Truke BTG Crystal TWS Review: Hits all the right notes

1 week ago 4

Truke’s Born To Game TWS series has a new addition. The BTG Crystal TWS was launched last month at a special price of Rs 999. Currently, these earbuds are retailing for Rs 1,099. Operating in the entry-level segment, the BTG Crystal packs interesting features like multi-point connection and quad-mic ENC. There’s also a low latency mode on these earbuds since they’re designed for gaming. We’ve been using these earbuds for the last week as our primary gaming TWS. Here is our in-depth review of the Truke BTG Crystal TWS.

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Truke BTG Crystal TWS Review: Design

Here’s what you get inside Truke BTG Crystal’s retail box:

Charging case
Earbuds
Extra eartips
USB Type-A to Type-C cable
Quick start guide
Warranty card

For a gaming TWS, Truke has a very minimalist aesthetic. What we like about its charging case is that it doesn’t go overboard with gaudy RGBs. Instead, it sticks with a traditional form factor and adds tasteful LED lighting to the mix. The lid of the case has a see-through plastic panel that gives you a glimpse of the two earbuds nestled in their cutout. This panel tends to attract fingerprints very easily.

Design

Even though the BTG Crystal is an entry-level TWS, its build quality is quite sturdy. The plastic does not feel flimsy to the touch and the hinge isn’t loose. The notch under the lid makes it open to flip open the case using one finger. The charging port is positioned on the right side of the case. Interestingly, there is no ‘Truke’ branding on the case.

design

Flipping open the case, you will notice a sleek LED bar running through the bottom of the inlay. This LED bar changes its colour when the case is low on battery. The two earbuds have small LED lights at the bottom of their stems. The earbuds follow the traditional in-ear design. There are extra silicone tips provided in the box to cater to different ear sizes.

design

The BTG Crystal earbuds offer a comfortable fit and do not cause major ear fatigue after being worn for multiple hours. Our only gripe with the earbuds is that their inner panel has a glossy finish. While the earbuds don’t slip out in sweaty conditions, they do require periodic adjustment. The earbuds have an IPX5 rating, which means they remain unfazed by sweat and water splashes. The touch-sensitive zones on the buds are tuned nicely and accidental triggers are a rare occurrence.

Truke BTG Crystal TWS Review: Performance

BTG Crystal earbuds deliver the audio output through 13mm dynamic drivers. The TWS supports Bluetooth 5.4 which makes the pairing process easy and seamless. There’s support for 360-degree Spatial Audio as well.

The soundstage offered by these earbuds is very impressive for the price. We are used to entry-level earbuds being heavy on the bass and low-range frequencies but the Truke BTG Crystal surprised us with its focus on a balanced soundstage. The mid and high frequencies get a lot of room on the soundstage to express themselves. However, we wish they had a ‘pop’ to them. Certain background elements like subtle clapper hits tend to drown in the mix.

Performance

The audio quality on offer here is satisfactory. Of course, its richness pales in comparison to midrange earbuds, but this is as good as it gets in this price bracket. We would recommend sticking within the 40-80% volume range to get the best out of these earbuds.

Our favourite thing about the BTG Crystal is its dual pairing chops. This feature is typically found in midrange wireless earbuds. Its presence on this TWS adds a lot of value to its price tag. It takes 4 taps on the left earbud to get the TWS into Dual Pairing Mode. Once the earbuds are connected to two devices, you can seamlessly switch between them. If you get a call while playing a game on your PC, you will be able to hear your ringtone. You don’t need to disconnect the buds from your PC to pick up the call. The TWS immediately switches to your phone as soon as you accept the call.

performance

Since the BTG Crystal is primarily designed for gaming, there is a dedicated gaming mode on the TWS. This mode can be enabled by tapping 3 times on the left earbud. This pulls down the latency to 40ms, ensuring that the audio remains synced to the gaming visuals. We played Call of Duty Mobile while wearing these earbuds as were happy with the audio quality and lack of lag.

Another facet where the Truke BTG Crystal pulls ahead of its peers is the calling experience. These earbuds are equipped with Quad Mic ENC, which is successfully able to extract the voice of the caller from the surrounding noise and relay it to the listener. In indoor conditions, this feature worked flawlessly. The voice of the speaker remained ‘crystal’ clear and there were no audio discrepancies whatsoever. However, in loud, outdoor conditions, the Quad Mic ENC wasn’t enough to stop the noise from creeping in.

The two earbuds are packed with a 40mAh battery while the case can hold an additional 400mAh of charge. Truke claims a total battery life of 68 hours on these headphones. During the week-long review period, we used the Truke BTG Crystal for 4-5 hours every day. We weren’t able to deplete the charging case by the end of the week. Since Truke doesn’t have a companion app for its TWS products yet, there is no way of finding out the charge remaining in the case.

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Verdict

For an entry-level gaming TWS, the Truke BTG Crystal is as good as it gets. It hits all the right notes for us, be it the minimalistic design, tasteful RGBs, or the balanced soundstage. This is the ideal affordable TWS for folks who do not like their music listening experience to be overpowered by a blanket of bass. If you’re a gamer, you will certainly enjoy the low latency mode on this TWS. The lack of a companion app is a bit of a downer, but the smooth touch controls ensure that you don’t miss it too much.