable price of these things.
Now taking the earbuds out of their case is pretty effortless especially compared to the
first time I tried taking the AirPods out of their case.
And just like the AirPods this charging case holds the earbuds in magnetically which makes
the experience of inserting and removing them very easy and satisfying.
So I mentioned the mini-USB port on top but there’s also a hidden LED that appears when
the case is charging and disappears once it’s fully charged.
Now lets go through the process of setting up these earbuds and pairing them to a device.
When you open the box for the first time the earbuds may not have much power, so the first
thing you’ll want to do is put them inside the case and give them some time to charge
up.
I have an iPhone 7 here but these are bluetooth earbuds which means they’re compatible with
any bluetooth enabled device.
So once the earbuds have some power, go ahead and take them out of the case.
Once removed, they’ll automatically pair with each other and enter bluetooth pairing
mode to be discovered by a device.
At this point you should see ESR T1 appear in your bluetooth settings and tapping it
will connect the earbuds.
This setup process is unbelievably simple considering we’re dealing with two separate
earbuds that have to keep in sync with each other as well as stay connected to a device.
I’ve had to set up similar bluetooth earphones that have about five different steps just
to synchronize the left and right earbud correctly.
So I really appreciate how automated and straightforward the process is with these.
Now putting them in your ears is pretty easy, although I put them in upside down the first
time I tried.
Just keep in mind that the body of the earbud should be pointing up towards the top of your
head and after a couple twists the earpiece should fit in nice and snug.
Now both earbuds are fitted with a medium-sized silicon ear tip by default, but you should
experiment with the other ear tips that are included since a smaller or larger size might
feel more comfortable in your ear.
So now that we’ve paired these things with our device and got them nice and comfortable
in our ears, it’s time to play some music and hear how they sound.
I’m going to hold these earbuds as close to the microphone as possible and blast some
music, but keep in mind that these are in-ear headphones so this audio clip won’t do it
much justice at all.
[audio]
So that clip may not have sounded like much, but these earbuds deliver some impressive
sound for their size and price point.
Their sound quality is much better than AirPods and the noise isolation is a game changer.
I really hope Apple makes in-ear AirPods because it’s hard going back to them after getting
used to noise-isolating earbuds like these.
If you’re not sure what noise-isolating means, it’s basically what happens when
you wear earplugs.
Earbuds with noise-isolation are designed to create a seal in your ear canal that prevents
outside noise from leaking into your ear and drowning out your music.
So when I’m wearing these ESR earbuds at the gym I can hear the lows and highs of every
song crystal-clear since the noisy environment isn’t overtaking my music.
Now I didn’t experience any interruptions or intermittent disconnections with these
earbuds and that’s probably because they’re equipped with the latest bluetooth 4.2 technology
which also gives it a connection range of about 32 feet without barriers.
And battery life hasn’t been an issue for me so far, since I’ve been using them for
an hour or two at a time before putting them back in their case.
Now these do get two and a half hours of battery life per charge and the case itself supplies
three additional recharges to the earbuds.
So playing high-quality sound-isolating music is definitely something these earbuds do well,
but they fall a little short when it comes to phone calls.
And part of the reason is because of what I mentioned earlier about call audio only
playing through the left earbud.
At first I thought the right earbud was disconnected or something, but it says in the manual that
“all calls will be heard in the left earphone only.”
And yeah that’s kind’ve a bummer since it’s a bit harder to hear the person on
the other end, but what makes matters worse is that the microphone is so far from your
mouth that it doesn’t pick up your voice clearly.
And that’s probably because of its pill-shaped design since it doesn’t have a stem pointed
at your mouth like the AirPods.
When I tested this for myself I was told my voice sounded distant and quiet on the other
end.
So is it possible to use these earbuds for phone calls?
Yes, it’s definitely doable.
But the experience is lacking especially when compared to how great music playback is on
these earbuds.
Now I think it’s important to take a step back and put these earbuds in perspective.
These things are unbelievably affordable at sixty dollars, which is over two-and-a-half
times cheaper than the $159 AirPods.
And if you compare both of these products, you’ll get an idea of how much value the
ESR earbuds offer.
They have better sound quality than AirPods, they offer noise-isolation, they have a similar
magnetic charging case that may not provide the same battery life as the AirPods, but
it has more than enough power for the average user.
And while it does have some weak points like call quality, it can easily be overlooked
because of its affordable price and great performance in other areas.
If you want to check out these ERS True Wireless Earbuds yourself, just click the link in the
description, and that’ll take you to Amazon.
So thats it guys, I hope you enjoyed this unboxing and review of the ESR True Wireless
Earbuds, for more videos like this, don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.