Let’s be honest, you wouldn’t expect much from a pair of earbuds made by TCL – a name much more common in the TV realm. But you would be wrong in dismissing the TCL Moveaudio S600 True Wireless Earbuds with Active Noise Cancelation. I for one, was put to shame from the moment I put them in my ears, paired them and started listing to the LoTR: Rings of Power soundtrack on Spotify.
Yes, at $249 Australian, these are not cheap buds but considering the current king of noise cancelling buds, the Apple AirPods Pro 2 are $399, suddenly the S600 are quite the steal. I mention the AirPods Pro for a reason because it’s clear where TCL got their inspiration. The S600 look uncomfortably close to Apple’s offering. They are white, with thin stems, white silicon tips and even a white pebble shaped charging case.
But if you don’t mind all the weird stares of puritans who think you’re wearing AirPods only to see you whip out an Android phone. To hell with the haters though because these buds are shockingly good with excellent audio quality, surprisingly good noise cancellation and very good battery life. Oh and if you are in the market for a new Android phone, you can get the S600 bundled with the TCL 30 5G(check out our review here) for just $599.
TCL Moveaudio S600 True Wireless Headphones Review
The S600 are true wireless earbuds that connect over Bluetooth 5.0. You get support for SBC, AAC and Google Fast Pair. Each ear bud also has wearing detection so they’ll turn off and pause your media when you take them out of your ear to save battery. The buds have a standard bulb and stem design and are rather lightweight thanks to their plastic construction which I do find a little bit flimsy feeling. This is especially so with the lid on the charging case that has quite a bit of wobble and I’ve been extra cautious about fiddling with it.
However, the buds are very comfortable and TCL provides extra silicon tips of different sizes so you can find the right fit for you. They sit snug and don’t easily drop out unlike something like the Beyerdynamic Freebyrds. Throw in IP54 sweat and waterproofing, people who like to work out with some tunes will be more than happy with the S600. The touch controls are simple and responsive with various tap variations to control media and calls. You can customise them with the TCL app for Android and iOS if you like.
Inside each bud is a dynamic 10mm speaker and three active noise cancellation microphones. In short, these buds boom with rich, textured sound and bass that belies their looks. I was honestly shocked when I first listened to them and immediately preferred them over my Pamu Slide 2 and even the Freebyrds. Yeah, they are that good.
From bass banging hip-hop to Celtic choral choirs, the S600 reproduce audio with great clarity, staging and most importantly, are just fun to listen to a number of genre’s. Listening to podcasts or running video calls for work, voices were clear and warm making for a pleasant experience. I never experienced any fatigue while listening to these. I can wear these all day with ease. The powerful sound works very well in gaming too where gunshots are meaty, demon shrieks are chilling and the soundstage is pretty wide. Unfortunately, you’ll still have some latency .
Elevating the audio is of course the inclusion of Active Noise cancelling. The S600 uses six microphones to actively listen to the surroundings and cancel out offending noise. In my first use of the buds, I was walking my kids to school. When I turned on the ANC, the noise of road traffic immediately disappeared into pleasant whooshing sound as cars passed by.
I was not expecting that. Elsewhere, the buds are great at shutting out my laptops fans or the dishwasher sitting a few feet from my work desk. I’ve not been on any flights to test how they handle airplane noise but I have every confidence they would be great. Conversely, there’s a transparency mode that does the opposite of cancelling and instead amplifies your surroundings to you. This works just as advertised though I never found much use for it since the buds don’t exactly give you a true sound seal.
The microphones on the S600 aren’t bad but certainly not the best I’ve heard on a pair of earbuds. There is a lot of digital processing to cancel out the background which leaves my voice sounding subdued and fading in and out. I never had any complaints from my callers saying they couldn’t hear me though but have a listen to the sample recording from indoors.
Equally impressive is the battery life. TCL claims 8 hours in each earbud with ANC off and that drops to 6 hours with it on. Those were pretty much what I got in my testing but there is a further 24 hours of recharge in the case. The case mind you, can also charge wirelessly on any Qi charging pad as well as USB Type-C. I never had any battery anxiety but for sure, the Freebyrds still handily beat the S600 with a whopping 11 hours in each bud.
Verdict
It’s safe to say that the TCL Moveaudio S600 are the most surprising piece of gear I’ve reviewed all year. I really didn’t expect them to be so good. Again, it’s important to remember that other ANC ear buds like Beyerdynamic Freebyrd or Apple AirPods Pro cost well over $100 more than the TCL. Its shocking that the company has managed to create a product that can out do more established brands out there and manage to undercut them in price. The one downside to the S600 is that they don’t particularly look or feel like $250 ear buds in terms of design and build. I worry about the carry case lid breaking. But beyond that, these are damn good true wireless earbuds that will be sure to please and my new main.
