We used the Truke Buds Vibe for a week, here is our in-depth review.
Truke is one of the newer players in the TWS market and already features a very impressive range of audio products. So far, there hasn’t been a Truke product that we didn’t like. If you’re looking for the biggest bang for your buck, Truke’s TWS series should be high on your list. The company’s TWS catalogue caters to music enthusiasts as well as gamers. Truke has been on a release spree this year. We reviewed the Truke A1 last month, you can read more about it here. This month, the company has put out a new pair of TWS – Truke Buds Vibe. Interestingly, these earbuds are manufactured in China, as opposed to other Truke TWS that are produced locally. Truke Buds Vibe is currently priced at Rs 1,599. We took them out for a spin and used them for over a week. Here is our Truke Buds Vibe review.
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Truke Buds Vibe review: Design
Truke Buds Vibe ship inside a rectangular box, with the contents housed in a flimsy plastic tray. Truke makes some compromises on the quality of packaging in order to limit the cost of the product. We don’t really mind it as long as no compromises are made on the audio front. Inside the box, you will find wireless earbuds, a charging case, 2 pairs of extra ear tips, a USB charging cable, a user manual, and a warranty card.
Buds Vibe is easily one of the best-looking TWS in Truke’s catalogue. The earbuds are available in a single-tone blue colour and a dual-tone black & yellow colour combination. The charging case and earbuds are made entirely out of plastic, which is something to be expected in this price range. The charging case weighs just 76.4 grams (with the earbuds inside).
The see-through plastic lid covers 70% of the front panel. There is a small display inside that notifies you of the charge held in the case at any given time. When the earbuds are in their respective pods, you can also see their battery level bar on this display. Truke branding can be found just below the plastic lid. The USB type C charging port has been housed at the bottom of the case.
The build quality of Buds Vibe is satisfactory. Comparing it with other Truke products, we feel that the Buds Vibe could have been a bit more sturdy. The lid is fun to snap open and shut but rests slightly loose on the case. It is a very minor complaint but we haven’t faced this issue on any other Truke product. On the bright side, the case does not attract any fingerprints or smudges. After a week of rough use, where the case shared pockets with keys and loose change, we are happy to report that it came out unscathed with no scratches.
The earbuds sport an in-ear design. There are an additional two pairs of ear tips in the box to help you find the perfect fit. This is going to be necessary if you plan on using the Buds Vibe to cancel out surrounding noise. Made out of glossy plastic, the earbuds have the tendency to fall out during sweaty workouts. We did not experience any water damage due to sweat during our use.
The outer panels of the earbuds are touch sensitive and can be used to control the audio playback. If you want to switch between different audio/ANC modes, you will have to rely on touch gestures since there is no app support for Buds Vibe. The earbuds are highly prone to accidental touches, which can get annoying very quickly. It is also not uncommon for some touch gestures to not register at all. A dedicated app would sort this issue out altogether.
Truke Buds Vibe review: Performance
There are several things to like about Truke Buds Vibe’s performance. The earbuds feature 13mm titanium drivers that produce a solid audio output. With Bluetooth 5.3 on board, the earbuds are instantly connected to your device as soon as you flip open the lid. The strength of the connection is also optimum.
Truke Buds Vibe gets four preset EQ modes – balanced mode (default), dynamic audio mode, movie mode, and bass boost mode. You can switch between these modes by touching and holding the outer panel of the left earbud. The notification sound remains very rough and not pleasing to listen to at all. To switch to an EQ mode, you will need to go through all the other modes. An app would’ve been extremely handy here. The touch panels sometimes fail to register the hold gesture and play music instead of switching to a different EQ mode.
In terms of sound quality, Truke Buds Vibe does not disappoint. We played a variety of genres on these earbuds and had an enjoyable listening experience. The sound is punchy and rich, with no significant distortion if you keep the volume under 80%. The lower frequencies get a special focus and the warm, enveloping bass can be further enhanced with the ‘Bass Boost’ mode.
While the Buds Vibe provide a good bass output, the mid and higher frequencies could have used a bit more work. The higher frequencies (guitar and vocals) sound slightly rough on certain occasions. A greater level of detail in the output would have been ideal. Having said that, the Truke Buds Vibe is still a worthy contender in its segment.
There is a 40ms low latency Gaming Mode onboard the Buds Vibe too. We did experience a mismatch in audio and gameplay while playing Call of Duty in regular mode. Turning on the Gaming Mode was a big improvement and instantly ironed out all issues. If you’re looking for a TWS on a budget that can cater to different needs, Buds Vibe is worth looking into.
You also get Active Noise Cancellation on Truke Buds Vibe. This is where Buds Vibe pulls ahead of its competition. At this price range, having ANC on your earbuds is a total steal deal. The ANC performance is surprisingly good. The TWS can cancel up to 35dB of surrounding noise. We previously used Truke Buds A1 which also offers ANC in a similar price range, but the ANC on Buds Vibe is much better. The TWS was able to suppress background noises like the sound of the ceiling fan and distant humdrum.
The calling experience provided by Truke Buds Vibe gave us little to complain about. The earbuds are able to effectively isolate the voice from the background noise and relay it perfectly to the receiver. The Quad Mic Environmental Noise Cancellation plays its part here.
With 300mAh of battery inside the case, Truke Buds Vibe offers a total playback time of 48 hours. We used the earbuds every day throughout the week and only felt the need to charge the case twice. This included using ANC at all times with up to two hours of music consumption each day. Each earbud is equipped with a 40mAh battery, which is good enough to last 5-7 hours with ANC turned on. The case takes two hours to fully charge.
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Verdict
Currently priced at Rs 1,599, Truke Buds Vibe is a good buy. If you don’t want to splurge a lot on wireless earbuds but don’t want to compromise on audio quality, Truke Buds Vibe fits the bill. We’ve been saying this for quite some time, but Truke will massively benefit from app support for its TWS products. Navigating through the different audio modes using the touch panels is certainly not ideal. The low-quality notification alerts are also something that needs to be fixed.
Truke Buds Vibe review: Pros
Great looks
Good sound profile
ANC
Incredible value for money
Truke Buds Vibe review: Cons
Touch panels aren’t consistent
No app support
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