Hifiman TWS600 Review

Disclaimer: Hifiman sent us the $199 USD TWS600 IEM for the purpose of this review, free of charge. I only covered the import taxes and fees. All thoughts and experiences with the product are naturally my own. As the manual states, 20h of burn-in was completed before the review.

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Intro

Today, we’re taking a look at Hifiman’s wireless in-ears, the Hifiman TWS600.

As you probably noticed, the ever-growing trend of wireless products has successfully impacted our audiophile journey. As the days go by, more and more brands adapt to the change and conduct R&D towards a better wireless sound. I am not denying it, this makes me quite thrilled for the future. Nikola Tesla would probably join me on this. 

About Hifiman

It is simply impossible that you have not heard of Hifiman. They’re this big, bold china-based personal audio company lead by Dr. Fang Bian. It was founded back in 2007 if I’m not mistaken. I have used many of the company’s marvels such as HM801, HM901s, HE-560… These were legendary devices, gold standards in their respective time periods. I remember the quality time I spent with 901S, good audio gods it was an exquisite experience I tell you. Hifiman still continues to set new bars and records both in digital and applied areas. Hifiman is an innovative company and now they’re engaged in the wireless business. Without further ado, I’d like to present Hifiman’s first True Wireless IEM to you, the TWS600.

Hifiman TWS600

The TWS600 was launched at a price more lower than we all expected, and it is selling for only $199 directly from Hifiman. At the moment the TWS600 is even discounted and it is selling for only…. $79USD. Get it while it’s hot people. You can do so right here: http://store.hifiman.com/index.php/tws600.html

Packaging & Accessories

The TWS600 packaging is neat. Hifiman provided eight pairs of tips to accommodate every canal shape possible. The box is rather informative and lists all the features of the TWS600. Slide up the top and you are presented with a sleek looking case of earphones. Under this section besides tips, there is a warranty card and sleek looking USB-C cable along with the instruction manual.

Build & Design

Hifiman has a distinctive design language. I would describe it as retro with hints of modernity. I really like this design type because when done it right, devices look quite unique. However, this is not the path Hifiman chose for the earphones themselves. I think the case looks great, feels great, I love the little details such as the protection pad for the earphone’s face plates, or the fact that it has a rubberized platform where it makes contact with the floor. One thing I don’t like about the case is that the magnets that hold earphones are not really strong so be careful. If you ask my opinion about the earphones themselves, I would say that they’re a little bit too gamer-y for my taste. The LEDs inside do not illuminate the face plate evenly, you can clearly see the joint points of the plastic and they certainly do not feel luxurious in hand. I would’ve expected something sleeker from Hifiman in this regard, but hen again there’s the price level these are selling for now. We can’t expect everything for $79 USD either.

Features & Stability

Superb. It may be the best true wireless earphone I’ve ever held in my hand in terms of connection stability. It feels damn good to leave my phone in the locker, turn on shuffle and workout without my phone. I have not experienced any sound break-ups during my time testing these little guys. The earphones are IP4X certified, which means that they are sweat and dirt resistant. If you like listening to Tchaikovsky while dead-lifting, the TWS600 may be your ultimate companion. Battery life is great and the case gives you around a week of juice. The microphone and call quality is above average in places where there is limited chatter around you. As the intensity of chatter raises, mic quality sinks but I would not worry about that because it’s the case with nearly every TWS on the market right now. The earphones have physical buttons on the center of the face plates.

It requires a small push but be careful as even a small push can cause loss of the perfect seal. I am not a fan of touch gestures on face plates so I think this is the best solution even if it’s not perfect. If you look at the bright side you will not accidentally skip your 12 min long track and completely lose where you were. I had real trouble using the Kinera YH623 just because of this. Amplification/MaxVolume of the TWS600 is quite good. I’d like to draw your attention to something I found quite odd, this earphone only streams in SBC/AAC modes. These are the most basic stream levels one can achieve, I’d want to see LDAC, aptX HD, HWLDC from a renowned company such as HIFIMAN. Their aim was to create an audiophile TWS, that’s for sure but I couldn’t understand why they chose such limited codecs. 

The part on sounds start on the second page of this article. You can find it by clicking HERE or by using the jumps below.