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The premium earbuds market is full of so many wonderful devices, but it can sometimes have a high barrier to entry. The beyerdynamic FreeBYRD are fantastic premium earbuds (you can read our glowing review here), but, at $299, they’re pretty pricey if you’re just breaking into the premium earbuds market.
Enter Edifier with the affordable W240TN. These are a set of earbuds with some of the perks that you get from more expensive earbuds, but they’re priced at a compelling price. Are these worth your $79.99? Let’s find out in this review.
Edifier W240TN: Hardware and design
The design of these earbuds is pretty classy. Since these are rather inexpensive, you’re not getting the most premium materials here, but they look nice anyway.
The housing for the button is made of plastic, but it has the appearance of being metallic. That definitely gives them a more premium appearance. The rest of the body is made from glossy plastic.
Edifier W240TN: Sound quality
The sound quality of these earbuds is a nuanced story. For starters, the sound quality is solid. It’s tuned toward the higher side of the spectrum, and that makes for a more open sound. This is a nice change of pace from earbuds that are so focused on bass that the sound winds up being muddy and cluttered.
What makes this nuanced is that the Edifier Connect app lets you deeply customize the sound. You’re able to customize it as much as you can with the Edifier NeoBuds S. You’re given a four-band EQ, but that’s not it. You can choose the frequency for each band down to the single Hz, which is pretty insane.
The lowest band can be set between 20Hz and 200Hz, 2001Hz-3KHz for the second lowest, 3001Hz-5KHz for the second highest, and 5001Hz-10KHz for the highest band.
Not only are you able to change the frequency, but you can adjust the Q factor of each band as well. This gives the EQ a ton of options for editing the sound to your liking.
If you want to save different EQ presets, you can do that as well. Audiophiles will enjoy tinkering and finding the perfect sound for them.
Not as top-heavy as the Neobuds S
One of the main issues with the Neobuds S is that they seemed to focus a bit too much on the high end. This made the music sound a bit shrill and tinny. Fortunately, that’s not the case for the W240TN. They’re tuned just right to make the vocals pop and keep the sound open.
Edifier W240TN: Noises cancellation/Ambient Mode
One of the main features that these earbuds bring to the affordable earbuds market is noise cancellation. This technology cancels out the noise in your environment so you can better hear your content. This is a well-sought-after feature, and it can be make-or-break for a pair of earbuds.
The noise cancellation on the Edifier W240TN is spectacular. They did a great job at filtering out a wide range of the noise in my environment. They easily handle inside noise like appliances and the AC on the inside. Taking them outside, they also did a great job at reducing the noise from traffic. I’d say that the noise cancellation is one of the strongest aspects of these earbuds.
Ambient mode
When it comes to the ambient mode, these earbuds bring one useful feature that most other premium earbuds don’t have. You’re able to adjust the volume of the sound coming in through the microphones. There are six volume levels that you can choose from.
Edifier W240TN: Battery life
You won’t have to worry about these earbuds lasting you a full day with these buds. Using the Edifier W240TN with the ANC on, I was able to get about 6.5 hours of playback per charge. The charging case almost triples the battery capacity of the earbuds, bringing them up to about 20 of playback.
When I turned the ANC off, I was able to get some more mileage out of the buds. I was able to get about 7.5 hours on a single charge and about 24 hours using the charging case.
These earbuds do also have fast charging to top them off quickly. I was able to fully charge the earbuds in under an hour. What’s neat is that you’re able to get about 2 hours of playback on a 10-minute charge. I tested this claim, and it’s accurate.
Edifier W240TN: Controls
The main gripe that I have about these earbuds is the limited selection of button controls. You can control your earbuds by either double-pressing or triple-pressing the button on then. That only gives you four options for controlling your media. This is extremely limited.
You’re able to toggle ambient mode, toggle ANC, skip track, restart/go to previous track, raise volume, lower volume, activate voice assistant, activate Game mode, answer calls, reject calls, and mute calls. Having only four button gestures means that it’ll be tough picking which functions you want to add.
It would have been nice having single-press and press-and-hold gestures. Just adding those would double the number of gesutres, and make these a more compelling offer.
Edifier W240TN: Extra features
There are other goodies with these earbuds that make them just that much better.
IP rating
For starters, the Edifier W240TN are IP55 water and dust-resistant. They can withstand most solids, but you’d want to avoid using them around fine sand.
As for the water resistance, you’ll be fine if you’re caught out in the rain. The earbuds can also survive the occasional splash. You’ll just want to be careful because these can not be submerged in water, and you’ll also want to be careful around pool water.
Game mode
People who hate Bluetooth latency will love Game mode. When this mode is activated, the latency between what you hear and what you see on your phone will be reduced. You can easily enable the Game mode from the Edifier Connect app. Using the mode, I was able to hear a significant reduction in the latency.
Overall, the Edifier W240TN are a great set of earbuds if you’re looking to break into the premium earbuds space. They have a nice set of features that enhance the experience, a few of which aren’t present with more expensive earbuds.
You should buy these earbuds if:
- You’re looking for an affordable pair of earbuds
- You don’t want too much bass
- You like to customize your sound
- You want good battery life
- You want a more straightforward experience
You shouldn’t buy these earbuds if:
- You want more bass in your sound
- You want more control options
- You’re looking for a ton of features