Tronsmart Apollo Air review: the best earbuds with ANC?
The Tronsmart Apollo Air are true wireless earbuds with ANC for around €70. They have short stems pointing toward your mouth. Does that mean the microphone is really good? We test the sound, mic, fit and everything else. Check out the results!
In this article
Pros and cons
Here are the pros and cons of the Tronsmart Apollo Air. See at a glance whether these earbuds are right for you.
| Pros | Cons |
|
✔️ Good bass |
❌Highs get a little lost ❌Fit could be better |
Tronsmart Apollo Air specifications
- Price: €65
- Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3046
- Codec: AptX
- Bluetooth: 5.2
- Range: 10m
- Case battery: 300
- Earbud battery: 35
- Cable: usb C
- Waterproof: ipx 7
- Colors: white, black
Tronsmart Apollo Air sound quality
The Tronsmart Apollo Air sound good. Not exceptionally good, just good. The sound focuses more on the lows and less on the highs.
The Tronsmart earbuds are above average when it comes to bass: the low frequencies. Like plenty of bass? Then these wireless earbuds are ideal for you.
We should mention that the heavy bass slightly overshadows the highs. But you need a discerning ear to notice. At Eardopes, we always appreciate a balanced sound. The highs are just as important as the mids and lows. That balance brings everything together so you can enjoy your music to the fullest.
The all-important mids are nicely present, in our view.
Sound quality score: 7
Overall, the sound is more than adequate. But we'd love to adjust the bass a little, turning it down a notch.
Tronsmart has also made some good Bluetooth speakers. One even made our top 11 best Bluetooth speakers.
Microphone: are the Tronsmart Apollo Air good for calls?
The Tronsmart Apollo Air have a stem below each earbud. That puts the microphone a little closer to your mouth. Earbuds with this design usually make your voice a little clearer.
That's true of these Tronsmarts too. They pick up your voice very well.
Microphone score: 7
As you can hear, the recording is clear. There is a slight rattling sound, though. There are earbuds that don't have this issue. Listen to the sample we recorded for you. A recording says more than 1000 words:
These earbuds are suitable for calls and online meetings.
Curious which earbuds have the best microphone? We put together a comparison with all the audio samples.
Fit: how do the Tronsmart Apollo Air feel?
The Tronsmart Apollo Air are wireless earbuds with a stem. So they aren't compact buds that sit against your ear. Those stems can always compromise the fit.
But that's not much of an issue with the Tronsmart Apollo Air: they sit nicely and comfortably in your ears. As a reviewer, though, I always find that one stem points one way and the other points another. It basically highlights the asymmetry of your ears. Anyway, enough vanity.
The ear tips are worth mentioning: they're quite soft and flexible, and they're round. That last detail is interesting because the sound opening is oval. In short: round ear tips on an oval opening. That's probably why the ear tips look so distorted. This all sounds a bit negative, but it isn't. It's just something we noticed. The ear tips seal your ears well, which helps with noise canceling. More on that later.
Fit score: 6.5
These Bluetooth in-ear earbuds feel comfortable. We'd have given them a better score without the stems. But that's a design choice by Tronsmart. The upside is that the stem puts the microphone closer to your mouth, so it can pick up your voice better. Still, compared with the Apollo Air, the SoundPEATS T2 (also with ANC and good sound) fit just a little better.
ANC: how good is the noise canceling?
The ANC on the Tronsmart Apollo Air works well enough. Tap the left earbud three times to switch from off to noise canceling. Tap again and ambient mode turns on. Ambient mode?
We already know Transparency mode (from SoundPEATS) and HearThrough mode from Jabra. So how is Tronsmart's Ambient mode different?
It isn't! They all work the same way: the microphones in the earbuds pick up the sounds around you and actively amplify them in your ears.
But back to ANC. Tronsmart missed an opportunity by not putting ANC mode right after ambient mode. In other words, ambient mode lets you hear your surroundings. When you switch to the next mode using the controls, it should be ANC. That would take you straight from amplified background sounds to noise canceling. The contrast would make the ANC seem even stronger.
The Tronsmart's ANC filters out the clatter of my keyboard well, for example. When I test it outside, standing next to a car, it's less convincing. It doesn't reduce the engine noise enough. We've tested better options, such as the MPOW X3 or the SoundPEATS T2.
ANC score: 6.5
The noise canceling is good enough. But for really good noise canceling, you're better off paying more and choosing different earbuds.
Earbud controls
The Apollo Air have touch controls. Simply touch the earbuds and they respond. The touch area is the flat section with the Tronsmart logo. It works well.
Controls: 8
How do the Tronsmart Apollo Air touch controls work?
| Left | Right | |
| 1x | Volume down | Volume up |
| 2x | Music: pause/play Calls: answer/hang up |
Music: pause/play Calls: answer/hang up |
| 3x | ANC / Ambient mode | ANC / Ambient mode |
| 1.5 sec. | Previous song/video | Next song/video |
|
4+ sec. |
Power off/on | Power off/on |
It's good to see more earbuds letting you adjust the volume directly. You no longer need to pull your phone out of your pocket or walk over to your laptop to turn it down. Otherwise, the touch controls are very similar to those on SoundPEATS earbuds. Almost all the controls are the same. To us, this is the most logical layout.
Battery: how long can you use the earbuds?
The Apollo Air batteries are small:
- 300 mAh in the charging case
- 35 mAh in each earbud
On average, you get around 500 mAh & 50 mAh with earbuds in this price range. That said, Tronsmart uses the Qualcomm QCC3046. It's an energy-efficient chipset, so you can still get quite a few hours of use.
Battery score: 7
It's also nice that the charging case has a usb-c port. That makes charging much easier. The case doesn't support wireless charging, so you'll need a cable.
Conclusion: are the Tronsmart Apollo Air any good?
| Rating | |
| Sound | 7 |
| Microphone | 7 |
| Fit | 6.5 |
| Battery | 7 |
| Controls | 8 |
| ANC | 6.5 |
The Tronsmart Apollo Air earbuds are a good buy. They offer decent sound, a good microphone and very good controls. They also have ANC, although it isn't the best noise canceling we've tested. The stemmed design helps the microphone perform better, but we prefer the fit of earbuds without stems.
Others also viewed:
- Browse all our wireless earbud articles
- These are the top 8 best wireless earbuds
- These are the best noise-canceling earbuds
- These are the best earbuds under €50
- These are the earbuds with the best microphone
- Also check out our article on alternatives to AirPods
- Explore the best earbuds for running or for the gym
- Also check out our hands-on review of the Eardopes B6 pro.
