RHA Trueconnect - Carbon Black: True Wireless Earbuds with Bluetooth 5 & Sweatproof for Sport Activity

I usually don't like to listen music thru wireless headphones. Nowadays everything is wireless and numerous conference calls everyday made me reconsider my old thought... I want to try a wireless headset, not too expensive, but practical/functional - and of course, satisfying sound quality. After long search, I found RHA Trueconnect (old version) at very attractive price. I already have a wired earphones from RHA (CL750), and love its sound. So I give it a try for my new adventure - wireless sound world. Setting: it is so easy and simple. Once you set up, it will be automatically connected thanks to quick pairing. Only drawback is one quick pairing at a time - I need to unpair one device and pair other manually, not thru quick pairing. I could not find a manual explaining how to pair and switch multiple devices. Sound (and Fit): no complaints here. It has very balanced sound - not to tilted towards low or high, which I really like. Provided Comply Foam Tips are awesome (CL750 also provided these) - good fit/sound isolation/comfortable. Call quality is also good - clean and crisp. However, definitely mic quality from wired headset would be more crisp (bluetooth mic with noise cancelling feature has very distinctive sound - kind of echoey (is this actually a word??). Connection: relatively acceptable - good coverage (placing my phone in one room, and able to work around other rooms). Some unstable connection at certain spots of our house and yard - probably too many wireless devices sending a ping. Strangely, there was some disconnection when I laid down for ground workout, nothing major, but more unstable bluetooth connection... For work-from-home applications, it worked well - connection-wise and sound quality-wise. There is one thing I could not figure out yet - during the video conference calls (zoom/skype/team), only right earbud is active: it seems I have a mono hand's free device in my right ear. After each call, I checked both earbuds whether they were working, and both worked well playing music in stereo. I was unable to find instructions how to make stereo during conference call. If anyone has any idea, please share tips. Battery Life: once fully charged (both earbuds and case), I was able to use a week (3-4 hours a day) w/o charge. It is good enough for me. Bottomline: it has RHA sound (very balanced), comfortable tips, and noise-canceling feature. Most of all, price was right for me to choose RHA Trueconnect over other fantastic true wireless earbuds. If you are looking for a TWE at price range of $30-40 and want to use it for various things (not just listening music, but conference calling), this would be a good choice...

***EDITED - 12/3*** I think I've given these earbuds a fair shot, but I have to return them. They are too expensive to not work as intended. I need earbuds for my commute, which means being able to keep my phone in my pocket, wear a jacket and be able to listen to music. I have had some success listening while my phone is in my right chest pocket... but today was the last straw. I wore a jacket that didn't have a right chest pocket - and it wouldn't stay connected in any other pocket (light jacket or jeans). These earbuds CANNOT maintain a solid connection - the left earbud is nearly worthless, and right has started to struggle as well. I've tried clearing my bluetooth cache at the recommendation of RHA - but it doesn't help. If you plan on using these while home or sitting in your office, sure they'll work fine. If you need to leave the house, steer clear. ***EDITED - 11/27*** Connection: Had take a few stars away, and warn all to avoid these headphones for now... I'm having a terribly inconsistent time with keeping these connected to my phone - which is the most important feature of Bluetooth headphones. Otherwise they are just expensive earplugs. I can't isolate why I'm having issues. Whenever I wear these with my parka I keep my phone in my right chest pocket because I thought my jacket was the problem. It seemed to help (albeit a little annoying) - but today my left earbud just couldn't stay connected and eventually the right one started cutting in and out too. It seemed like any little movement of my head interrupted my music. Its not the first time I've had issues, but it was the most severe. I even took my phone out of my pocket and held it in front of my face and they still couldn't stay connected. In ideal conditions (my home or my office) the connection tends to be rock solid. The moment I step outside its a crap shoot. Sometimes they're perfect, other times I'm so frustrated I just put them away and don't listen to anything. This is a problem because 75% of the time I wear them outside. If this is a hardware issue, I think you should avoid them completely. If it's a software issue... still avoid them but keep your eyes open for updates. There is currently NO WAY for RHA to update these. There is no app and no way to update with a computer. All my other points stand, but the connection problems are now ruining the experience. ***Original - 11/14*** These were delivered well ahead of schedule and my opinions all positive so, with some questions here and there. Build: My biggest positive. Love the look and feel of both the buds and charging case. The buds do have that airpod wing sticking out, but its much more restrained. Charging case is solid and feels premium with magnets (I think) holding the buds in place, USB C for charging, and a metal hinge that is satisfying to open/close. Love the matte black! Features: Missing the ability to have the music auto pause when you remove an earbud, but its fairly easy to pause/play with a quick tap. Single button controls are responsive when you remember them (right ear = volume, left ear = tracks) - and the assistant features work great (google assistant). Hoping they add an app for support with tuning/updates. Nothing out there right now. Fit: Great for me. I'm in the camp where apple earbuds/airpods just don't stay in my ear. I need earbuds that physically go in the canal - and the fact that these come with Comply foam tips is amazing. I've felt no movement when they're in, and they do a decent enough job of blocking ambient noise. Battery: Good so far but will need more testing. I have been using these for commutes which is rarely longer than 45mins, but when I get to work/home they seem to still have plenty charge (almost 90%). Connection: So here's my biggest fault so far. I was hoping bluetooth 5 (with my Pixel 3) would have been strong... but I have had quite a few cutouts. I had my phone in my pants pocket, had a fairly bulky parka (cold day in NYC), and no hat, but when I turned my head away from my phone music will start to cut out. I can move my phone closer (chest pocket) and it helps, but I'll need more testing to see what the limits are. On the positive side there is NO noticeable lag while watching video on YouTube. Sound: Solid to strong. You'll never replicate good wired buds range and volume, but I think they're great. Have seen reviews where they claim they are bass heavy, but it isn't noticeable to me. I've tried various beats and these are much more restrained. I've been impressed with volume, something I was worried about with bluetooth, but never felt the need to max them out even on noisy subway platforms. Overall: Love them so far. The cutouts are disappointing, but they haven't ruined the experience. Great look, feel, sound and fit. Fingers crossed for an app from RHA.

