This must be the sweetest, most feminine True Wireless Earphones in the market today! AVIOT has made a name for itself in Japan and around the region in a short span of 2 years, launching no fewer than 12 products! I previously reviewed the AVIOT TE-D01b (rather similar model number but entirely different design) and liked the tuning. I’m pleased that this new AVIOT TE-D01i does not disappoint.
Unboxing and Design
It’s always an excitement to receive new products. I make a point to record the moment I unbox them.
There are three colour variants available – white, pink, and mint green. The ear tip sizes are SS, S and M, plus 2 pairs of urethane foam tips, given ladies ears are smaller. I could fit the M size snugly.
My daughter thought the case looked like French macarons. With the enclosed mirror, it also resembles a make-up powder box.
One of the more unique features is the swappable “makeup chips” which are snap-on face plates. The package comes with an additional marble design, and you can buy other designs separately.
The silk carrying pouch further adds to the femininity touch.
Operations
The AVIOT TE-D01i is paired the same as as the TE-D01b. While there is no auto-pairing mode like many other TWS, you can initiate pairing without turning off the power. Just press either earbuds and hold the button for about 6 seconds. After hearing three beeps, the voice prompt will say “pairing mode”. Once you paired one side of the earbud, the phone will request to pair the other earbud. The earbuds support Qualcomm True Wireless Stereo Plus which connects to both earbuds concurrently which reduces latency and battery consumption on the master earbud.
A companion app, AVIOT Sound XXX, lets you customise the earbud button functions, update firmware, change voice language, and adjust EQ settings. It also shows the battery level for each earbud.
It interesting that the AVIOT TE-D01i supports Ambient Mic mode, which turns on the mic to let you listen to ambient sound. The mic level is actually quite mild, providing a bit of outside noise but not as open as an open-fit earbuds. When you tap on the left earbud button to activate Ambient Mic, the music pauses automatically. When you disable Ambient Mic, the music resumes.
The buttons are easy to click, too easy, in fact, as the position is exactly where you would position the fingers to remove or insert the earbuds. As such, there is tendency to press on them accidentally.
During audio playback, the LED on each earbud does not blink. Once audio stops, the LED will blink in white. This is an implementation to remind users whether the earbuds are in active power or not. During playback, there is no need for LED indicator since you can actually listen for yourself to know whether the earbuds are powered up.
Each earbud lasts about 8 hours for music listening, 4.5 hours talk time, and the charging cases provides a total of 30 hours. The earbuds are rated IPX5 waterproof.
Audio Quality
The sound signature is close to the AVIOT TE-D01b, which I already favour. However, I find that the TE-D01i offers slightly more bass balance and the treble is also less pushy, perhaps also due to more bass presence. The bass is not fat or boomy, but enough to have bass feel yet not too muddy. The midrange has good presence, achieving some overall fullness to the sound, so it’s not that brittle. The treble is well-tuned to achieve musical clarity yet not pushy.
My wife shared with me that this is her favourite pair of earbuds after holding on to Sudio Tolv for 2 years. But one thing that she didn’t quite like is that it “sounded too echoey”. By that I think she meant that the earbuds sounded wider and airier relative to Sudio Tolv, which has a tighter sound staging.
I then passed her the Audio Technica ATH-CK3TW, and she concluded that the latter is way “better” in terms of bass and treble, but she felt that the bass is too intense for her liking.
This goes to show that everyone has a certain listening preference, and one should not rely purely on written (or video) reviews to conclude whether an individual would prefer one audio product over the other. When my readers ask “what is the best headphones, earphones, or true wireless?“, I would always follow up with a lot more questions back to them, so that I can determine what kind of sound they like. Even though earphones may have “strong bass” or “clear treble”, there are also different tunings to accentuate that bassiness and clarity.
The audio latency is zero when watching YouTube, and minimal for gaming.
Call Quality
The AVIOT TE-D01i performs rather well during calls. The voice has good clarity, not too brittle yet not too muffled. I feel this is due to the less aggressive “mic noise cancelling”, which in many cases would gate the background noise, including even your own voice.
One interesting technical behaviour of the TE-D01i is that the left earbud is the main mic earbud, and if you dock the left earbud, the call would end. The mic does not switch to the right earbud.
Verdict
The AVIOT TE-D01i must be most feminine True Wireless Earphones in the market today (have I already mentioned that?), and I am quite happy to say that they sound great too. It delivers 30 hours battery life, IPX5 water rating, supports the premium aptX codec. Even better is the price: just S$159. It is an excellent gift for ladies. Due to limited stocks, they are available at TREOO
Visit this link for the official Japan product page.
Disclosure: the product is provided to Music Photo Life for free in exchange for review.