Tronsmart Onyx Ace review

This time, Tronsmart has entered a fairly narrow niche. Producing airpods-like earphones in itself is already a risky venture for a decent brand. In addition to frankly basement copies of Airpods, there are literally a couple of models with a similar design from other manufacturers. However, let’s see how well Tronsmart did it.

Inside new Onyx Ace there’s still a Qualcomm chip with support for the aptX codec and active noise reduction during conversations with cVc 8.0. But the earphone form itself has departed from the standard in-ear.


Accessories, Packaging, Features

The packaging of Tronsmart Onyx Ace is no different from other earphones of this manufacturer, it is as small and high quality. Large silver letters emphasize the crystal clear sound of voice calls, which is achieved by a system with four microphones. It also provides support for the aptX codec, claims premium sound thanks to special speakers, touch control and autonomy of up to 24 hours. Water protection according to the IPX5 standard provides protection from sweat and splashes, so the earphones are not afraid of rain, gym or pool, but you should not wash them under running water and submerge them.

The box also mentions mono and stereo mode, it means that you can use one earpiece as a phone headset and even connect the right and left earphones separately to different devices, which can sometimes be useful.

The package includes a short USB/Type-C charging cable and instructions in a stylish black box.

The new model uses speaker driver twice the diameter of the previous model Onyx Neo. The battery capacity in both the earphones and the case has also become larger, but the charging speed of the earphones themselves has increased, and the autonomy has decreased, which is probably the result of more powerful speakers.

But this fortunately did not affect the overall autonomy, earphones with the case provide up to 24 hours of music playback at a comfortable volume of 50%.


Design, Control

Onyx Ace case is very different from all previous Tronsmart earphones and copies design of the AirPods, but it has a more interesting shape and silver insert, which makes their design more stylish.

The cover opens in the same way and has a magnetic mount, as in Apple airpods, the earphones themselves are also held on magnets.

There are no complaints about the design and construction of the case, moreover, it looks much more interesting than Airpods.

To check the charge level of the case, there are four bright white indicators that light up for a short time when opening the cover, as well as when charging the case.

At the bottom is a type-C charging connector with a metal frame.

When you get earphones from the case, white indicators also light up on them, which indicates that they are entering standby mode for connecting to a smartphone or other device.

At this time, you can detect them among active Bluetooth devices and connect. But this is only at the first connection, in the subsequent earphones are almost instantly connected when removed from the case and the indicators immediately go out. And when you put them back in the case, they immediately turn off and start charging, which is convenient.

In the upper part of the earphones there are metallic inserts that serve as sensors, and their location allows you to conveniently insert and remove the earphones from the ears by the tails, which eliminates false clicks.

Using simple touch with your finger on the sensor, you can perform the following actions: pause in the player/answer a call, increase/decrease volume, switch tracks, call voice assistant, turn on/off earphones.

Onyx Ace are first open earbuds from Tronsmart, all previous models were vacuum. It is good that the manufacturer did not experiment here and just copied the successful already well-proven form of AirPods. There are no problems in the comfort of wearing, the earphones stay in your ears normally and do not crush anywhere, which ensures their long continuous use without any discomfort. However, it should be borne in mind that they have absolutely no sound insulation like that of vacuum plugs, which does not contribute to a pleasant listening to music in noisy places like the metro. But, they will appeal to those who do not like to be fenced off from the world, but prefer to hear well what is happening around.

In general, there is everything you need, but it seems that Tronsmart decided to continue experiments and again changed the purpose of the gestures. One touch on the left or right earphone now reduces or increases the volume, pause and answer a call using a double tap. Obviously, adjusting the volume has become more convenient.


Sound

Tronsmart earphones users love primarily for their rich, detailed and bass sound. All previous models, although somewhat different in sound, but generally consistent with this concept. Onyx Ace is a completely another story, they are very different in sound from their vacuum predecessors. The sound is dominated by dry bass, the entire high and medium range is slightly muffled.

However, this is the feature of the open type of earphone. Only exception is the acoustic genres, where the voice or any stringed or wind instruments clearly comes to the fore, and the music acts as a background. Here are the obvious use cases: light acoustic music, radio, podcasts, audio books, and voice chat. At the same time, the main advantage of the open type of earphones is the ability to stay in the earphones for a long time without any inconvenience, perhaps this is one of the main advantages of this model.

But the voice in Onyx Ace sounds very nice and clear, both in voice calls and when watching a video. There are no complaints about the quality of voice transmission through the microphone and noise reduction, everything is fine here.


Verdict

Onyx Ace certainly is most original Tronsmart model. On the one hand, they are stylish and comfortable, have good autonomy, water protection and excellent noise reduction. On the other hand, they are suitable not for any music. However, as we wrote above, this is a feature of the open type of earphones, and you should understand what to expect.

Based on this, we can recommend them to users who listen mainly to light instrumental music, watch videos, and communicate on the phone or messengers. For these purposes, they will fit and will not strain your ears. Despite its minor disadvantages Tronsmart once again proved that for really little money you can get a fairly high quality and thoughtful product in every way.


Specifications:

Model: Tronsmart Onyx Ace Chip: Qualcomm® QCC3020
Bluetooth version: Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth profile: HFP/HSP/AVRCP/A2DP
Audio codec: aptX, AAC, SBC
Connection distance: Up to 15 meters / 50 feet Driver: 13 mm
Microphone sensitivity: -42dB ± 1dB
Audio frequency range: 20 – 20K Hz
Playtime (varies by volume level and content): Earphone: up to 5 hours (50% volume)
Charging case: up to 24 hours (50% volume)
Battery: Earphone: 40 mAh
Charging case: 400 mAh
Input: Earphone: 35 mA max.
Charging case: 300mA max.
Charging time: Earphone: about 1 hour 20 minutes Charging case: about 1 hour 30 minutes Standby: Earphone: about 60 hours Charging case: 90 days Dimension: Earphone: 39 x 16.5 x 16.8 mm / 1.54 x 0.65 x 0.66 inches Charging case: 48 x 23 x 57.5 mm / 1.89 x 0.9 x 2.26 inches
Weight: Earphone: about 4 g / 0.14 oz
Charging case: about 37 g / 1.31 oz

You can buy Tronsmart Onyx Ace on Amazon or Aliexpress.

Official site https://www.tronsmart.com/