Got it for $50 on sale, and it was worth every single penny. I’d say $100 is probably fair. The sound is “really good”, but I don’t feel that it’s necessary to go into a full-on audiophile analyzation of it. There is a newer version that apparently improves on these all around, so if you’re looking for a pair to use heavily, and maybe don’t have another pair of headphones/earbuds for critical listening, I’d recommend paying the bit extra to grab those instead. The basics of what I think people will care about who are contemplating purchasing these: Bass is surprisingly punchy, but not overpowering. I’d almost call it ‘just right.’ Mids are sufficiently clear. Highs are fine. Not an incredible amount of “air”, but I don’t think this target market cares about that very much. Also, they’re Bluetooth, and Bluetooth sucks. It just does. You want fantastic sound? Go wired. Some people complain about the weight of these and act like they’re tugging their earlobes down to the ground. I had no such problems whatsoever. Some people complain about a right-left sync issue, and I believe that is a legitimate QC issue, but I did not experience this. Battery life could be better. Look to the successor model if you care about that. One unexpected benefit of this product is that the microphone works wonderfully for phone calls. Some people have told me they can hear me BETTER over these earbuds than if I were speaking into the phone directly. And my phone is a top-tier phone. Conclusion: if you can get them below $75, don’t think twice.

These headphones are honestly great! I've seen some reviews with complaints on connectivity issues and I've had no problems in the two weeks that I've had them. Literally not one problem I can walk around my room and leave my phone stationary with no connectivity issues let alone it being in my pocket. I have an iPhone XR a 4 series Apple Watch and a 2018 MacBook Air which all obviously have most of the latest Bluetooth technology so that may be a factor. The headphones connect to all three of them with no issues. I can even leave the left headphone in the case and the right headphone will change to mono audio and still connect and function. Most people who are having connectivity issues probably have an android or outdated tech, to begin with. They currently do not switch automatically to different devices but the simple 4-second press of either bud will allow you to connect to another device. This is in my opinion, not a problem. The feel very premium they have a great weight so you know that they are there but they certainly don't weigh you down at all. The case is the same way and the USB-c charging is super quick. When placing the headphones in the case the small magnetic pull assures that they are indeed connected and charging in the case. The headphones come with a great variation of tips including foam ones that practically cancel out all outside noise. The only downfall that bothers me is that there are no cases for the case to possibly clip it to a bag or belt loop. Overall the sound quality is pretty good a bit more satisfying than the Airpods in my opinion due to the RHA TrueConnects low end and base. Most importantly these bad boys with the foam tips just don't budge you would have to intentionally shake them from your ears which was a big problem for me with the Airpods. In the end, I HIGHLY recommend this buy.

