TWS headphones, TWS, etc.

The TWS i12 look like AirPods, use the same lightning plug for charging and promise the same functions for less than $50. Too good to be true? Yes, I do. You can either turn them over after a few hours or put them in the back of a drawer forever.

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On photos posted on well-known sites such as Amazon or best buy, TWS i12 looks like AirPods. Except that instead of being sold $219, they are found at prices of up to $49.99, more often at a discount of around $20.

And once the box is open, they do look like AirPods, with the same characteristic shape in the shape of a golf putter that fits so well into the ear.

These TWS i12 recharge in a case that, surprisingly, plugs into the socket most commonly used in Apple products, the lightning. This is a novelty, the other imitations of the kind we dealt with in January 2019 used the microUSB socket. It takes about an hour to recharge the case completely.

Second surprise: when you want to connect them to an iPhone, by pressing the small white button in the case after removing the headphones, the phone screen actually takes them for AirPods. So we matched them safely to an iPhone and then to an Android device.

And it is a voice in English, even if the manual is half written in Chinese, which confirms that the pairing has been done.

Just like the AirPods, there are several controls available by tapping one or the other of the headphones. One shot, we answer a call or we pause the music. Two shots on the right, we move the song forward, two shots on the left, we pull it back. You can theoretically turn up or lower the volume or stop a phone call with other combinations.

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Take out the notebook, it's a long list. The first obvious flaw, and you can feel it from the first beep, is the absolutely awful sound coming out of these headphones. No bass, poorly defined medium and high frequencies, in short, a little better "cacan" sound than the $5 wireline headphones found in some stores.

They look like AirPods, but you only have to take them in hand to see that they are very light. The cheap plastic hull obviously contains a lot of vacuum and does not appear to be strong at all.

Their autonomy is minimal. Ours went from 100% to 0% in two and 15 minutes, and the case recharged them three times before emptying itself.

The only command that works well is the little trick to stop or resume the music. All the other combinations react in an unpredictable way, with the poor headset obviously not having the sensitivity to tell the difference between two or three shots, or a prolonged touch.

Answering a call with these headphones is quite a bet. You have to do it three or four times, and you get a sound that will hurt your ears after a minute. The speaker, on the other hand, will have the impression that you are talking in a bottle because the microphone is of poor quality.

It is not surprising that the OEM manufacturer-if it is him, because our research is inconclusive on this subject-has not designed a mobile app. The English portion of the manual is often incomprehensible, with phrases such as "the left ear, the right ear touches the position, the 1 button to answer the call, the left earphone touches twice and the volume decreases" …

Shall we buy?

No, not in 100 years! Even at the $20 discount, these headphones are of a desolate quality, a gross attempt to attract AirPods fans who hope to save money. And they're going to end up with Bluetooth headphones that they won't want after a few minutes.

Pass your way if an ad for these headphones appears on your phone screen or computer. They are given one point-out of five-because they are not completely dysfunctional.

TWS i12

Manufacturer: OEMPRIX: between $21.99 and $49.99 Note: 1 of 5