As far as I know, this is Tin Hifi’s first foray into True Wireless
blutooth earphones and I’ll just put it out there, it’s disappointing from a
brand that brought us the now legendary Tin T2 and the great T3 and T4 IEMs. It’s
also being released on the heels of the Tin T2 Plus which I’ll say is a pretty
solid offering. But that’ll be a future review, this one is on the TWS 2000 and
it’s a painful one.
Linsoul provided me this review sample for review. They
originally sent me a unit a while ago, but I provided some feedback that was
used to re-tune the IEM and this final production unit was sent over recently
for a final review prior to launch. The launch page can be found here:
Packaging
The TWS 2000 comes in a small box that contains a charging
case, USB-C cables, a set of extra tips, and a bunch of cards. Within this
charging case is also a very cheap and not very great looking nor feeling mmcx
cable, which is a far cry from some of the cables Tin has added on previous
IEMs.
Charging Case
The charging case is really large, almost twice the size of
the most recent KZ S2 TWS I have for review, as well as my trusty Samsung Galaxy
Buds+. The large may make it uncomfortable to fit into a pocket, which would
kind of defeat some of it’s easy portability. It’s still small though, and it
would fit fine in a bag or larger coat pocket. The case has a few features that
are unique. First off, it has USB-C connection on the back, and the top of the
lid has a power button to see current charge level, as well as a UV-C Cleaning
function. This button activates the UV lights on the inner side of the lid
which will disinfect the IEMs but irradiating any germs on the surface of whatever
it illuminates upon. It’s a pretty neat feature, and one that does come in
handy, given how badly these fit, but more on that later.
The case also is rather bulky due to the mmcx cable that can
be fully wrapped around inside the case. It’s also much deeper than any other
TWS IEM case I’ve seen to accommodate for the large, large shell, and the long
double-flange tips it comes with. The advantage of having it this deep, I
guess, is that any aftermarket tip works with the case, which was a problem with
other TWS IEMs.
Now back to that UV light feature. It does come in handy. That’s
because these IEMs are really large and fit really awkwardly in my ear. I never
found them ever comfortable to wear without the constant fear of them falling
out. In fact, they fell out of my ear often, even just staying in one place. I
did use them to do yard work and chores around the house and they fell out so
many times. True wireless IEMs falling into dirt as I’m weeding my yard is always
fun. So, wipe it up, throw it in the case and let it do its magic. I guess that’s
why it is there!
I do want to add that I actually do have a UV Dehumidifier
that I use for IEMs occasionally and also works for when I use my wireless Galaxy
Buds when I’m doing something active.
Fit
The IEMs are made to be worn with cable down, which, again,
I’m not really sure why this true wireless IEM has cables to begin with. I told
Linsoul to let Tin know that I didn’t think it was a great idea and I think it
really makes this IEM not very usable in both wired or wireless modes. As a
wired IEM, the added bulk from having the Bluetooth amp and electronics make
them bulky, and as a TWS, the added mmcx wiring and feature makes them stick
out too much and oddly shaped to fit in your ear right. These actually fit
better if your flip left and right channels and wear them upside down, like you
would for many IEMs with cable up. But, since this is a TWS IEM, your channels
are now swapped and you can’t fix that easily when using these in Bluetooth mode.
Connectivity
Speaking of Bluetooth, these were very painful to connect. I
had a lot of trouble pairing them to both my phone and pairing the left and
right sides together. I’m not a novice at this either, as I’ve owned Bluetooth devices
since they started showing up in the early 2000s and own and have reviewed
several true wireless ones recently. But, once you do finally get them
connected and paired, it seemed to be stable.
The range on the TWS 2000 was very good. I left my phone in
my office in the corner of the top floor of my home and walked around the 3
floors to every corner and it never lost reception. It was better than most
other Chinese brand TWS IEMs I’ve tried in this regard.
Sound
The TWS 2000 has a pretty generic V-shape sound signature.
It is tuned and measures the same in both wired and wireless modes. The new
tuning does calm down the treble shrill and shriek that I quickly denounced,
but I also asked them to tame down the bass, but that was hardly changed.
So, the TWS 2000 is left with a bit of a low-resolution,
very muddy and bloated, bassy IEM with dipped mids, and an occasionally bright
treble region that has been smoothed out a bit, but still is very elevated.
I never truly enjoyed listening to the TWS 2000 as it came off
as a heavy bass dominated IEM. Now I think many of my readers know that I am
not really a basshead and some even joke that I hate bass (admittedly, I do
too), but there’s always a fun factor in having a lot of bass impact and slam,
and I enjoy that from time to time, if it’s done right. This means that there
is a level of slam and impact that also includes great texture, natural decay,
and thunderous power that really carries and plays into the rest of the music.
In this case, the bass is dull, disjointed, and overbearing, and just takes over
the music, and just sounds mediocre, even by true wireless standards. Okay, it’s
not as bad as the recent KZ S1 and Z1 TWS, but it’s hard to recommend this at
$80, especially considering the Samsung Galaxy Buds can be bought for that much
here in the USA at Costco.
The difference is night and day.
The midrange is totally lacking on the TWS 2000 and again
sounds a bit low resolution. The upper midrange has steep climb that can be
shouty and the treble does sound smoother but is a bit elevated. All in all, it’s
a super V-shaped IEM that may appeal to consumers who are used to listening to
headphones found in typical brick and mortar stores, but not necessarily
appealing to crowds deeper into the audiophile hobby and looking for something
less generic.
While I do applaud Tin Hifi for trying something really new
with this concept – wired + wireless + self-cleaning, I find that you should
try to be good at one thing at a minimum, and I feel like they failed in
everything on this release. It’s unfortunately not a good sounding IEM, not
very easy to carry around, not good to wear, and comes with bad cable to use in
wired mode, and has trouble pairing in wireless mode. That and the fact that the
buttons are hard to use makes this overall package some sort of a disaster.
The End.
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