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Technology keeps advancing rapidly, and it’s no different in the true wireless earbuds industry. Not very long ago, it was inconceivable to use true wireless earbuds without wingtips, due to issues with fit and comfort. Fast forward to today, and there is a slew of true wireless earbuds with no wingtips in sight to keep them in place in the wearer’s ears. So how, on earth, do they then stay put? The Treblab xFit is a wonderful example of true wireless earbuds that do not need wingtips to fit snugly in the ears.
The Treblab xFit has a lot going for it. It’s very compact and boasts an audio quality that many higher-priced earbuds do not have. Find out why I declared this device the best true wireless earbuds under $50, in this review.
In the end, the Treblab xFit is still a budget device, and it has its weak spots. Here’s a summary of the good and not-so-good about the Treblab xFit.
Pros
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Cons
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In The Box
The xFit earbuds come in a nice package with an outer design that is becoming characteristic of Treblab earphones.
Upon opening the box, you’ll meet the earbuds case nested in a cutout in a soft, foamy layer.
Below this layer, you’ll find the other contents of the box, which include:
- A USB-to-micro-USB charging cable.
- Two extra pairs of eartips.
- User manual.
- A thank you/warranty card (1-year).
- A Treblab sticker.
Build
The first thing you would notice immediately you take the Treblab xFit case out of its box is how compact it is. This is the smallest earbuds case I’ve seen, and the compactness extends to the earbuds themselves. I have medium-sized palms and I can fold them completely over the case. While it’s not as flat as that of the Apple AirPods and would cause a bulge in your pockets, it’s still very handy and can be carried around conveniently.
The case and earbuds are made of plastic, and they do feel like a budget device would. However, they feel durable, and you should have no issues with this for at least a year if handled properly. Like most other earbuds, the case has magnetic pins that secure the earbuds firmly while charging, and the case is very easy to open and close.
Apart from the compact size, another great thing about the Treblab xFit is the weight. The charging case weighs 30g, while each earbud weighs just 3.8g. Again, these are the lightest true wireless earbuds I’ve seen, for both the case and the earbuds.
Another detail I love about the Treblab xFit earbuds is that the design is agnostic with regard to individual ear placement. Though the earbuds are labelled left and right, it turns out the labelling only serves to depict which of them is the master and slave earbud; you can use either one interchangeably for both ears. This may seem minor, but it makes all the difference when it comes to swiftly retrieving one of the earbuds from the case for quick use; you don’t have to worry whether it’s the left or right earbud you’re reaching for, since you can connect to each one independently anyways.
Each earbud has a button that can be used for the usual controls – play/pause music, skip tracks, and manage phone calls. These don’t have volume controls, but that’s not something you look for in budget earbuds at this price point.
Fit
I was sceptical about how well these would fit at first given that they don’t come with wingtips, but the trick with the fit for true wireless earbuds is to get the right size of ear tips for each of your ears. The earbuds come with medium ear tips fitted out of the box, while small and large ear tips are included as extras in the package. The large ear tips were out of the question for me, as the earbuds slipped out almost right after I put them on. I alternated between the medium and small tips, before eventually settling on the medium ear tips for daily use. If you’re coming from wingtips-equipped earbuds (like the Jabra Elite Active 65t) or those with stems (like the Apple AirPods), using these without wingtips would seem weird at first; you’ll constantly get the feeling that they’re going to fall out. However, once you get the right combination of eartips and get used to that feeling, it’s bliss afterwards.
The combination of the plastic build and extremely small weight helps with comfort, as you can use the Treblab xFit earbuds for hours on end without feeling any discomfort, once you get them to fit in snugly from the get-go. I’m not a fan of squeezing earphones into my ears, and thankfully, the Treblab xFit saves me from having to do this, while still fitting well enough to not fall out after prolonged usage.
The lack of wingtips, however, means you would have to restrict usage of the xFit during workouts to basic activities like running and using the treadmill, as more rigorous workouts would result in them falling out of your ears.
