By: Aaron Lai
January 12, 2024
Have you ever experienced false humility? This often is displayed by people who feign humility by underselling themselves. This way, they can lower everyone else's expectations of them. At work, we call this under-promising and over-delivering. I think I can easily relate to this, as I did this when I was in school. At the time, I think it was a bit unconscious, as I saw how well everyone else was doing and I assumed everyone was doing better than me. However, I also did want to undersell myself so when I did do better, everyone would look favorably at me. I think true humility starts by bringing others up rather than focusing on lowering yourself. This does not mean we do it falsely either, but genuinely praising and congratulating them when they do well. In addition, we can then find ways we can learn from their successes. On the other hand, this sort of humility is probably the last thing any company thinks about, especially when it comes to marketing their products. I would be surprised if any advertisement propped up the competition genuinely. Instead, they will usually boast about their strengths. If they do have any weaknesses, they would likely not bring it up. Thankfully, as a reviewer, we have the ability to look at both the strengths and weaknesses, which is what we will be doing today with our TOZO Open Buds. Touted as an innovative pair of true wireless earbuds with its open-ear design and capable sound, we get to see the whole product and see what it brings. Will the Open Buds live up to the claims, or will we discover some downsides? Let us read on to find out!
Today's review unit of the TOZO Open Buds arrived from Eagle International E-business Corp. in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. EIE is a logistics company. Otherwise, this yellow bubble envelope arrived in relatively good condition. It was shipped with Canada Post via their Expedited Parcel ground service and it arrived to our APH Networks offices in Calgary, Alberta without any notable dents, scratches, or holes. Interestingly, looking at the tracking references, it actually talks about somehow this package originating in Richmond, BC, Canada, which is on the opposite side of Canada. Regardless, we have the package here today, so let us carry on.
Out of the envelope, the TOZO Open Buds' retail box is pretty standard with a white background. The company logo can be found on the top left corner, while a scaled image of the earphones and the carrying case is in the middle. At the bottom, it brings up some name of "Origx", which is a name TOZO has given to how they tune their drivers. The bottom right corner has the product name, which says "OpenBuds" as one word. TOZO does not seem to be consistent with this, as it is two words on their website, but one word on some e-retailers. As such, I will be referring to them as "Open Buds" for the review. Around the back, we have some more specific features, but we will explore them later. This outer area slips off as it is printed on a sleeve to reveal a white cardboard tray inside.
Before we continue, I have grabbed the specifications from the manufacturer's website for your viewing pleasure:
Specifications
Earphone
Type: Open-ear
Model: Open Buds
Color: Black
Audio quality
Driver: φ14.2mm dynamic driver
Frequency response range: 20Hz - 20kHz
Audio codec: AAC/SBC
Noise cancellation
Call noise cancellation: DSP call noise reduction
Bluetooth
Bluetooth version: Bluetooth 5.3
Effective Bluetooth range: 10m
Battery Life
Battery capacity: 70mAh(earphones)/600mAh(charging case)
Music play time (AAC, default setting, 50% volume)*: 12h (single charge)/42h (with charging case)
Charging
Cable charge time: 1.5h (earphones)/1.5h (charging case)
Charging port: USB Type-C
Slipping off the front sleeve, the first thing to greet you is a manual holder, which hilariously says "Designed by TOZO in California". This seems to be imitating some technology-fruit company, although this is the truth in the sense that TOZO has an office in California. However, everything is still made in China. Inside is a quick start guide to help you get working with the Open Buds in multiple languages. Underneath, we have a small side box with a very short USB Type-C to Type-A cable, measuring just under 25cm in length. Finally, wedged in a foam bracket and in between a paper sleeve, we have the carrying case with the TOZO Open Buds inside. The earphones are individually wrapped in a plastic sleeve to prevent charging drain from happening while the package is in transit. TOZO does recommend fully charging the Open Buds prior to its first use.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
