Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsSimilar to the Samaung Galaxy Earbuds+ [2020]; ALMOST!
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2020
THE PACKAGING:
From first opening the shrink-wrapped, high end professional looking box with the embossed TOZO & prominently displayed IPX8 Waterproof logo; to the high quality, holographic QR-coded 18-Month Warrenty sticker and foam-fitted packed box for safe product transport to its end-user, this TOZO T12 product is dripping with quality and professionalism right from the start before even turning on the buds...
THE CASE:
The case that houses and charges the TOZO T12 buds is made out of high-end polymer plastic complete with powerful magnets that will keep the buds within their place even while the case top is open, upside down and firmly shaken, the buds will not fall out. Now, keep in mind, from my experience (and opinion) with these types of cases and buds, even though the case is made to take the occational, accidental drops, I use a form-fitting velcro wire tie that you can get here on Amazon, or at any hardware store. This way if you dropped the case the vibrations resulting from the sudden hit to the floor will not forcefully eject the buds and loosing them. This case uses a USB-C type charging cable requiring 5v @ .5A to charge the built-in case's 500mA v3.7 1.85Wh battery. Wireless charging needs 5v @ .4A input from a wireless charging pad.
THE SOUND:
Here is something to keep in mind when using ANY Bluetooth wireless devices. The bluetooth singnal is considered a PAN by industry standards. The Personal Area Network is not meant for long range usage 30 ~ 35 feet is all it is really intended for even when using v5.0 Bluetooth devices (earbuds, headphones, speakers, transceivers, etc). You see the signal is just that... a "device used to carry a PAN wireless encrypted frequency from Point A (usually a mobile device or a wireless transceiver) to Point B (a designated, usually paired device accepting that frequency). A BLUETOOTH FREQUENTCY HAS NO AMPLIFIED PROPERTIES. The amplification of sound falls back to the device SENDING the signal to the receiving device.
With this clarification (I hope 😉), I am using my Samsung Galaxy S9+, with one of the best music players on Google Play, PowerAMP (latest version), with its extensive , highly flexible EQ, separate bass/treble controls with music purchased from Amazon Music (standard MP3/AAC formats), I can tell you that the music has a decent sound (my test song was Armin van Buuren's "A State of Trance 2019"'s "Tesla" which has a decent mixture of Bass, Midrange, and Treble beats) when it comes to the midrange and treble, but the bass could be a little more pronounced, but it is stll great and robust enough to get the point accross. It is not significant enough to remove an overall star for it though.
Noise-Cancellation & Fit:
I am basing my findings and experience because I own a set of Samsung Galaxy Earbuds+ (2020 version) and comparing its noise-canceling features with these TOZO T-12s. As far as the noise cancelling properties are concerned they are great ONLY IF you are NOT expecting to hear much of what is going around you! I double-checked the book and it said nothing about an Ambiance sound feature, like the Samsung Galaxy Earbuds+ (2020 version). This feature allows the person wearing them to hear what is going around around them with the help of the built-in microphone(s), like with the Samsung Galaxy Earbuds+, turning the microphones on via the Ambiance feature allows the wearer to hear whats going on around you within your current environment, while still maintaining the buds secure fit within the ear. The TOZO T-12s do not have this feature. I consider this an actual safety feature, if your journey takes your jog/run/bike on busy streets.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO NOT USE THESE WHILE DRIVING!
THE MFB TOUCHPAD BUTTONS:
Same as the others buds out there on the market.
Playing music: Tap once (on either MFB) Pauses/Plays current Track. Double Tap on RT MFB goes forward one track to the next one; tapping on the LT MFB goes back one track. Triple tap brings up (for me) the Google Assistant. There are audio assist commands to confirm what feature you activated via the MFB coming from the LT earbud; never the right.
You CAN utilize one earbud at a time PROVIDED that it is the LEFT one. Even though it does not state anywhere in the owners manual that you can. All I can tell you is if you remove the RT earbud while listening to a constant sound (like music), the LT earbud still plays that sound/music while the RT one turns off. This led me to believe that the LT one can be used WITHOUT wearing the RT one. This leaving me to the conclusion they are NOT TWS earbuds. (TWS earbuds, like the Samsung Galaxy Earbuds+ can use the RT OR LT at different times, if the user so inclines.)
EDIT (28.JUL.2020) ::
There is only one reason (and its a BIG one) for me to revise my review and, sadly, have to return these earbuds...
It is the way these handle a phone call on the volume side of the call; there is just NOT ENOUGH volume sound coming from the bud(s) while I am driving, unfortunately. With other monoral headsets the Samsung Galaxy S-series phones automatically INCREASE the volume with the phone's internal sound "amplification module", sort to speak (when the volume indicator goes from blue to red). (I can deal with TOTAL noise isolating when using one (or the other) bud to make / accept phone calls, but for some reason when I increase the volume to its max the blue volume indicator does not change color! I mean I hear the person clearly (providing that my radio, AC, and my windows are up, mind you); but ONLY at a WHISPER.
My 5-STAR rating dropped to 3-STARS because of this issue.
No pair of buds should need that much help of a phone's internal amplification system or an app's pre-amp (like within PowerAmp music player) booster through its software EQ, to have a decent phone (sound or video) conversation. I mean there are a lot of choices for within the ~$40 range to try.... Sorry Tozo...
Hope this review helps...
Cheers!