Affordable Tronsmart Onyx Apex with ANC
Tronsmart Onyx Apex ANC. Pic: Noel Campion.
The Tronsmart Onyx Apex TWS ANC are relatively affordable and feature active noise cancellation and aptX adaptive for auto-switching between different audio modes.
The Onyx Apex have a short stem design, reminiscent of the Apple AirPods Pro. This isn’t such a bad thing but the build quality isn’t nearly as good. The buds have a glossy finish that looks quite clean. Each bud has a touch-sensitive area on the outside and a Tronsmart logo.
The charging case is small and pocketable with a matte finish and a flat bottom. It has a satisfying snap thanks to a strong magnet when you close the lid but the hinge mechanism isn’t as solid as you’ll find or more premium earphones.
Around the back of the case is a USB-C charging port but unsurprisingly at this price, there’s no wireless charging.
Just 10 minutes on the charger will provide up to 1.5 hours of playback with up to 24 hours in total when you include the charging case. The buds will last up to five hours with ANC off and four with ANC on. This is average battery performance for TWS earphones go but far from class-leading.
There’s no official IPX rating but a little sweat or light rain didn’t cause me any problems.
The supplied ear tips work well and felt comfortable in my ears. You get a selection of three different silicone ear tips sizes in the box. The buds feel light while wearing them and I never felt like they were ever going to fall out of my ears.
The Onyx Apex use the Qualcomm QCC3040 chip that features aptX adaptive support. This means the software will detect what you’re listening to and automatically switch to suit the content. If you’re playing a game it will shift to low-latency mode and if it’s music, it will switch to higher audio quality. Of course, this will only work on Android devices and not iPhones.
Bluetooth 5.2 ensures fast pairing and connections were always stable during testing.
The Onyx Apex feature ANC and transparency modes and you can toggle between them by triple tapping on the touchpads of either bud. There’s a noticeable drop in sound coming from around you with ANC enabled. However, it’s not very effective or nearly as good as you’ll get from more expensive models from the likes of Sony, Apple or Sennheiser. The transparency mode does work well.
The bass is prominent from the 10mm drivers and it doesn’t get distorted at higher volumes. Unfortunately, the rest of the sound signature doesn’t impress as much as the bass. The mid-range is a little recessed and the highs are thin and bright.
The sound imaging is decent but the mids and treble aren’t full-bodied with vocals sounding thin. The sound signature is not well-balanced and isn’t especially good for acoustic or vocal-heavy tracks.
Low latency mode is good and the Onyx Apex offer good gaming and movie-watching experience. The sound imaging is good here too, especially in games like Call of Duty mobile. Also, I had no issues with audio being out-of-synchronisation.
Unlike some of the other Tronsmart headphones I’ve used, the Onyx Apex is not supported in the Tronsmart App. This means there’s no way of updating the firmware or customising the excellent touch controls.
The Tronsmart Onyx Apex ANC come with a lot of excellent features including top-notch touch controls, 5.2 Bluetooth for a strong connection, good bass but with only average sound quality, battery and ANC performance.
If you’re looking for better sound quality then take a look at the Tronsmart Appollo Air or Air + with ANC.
For more information, see Tronsmart
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