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Tin Hifi T2000 Review Dual Dynamic Driver Wired True Wireless Earbuds

Friday, November 06, 2020

By integrating a cable option into the design, the Tin Hifi T2000 have become the first true wireless earbuds to have the wired functionality you typically get with full size headphones! It's not only handy to have a wired option when the earbuds and charging case battery run out, it also means you can enjoy zero lag gaming with the same set of earphones without having to swap over with low latency gaming TWS earbuds. 
The Tin Hifi T2000 charging case is made of matte plastic and has a tall frame similar to a pelican case, although the charging case doesn't have the waterproofing of a Pelican case because of the USB-C charging port on the back, which is exposed to the elements. Also, the grey trim running along the mid-section of the charging case is made of hard plastic and not rubber to prevent water ingress. Dimensions of the T2000 charging case are 8cm long, 5.2cm wide and 4.2cm high.
Speaking of the charging port, it is located on the top half section of the lid rather than on the bottom half like on most charging cases. This means, when the T2000 charging case is recharging, the charging cable gets in the way, preventing you from fully open the lid all the way out. Luckily, there is a workaround by flipping the case upside down.
The lid cover of the Tin Hifi T2000 charging case integrates a 180-degree hinge, which allows the lid cover to fully open like a mini clamshell suitcase. The opening style of the Tin Hifi T2000 charging case is definitely unique since the charging case of most true wireless earbuds opens upright at 90 degrees. On top of the charging case, there are six battery led lights, as well as two physical plastic buttons for power and turning on/off the 2-watt UV leds, which are built-in on the underside of the charging case lid. Two of those battery leds (1st and 6th) are designed to feedback the battery status of the earbuds when they are charging up.
There are a total of 6 tiny UV led lights (0.5 watt each), which literary turn the Tin Hifi T2000 charging case into a UV led sterilization box with three levels to regulate the ultraviolet light intensity. There is no mention whether the wavelength is UV-C, which is important because for a UV sanitizer to provide effective disinfection, it requires UV-C wavelength between 260nm and 280nm. Judging by the blueish color, the UV light isn't likely to be UVC, which typically has a cyan color.
Despite the bulky size of the Tin Hifi T2000 charging case, it only integrates a 650mAh rechargeable battery, which can hold up to 16 hours of power, allowing you to recharge the earbuds 4 times. This is not taking into account the UV germicidal function, which can deplete a lot of battery if you use a lot in high intensity. 
You can choose from low intensity (2 leds), medium intensity (4 leds) and high intensity (6 leds). Whichever intensity you choose, the UV sterilization process lasts 60 seconds and can be interrupted by opening the lid, which automatically turns off the UV light. When closing the lid back again, the UV sterilization process continues. 
While 650mAh is really on the low side, the T2000 charging case does recharge super fast within 20 minutes, which does make up for the small battery capacity. The Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds integrate a 40mAh battery that delivers a 3.5 hour runtime on 60% volume.
The Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds support call functions, play/pause, volume, voice assistant and track skipping. An audible beep is generated when max volume is reached, although it is difficult to hear when volume is loud.The functions are controlled via physical buttons (no touch control), which is typically not ideal unless the physical buttons have a light tactile switch to prevent jamming them into the ear canal. Unfortunately, the Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds use heavy switches, which require a decent amount of force to press. 
The docking area for the earbuds has an interesting design construction, very different to any other true wireless charging case. Instead of the usual bathtub design, there is a deep groove around the magnetic docking area, which is designed to accommodate a removable cable plastic reel for cable management. The cable reel easily comes off by lifting it out of the charging case.
The Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds have a stumpy stem design (5mm long) with long oval nozzles (11mm long) and a bulkier shell to accommodate dual dynamic drivers in each earbud. One of those drivers measures 8mm in diameter and handles the mid-high frequency range (midrange/treble), while the other driver (9mm in diameter) handles the low mid frequency range (midrange/bass).
In terms of audio dynamics, both bluetooth and wired mode deliver a similar loud volume output, although how loud the earbuds can go does depend on the max volume of the source (i.e. smartphone). That said, the drivers inside the T2000 earbuds have different sensitivity levels (103dB for the low-mid driver and 96dB for the mid-high driver, which means when listening to music the volume level seems like it fluctuates. 

