review

Edifier W240TN Review ANC Buds With Physical Buttons + IP55

Friday, September 09, 2022

 
Long battery life, premium looks and feature rich, Edifier's new W240TN true wireless earbuds have a lot going for!


The Edifier W240TN charging case has a solid utilitarian construction with a strong hinge lid, which opens and closes with confidence. The earbuds are super easy to remove from the magnetic docking area - even with chunky sweaty fingers. You can pinch them out or push them out at angle, which is nice. 


The USB-C port is rear facing, which is a better location than a bottom facing charging port for charging. Edifier branding has been engraved on top of the lid. Dimensions of the W240TN case are 6cm x 2.5cm x 4cm (high) and weighs 39 grams. The Edifier W240TN  earbuds weigh 6 grams each. Total combined weight comes up to 51 grams.

 The Edifier W240TN earbuds have a non-standard design with a glossy body and button cufflink style faceplate, which allows you to place the earbud upright on the desk and keep the eartip off of the desk (more hygienic). The W240TN earbuds have a long oval nozzle tip with a metal mesh guard protection. The included silicone eartips have a thin oval bore, making them comfortable to wear. Despite the oval nozzle, you can still fit standard round bore eartips.
 
In the middle of the earbud faceplate, there is a tactile button with physical actuation; hence no touch sensitive controls. Control functions are accessed via a series of button press gestures (just like touch controls). Functions include volume up/down, skip to previous/next, calls (answer/end/reject), voice assistant, game mode (you will hear a voice prompt), ANC/ambient mode. You can only choose four functions per earbud.


Opening the charging case triggers automatic bluetooth pairing, letting you pair and connect the W240TN earbuds whilst in the charging case. You can swap between earbuds for mono listening and there is no re-connection delay, meaning when you take the second earbud from the case it reconnects instantaneously. 


Like most Edifier earbuds, the W240TN are supported by the Edifier Connect mobile app, which lets you swap button gesture controls, check battery level for earbuds + case, access gain EQ controls (for changing the amplitude of specific ranges of frequencies), access ANC, timer, game mode, two preset sound modes, as well as make a custom sound signature. 
 
From the Edifier Connect app, you can also change the ANC mode and Ambient mode selection order, choose an OFF mode or single mode if you only want ANC and no Ambient mode selection. The active noise cancellation works well at blocking "bassy" type noises such as road traffic and building work.
 
As far as sound performance, it is midrange focus - meaning vocals and instruments feel more elevated over the bass and treble frequencies. The  dual dynamic drivers (6mm + 10mm) do a decent job of handling low and high frequencies but the stock SBC codec )low resolution) hinders the audio performance of high resolution streaming.


The W240TN charging case takes 1.5 hours to charge, while the earbuds take 1 hour to charge. With ANC ON at 50% volume, you can achieve a battery life of 7 hours (earbuds) + (14 hours case). With ANC OFF, you can achieve a battery life of 9 hours (earbuds) +18 hours (case). With Game Mode ON, the battery life of the earbuds is 4 hours - similar to the TWS1 Pro 2.
 
Potential deal breakers
  • Charging case not as compact - a bit on the chunky side
  • Protruding earbuds - a bit bulky
  • Physical buttons- more tactile than old style earbuds with physical buttons but, it still forces you to push the earbud into the ear canal
  • Bluetooth 5.3 chip but no bluetooth AAC support
  • Unusual popup message showing on the Edifier Connect app "PopUpWindow function" spoils the user friendly experience.
  • Gain EQ controls not as seemingly easy to use as a standard graphic EQ
  • Limited gesture remapping - you can only remap the double press, triple press and long press gesture controls.
  • Charging case easily marks with oily smudges
  • Over priced compared to the cheaper Edifier TWS1 Pro (supports aptX + AAC) and Edifier NB2 Pro (AAC codec + active noise cancellation. The NB2 Pro also happen to have the same form factor of the Neobuds Pro and Neobuds S - Edifier's flagship earbuds - which cost twice the price
  • No wireless charging case
  • No bluetooth multipoint support
 

Selling points for the W240TN
  • Hybrid ANC (active noise cancellation) 
  • Ambient (transparency) mode turns the ANC microphones into pickup microphones - ideal for situational awareness and talking to people.
  • Ambient sound can be adjusted from the app
  • Quick charge gives you 2 hour playtime from a 10 minute recharge
  • Noise cancelling microphone
  • Dual drivers (two drivers per earbud) - most true wireless on the market have single drivers only
  • Low latency game mode (80ms)
  • Not on the league of Bose ANC performance but good enough for the price
  • No bluetooth re-connection delay - instantaneous connection
  • IP55 sweat and dust resistance - most true wireless on the market have no dust resistance rating
  • Premium gift box style packaging
  • Good quality microphone with good background noise cancellation for work calls
  • Flat bottom charging case lets you stand it upright on a desk- useful for keeping the lid open and allowing the earbuds to air dry
  • Minimalist subtle branding 
  • Voice prompt alert for game mode and ANC
  • USB-C charging 
  • No blinking bluetooth led when in use
  • Mobile app support
  • Physical buttons - better in cold weather when using gloves
  • A long charging cable (60cm) included
  • Well constructed - strong springy charging case
  • Cool battery led indicator on-board the case
  • Case supports quick charge for earbuds
 
Accessories include an unbranded charging cable (USB-A to USB-C) and custom oval shape style silicone eartips. You can buy the Edifier W240TN from amazon.

Similar Gadget Explained Reviews

0 comments

Connect With Gadget Explained