If you want ultra-light in-ear buds that stay comfortable hour after hour and are easy to carry on a long day by the water, choose TOZO A1; if you need serious noise cancellation, a waterproof build that shrugs off splashes, and battery that outlasts the trip, choose TOZO NC9. I'm framing this whole comparison around one very specific buyer: someone heading out for fishing, where you want your hands free, your music or podcast playing, and your earbuds to survive a bit of spray and grit.
• TOZO A1's biggest strength: It's about as light and unobtrusive as in-ear buds get — 3.7 g per earbud, a low-profile shape, and up to 7 hours per charge (32 hours with the case).
• TOZO A1's biggest trade-off: No active noise cancellation. It relies on passive sound isolation, so wind, water and chatter still get through.
• TOZO NC9's biggest strength: Hybrid active noise cancelling rated to a 45 dB reduction depth, plus up to 60 hours total with ANC off (40 hours with ANC on) and an IPX8 waterproof rating.
• TOZO NC9's biggest trade-off: It's a bulkier, heavier proposition — a 10 mm driver, a larger case (33.2 g), and a fit that fills more of your ear.
• Pick the TOZO A1 if you want featherweight comfort, a discreet fit you can wear for hours, and you don't mind hearing the world around you.
• Pick the TOZO NC9 if you want to shut out the world, take calls in noisy places, and not worry about water.
The TOZO A1 is built around one idea: get out of the way. Each earbud weighs just 3.7 g, and the shell is deliberately slim and round so it sits flush in your ear with no hard edges digging in. TOZO even calls out side-sleeping comfort, which tells you how low-profile the design is meant to be. For fishing, that matters more than it sounds — you're often wearing a cap, sunglasses or a buff, and a bulky bud that presses against any of those gets annoying fast. A bud you forget you're wearing is the whole point here.
On sound, the A1 uses TOZO's OrigX tuning with 6 mm dynamic drivers, and the emphasis is on punchy bass with clean, balanced vocals rather than analytical detail. There's a 16 ohm impedance and a 102 dB sensitivity rating, which in plain terms means these are easy to drive — any phone will get them loud without strain. Bluetooth 5.3 handles pairing and stability, with a rated range of 20 metres, so you can set your phone down on the bank and walk a stretch without dropouts. The ENC microphones cut down traffic and office-type background noise for calls, though this is environmental noise reduction for your voice, not active noise cancellation for your ears — the noise control field on the A1 is listed as sound isolation, i.e. passive.
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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Battery is 7 hours per charge and up to 32 hours total with the case, with a 2-hour charge time. You also get 32 EQ presets through the TOZO app, plus touch and volume controls on the buds themselves. IPX5 waterproofing covers sweat, rain and splashes — enough for a damp morning on the water, but not for dropping a bud in the lake.
Who should buy it: anyone who prioritises a barely-there fit, wants buds for all-day or overnight wear, and is happy to still hear their surroundings. If you're looking for the best open, lightweight, low-profile earbuds for fishing, this is the profile that fits that brief.
Who should skip it: if you want to block out wind, water and other anglers, or you need a rated waterproofing level for heavy rain, the A1 isn't the one.
The TOZO NC9 goes the other direction entirely. It's a hybrid active noise cancelling design with a maximum noise reduction depth of 45 dB, which is the headline feature: it actively cancels the drone around you rather than just muffling it. For fishing, the obvious win is wind and water noise — the constant wash of a river or the hum of a boat engine is exactly the kind of low-frequency sound ANC is good at. There's also a Transparent Mode, which pipes ambient sound back in so you can hear someone call out or a vehicle approach without pulling a bud out. That's a genuinely useful safety feature when you're standing near moving water.
Sound comes from 10 mm dynamic drivers — noticeably larger than the A1's 6 mm — paired with TOZO's OrigX Acoustic 2.0 tuning. The specs show 32 ohm impedance and 120 dB sensitivity, so again these are easy to drive, with a frequency response up to 20 kHz and the same 60 ms audio latency as the A1, which keeps video and game audio in sync. Calls get six microphones with ENC ambient noise reduction, and the description specifically frames this around busy environments — which is where the A1's two-mic setup would struggle more.
The NC9 also wins on stamina and durability. Battery is rated at up to 60 hours total with ANC off and 40 hours with ANC on, with 14 hours and 10 hours respectively for a single use, and a faster 1.5-hour charge. The case has an LED display showing remaining battery. And crucially for the water, the NC9 is rated IPX8 — the higher of the two ratings here — with a nano-coating and a patented waterproof design against sweat, rain and splashes. Six sizes of replaceable earcaps are included for fit.
Who should buy it: anyone who wants to silence the environment, take clear calls outdoors, and not baby their earbuds around water. This is the pick if you're after noise cancelling earbuds for fishing in noisy or wet conditions.
Who should skip it: if a discreet, featherweight fit matters more to you than isolation, the NC9's fuller in-ear shape and larger case work against it.
• Best for blocking out wind and water noise → TOZO NC9. 45 dB hybrid ANC versus passive isolation on the A1.
• Best for all-day or overnight comfort → TOZO A1. 3.7 g per bud versus the NC9's larger, fuller in-ear design.
• Best battery life → TOZO NC9. Up to 60 hours total (ANC off) and up to 40 hours (ANC on) versus 32 hours total on the A1.
• Best water resistance → TOZO NC9. IPX8 versus IPX5 on the A1.
• Best call clarity in loud places → TOZO NC9. Six microphones with ENC versus two on the A1.
• Best for staying aware of your surroundings → TOZO NC9, thanks to Transparent Mode; the A1 gets there by simply not blocking much.
• Best lightweight travel case → TOZO A1. A 24.9 g case versus 33.2 g, and a slightly slimmer footprint.
• Best for a discreet, low-profile fit under a cap → TOZO A1, in my opinion, because the flush shell is designed to avoid pressure points.
For a day of fishing specifically, I'd buy the TOZO NC9. The reasoning is straightforward: you're outdoors, near water, and moving between quiet and noisy spots. The IPX8 rating, the 45 dB ANC, Transparent Mode and the six-mic call setup all map directly onto that. I'd take the A1 instead if comfort and a barely-there fit are the top priority and you'd rather hear the river than cancel it — it's the lighter, simpler choice. But if I had to pick one pair for the water, it's the NC9.
It depends on what you value. The NC9 adds active noise cancellation, IPX8 waterproofing, six microphones and roughly double the total battery life. If you want any of those, the NC9 is the better fit. If you mainly want light, discreet comfort, the A1 is plenty.
Do the TOZO A1 have noise cancelling?
No. The A1 uses passive sound isolation, not active noise cancellation. The NC9 is the one with hybrid ANC, rated to a 45 dB reduction depth.
The NC9. It's rated up to 60 hours total with ANC off and 40 hours with ANC on, versus 7 hours per charge and 32 hours total on the A1. The NC9 also charges faster, at 1.5 hours versus 2.
They're rated IPX8 with a nano-coating and a patented waterproof design against sweat, rain and splashes, which is a higher rating than the A1's IPX5. Just remember neither is designed for full submersion, so don't drop them in the water. As for what they cost right now, check the current price on Amazon using the button on this page.
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