One of the best selling wireless earphones or earbuds on the market is the F9 TWS earbuds. This model of earbuds has sold over 120,000 units on AliExpress. Surprisingly, the numbers are still going up and people are going crazy over it.
So, we got ourselves the F9 TWS and we took it for a test to figure out if these earbuds are any good at all. Let's get into it.
In this article
Buy earbuds on AliExpress
Through Aliexpress everyone has worldwide access to most of the production in China. That can be quite an adventure, but it also has a lot of disadvantages. Many people think that Aliexpress is a Chinese webshop. That is incorrect. Aliexpress is Chinese, but not a webshop.
It's a platform. Any Chinese trader can sell products through Aliexpress. It completely circumvents European (and therefore Dutch legislation). So we provide a small disclaimer: buying through Aliexpress is not always without risks. And we don't want to over-dramatize it either. If you research well, you can find quite good products on Aliexpress.
From the perspective of a Dutch webshop, we also want to express a small inequality / dishonesty / frustration (before we go into the review about the most sold earbuds on Aliexpress): Sellers via Aliexpress do not pay VAT. That is 21% of the purchase price that we donate here in the Netherlands and Belgium. In addition, Aliexpress does not pay delivery costs. We pay an amount to PostNL for each shipment (in our experience, PostNL delivers the best and fastest of all carriers).
F9 TWS: most sold earbuds on AliExpress
The F9 TWS is one of the best selling earbuds on AliExpress. These earbuds have been sold as many as 169,293 times ! That is of course a huge number.
That is why it is high time to take a closer look at these earbuds.
Pros and Cons
Here is a quick look at the pros and cons of the F9 TWS.
| Benefits | Cons |
| ✔️ Affordability ✔️ Great sound quality |
❌ Quality and build feels cheap ❌ Lacks CE Certification |
Specification F9 TWS Earbuds
- Price: US$8
- Chipset: BT8832A
- Bluetooth: 5.1
- Range: 10m
- Charging case: 1200 mAh
- Earbud battery: 50 mAh
- Cable: Micro USB Type-B
Much information is not even noted on the manual or packaging. For example, we cannot say for sure how much mAh (battery capacity) these earbuds have. That is not stated on the packaging. Well on the product page. Also, no CE certification has been noted anywhere. And that may not immediately mean that you are in danger, but it is not without reason that rules have been made in Europe for these types of products.
We saw two different providers on Aliexpress with apparently the same F9 TWS. We immediately bought both for this review.
Fit: How doe the F9 TWS fit?
The F9 earbuds sit pretty well on your ears. They are reasonably light and provides a decent amount of wearing comfort. The earbuds piece just don't really lean in your ear. You have to squeeze them a little bit between your auricle.
Fit score: 6/10
You'll be surprised by the weight of each earbud. Each piece only weighs about 3 grams, the lightest earbud piece we have ever seen so far. However, it is best to keep in mind how the manufacturer able to achieve such a feat.
According to European guidelines, earbuds must meet certain certifications. These certifications ensure that the product meets the standard quality. By ignoring some of these certifications, the F9 TWS was crafted with an unbelievable lightweight design.
Sound quality of the F9 TWS earbuds
Despite its cheap and plastic feeling for its overall build, the F9 TWS overshadows those flaws with its above expectation sound quality.
Sound quality score: 7/10
The F9 produced a decent amount of tones with a good mix between high tones, mid-tones, and low tones. Of course, it's nothing miraculous, so to speak, but it still exceeded our expectations. Especially considering how it is competitively priced on the market.
Microphone: is the F9 TWS good for calls?
Out of the box, the microphone quality of the F9 TWS is pretty good. People on the other side of your video call or phone call can hear you clearly.
Microphone score: 4/10
To give you a good sense of its microphone performance, we made a recorded audio using the microphone of the F9 TWS.
The only issue you will encounter with this earbud is the loudness or volume of the voice. If you listed to our audio recording, you have to crank up the volume of whatever device you are listening to just to hear our audio.
The F9 TWS is really far from decent if you want to get the best of everything at its price point. One way or another, you're bound to find a flaw on this earbud. It's something that one should expect given its price of only US$8.
If you want to have something to listen to, to compare it with. Here's our audio recording using the microphone of the Eardopes B6 Pro.
Another worth noting is that, pairing the Eardopes B6 Pro to a supporting device is smooth and quick. Compared to how difficult it was for us pairing the F9 TWS to our laptop via Bluetooth.
Operating the F9 TWS earbuds
There two different versions of F9 TWS earbuds on the market. The first one comes with touch controls while the other doesn't. The one we have here is the version that comes with a physical button for device operation.
Ease of operation: 5/10
Out of the box, we noticed that the buttons are very uncomfortable to use. Especially if your fingers are sensitive.
There are 2 problems:
- The buttons make a clicking sound - If you press the button with your finger, you will hear a sharp click in your ear. That click is so loud that it is uncomfortable. Especially in combination with the problem we explain below, this is very inconvenient.
- The buttons are stiff - The earbuds are in your ear canal. Then it is important that you do not have to press the buttons too hard. In this case, you have to. And if you press hard enough, and the button finally presses, you will hear a sharp click in your ear. Not pleasant.
A big plus is that you can adjust the volume of the earbuds by pressing the right button 3 times. That is a luxury, because you do not often see this with earbuds of this price. If you press the left earbud 3 times, your earbuds will go down one position.
Charging case
The charging case contains 1200 mAh of battery capacity. That's a lot compared to other earbuds at this price. So you can charge your earbuds with it very often. Furthermore, you can also charge other USB devices such as your smartphone since the charging case also functions as a power bank. Pretty neat feature considering its price.
Battery: how long can you use the earbuds?
The earbuds themselves have 50 mAh per earbud. As mentioned, the case has 1200 mAh. This means that you can use the earbuds 12 times from completely full to completely empty. And you can use a full earbud for about 3 hours. In short: you can use these earbuds for quite some time until they are empty.
Battery score: 7/10
Conclusion: are the F9 TWS worth buying?
| Review | |
| Sound | 7 |
| Microphone | 4 |
| Fit | 6 |
| Battery | 7 |
| Service | 5 |
| Stability | 6 |
If you're someone who occasionally uses an earbud for listening, then this is a great earbuds to consider. Most especially if you're someone who doesn't want to chunk out a significant amount of money for an earbud.
However, if you're someone who uses an earbud almost daily, then you might want to invest or look at other better options. There are other better models out there that significantly is better than the F9 for a small bump in the price.
Alternatives
F9 vs QCYM
QCY is a popular Chinese brand that sells earbuds almost in every market. In many cases, QCY earbuds are considerably better. Especially when it comes to the built-in microphone.
