True wireless earbuds are a burgeoning industry these days with many companies and variations hitting crowdfunding campaigns to fund them. We’ve taken a look at quite a few pairs of true wireless earbuds here at Techaeris with mixed results. Our Mezone review takes a look at a pair of TWS earbuds which claim to have an 8-hour playtime and decent sound. Unfortunately, they do fall short of the company’s claims. Read on for our full thoughts on this latest crowdfunded campaign.
Specifications
The Mezone Snug-Fit TWS Plus Earbuds have the following features and specifications:
- TWS+ sound quality
- Never fall out
- 80-hr battery life
- Wireless charging case
- 8-hr playtime
- IPX7 waterproof
- BT5.0
- Ergonomic design
What’s in the box
- Mezone TWS Plus Earbuds
- Carrying/charging case
- Wireless charging pad (optional add-on)
- Additional ear tips
- USB-A to USB Type-C charging cable
Design
The Mezone Snug-Fit TWS Earbuds definitely have an ergonomic design. Each earbud is almost tear-drop shaped, larger at the top and narrowing near the bottom. There no hard edges or corners, just smooth round ones.
On the outside of each earbud is a circular LED light which doesn’t quite form a full circle. The center, or very near, also doubles as a touchpad sensor for media controls. Beneath these are, presumably, a small microphone hole. At the very top of the earbud is a pair of gold coloured pieces of metal which connect to the charging pins in the charging/carrying case.
The smooth rounded design continues on the bottom as the earbuds angle in towards the eartips. Each eartip has a smoky gray translucent finish with a round center. As for size, each earbud is about 1 inch in height and about 1/2-inch thick.
When worn, the earbuds are actual quite comfortable and not overtly visible. The one thing that is missing from each one, however, is an L or R indicator. While the case has one outside each corresponding earbud receptacle, there’s no other way that I found to tell which earbud went in which ear.
The included carrying/charging case is squarish with rounded corners. Roughly 2 1/2-inches across from side to side, it is about an inch thick. A red silicone carrying band is looped into one of the corners. On one side of this band are the Mezone logo and three tiny LED lights to indicate case status. On the corner just past this is the USB Type-C charging port with a small silicone plug cover. Unfortunately, the cover doesn’t fit in properly after the first few times of removing it and replacing it, making it virtually useless. On the opposite edge of the logo and LED lights is a thunderbolt logo to indicate the wireless charging area.
The charging case splits open diagonally across the middle. When opened, there are two receptacles — one for each earbud. The earbuds slide into opposite sides, and the main hole with the charging pins at the bottom has an L or R beside it. The other portion of each side of the charging case has a smaller round hole for the opposite earbud to rest in when the case is closed.
Having wireless charging capabilities, the earbuds also come with a wireless charging pad. Curiously enough, while the earbud charging case uses a USB Type-C cable, the wireless charging pad sent with our review sample uses Micro-USB. At any rate, the charging pad was a very thin plastic board and cheap feeling. Aside from the Micro-USB charging port on one side, the charging pad has an LED light on top of the pad beside the port to indicate power and charging status. On the center of the top of the pad is a + sign to indicate where to place the earbud case to charge it. Finally, the bottom has four rubber feet for added grip while placed on a desk or other surface.
While the earbuds themselves have a decent design and the case is solid feeling, there are definitely a few design issues that come to mind. The biggest are the fact that the charging port cover doesn’t stay on after a few uses, the lack of L or R indicators on the earbuds, and the low-quality feel of the charging pad.
Finally, while our review sample came in black, the Mezone earbuds are also available in white or red.
Ease of Use
As with most true wireless and wireless earbuds, the Mezone TWS Earbuds are easy to pair. Simply pull them out of the case and look for “B6” in your list of Bluetooth devices on your smartphone. Select it and the earbuds will be paired with your phone.
The last thing you want to do with wireless headphones and earbuds is struggling to use them. The Mezone earbuds feature a touchpad for easy playback control. Unfortunately, the touchpad seems to be such a small surface that I could only successfully hit it about 15% of the time. I finally found that it was easier to slide my finger up and down the earbud to toggle playback. When I did so, sliding up or down played or paused the music without any issues.
However, there are more functions available by double tapping and long-pressing the touchpad. Double tapping allows you to answer a call, end a call, skip to the next track, or to make a call. Unfortunately, double tapping was spotty at best. When a double tap did register, more often than not, it would just pause the current track as opposed to skipping to the next one.
Sound Quality
The one thing the Mezone Snug-Fit TWS Earbuds do have going for them is the sound. True wireless earbuds are really hit and miss in this department. For the most part, the Mezone earbuds are clear and crisp, although they could do with a bit more volume. Sound is fairly balanced and there’s enough bass for enjoyment of more bass-heavy tracks.
While they could definitely use a bit more volume and bass, they do sound better than some other true wireless earbuds I’ve reviewed in the past.
Reception/Call Quality
After a few attempts at answering a call using the touchy touchpad controls, I found that I did have to speak a bit louder than usual for the other party to hear me clearly. When my voice dropped to normal levels, I was asked to repeat myself as they had trouble hearing me. That being said, when I remembered to speak up, the call quality was fine.
As far as reception is concerned, I got barely 30′ with these before the music or call audio started to cut out. While 30′ is decent, it’s definitely on the lower end given Bluetooth advancements over the past couple of years and the fact Mezone is using BT 5.0 in these earbuds.
Battery Life
The biggest drawback of true wireless earbuds seems to be battery life. The Mezone Snug-Fit TWS Earbuds claim a battery life of 8 hours between charges, and up to 80 hours with the included charging case.
Sadly to say, on average we were able to only get 2 1/2 to 3 hours on a single charge. Based on that and our recharges with the carrying/charging case, we were able to get a total of about 28 hours before needing to recharge the charging case.
While 3 hours is decent battery life for earlier versions of true wireless earbuds, it falls well short of the claimed 8 hours by the company, hence the low score for this category. Once depleted, it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to recharge the earbuds as well.
While the wireless charging of the charging case worked with the included wireless charging pad, other wireless charging pads wouldn’t work with it. When used with one of the three other wireless charging pads that I’ve used successfully with other devices, the LEDs on the charging case didn’t turn on, nor did the light on the charging pad.
Price/Value
With an MSRP starting at US$129 for the earbuds and charging case alone or $149 to add on the wireless charging pad, Mezone Snug-Fit TWS Plus Earbuds can currently be purchased for as low as US$79. Given the pitfalls we experienced, however, even at $79, these would be hard to recommend
Wrap-up
The Mezone Snug-Fit TWS Plus Earbuds definitely have a nice snug fit and acceptable sound. However, the experienced battery life and fussy touch controls make it hard to recommend these true wireless earbuds in a crowded market of alternatives. Then again, it is possible we just got a sub-par early production unit.
*We were sent a sample of the Mezone Snug-Fit TWS Plus Earbuds for the purposes of this review.
Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
