Tech Reviews
The TW-E5A's are Yamaha's affordable in-ear option
They can play 26 hours of music playback
Yamaha released two new wireless in-ear’s last month - the high end TW-E7A which we reviewed. And the TW-E5A.
The TW-E5A are £50 cheaper than the TW-E7A. The main difference being the TW-E5A don’t have noise cancelling - so if you’re someone who doesn’t value that feature the TW-E5A make for a more affordable option.
Thanks to a feature Yamaha call Listening Care, the TW-E5A give a rich sound even at low levels. I only had to have them at about 60 per cent of the iPhone's volume to have a good listening level. The feature minimises the onslaught your ears would normally get if listening to stuff cranked right up. As well as Listening Care, the TW-E5A have have an Ambient Sound setting which lifts the noises around over your music if say you need to listen out for traffic.
There’s an app to accompany the earbuds which can help configure various settings plus with five sizes of tips and three sizes of silicone sleeves they can be made adaptable for any ear shape.
The charging case is good for three charges and with 6.5 hours of music per charge that means you can get 26 hours of music before having to recharge the case (which can then be charged wirelessly or through the accompanying USB A to C wire in around two hours).
The controls are split between the buttons on the right and left ears so without having to get your phone out your pocket you can turn the volume up or down, fast forward or rewind tracks, summon Siri or Google Assistant, make/take calls, switch between the three listening modes as well as stop and start whatever you’re listening to.
They work with any device that allows Bluetooth 5.0 so can link to your phone, laptop, Smart TV etc and support high definition playback via Qualcomm aptX™ and AAC codecs. The buds are waterproof compliant with IPX5 standards - but the charging case isn’t.
Finally, if you’re the sort of person who likes listening to music as you drift off to sleep you can set an auto-standby time so you don’t waste hours of battery after you’ve slipped into dreamland.
The TW-E5As are available in black or white here.
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