i500 tws Bluetooth earbuds: Review after 3 months of use
The i500 is an increasingly popular AirPods alternative. You can buy them on AliExpress. They offer good value for money, especially when it comes to sound and features. In this article, we explain exactly how good these i500 tws AirPods copies are.
In this article
Sound
As soon as we put the earbuds in, we notice how good they sound. The fact that we don't hear a Chinese woman's voice saying 'power on' is a promising start. That often makes earbuds feel cheap. These earbuds make a beep when you put them in your ears. That tells you the in-ear sensor has been triggered. You heard that right: the i500 has an in-ear sensor. More on that later. First, the sound.
The earbuds have a nice, full sound. Much better than the average i12, which sells for less. Highs sound clear, not harsh. The mids come through really well. You can hear the bass, but it doesn't quite match the AirPods. It comes very close, though! All in all, these i500 tws have the best sound we've ever heard from AirPods alternatives.
Microphone
It's easy to underestimate how important a microphone is. You'll mainly use the earbuds for music, you might think. But sooner or later, someone will call you. And when they do, they need to be able to hear you. Nothing is more frustrating than someone on the other end repeatedly saying: "What? Huh? I can barely hear you."
The good news: you won't get that kind of response in quiet surroundings. People can hear you. But as soon as there's more background noise, these little microphones give up. The other person will have a much harder time hearing you, and the noise around you becomes irritatingly loud in their ear. For a really good microphone, you'll want the Eardopes B6 Pro.
The i500 tws has plenty of features
From GPS location to in-ear sensors, the i500 has all these features. Especially when you use it with an iPhone. You get a pop-up showing the battery percentage. You can then change the name of your wireless earbuds. When you take the Bluetooth earbuds out of your ears, you hear a beep. This means the earbuds detect when you put them in or take them out. Take them out, and the music pauses. Oh, and the earbuds have touch controls too. Is that still anything special these days? It's worth mentioning, at least.
GPS location: Find my AirPods
For many people, GPS is an important feature in AirPods copies. The iPhone has a tool called Find my AirPods. And you can use that tool with these earbuds. Handy if you ever lose them.
Changing the earbuds' name
Another feature many people want is the option to rename their wireless earbuds on an iPhone. You can do that with the i500. Just give the earbuds a different name on your iPhone. All these features also work on an Android phone, by the way. You just need to download an app.
The i500's sensor
We touched on this earlier. When you take the earbuds out of your ears, the music pauses. That's an advanced feature you don't often see in earbuds at this price.
But is it really useful? For us, it doesn't add much. That might just be personal preference. We're happy to tap the touch controls ourselves. The earbuds' shape lets plenty of outside sound into your ears anyway. So you don't need to take them out to hear something. Just pause your music or podcast, and you can hear most of what's going on around you.
Using the i500 tws on Android devices
The features we've discussed so far mainly focus on iPhones. But Android devices can support these features too. You just need to download an app called Airdroid. It's easy to find in the Google Play Store.
The app gives you a pop-up showing the battery percentage, lets you turn off the sensor, and lets you rename the earbuds so that name appears in the pop-up. You can change the name in your phone's settings anyway, but that won't change the name shown in the pop-up.
Reasonably good battery life
Battery life is fairly good. A fully charged earbud gives you about 3 hours of music. That does depend on the volume. But overall, the battery performs well.
Update: we've noticed that these earbuds show incorrect battery percentages in the iPhone pop-up. That can be very frustrating. You've just charged them for half an hour, only to find that one earbud appears not to have charged. It makes you think your earbuds are broken. Our tip: ignore the pop-up and look at the light on the charging case. If it's green when you take the earbuds out, you don't need to charge the case. Is it red when you take them out? Then charge the case. That's a simple quick fix. And for just over €20, it would be a bit much to expect earbuds without a single flaw.
The i500 battery percentages don't work properly on the iPhone. One moment you see 8%, and the next time, 5 minutes later, it shows 100%.
Our tip: use the case as your guide. If the light is green when you open it, the case and therefore the earbuds are fully charged. You can then use them for at least 3 hours, as expected. For now, ignore the percentages on your iPhone and go by the light on the case. A perfectly workable solution.
Call volume
We also occasionally had a small issue with call volume. It seemed we couldn't adjust the ringtone volume using the buttons. We'd be enjoying some music, then suddenly get a ringtone in our ears at 100% volume. And it hurt.
You pull the earbuds out as fast as you can. But afterward, we couldn't find a way to adjust it. We tried haptic volume, a setting on the iPhone, but that didn't work. Eventually, a day later, the problem suddenly disappeared. Very strange. So be prepared for a very loud ringtone in your ears.
Size of the i500 tws
For many buyers, the size of the earbuds matters. Are they the same size as the ones from that American fruit-named brand? The answer: these i500 earbuds are exactly the same size as AirPods. They measure 4.1 centimeters.
Others also viewed:
- Browse all our wireless earbuds blog posts
- Prefer good, affordable in-ear earbuds? Check out our in-depth blog post about QCY earbuds
- Check out our overview of AirPods alternatives