Sound Quality
The sound quality on the Treblab xFit is decent. I’m very impressed with how good these sound, in comparison to the price; they actually sound better than many earbuds that cost over $100. I compared the Treblab xFit earbuds to the new Apple AirPods Pro, and while Apple’s superior AAC Bluetooth codec implementation gives the AirPods Pro an edge over the xFit on iOS in terms of clarity of sound, the two earbuds are almost indistinguishable in terms of audio quality on Android, where the device is at liberty to switch between AAC and SBC codecs. Considering that the AirPods Pro cost five times more than the xFit, these are a great steal for the price. It would have been awesome if these had come with aptX support, but at a price tag below $50, you have to keep your expectations in check.
The bass response on the Treblab xFit is better than in most other budget true wireless earbuds I’ve used, thanks to a decent level of passive noise isolation granted by the buds in your ears. The mids are decent, and the highs are not too harsh, though they could be slightly under-represented in certain complex instrumentals, especially when there is an abundance of the lows and mids. The passive noise isolation guaranteed by a good seal comes into play here again, as it prevents the bass from overwhelming the mids in the presence of noise; instead, noise affects the audio quality across-the-board.
Overall, if you’re not an audiophile, the sound quality offered by the Treblab xFit is great for day-to-day audio streaming.
Microphone Quality
I’ve learnt not to expect much from microphones in budget TWS earbuds, and the microphone quality of the Treblab xFit is passable at best. You sound like you’re speaking at a distance away from the phone over calls, but while it’s always obvious that you’re not speaking through your phone’s microphone, call quality is still good when you’re in a quiet place.
The rate at which the xFit’s microphones pick up background noise, however, ruins the entire experience with the microphones for me. While you can control the environment in which you take scheduled calls, like business calls, the majority of regular calls you’d need to take come in unplanned, so it’s important that you have a reliable means of taking such calls. Most of the time, I had to switch to my phone’s microphone after trying unsuccessfully to communicate via the earbuds.
Hence, if call quality is of utmost importance to you in earbuds, you may want to look at more expensive options with better microphones. The Treblab xFit’s mics are decent in quiet environments, but literally unusable in noisy ones.
Battery and Charging
The battery life is one of the better things about this device. The company claims that the earbuds can last up to 5 hours on constant playback, and this holds up in my extensive tests. The earbuds went off approximately four and a half hours after I started streaming audio through them continuously at a volume level of 100%, from an initial battery capacity of 100%. With lower volume levels, they’d surely clock five hours, if not more, from a full charge. It takes 1.5 hours to charge the earbuds fully when they are fully drained.
The earbuds case complete a charge cycle in 2 hours, and according to Treblab, you can squeeze out five full charges for the earbuds from a single full charge of the case (from my tests, this most likely holds up). Additionally, the earbuds have a quick charge feature; I popped them into the case at 30%, and 10 minutes later, they were at 60%.
These stats place the Treblab xFit in the same league with premium earbuds like the Apple AirPods Pro in terms of battery life.
Wireless Connectivity (Bluetooth)
This is an area in which these earbuds once again perform better than more expensive ones. With Bluetooth 5.0 and a rated signal range of 10m, the connection strength on these is very impressive; I experienced no stutters or loss in connection even with a wall between the earbuds and the audio source within the 10m range. I’ve been using these for about a month now, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had Bluetooth connectivity issues, and even those are minor.
Waterproof Rating (IPX6)
The Treblab xFit has an IPX6 waterproof rating, which means it can withstand high-pressure sprays of water from any direction. Essentially, these will survive the sweat produced during workouts, as well as accidental downpours and splashes of water. I personally tested the waterproof rating, and it checks out.
Final Verdict
There are many things that are already pretty standard in a pair of wireless earbuds, such that you don’t even have to check if a device has them: you simply expect them to be there. For the most important ones, which are sound quality, fit and battery life, the Treblab xFit excels, and gives you more. Other secondary, but nevertheless important factors are connection quality and water resistance, and the xFit is also stellar in these departments.
It would be quite preposterous to declare a particular device the absolute best audio gadget, with the plethora of options available in the market at any given time. But if a choice were to be made amongst those in the same price range, the xFit would occupy an uppermost position. With a great fit, decent sound quality paired with excellent battery life and waterproof rating, these are easily the best true wireless earbuds under $50 I’ve used. Sure, there are better earbuds than these in the market, but at its price point, these are one of the best.
As at when this review was published, the device costs $49.97 on Amazon, and $49 directly from Treblab. You can take 15% off the price on both platforms by applying my coupon code STEVEXFIT during checkout.