TOZO Crystal Pods TWS ANC IEM Review – I Dream in AI
Tozo Crystal Pods see into the future and know you will loose your Airpods, and like a rebound girlfriend or boyfriend swoops in to pick up the pieces.
Disclaimer: Tozo sent these free of charge for my review, they were not delivered by 8 reindeer unfortunately.
In this Article
INTRO
I have all but sworn off wired IEM’s under $50, because at that point you can pick up something in the TWS category like the Tozo Crystal Pods. Retail priced between $31-$35, sometimes with a coupon bringing them closer to $20, its cheap enough to be a curiousity. It is quite amazing the technology shifts in the past couple of years where you can buy a TWS with amazing ANC for under $40.
To understand the plethora of options now flooding the market, it comes down to Apple Air Pods shifting the mindset and forcing phone users to adopt and embrace wireless earphones. I believe Apple deserves full credit for this paradigm shift. However, what has happened now is that Air Pod users have suffered the loss of an earbud or two and have decided that it gets expensive to replace $100+ wireless earphones.
Enter the budget TWS category now with ANC for those who tend to lose things or just have no desire to plop down $100+ on wireless earphones. To me the <$40 market is cutthroat. You will quickly become inundated on Amazon with the overwhelming choices, all with glowing reviews by the common normal users that can live in a standard definition world, ah those were the good times.
DESIGN FEATURES
The Tozo Crystal pods are dubbed their “premium” driver offering, although they did have a higher priced model named Golden X1 previously reviewed. The TOZO Crystal Pods are a chunky no frills aesthetic design unless transparent shells are at the top of your desire list. The compact case is easy enough to fit in my pocket and remove the earphones from.
With the shell being somewhat chunky, it does put some pressure on my ears to hold it in place. Eartips and nozzles are oval shaped to facilitate proper placement (hopefully). The thick stems allow for easy gripping and the flat surface helps with control touches. Skipping tracks seems to cut off the beginning so I found that a bit odd.
With the latest Bluetooth 5.4, the Tozo Crystal Pods can give you 2.5hrs of playback with only 10 minutes of charging. Who has not been in that situation, especially if a frequent traveler. A full charge is supposed to net 6-7 hrs of use depending on if ANC is active or not, and the charging case adds 5 full charges before you will need to plug in again.
I was curious about the host of features found previously only on top dollar ANC TWS and yet here is an affordable option packed full of software features. It boosts 6 ANC modes that is supposed to deliver 38db of noise reduction:
- Noise Cancellation
- Transparency
- Reduce Wind Noise
- Leisure Mode
- Custom Pattern
- Normal (ANC off)
Unfortunately, I did not detect any major changes between three modes, Wind Noise Reduce, Leisure, and Custom which had 1-10 levels of adjustment on the latter. I checked the firmware page and there was an update from 0.0.2. Once I applied that update (version 0.0.3), the Leisure and Custom modes actually now apply some type of noise cancellation as well. The level adjustment doesn’t seem to make all that much difference still.
The Noise cancellation mode does reduce lower noises pretty well, leaving only a whispering noise in the higher frequencies. It does not introduce a massive bass boost such as the Sony WF-1000XM5, but this is likely because the Crystal Pods already have a boosted bass level. I can hear that it gets more tubby sounding.
PACKAGE CONTENTS
- TOZO Crystal Pods Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds
- Crystal Charging Case
- 3 pairs of Eartips (S/M/L)
- USB-C (A to C) cable (30cm)
- Quick Guide & User Manual
SOUND
Tested with IPhone 13 and LG G8
As hinted, the Tozo Crystal Pods have a boosted bass profile, with a Harman tune from what I can tell. For the mass consumer market, these hit the mark. I think the majority of those 4+ star reviews on Amazon are true, it is not an offensive tune and unless you nerd out like us seeking more they will meet expectations.
Vocals are somewhat recessed, depth is average, and width is also average. Treble is probably the only trouble area that really stands out. It has a swishy washed out character with minimal definition. For the untrained they will call it crisp, I believe the codec type might be to blame as there are some tell tale signs of compression occurring.
Bass comes off as bloomy and boomy, but it doesn’t really bleed. It just lacks some control and skews mostly sub-bass. Vocals and midrange is rather bland and unremarkable. This is mostly my experience with all inexpensive earphones.
Testing the Crystal Pods with the LG G8 vs Iphone 13 reveals a better experience on the Iphone. The LG G8 caps out at a lower volume, especially when playing my own music versus Spotify. Iphone users therefore might have the edge. It’s probably healthier for our ears at the volume cap, but I suspect an occasional user might want to really rock out.
STILL MORE FEATURES
So with the AI revolution, everyone wants to incorporate it somehow and Tozo Crystal Pods have a trial AI feature. I suspect this is where TOZO is trying to generate a revenue stream with a basic commodity. I myself did not test this functionality, but I will describe what is there.
The AI claims to do the following: Meeting recording to identify speakers and provide a summary of the meeting minutes. Translation either with Mutual face to face conversations, or one-sided translation. The fourth option is a generic AI chat, I guess if you do not trust Google, Siri, Gemini, or Alexa you can choose Tozo. I suggest you read their terms and agreements before deciding to use these features, you know all the stuff none of us read.
Gamers and movie watchers will appreciate the Tozo Crystal Pods have a low latency mode. There are also some meditative sound clips that can be used for relaxing as well. Some of the rain ones were distracting because either the samples are compressed or the codec is mutilating the treble to the point it does not sound natural. I find it personally distracting so it is not relaxing for me. Fun concept, just needs better implementation.
Almost forgotten but pretty much a standard affair, the Crystal Pods offer 32 EQ presets and access to more if you feel the desire to create an account and share your own with the world. It also sports IPX5 dust and water protection.
FINAL TAKE
Tozo Crystal Pods are for the general user and pass the acceptability test, but Iphone users have a slight edge because of the volume cap. I could give these to any of my family members and they would be satisfied. It is a no frills design, the case offers no battery readout, no wireless charging, but the app has plenty of features and good ANC for an entry level price where you will not cry when one falls out of your pocket or gym bag. Casual earphones, not for critical listening.
SPECIFICATIONS TOZO Crystal Pods
Product and Purchase Information: https://www.tozostore.com/products/crystal-pods-headphone?variant=50489365397793
DISCLAIMER
Our generic standard disclaimer.
