I have had the opportunity to review a number of Tronsmart products recently - they very kindly sent me the Apollo Bolds, Apollo Q10 full sized ANC headphones and their recently released Force 2 bluetooth speaker and now their very new Apollo Air ANC buds. Note that I haven't felt any obligation to rate them higher than they're worth - the truth is I think their products are very good quality and excellent value for money.
The case reminds me of the Apple Airpods Pro - although the headphones fit inside the case differently. Brilliant white in colour - it's almost certain that they're not going to remain this way. The lid features a magnetic latch and appears to be fairly strong - not as strong as the AirPods though. The case doesn't feature wireless charging but does use USB Type C (which is nice). The LED on the front is multicoloured - blue shows 11 - 100% charge and red 1 - 10%. Simple and useful. I have to be honest here - I would have much rather seen something like the Airpod way of storing the buds in the case - my ham fingers always struggle with stuff like this and I can definitely see me dropping them in the street more than once. That's a personal thing for me though - functionally the case works just fine.
The earbuds themselves feel a little bit cheap. Having said that, they're incredibly lightweight - I'm not sure what a single earbud weighs but the whole package weighs 40g according to the packaging. The plastic has a subtle matt finish - unlike the Airpods - the stems are used to help bring the mics slightly closer to your mouth.
The Apollo Air's feature Bluetooth 5.2. Once they're paired to your device, they automatically connect the moment you open the case which effectively means that they're ready to use the moment you put them in your ears. I really like the touch controls - one tap for volume, two taps for Play/Skip and three taps for selecting the different sound modes. Speaking of sound modes the Air's feature both active noise cancelling and ambient mode. The ambient mode is rather impressive - producing a fairly natural effect. The ANC works quite well at reducing the traffic noise (front bedroom windows open next to a busy road). I personally found the ANC to be as good as the Apollo Bold's but not quite up to the standard set by the Sony WF1000XM3's and the Soundpeats T2.
Pairing is done but simply opening the case and pressing the button on the back for a couple of seconds. The Air's feature APtX which is always welcome and this means that I can use them with my Sony Walkman MW A55 and get good sound. The touch controls operate pretty much like all other touch-controlled wireless IEM's - and I have to say that they work really nicely. All the functions are there. The touch functions work easily as well as those found on the Sony WF1000XM3's - with the added advantage of volume control. I can't comment on battery life yet - I see no reason why you wouldn't achieve what they claim on the box though. The 'Plus' version features wireless charging which is a feature I'm using quite frequently as more and more of my equipment makes use of this feature. I wasn't able to install the latest update for the app which I’m hoping will offer configurable touch-controls. I’ve set the Apollo Bold’s up so that I can wear them in bed without accidentally activating the touch controls when I lay on my side. I would love to see this feature on these as they’re so light and comfortable.
Well, this is what it's all about as far as I'm concerned. The good news is that they sound really good. The ANC does have an effect on sound quality - the bass has a bit of a boost when activated - in a similar way to the Apollo Bold's. When ANC is switched off the sound character considerably flatter - although I have to admit I kinda like the boosted bass.
The top end sounds really nice though. I'm sensitive to harsh treble and the Air's thankfully have a really nice sweet top-end. Mids are slightly recessed - making them somewhat V shaped in their sound character. Like the Bold's they sound really nice when listening at lower volume and this is where the ANC really comes into its own - you're not fighting against ambient noise all the time. This, coupled with the boosted bass really helps making low-level listening a real pleasure.
The Air's have a nice punchy sound. Bass notes can be a little 'lumpy' sometimes when ANC is active but to be honest I really like this setting - it makes them fun to listen to. However some genres of music (chillstep for example) produce too much bass. Switching off the ANC and Ambient Mode results in a far more balanced sound. ANC does produce a noticeable noise floor but this disappears once the music starts playing. With ANC off this noise floor effectively disappears. I think it’s fair to say that the Air’s share a similar sound characteristic with the Apollo Bold’s. For my ears, the Bold’s sound better when listening to them at lower volumes. In fact, I rate the Apollo Bold’s as one of the finest headphones out there for low level listening. Where the Air’s appear to have the edge is a more accurate and better balanced sound character.
I have to be honest I'm not a big fan on this Airpod style shape but I must admit they are very comfortable. The more I look at their shape, the more I feel that these headphones aren’t designed for deep insertion in your ears. Rather a more shallow fit. This would normally result in a definite reduction in bass, but thanks to the combination of active noise cancelling and their slightly boosted bass has resulted in a really nice wireless headphone.
If you like a low profile, ANC enabled TWS headphone with a massive amount of presence and superb low-level listening capabilities, then get the Apollo Bold’s. If you like an Airpod-like experience, with a fairly balanced sound (with ANC off at least) and a superb level of comfort, then the Apollo Air’s might be right up your street. Very highly recommended.