Intro
Tanchjim is very well known for their highly touted IEM, to name a few, Oxygen, Darling and also the budget oriented Tanya. It offers a very good price performance ratio for the IEMs mentioned. Today Tanchjim is coming out with their first TWS, namely the Echo. TWS space is usually dominated by those consumer brands such as Sony, Bose or Apple. Let’s see how it holds up against the competition in terms of sound.
Specifications
Frequency response | 20-20000Hz
Bluetooth| Bluetooth 5.2
Impedance| 32Ω
Battery life| 6H +42H
Diaphragm | Beryllium Plated Dome+ Flexible Suspension
Working distance| 10m
Bluetooth protocol| APTX， APTX Adaptive, AAC, SBC
Driver| 10mm dynamic driver
Charging| Wireless charging/ Type C port
Packaging
The packaging of Echo is the usual Tanchjim style packaging. The unboxing experience is very good I would say. It comes with two types of eartips, a wide bore short type and a normal bore kind of eartips. A type c cable for charging and also the backup filters.
Build and Comfort
The build quality is average in my opinion, the charging case is a little big, but it fits very well with various 3rd party eartips, Azla Xelastec, Spinfit 360, Audiosense’s S400 and also several others.
It is also very comfortable to wear for long sessions. Tanchjim claimed that various samples had been collected in order to design the shape of the TWS for the sake of comfort. The fit is also very good and it doesn’t drop or wobble even when I move my head aggressively or working out.
Sound
My first impression when I was listening to Echo was, “Wow,is this coming from a TWS or my wired IEM setup?”. It sounded good and very balanced. It works with various genres of music and I was really impressed by it.
Tonality wise, i would say they are slightly warm, very smooth to listen to without any weird peaks. Timbre is very natural as well.
Bass
The bass is fast and tight, handled busy track with ease and doesn’t sound bloated nor boomy
Quantity is just right and realistic bass reproduction
Bass extension is quite good to my ears
Sub bass rumble is there, but nowhere near the bass head’s region, available when it’s called for, well extended and not overly done
Mid Bass thump is very controlled whereby both sub bass transitioning between Sub and mid bass is very smooth
MIds
Vocal is forward and no recessed
Female vocals have got a good enough body to it in Teresa Teng’s The Moon Represents My Heart
Male vocals also have a very good body in tracks like Zhao Peng’s The Moon Represents My Heart, a cover of Teresa Teng’s
The mids of Echo are very lush and full of details, this is very good for a TWS, in fact i’ve heard a few and not even one come close to Echo’s mids
Highs
Not sibilant nor harsh
The treble extension is very good and smooth, it is very good for long sessions
It has got good amount of air enough energy for Echo to not feel dull
Good amount of details
Soundstage/Imaging
The soundstage is average to me, quite “in your head” kind of feel
Imaging is very good for TWS, Instruments can be pinpointed clearly
Separation is also above average for a TWS, vocal and instruments are layered properly and it doesn’t overlap each other even during busy track such as Slipknot’s Duality
HRTF feels very good as well as the channel transition is smooth and very audible
Battery Life
Tanchjim claimed that it is able to last approximately six hours on a single listening session before the need to recharge
I got more or less 6 hours with 40% of volume level connected to my iPhone 11, i would say the battery life is not bad nor exceptional as most of the TWS in the market currently offers more or less the same battery life
I did not really measure the case’s battery life, but i use Echo on a daily basis averaging 3-4 hours per session before putting them back into the case, from white light to red light, it took around a week. So battery life really isn’t an issue here
Connection
Connection is pretty solid, my device is not bluetooth 5.2 so i guess i’m not fully utilising it, but even from a 5.0 version, the connection is rock solid
No dropouts or disconnection between left and right even when i’m out and about where there are a lot of interference
Connection remained stable from my phone being placed in the living room, and wearing Echo and walking to my bedroom with some walls in between
Microphone’s Quality
Microphone’s quality is a little disappointing
Voice sounded muffled and distant
Not sure if it’s due to the ENC in work, however i just find that it is not suitable for calls due to the microphone’s poor performance
Background noise is well suppressed due to the ENC i suppose
Comparison (Apple’s Airpod Pro) - In terms of audio performance
More sub bass rumble from Airpod Pro
Highs are smooth but not as detailed as Echo, both are not sibilant nor harsh
Vocal is slightly recessed on the Airpod Pro
Mids are not as detailed as Echo’s
A more generic tuning (V shaped) suitable/likeable by the mass consumer
High price judging from the performance of the sound alone, if i were to take into considerations of the features that are available on the Airpod Pro, the asking price is actually fair if you are in Apple’s Ecosystem
Final Thoughts
I’ve spent a lot of time with Echo before writing this review, it has been my daily driver since then. I constantly reach out for this instead of my wired setup. It has got approximately 80% of the performance of my wired setup, so why not right? Grab and go kind of approach.
The touch control is quite sensitive and it registered my actions precisely. Although an additional function to control the volume will be very good in my opinion. I find it a little annoying to constantly reach out for my phone to adjust the volume level, but I'm an Apple user with an Apple Watch, so it’s not really an issue for me as I can control the volume via my watch’s crown, but this is something to take into consideration for other users.
At 99$, the asking price is not exactly high nor budget oriented, but the audio performance it offers definitely matches its asking price. Putting aside the performance of the mic, if you are in the lookout for an audiophile TWS, look no further. Give this Echo a try and you’ll be amazed like I am.
I do hope Tanchjim will come out with a companion App for Echo as I believe it will greatly enhance its potential with additional features, such as EQ, customizing the touch controls, an option to update the firmware with more functionalities or some fixes.
* I received this unit from ShenzhenAudio in exchange for this review, however, it will not sway or affect my evaluation in any way. A big thanks to Cloris as always for the opportunity and do check out the store below if you guys are interested in grabbing this TWS ShenzhenAudio