I really wanted to love these - Comfort 4/5 Fit 5/5 Sound quality 5/5 (Comparable to my Shure SE425's) Battery Life 4/5 Controls 4/5 Blue tooth connectivity, absolute 0. When I got the first pair, I was excited they were charged, opened the box, found the right foam insert and headed to the gym. Before I backed out, I quickly paired the headsets and drove with them in to my workout. As soon as I parked, I found the current DJ podcast to listen to during my workout and headed in. Sound quality was awesome as I strolled through the parking lot. Set the volume almost all the way up, they do get fairly loud for a true wireless, and walked in. As soon as I encountered other people, the left ear started cutting in and out. When I was in the mix of people, non-stop interference in the left ear, probably 3 - 5 times a minute, Whether I stayed still or moved, the interference was not stopping at all. When I finished I decided to try re-pairing, restarting the phone (iPhone Xs) and every other idea to make these work. The next day I went to do cardio hoping my efforts fixed the issue to no avail. Frustrated, I reread the reviews that had claimed these were the superior item out and decided I must have gotten a defective item. I received the new item last night, tested them all around the house and they worked perfectly! I was excited to finally have the true wireless working. Unfortunately, as soon as I walked into the gym, the same thing happened! Non-stop interference and cut outs in the left ear. Tried a re-pair again with no luck. Reluctantly, got on amazon to return these as well. Very disappointed, hope they can figure out the issue and fix it with an update or new model, but I'm going to try the Jabra active elite now.

Despite the misinformation around the web, TrueConnect does support AAC codec. My iPhone 8 automatically selects AAC when connecting to TrueConnect (confirmed via the developer console); my MacBook Pro initially opted for the SBC codec but I manually switched it to AAC via the Bluetooth Explorer (you only have to set it once). And unlike a few other reviewers' experience, the bluetooth connection between these three devices has been rock solid for me. The only hiccup I had was when pairing it for the first time with the MacBook, the left earbud disconnected twice briefly before coming back on; since then I had no connection issues whether close to the iPhone/Mac or several meters away. In my opinion TrueConnect is currently the best true wireless earbuds in this price range: good audio fidelity and noise isolation, comfortable yet secure fit, crisp and responsive controls, IPX5 water resistance, long battery life, and an understated, refined look. Whether the bluetooth connection would be reliable for you may depend on your device's hardware design and the OS version it is running.

Man I wanted to fall in love with these, and I nearly did - so much so that it's still killing me to send them back, because they're THAT close! To be fair, I am going to try one more pair to see if that makes any difference and will update my review if so, but given the other reviews here my odds don't appear great. On initial impression, the are too many pros to name with these things - the case quality, battery life, USB-C, build feel (combination of light weight but durable feeling build), sound quality, comfort and fit in the ear...the list goes on and on. However, these headphones have two big issues. First, (and the lesser of the two), the buttons feel like mush - they are very poor and cheap feeling. To boot, they're not never similar between the two earbuds. On a scale of 1-10 , the right earbud has a clickiness/tactile feeling of maybe a 6.5, and the left feels like a 3. Half the time I can't even tell whether I've actually clicked the button or not, which is really stupid. And second, (this one being the FAR bigger of the two), the left earbud consistently (every couple/few minutes) will stutter and cut our momentarily for absolutely no reason at all (even with BT 5.0 devices such as the Note 9). This is an extremely common theme among these things. Now it's entirely possible that (another) firmware update RHA releases in the future could fix this, but $170 is too much to bank on nothing more than a "hope". Furthermore, the fact that RHA has NO mobile app to update the firmware yourself is so completely unacceptable in 2018 that it's mind numbing. To get a firmware update, your only option is literally to send it back to them (which ends up going out of the country if you are in the US) and waiting weeks for it to come back, with the issue maybe being fixed or maybe not - you simply don't know. The bottom line is that such consistent connection issues make a product like this near useless, and the whole "ship it in to get any possibly available firmware updates" is simply adding insult to injury. All in all, this is totally unacceptable for such an expensive product from such a known name. RHA needs to get their stuff together and get the horse back in front of the cart by at LEAST releasing a way for users to update their devices firmware without having to ship it in - and if/when that happens and some more updates come along then these might end up being worth a harder look. For now, steer clear.

The build quality of the earbuds and case is excellent. I'm no audiophile, but the sound quality is very solid. I also never ran out of battery during several days of use. Unfortunately, I had to return mine because of persistent connection problems. Initial setup is simple enough, but they were essentially unusable with my first generation pixel. If the phone was more than a foot from my face, the connection would drop out at least once a second in each of the earbuds, and the earbud audio would get out of sync between right and left. On the other hand, they worked perfectly with both my windows laptop and a friends iPhone XR. The connection to both of those devices was very solid and worked several feet away. I would absolutely recommend these if you have a device you know they will work with. If you're unsure about compatibility, be prepared to return them or look elsewhere.