Yamaha TW-ES5A TWS review: targets a niche audience

Despite their convenience, TWS earphones might not be ideal for those who engage in sports activities because they do not always offer a secure fit. Yamaha is addressing this issue head-on with its premium TW-ES5A earbuds. Marketed as sports-centric earphones, these buds promise to provide a secure and comfortable fit, allowing you to focus on your activity without worrying about the earbuds coming loose. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at the Yamaha TW-ES5A earbuds and determine whether they live up to their claims. So let’s dive in!

The lowdown

• The Yamaha TW-ES5A has an unconventional design. The case looks like a miniature briefcase, which is not very pocketable. The case is fashioned out of soft plastic that is prone to scratches and flips open to reveal the earbuds ensconced inside. Unfortunately, the opening and closing mechanism of the case is not very satisfactory, and the lid is also loose. The Yamaha TW-ES5A comes in as many as five colour options. I got the turquoise colour variant for review, which picked up stains quite easily. 
• The Yamaha TW-ES5A earbuds, much like the case, have a bulky design. However, the dual-tone finish with a glossy outer shell and matte black facing the ear tips adds a touch of elegance. The earbuds do not have touch controls. Instead, they sport three physical buttons, with one located on the left bud and the remaining on the right. The right bud buttons allow for volume control, skipping to the next or previous track, while the left bud button is used to pause or play a track and enable/ disable ambient listening mode. Although the controls are easy to use, the buttons themselves can be uncomfortable to press for an extended period or repeatedly, as they dig into your skin. Furthermore, these buttons cannot be mapped to anything else via the companion Headphone Control app. The buds also have LED lights that switch between red and blue to indicate charge and pair status.

• Be that as it may, the Yamaha TW-ES5A earbuds offer a solid in-ear fit that will remain in place no matter what activity you engage in. The buds ship with a range of fins and ear tips, suitable for most ear canals. They are straightforward to replace and are soft enough not to cause discomfort, even for first-time users of fin-style TWS earbuds. The buds are IPX7 rated, which means they can withstand heavy sweating and even rain, but not dust. All said and done, the Yamaha earbuds might not be a discrete choice as they tend to stick out from the ears quite a bit due to their bulky design. Additionally, some might find the 7.9 grams weight of each bud slightly taxing to wear for long hours. But, on the upside, the Yamaha earphones provide excellent battery life.
• The TW-ES5A lasted quite long for me on a single charge. I primarily used the earbuds during my gym workouts and noticed only a 10-12 percent drop in the battery after listening to music in ambient listening mode for an hour or so. I’m confident that the buds will last close to the claimed 9 hours of playtime without needing a charge. The earbud’s case is rated to provide up to 25 hours of backup, and it features a Type-C charging port that supports quick charge functionality. With just 10 minutes of charge, you can enjoy an additional hour-long playback time. The front of the case features LED lights in the lower lip for the battery indicator. They light up when you plug the case in for charging or put the earphones back in.

• Moving on, the Yamaha TW-ES5A pairing mechanism isn’t like any other TWS earphone as the case doesn’t have a pairing button. The earbuds need to be out of the case and blinking red (if they are blinking blue, press and hold the power and volume up buttons on the buds until the light turns red) to enable pairing. However, keep in mind that the earbuds can only be paired and connected to one device at a time. Unfortunately, there is no multipoint Bluetooth pairing available with these earbuds, which means they can’t stay paired with multiple devices and switch between them automatically. TWS earbuds in this price range are expected to have multipoint functionality, but the Yamaha TW-ES5A earbuds are not your typical earphones. They are specifically designed for fitness enthusiasts who don’t usually carry multiple devices. In terms of the earbuds’ Bluetooth range, it is decent, but there was occasional cut in and out of sound even when my iPhone was a couple of metres away. Furthermore, the earphones would reconnect with the smartphone every time I used them to answer calls and that would cause a 3-4 seconds delay, which was quite frustrating.
• Answering calls on the Yamaha TW-ES5A is good, if not great. The button on the left bud can be used to answer incoming calls without reaching out for the smartphone. The audio quality is decent and the voice does not sound muffled. However, the earbuds’ microphones are underwhelming in a slightly noisy environment despite Qualcomm’s cVc (Clear Voice Capture) technology, which is supposed to suppress noise and cancel out echo for easier communication with the caller. The bottom line is that the Yamaha TW-ES5A earbuds are a dependable choice for answering and receiving calls in a quiet setting.

• Coming to the meat of the matter, the audio quality. The Yamaha TW-ES5A buds feature 6mm dynamic drivers and come with support for popular SBC, AAC, and Qualcomm aptX codecs. The pair sound flat out of the box as there is no thumping bass that some people might prefer. Even after adjusting the equaliser (EQ) settings via the compatible Headphone Control app, the bass remained underwhelming. This could be due to the earbuds’ small driver size. The buds don’t have active noise cancellation (ANC), which is understandable as they are targeted towards fitness enthusiasts who require situational awareness while working out. Instead, the TW-ES5A features Ambient Sound mode, which reduces the external noise to provide a more immersive listening experience. It is quite effective and you get better sound quality from the earbuds. I listened to Charlie Puth and Jung Kook’s Left and Right on medium to high volume during one of my gym workouts and felt that the song’s vocals and guitar sounded good. However, the lower frequency sounds such as that of the drums sounded more subdued than they should have been. This was also the case with other songs like IKKY and Shubh’s “Baller,” Queen’s “Now I’m Here,” and Ankur Tewari and Prateek Kuhad’s “Dil Beparvah,” where the mids and highs were balanced, but the lows were not as effective.

• The Yamaha TW-ES5A also boasts Advanced Listening Care, which optimises sound for a better listening experience even at low volumes, promoting long-term hearing health. The feature can be toggled on/off by pressing the power button on the left bud or via the double Headphone Control app. Speaking of the app, it has a user-friendly UI and works seamlessly. The only inconvenience I experienced was that on iOS devices, the app doesn’t automatically connect to the earphones, requiring a manual connection every time it’s launched.

Verdict

With everything said and done, the Yamaha TW-ES5A doesn’t come cheap. The earbuds are currently selling in India with a Rs 15,440 sticker price. This puts them in direct competition with other popular options in the same price range, such as the Sony WF-1000XM4 (review) and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro 2, both of which feature active noise cancellation (ANC). The Samsung TWS earbuds also have large 10mm drivers and a similar robust design as the Yamaha earbuds. Be that as it may, the Yamaha TW-ES5A offers a secure fit and solid battery life, which could be hard to find in other TWS earbuds. Their sound quality may leave you wanting more, but otherwise, the earbuds seem to be a decent buy for active users.

Editor’s rating: 3.5 / 5

Pros

• Sweat and water resistant
• Secure fit
• Impressive battery life
• Call quality is decent

Cons

• Bulky design
• Finicky connectivity
• Pricey

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