In the recent past few months we’ve looked at such a multitude of in-ear fully wireless earphones that you would think that it’s tough to tell the difference between one and the other.

But that’s true only for the lower end of the price spectrum. As we move past the ₹10,000 mark, there are definitely distinctions worth talking about, and the Trueconnect earphones, coming from Scotland-based RHA, surely show that.

The Trueconnect in-ear wireless earphones, which we will just call Trueconnect for now, come in an unremarkable package, but sit in a remarkable case. I turned it around and around in my hand, baffled as to how to open it, when I figured you have to push the bottom upward whereupon the case slides open very elegantly.

Each ear-bud fits in stem-first into a slot and snaps magnetically in place with the charging light coming on for each bud. The case is heavy and gives you 20 hours of additional charges to add to the 5 hour charge on the earbuds themselves. That can take you through an entire day, a long haul flight or a do-not-disturb day at the office. There’s a possibility of quick charging, so that you can give the earbuds a new lease of life for a while.

One problem with the case, however, is that the outer material is of a soft rubbery sort and immediately reflects the natural oil of one’s skin and present on the fingers and it’s very difficult to wipe off. This is a sad drawback to an otherwise elegant and unusual case. The earbuds themselves are splash and sweat proof.

Array of tips

In the box, you’ll find a big array of ear-tips, in foam and silicon. These are very important because which ones you use will entirely determine the fit and seal for your ears and make all the difference to the way the music sounds.

I chose rather big ones and ended up with a total seal which also cut down on a lot of the noise in my surroundings. Naturally, if something is so in-ear as these earphones, a lot of passive noise cancellation is bound to take place — and it does.

The sealing off also determines the soundstage you’ll experience. The music feels a bit like it’s coming from the inside centre of your head rather than being about a spread around you. It’s interesting and comes as a surprise of sorts when you first turn on the music.

There isn’t any particular emphasis on either bass or high frequencies so the sound is a little flat, but yet rich and full and overall very nice. Sadly, there’s no accompanying app and equaliser for you to adjust sound with, though you could try a third-party app.

The earbuds have a small stem like projection at the bottom and because of this instantly get compared with Apple’s AirPods. Also, at ₹14,999 they happen to be in the same price category.

When you choose the right ear-tips, they fit really comfortably and don’t fall out at all. They’re got one for sleep-listening as well and just don’t hurt in any position. That makes them even better for a long flight on which you want to tune out the aircraft cabin and listen to the music inside your head.

Pairing is fuss-free, though each bud may at first appear separately in the Bluetooth list. It fixes itself and reconnects to your device when you take them out of the case. The controls consist of one button on each ear-bud but they’re not easy to use as these are already very in-ear, and you don’t need to be pressing them further in with a button.

I would recommend using the phone for controls.

You can use long-press option on the left bud to trigger the Google Assistant. The earphones also take calls, but I found the call experience adequate and wouldn’t buy them for this specific reason.

Price: ₹14,999

Pros: Good sound quality, fits well and comes with array of ear-tip extras, excellent battery life with quick charging, innovative case design, splash proof

Cons: Charging case shows finger grease, no companion app for adjustments, a little over-priced for type of sound stage, doesn’t support Aptx

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