Longevity needs to count for something. Especially in the true wireless ANC category where everyone and their grandmother seemingly has a new product in 2022. Over the years, we have seen a lot of brands enter the market from Asia with a few popular models before disappearing as quickly as they arrived. There have been a few Chinese brands that have solidified their position by offering a wide range of products like 1More and Edifier. They are well capitalized, have excellent manufacturing capabilities and strong distribution overseas.
Edifier were founded back in 1996 and were the first audio company to be listed on the Chinese Stock Market. Much to the relief of audiophiles overseas, Edifier purchased STAX, the Japanese electrostatic headphone manufacturer, and have kept the renown brand going.
The company manufactures an extensive lineup of powered loudspeakers, monitors, headphones, earphones, and automotive audio products; audiophiles have access to the headphones and loudspeakers in N. America and Europe but the rest of the products are exclusively for the Asian market.
We have reviewed several of their headphones, earphones, and powered loudspeakers and found that they offer excellent performance and value for the money.
The Edifier W240TN True Wireless IEMs retail for $80 USD. There was no pricing included with the original press materials and we incorrectly assumed that they would retail for $150 USD based on the build quality, and features.
Are they $150 TWS earphones from a performance perspective?
You might be surprised by what we discovered.
The Skinny
The supplied kit with the Edifier W240TN is rather typical for the category; one pair of earpieces, charging case, USB Type-C charging cable, 4 sets of tips (1 is pre-installed), and the manual.
The earpieces are manufactured out of a polymer and are available in either White, Black, or Pale Blue finishes; the charging cases match the earpieces.
The earphones having a bulbous inner shell made entirely of polymer and an outer faceplate that acts as the button housing made of brushed metal. Edifier decided to go with buttons instead of touch sensors which takes a bit of getting used to after living with touch sensors; it is possible to touch the face without activating the button.
From an ergonomic perspective, this is somewhat advantageous because one can touch the outer surface to readjust them in your ear and not inadvertently pause the music or raise/lower the volume.
The nozzles are integrated into the inner shell with a lip for tip retention and a metal screen over the exit; the slightly oval shape is designed to fit the supplied ear tips but they will accept standard after-market tips should the supplied sizes not meet your needs.
Interestingly, the nozzles sit at the very front of the bulb and have a pronounced forward rake so the bulk of the earphone body sits behind the ear canal rather than in it. This does impact the effectiveness of the passive isolation, requiring users to use the ANC to block out external noise.
The case is mid-sized with a single large LED band on the front and charging port on the rear with a single button immediately next to the charge port. I had no issues getting the earbuds to pair upon opening the case, but the button serves as a manual pairing control and as a way to factory reset the earpieces if needed.
The case provides 2 full charges for a total of about 20 hours usable playback before both the earpieces and case run out of juice. The case does offer a quick charge feature; 15 minutes of charging time will net an additional 2.5 to 3 hours of playback time. Battery life of the earpieces was roughly 7 hours in my testing (ANC turned off) before needing to return to the case to be recharged.
The earpieces are iP55-rated, but the charging case is not. Do not get the charging case wet or leave it in the wash.
Internally, the Edifier W240TN has a coaxial dual dynamic driver with a 6mm and a 10mm driver housed in a single frame. This is a similar concept to the KEF LS50 driver as it mounts the tweeter at the center of the woofer which helps eliminate phasing issues between the drivers.
Bluetooth 5.3 is supported but limited to the SBC protocol which may turn some buyers away. Edifier are using a DSP for both the ANC and call quality enhancement and each earpiece operates independently to better handle directional noise.
After a few days of listening, it’s clear that Edifier made the right choice using physical buttons which do work rather well once you get over the habit of trying to swipe them. It did take some time learning how many button pushes were required for each function but it should become easier with practice.
One thing I don’t understand is the supplied manual; which was clearly printed for lilliputians and almost impossible to read without a magnifying glass.
Fortunately, Edifier spent more time and money creating one of the better control apps we’ve tried so far; the options are plentiful and rather useful. Our one nitpick would be that it’s not intuitive and you will need to dig through the various menus to find everything.
The home page displays the charge status and the controls for the ANC and Ambient modes. Swiping left on the screen takes you to the page with multiple tuning options with presets for “Dynamic” and “Classical,” a custom setting option, and a 4-band parametric EQ that allows users to select the root frequency and specific bandwidth. The final swipe takes us to the gaming page which allows you to reduce the latency.
A second menu is available by clicking the nut at the top right which gives access to the user manual in an easier to read format, shutdown timer, controls customization setting, Bluetooth pairing option, and factory reset of the earphones.
We rarely see this type of control app for TWS earphones at $80.
Sound
Edifier has clearly tuned the W240TN for those who require some low end impact and definition with their music. There is a lot of emphasis in the bass range that doesn’t start to level off until it crosses over in the lower midrange. The sub-bass has very good extension and impact and doesn’t begin to roll-off until almost 25Hz where detail and some texture are still evident.
The mid bass is not as prominent as the extreme low end but it is still elevated and can deliver sufficient impact; there is some texture but it could also be rather thick on some recordings. The custom EQ almost become necessary with some recordings to reduce the bass presence and create a cleaner and more linear sounding presentation.
Male vocals have sufficient presence and clarity to not get lost in the mix, but it couldn’t hurt to use the EQ somewhat to improve the clarity.
The midrange and treble don’t have the same emphasis but there are no real dips which means that the Edifier W240TN doesn’t posses the typical “V” signature which is rather common with inexpensive TWS earbuds.
The lower midrange has good weight and detail and male vocals are not set back further than their female counterparts. Rock guitar is delivered with sufficient growl and a strong amount of energy and detail.
String instruments are reproduced rather cleanly but there is not enough energy in the upper midrange to make them sound totally realistic; one doesn’t really hear the appropriate amount of body and decay but it’s certainly better than what most $80 wireless earbuds generally reproduce.
Female vocals have rather good timbre and presence and never become strident or too far forward in the mix.
The lower treble stays roughly even with the midrange and does offer a sense of airiness but there is a very distinct drop around 6kHz that limits the amount of air and gives the treble a slightly grainy presentation. Percussion snap is still good, but cymbals come off slightly dull sounding.
There was clearly a decision made during the tuning to deliver a polite sounding treble; which means that the Edifier W240TN will never sound bright, but also lack any real top end energy or detail.
TWS wireless earbuds are not known for their soundstage width or depth, and these are no exception. The soundstage is wider than deep and with rather limited height. The instrument separation is acceptable but certainly not above average which impacts the imaging; musicians feel more localized rather than firmly planted in a specific spot.
Conclusion
The Edifier W240TN TWS Earbuds are not perfect and there is no question that they benefit from use of the EQ integrated into the control app. What makes them worthy of a strong recommendation in the budget category is that they offer better than average build quality, battery performance, and noise cancellation.
The tonal balance will certainly appeal to a certain type of listener who enjoys a rather punchy low end and clean sounding vocals. Detail retrieval is certainly not their strongest attribute and there is only so much you can do with the EQ to fix that.
The control app and button controls are very useable once you figure out the patterns and dig through the menus to find the appropriate settings.
Are these worth $80? Without a doubt and there are few models in the price range that offer as much when everything is taken into consideration. A budget category leader from Edifier that might be a great stocking stuffer this year.
Where to buy: $79.99 at Amazon | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca
Related Reading:
Best True Wireless Earphones: 2022 Buying Guide
Edifier R1700BTs Wireless Speakers Review
Edifier Neobuds S Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds Review
Edifier Stax Spirit S3 Planar Magnetic Wireless Headphones Review