The dual dynamic driver arrangement of the T2000 is also unique since there is no armature driver like in most multi-driver IEMs. The dynamic drivers have been tweaked very differently too how dynamic drivers typically sound with an over emphasized constant bass throughout. The T2000 dynamic drivers have a detailed and clear flat response; hence you hear music just how it was recorded in the studio. As far as wireless sound, the Bluetooth 5.0 chip (RTL8763BFP) only supports SBC and AAC; hence there is no aptX support for high resolution and reduced latency when streaming wirelessly.
The Bluetooth pairing process of the T2000 is straight forward since you only have to open the charging case lid to pair and connect the earbuds without having to take them out of the charging case. In fact, audio will even play while the earbuds sit inside the charging dock, unless you close the charging case lid.
During the pairing process, both earbuds connect to a device as a single unit, which makes the switching process seamless when alternating between stereo and mono listening. You can put one earbud back in the charging case and continue listening without audio stopping. If you manually power off any of the earbuds while listening to stereo audio, it automatically powers off the other earbud. To connect the earbuds with two separate devices, you will also have to manually power off the second earbud. There is a 3 second re-connection delay when re-connecting the second earbud from mono to stereo.
When connecting the Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds via MMCX cable for wired listening, you don't have to disconnect the Bluetooth connection, which is great as it allows you to seamlessly switch from wired to wireless by simply unplugging the cable from the headphone jack. The sound quality of the T2000 microphone is pretty good too without too much background noise being picked up. There is a microphone on each earbud, which boosts the amplification.
The earbuds including the cable weigh 25 grams, while each earbud weighs 6.5 grams, which is lightweight and comparable to the weight of a lots of true wireless. Because of the low weight, the T2000 earbuds stay in the ears fairly well, although they do protrude out of the ears. The fit is comfortable and secure with the included double flange silicone ear tips, although you may want to use different ear tips (i.e. foam tips) to increase the bass.
You will need to buy custom ear tips since the nozzle hole is larger than the hole of most regular ear tips.While the fit is comfortable and secure, the Tin Hifi T2000 don't have any IP rating; hence no suitable for sports/exercising. The charging case weighs 71 grams. The plastic cable management reel weighs 5 grams. The cable by itself weighs 12 grams.
As mentioned earlier, the Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds can also be converted into wired IEMs via the included MMCX detachable cable. The Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds feature a gold-plated MMCX female connector at the tip end of the stem while the male MMCX connectors are also gold-plated. The cable terminates into a straight plug 3.5mm connector.
The MMCX male connectors snap into the female MMCX ports on the earbuds, making an audible click in the process. Having the detachable wired cable feature, makes the Tin Hifi T2000 really versatile, especially with the MMCX connectors, which can potentially allow you to wear the earbud cable around the ear or straight down. This is something you cannot do with 2-pin connectors, which also have to be connected the right way to prevent "reverse polarity", making 2-pin cables a bit more fiddly. In terms of audio quality output, there is no real advantage of using MMCX connectors over 2-pin connectors.
The T2000 uses an OCC copper cable, which is twisted with a four strand braid pattern and features a plastic cinch, a hard plastic cable y-splitter and rubber strain reliefs to reinforce and prevent the cable from breaking apart prematurely. The T2000 cable measures 1.15 meters long. The y-section of the cable measures 41cm long, while the other half measures 74cm long.
The Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds are also being marketed as the Tin Hifi TWS2000, which does create some confusion . The naming confusion seems to stem from the packaging showing TWS2000 rather than T2000. An unbranded USB-A to USB-C cable is included, along with a set of double-flange ear tips. You can buy the Tin Hifi T2000 earbuds from Linsoul. and amazon. Check out the review of the TRN TA2 triple driver

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