Edifier TWS NB2 Review

The Edifier TWS NB2 are the company’s offering for a pair of true wireless earbuds that feature active noise cancelling for under £100. The earbuds also feature an IP54 dust and water resistance rating as well as support for the Edifier Connect mobile app.

Video Review

Design

Edifier TWS NB2

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The Edifier TWS NB2 come in both white and black colour options, for this review I have the black variant of the earbuds. Regardless of colour choice, the earbuds have a silver stem which gives the earbuds a premium and metallic look which I think looks very sleek.

Despite the metallic look of the stem, the earbuds feature a plastic construction which helps them be very lightweight. Throughout the whole design, the plastic has a matte finish which helps hide scratches or scuffs which could show up from regular use – so they should look great for a long time. The earbuds also have a very angular design, with multiple flat sides along the stem of each earbud, this is certainly a different design in comparison to earbuds that I’ve looked at in the past, but I like the look of it and find it refreshing.

The stems of the earbuds feature some grills for microphones as well as some Edifier branding. The stems are also home to the touch controls which can be used for track controls, adjusting the listening mode as well as call controls but unfortunately, they do not support volume control adjustments directly from the earbuds.

The part of the earbud that actually sits within the ear has a rounded shape, giving it a comfortable and secure fit within the ear. The underside has ear detection sensors that will automatically play and pause what you are listening to when the earbuds and placed within and taken out of your ear. There are also charging pins on the underside of the stem which attach securely in the charging case.

I found the earbuds comfortable to wear thanks to their lightweight build and comfortable fit that sits well within the ear, with these earbuds you don’t have to push them in far to get a good fit. The rubber ear tips also fit well within the ear and there are a couple of other sizes included within the rather fancy box if you wish to use a larger or smaller size.

Overall, I really like the design of these earbuds, the angular design may not be for everyone, but I quite like how Edifier has taken a different approach with the design of these earbuds and I also like that there is an, albeit limited, selection of colours to choose from.

Charging Case

The charging case for the TWS NB2 earbuds is fairly compact and lightweight. The case has a clamshell design that clicks into place. The case is constructed from plastic, but the exterior has a texture that makes it feel like leather, complementing the metallic look of the earbuds and providing a premium look and feel. The exterior has an Edifier icon on the top and a USB Type-C charging port and LED indicator light on the back.

Sound Quality

The TWS NB2 earbuds contain 10mm drivers which feature a composite diaphragm that provides a well-balanced sound. The bass, mid and treble frequencies all sit well alongside one another and offer great clarity throughout the audio spectrum.

If you’re a frequent viewer or reader of Richard Tech reviews, you’ll know that I often listen to electronic music – and these earbuds sound great for it. Listening to other genres such as indie and pop, the earbuds also provide a good listening experience. The bass is punchy when needed but does not overwhelm everything else, it is well controlled and sits well within the mix, the mid and treble provide good clarity for vocals and percussion instruments and I did not notice any sibilance on the high-end during my testing.

The stereo separation within the earbuds is very good and provides an immersive and close-up listening experience which sounds great on songs that make use of stereo panning, not only making the earbuds great for feeling in the centre of your music but also makes them great for watching TV shows or movies. The earbuds also offer good volume, I found my comfortable and preferable listening level to be around 50%.

Overall, I really like how these earbuds sound. The general sound is well balanced and should work well for a range of different music genres but when the bass is needed it is present, which not only makes these earbuds great for general use but also handy for exercise or the gym.

Microphone Quality

The microphone quality of the TWS NB2 is okay, it’s not the clearest microphone and therefore sounds slightly muffled but it picks up my voice to an audible volume and would make these usable for phone calls or making voice memos. The microphones also feature noise cancellation, and it works well at cutting out background noise.

Features

The TWS NB2 feature Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity which utilises the SBC audio codec. Earbud pairing works well and the earbuds can be seamlessly switched in and out of the case without losing connection to your device and music will automatically start playing as soon as you put the earbuds in your ears. The earbuds also feature an IP54 dust and water resistance rating which makes them great for use during exercise as they’ll be able to withstand a bit of sweat.

The earbuds feature active noise cancellation functionality, with provides a hybrid ANC mode and ambient sound mode on the earbuds. The ANC is okay, but not the best I’ve tried on a pair of true wireless earbuds, my personal pick would go to the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro. I found the ANC to work well at cutting out low pitched noise around me, but it struggled with cancelling out higher pitched noise, although it would reduce it. This makes these a nice pair of earbuds that also happen to have ANC, but if you’re looking for ANC earbuds I’d recommend saving up a little extra for the Soundcore offering.

The earbuds also feature an ambient sound mode that allows me to clearly hear the environment around me but there is a noticeable amount of white noise by having this mode enabled. The mode is handy if you are out and about and need to be aware of your surroundings, but if you need to have a conversation with someone, it’s probably easier to take out the earbuds.

In addition to these features and other features previously mentioned in the review, the earbuds also support Edifier’s Connect app, which allows you to control earbud functions directly from your mobile device, allowing you to avoid the touch controls if you wish. The app works well and allows you to toggle a range of settings for the earbuds such as touch control sensitivity and mode narration volume. The app unfortunately does not support any EQ customisation, but this is a feature that I would like to see added in the future so listeners could customise the earbud’s sound profile. The earbuds also support a low-latency gaming mode which can provide as low as 80ms latency.

Battery Life

The TWS NB2 feature up to 7 hours of listening with ANC on a single charge, which can be extended to an additional 18 hours by the charging case. If you choose to turn ANC off and listen in normal mode, you’ll get a couple of extra hours of listening time, with 9 on a single charge and an additional 23 hours from the charging case.

The earbuds will take around an hour and a half to fully charge in the charging case, with the charging case taking around 2 hours to fully charge up. It would be nice to see some fast-charging capability in these earbuds or the charging case as they are a mid-range option. The case is charged over USB Type-C.

Conclusion

So, to conclude. The Edifier TWS NB2 are a solid offering for a pair of true wireless earbuds that also feature active noise cancelling. I do wish that the ANC was a little more effective, if you’re specifically looking for ANC earbuds and are willing to save up and spend a little more, I would recommend the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro, but these do the job of offering basic ANC functionality at a more accessible price point.

Sound-wise the earbuds sound great, offering great sound quality that provides a fantastic listening experience for a range of genres and use-cases and, of course, let’s not forget that stylish looking geometric design and textured charging case.

The Edifier TWS NB2 true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation are available to purchase on Amazon.