Warranty
[responsivevoice_button]
“TrueConnect earbuds are made to go the distance. We’re so confident in their quality that our international warranty covers every pair for defects for 3 years, wherever in the world you’ve gone.”
Directly quoted from the website of RHA. Yes, they are this cool and yes, a whole section dedicated to this matter. I can’t stress this enough. If you live outside of EU or USA, and you are an insatiable Audiophile like me, I am sure at some point in your life, you had to deal with a warranty service that has bad international terms. RHA’s attitude towards this is quite unique in the industry. Many of the big brands still do not offer international warranties directly or you have to go the extra mile to mail them about it though getting a good response is unlikely. On top of all of this, RHA’s warranty is good for 3 whooping years.
Again, have you seen the duration? 3 years. I mean… Who does that?
Exactly.
Thanks, RHA.
Functionality & Stability
I have not experienced a single drop during my time of testing. The connection was quite stable. I have tested both Android and iOS. Latency-wise it was excellent as well during my YouTube testing. One thing to note here though, I couldn’t get them to stay connected two devices at once. Unfortunately, TrueConnect supports only SBC and there is no support for AptX HD or any other high-quality codecs. Anyway, as I mentioned in the design section, the stem design promotes a better call quality. I have tried it in different environments. The call quality was good where there isn’t a lot of chatter. Similar to all TWS earphones, with chatter, complications arise. RHA handled it better than many though.
TrueConnect has LEDs on the inner side of each earphone and they will let you know about battery and pairing status. One other thing is it’s possible to push the buttons of the earphone without losing the seal, which is quite rare among TWS designs. You can play, pause, change tracks & talk to assistants with the buttons. You can also accept and refuse calls. The charging case holds around 20 hours of juice, which is the industry standard these days, each earphone can play for 5 hours and in total, you have around 25h of juice. It’s enough to forget about the charger in a busy week abroad. The charging case has a USB-C port and it supports fast charging. Magnets hold earphones nicely, no wobble or any movement so you don’t have to worry about falling your earphones. Trust me it’s much more common than you think.
Sound Signature
Well, where to start… First and foremost, the TrueConnects have thick, bold, warm tonality.
You can listen to these for extended periods of time without any fatigue. This type of signature is suitable for wide range of genres. I think RHA wanted to create an earphone that is lovable by everyone. Emphasized bass, bold mids, polite highs… It’s the thousand-year-old recipe. Let’s divide sound into sections to get a better grip of how TrueConnect sounds like.
Lows
Thanks to it’s elevated low region, TrueConnect sounds exciting, fun and engaging. Bass quantity is definitely rich, perhaps it can even make some bassheads quite happy. However, this elevation comes with a price. RHA is not really a spacious TWS earphone. Bass fills up the headroom, resulting in a smaller, more intimate sound stage. It is not congested by any means though don’t get me wrong, but it isn’t particularly airy. Some people will have no problem with this trade-off because of TrueConnect’s strong, deep bass response. Especially those who are into R&B, Hip-Hop, Electronic, etc.
Mids
Bold. Because the note thickness and tonal balance are on the warmer side of the spectrum, vocals, especially male vocals sound quite powerful. For example, if you go ahead and treat yourself with “The Fairfield Four – These Bones”, you will see that it is a brilliant cipher to TrueConnect’s mid presentation. Vocals are full-bodied, strong and definitive. They have a way of affecting you. The clarity is good, imaging is good thanks to mids being almost as emphasized as the low region. I especially liked the presentation of stringed instruments. If you combine them with male vocals, you’ll have a jolly good time.
Highs
Highs are the least emphasized section throughout the spectrum. The good thing is they’re not really masked by the lows or the mids. The extension is good. Instruments such as piccolos, violins, and cymbals are clear. For example, Marian Hills’ “Down” has treble focused passages and TrueConnect handles them just well. Even though highs are not really emphasized, coherency doesn’t seem to be affected by this. TrueConnect sounds harmonious.
Technicalities
As you know by now, TrueConnect has an elevated bass response. This affects the articulacy and agility of lows, making it a less suitable tool for fast-paced genres. Separation and sound stage surprised me, I expected less because elevated bass response almost every time results in a congested sound stage. This was not the case here, though it is not the most spacious, it has enough space to lay instruments around and deliver a good image of the stage to you. Perhaps technically it would be better if the sub-bass took a step back but that’s just personal opinion. Resolution-wise the pair did not let me down, it has good clarity and resolution.
Last Words
As a Tech Enthusiast, I can’t resist metals that are cold to the touch. Do you think MacBook would sell this much if it had a generic finish or a plastic construction? I don’t think so. RHA’s decision towards finishes and coatings are on point. Charging case feels premium, earphones themselves feel premium with that smooth rubbery feel, the packaging feels premium… I feel like this product is the end result of consecutive good design ideas. Wow. I don’t get to say that very often. Even the slide/swivel open mechanism is addictive. I can’t get myself to stop opening and closing it. As for the next-gen improvements, RHA should include high quality codec support such as AptX HD. Sound-wise, if you like big, bold, warm sound, these are for you. Marvelous build quality, deep, strong bass, beautiful vocal presentation in a premium package, plus a huge peace of mind that comes with a 3-year international warranty.