- Cheryl Tan
Best True Wireless Earbuds Comparison 2019
Updated: Aug 19, 2021
Written by Cheryl Tan
There are so many true wireless earbuds on the market right now, and we’ve come together with 7 suggestions that can fit almost everybody’s needs and wants. In this article, we give you a brief roundup of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless, Klipsch T5 True Wireless, Sony WF-1000XM3, Creative Outlier Gold and more.
1. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless
These are the most expensive pair in our comparison at S$469, but the audio quality is one of the best, with a neutral signature, clear details and good bass and highs.
The downside is that the earbuds only hold 4 hours of charge and the case only has an additional 8 hours for a total of 12 hours, which really isn’t acceptable for something that costs this much.
Here’s our full review.
2. Klipsch T5 True Wireless
The Klipsch T5 is the sleekest looking with a full-metal case at S$349. Battery life is decent, with 8 hours in the earbuds and 32 hours total. The earbuds were a bit softer than the others, resulting in me having to raise the volume on my playback device to attain the same sound as the others.
The buds are also bulky, which could be an issue while exercising. They have the signature Klipsch sound with reference tuning and brighter highs. I’m not the biggest fan of these, but they’re good for people who want to hear every detail in their music.
Here’s our full review.
3. Sony WF-1000XM3
This is my favourite pair of the bunch, with a great balance between sound quality, battery life and features. There’s active noise cancelling in these, with a noise cancelling chip that’s an improved version of the one found in the WH-1000XM3 headphones.
The earbuds have 6 hours of battery life with ANC on and 8 hours with ANC off. Throwing the case into the equation, there’s a total of 24 hours with the ANC on and 32 hours with the ANC off, which is on par with the Klipsch true wireless. There’s also the Quick Attention feature inherited from the WH-1000XM3 headphones.
But the sound quality is what I value most, with great bass, excellent separation, a wide soundstage and accurate imaging. If the Sony signature sound isn’t what you enjoy, there’s also an equaliser in the Sony app that lets you control how your music sounds.
Here’s our full review.
4. JBL Tune 120TWS
For something that’s a little more affordable, there’s the JBL Tune 120TWS at S$149. The earphones use a 5.8mm dynamic driver for additional bass.
There’s a good amount of bass but it’s not as detailed as I would have liked. Mids are more prominent but the vocals get a bit suppressed. Soundstage is a little tighter and the imaging isn’t 100% accurate.
Battery life is a bit better, with 4 hours in the earbuds and an additional 12 hours in the case for 16 hours total. The biggest issue for me is JBL’s use of the Micro-USB charging port instead of a USB-C one.
Here’s our full review.
5. Creative Outlier Gold
What’s interesting about the Creative Outlier Gold is the implementation of Creative’s Super X-Fi technology, which makes it sound as if you’re listening to music through speakers and not earphones. Coming at S$139, this is definitely an affordable option.
Battery life is great though, with 14 hours in the earbuds and an additional 25 hours in the case for a total of 39 hours. I preferred listening to my music with Super X-Fi turned off since I didn’t quite enjoy the reduced bass and losing the detail and sparkle in the highs with the technology turned on.
But it’s definitely an interesting experience listening to music with such a wide soundstage, and I feel it might be a better experience with the Creative products that use the hardware chip to achieve this rather than the Creative Outlier Gold’s software. Stay tuned for our review later this week.
6. Audio Technica ATH-CKS5TW
These earphones are currently not available in Singapore until 19th August, but I’m really impressed by them. At S$218, these punch above their weight with a massive amount of bass, great sound and the best battery life I’ve seen so far.
The sound quality is good, but vocals and strings tend to get a little lost at higher volumes when the bass takes over, but there’s no loss of detail in those regions.
With 15 hours of battery for the earbuds and an additional 30 hours in the case, the Audio Technica ATH-CKS5TW is the longest lasting true wireless earphones on the market as far as I know. Stay tuned for our review.
7. Apple Powerbeats Pro
Then there’s the Powerbeats Pro for the exercise enthusiasts. It’s easily paired to iPhones and sits extremely securely in the ears thanks to the over-ear earhooks. The hooks might be a bit of a hassle to put on for bespectacled users, however.
These have the Beats signature sound with enhanced bass and brighter highs. The bass is fine at higher volumes but could get too aggressive if the volume is turned up.
There’s 9 hours of battery life in the earbuds which is fine, since not many people would exercise for more than 4 or 5 hours at a go. The microphones are good, with excellent call quality.
That’s our quick roundup of the true wireless earphones available as of August 2019, and we’ll be doing individual reviews for the Creative Outlier Gold and Audio Technica ATH-CKS5TW soon, so stay tuned for those!