Tranya T10 earbuds review: Cheap, But Crystal Clear
"Tranya joins the house keepers making surprisingly good earphones at affordable prices."
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Excellent sound quality, especially in highs
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Excellent call quality
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Wireless charging
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Great battery life
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Cheap feeling, slippery plastic
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Bulky design
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Badly fitting earplugs
Tranya is one of those companies that has virtually no brand awareness but produces a range of affordable audio products. You know, any of those Amazon-based companies that are clearly using pictures with their earbuds that photoshops stuck in models' ears? But can you blame a company for being budget conscious when they make full-featured products for under $ 100?
Not me, especially if you're getting value for money. Do the Tranya T10s deliver?
What's in the box?
Tranya's packaging is simple yet elegant. It's a nice package for budget earphones. The full cardboard box (except for the plastic wrap that seals it) contains an instruction manual, a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, two additional earbuds and the buds themselves, which are in an extruded plastic tub.
This plastic tub is glued to the cardboard so the average consumer won't bother to separate it. Since the plastic is almost certainly not recyclable, this packaging is not particularly sustainable overall.
Jaron Schneider / Digital Trends
Jaron Schneider / Digital Trends
Jaron Schneider / Digital Trends
Jaron Schneider / Digital Trends
The instruction manual that came with the buds is rich in information which was a nice surprise. I've seen quite a few user guides lately that at first glance seem bulky and full of information until you open them only to find that they just contain the same basic warnings and warranty information in 50 languages. This contains both written and pictorial explanations of all functions of the buds and their use. It made commissioning with the T10s quick and easy.
Some drawbacks? The charging cable is weirdly short. At this point, it is likely that there will be a longer cord sitting around the house somewhere. However, if you are forced to use this cable, I am sorry, but it will be uncomfortable. Also, Tranya only includes two extra sizes of ear tips, which is below average (more on this below).
Build quality
Due to the short cord and lack of earplugs, the overall build quality of the Tranya T10 is the weakest point of the earbuds. The case feels light and thin, although it offers solid battery life (more on that later). It and the buds themselves are made of a lightweight, shiny plastic that just feels very cheap.
That's not to say they're cheap or thin, they just feel that way. I'm sure they are just as sturdy as any earbud. They will break if you step on them or throw them against a wall, but in daily use I don't think they're particularly prone to damage.
The buds feel slippery thanks to their shiny plastic. If you take a moment and look at the buds, you will see a line where two pieces of plastic have been molded together. It's such little things that lead to a general feeling of general disapproval with the build.
Appearance and comfort
As mentioned earlier, the inclusion of just two extra earbuds is below average and makes it difficult to find a comfortable fit for the T10. I have particularly small ear canals, so even the small size was too big for me to have a snug yet comfortable fit. Your mileage will vary, but we would have preferred if more sizes were included here.
Jaron Schneider / Digital Trends
Overall, they qualify as “good” in terms of comfort. I've never had the moment where I forgot to wear them – I was always very aware that I had buds – but I managed to overcome the slight discomfort of having earplugs that were a little too big for my ears and just enjoying the music for a couple hours. I'm finally fed up with it, my ear canals are too tired to wear them any longer but you, too, might be different.
The buds are very light, which means that even though they have the Frankenstein monster's neck stud design, they don't feel like they're popping out of my ears. However, I will say that they are not the most attractive buds. They do the job, but the Soundpeats Truengine SE might be a better choice if you're looking for an inexpensive pair of buds that won't attract too much attention.
properties
The Tranya T10 doesn't offer any special features, especially for the price. These include wireless charging, aptX compatibility, IPX7 weather protection and touch controls. The buds can be charged via USB-C, but they are also compatible with wireless charging, a feature we don't see even on buds, which are many times more expensive. The case has four LEDs on the front that indicate the charging status. This is a useful visual representation.
If your phone supports this (sorry iPhone users) the T10s will be compatible with aptX which means it will have higher quality audio streams, especially from sources like Tidal. I'll explain what this means for quality below, but it's great to see this support come in affordable buds like this one.
The Tranya T10 doesn't offer any special features for the price and includes wireless charging, aptX compatibility, IPX7 weather protection and touch controls.
These buds are sealed to the IPX7 specification, which means they have some protection from water but not dust. That's not to say you should let these run under the sink, although a gentle submerge in water no deeper than 1 meter for no more than 30 minutes should be fine. The above instruction manual shows the buds that are used in swimming. I do not recommend this.
Not only are you going to spend a hell of a time holding them in your ear as water rushes past them, since they don't have over-ear hooks or even tiny wings to keep them in place. IPX7 only protects one object from submersion and the pressure of the water flowing against them likely causes them to give way faster than if they just sat in the water.
Jaron Schneider / Digital Trends
The touch controls have what Tranya calls accidental pressure protection, so none of the controls can be activated with a single quick touch. Play / pause is a single tap, skipping songs is a triple tap, and changing the volume is a double tap. If it were up to me I would have swapped the last two and made the volume a triple tap and skipping a double tap. Not very intuitive, but you can learn them easily enough.
Audio quality
I have to say, the Tranya T10s make up for their lackluster build quality, which I can only call great sound quality. These little buds sound amazing when plugged into an aptX compatible device (like an Android phone).
You won't get a chattering bass with these, but it's strong and good enough to please buyers in the under $ 100 market.
If you use the AAC codec that you get with an iPhone, you will get audio quality that is “good enough”. The mids and highs are there, with the vocals sounding particularly crystal clear. The lows are there, but not strong or detailed. In many songs, they can sound hollow and unbalanced, resulting in a slightly less enjoyable rendering of your favorite song. Still good, but you heard better.
My jaw dropped … I was hit by rich, relatively balanced, warm music with a surprising soundstage
However, switch to a device that can take advantage of the Qualcomm chip in those buds and be amazed. They're remarkably balanced for the price. My jaw actually dropped when I switched to my Android phone when I was hit by rich, relatively balanced, warm music with a surprising soundstage. It won't compete with buds like the Jabra Elite 75t or the Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro, but these buds are twice as expensive and cost more than the Tranya T10, and for the money, they beat their weight bracket well.
The acoustic version of Somebody by Dagny demonstrated the excellent voice reproduction of the T10, with the mids and highs beautifully rendered. When the piano comes in, these lows join the party and bring a well-rounded experience. I was shocked how strong the bass line came through in You! from Lany. It had a considerable reverberation and put a big smile on my face. Other tracks with strong lows were equally impressive.
Nonetheless, the more nuanced bass in No Time for Caution by Hans Zimmer is decently projected, but a little muddy than I would like. The T10s struggle when tasked with reproducing details at these lows. Even so, the sound quality produced for $ 70 is strikingly good.
Jaron Schneider / Digital Trends
Battery life
The Tranya T10 are rated for 8 hours per charge, plus three extra charges, and I can confirm this in my tests. Without an app, it's hard to get an accurate picture of how much life is left either in your buds or in your case (even though you have LED indicators on the case), but you should get a lot of life out of it between charges. I certainly had no problem keeping this going all day.
The T10s also support a quick charge function. 10 minutes in that case gives you an hour of playtime. It's not nearly the best, but at least it's there.
Call quality
Tranya markets the T10 with "crystal clear calls" on the box, and I always doubt that claim, especially with earbuds.
I'm surprised again because these buds offer the best voice quality of any personal audio device I've tested at any price. I usually call my mom, who is very sensitive to noise, and let her give me her opinion. She said she could only recommend two other devices that make me sound better: the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live and the Montblanc MB01 headphones. One of these is $ 170 and the other is $ 595. She liked the call quality of the Tranya T10 so much that I had to buy my father a pair.
These buds offer the best voice quality of any personal audio device I've tested at any price
This is as bright for a call quality check as I can imagine, and on my ends the voices sound super clear too. I had no problem having long conversations with these buds and my only wish was to have a passthrough mode so I can hear my own voice a bit better. The noise isolation is pretty good on these – not the best as the Liberty 2 Pro are currently my top pick for noise isolation only, but still good – so it can be annoying to hear the sound of my voice coming out of my head.
When you get over it, you'll love this one for making calls (and the ones you talk to too).
Our opinion
For $ 70, the Tranya T10 earbuds offer great value. They offer exactly what earphones should do – they offer great sound – but they also offer a number of additional bonus features that make them convince. I'm not particularly keen on the build quality, design, or physical customization options, but when you're making buds this cheap you have to cut costs somewhere.
Here's the thing, though: their regular price sets them up against the excellent Soundcore SpiritX buds, and that's where I lean towards the SpiritX. However, we saw the Tranya T10s drop to just $ 37 on Amazon as two active sales work together, making them one of the leading providers of features and sound quality at this price point. If you see these for sale, they are absolutely worth checking out.
Are there any better alternatives?
The Soundcore Spirit X2 are going to be the better buds for workout and sound quality, though at $ 80 they are slightly more expensive if the T10 are offered at full price. For $ 40, the Soundpeats Truengine SE has a better design and good sound quality, but it lacks the wireless charging and calling quality of the Tranya T10. For even less money, the JLab Go Air might not sound too good, but it's better for training and only costs $ 30.
However, if the Tranya are discounted below $ 40 it will be hard to beat what they offer.
How long will they last?
Tranya offers a one-year limited warranty (which can be extended to 15 months if you register the earbuds within two weeks of receipt) and a 30-day money-back guarantee for any reason. While I'm not a huge fan of the build quality, they'll be fine for everyday use for at least a couple of years. However, lithium batteries deteriorate over time. Therefore, expect battery life to decrease with age.
Should you buy it?
Yes, especially when you can snap them up at a discount. The Tranya T10 are worth the full $ 70 thanks to great sound, great call quality, and loads of bonus features. However, when they are almost halfway ready to be picked up, they are a breeze.
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