Tested: 50-hour battery life makes Tribit FlyBuds C1 a notable AirPods alternative

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Lately, we’ve been taking a look at some higher-end earbuds that look to go head-to-head with AirPods, but today, we’re moving onto the more budget-friendly end of the true wireless spectrum. The recently-released Tribit FlyBuds C1 enter with a more than impressive list of on-paper specs for the $70 price tag, but are they actually worth the cash? Our latest Tested with 9to5Toys dives in to take the earbuds and their 50-hour battery life for a spin.

Hands-on with Tribit FlyBuds C1

We’ve taken a look at other offerings from Tribit in the past, and discounts on the brand’s affordable earbuds routinely make our daily Smartphone Accessories roundup. And even Amazon reviews would indicate that the audio products are compelling buys. But for one of Tribit’s latest releases, the FlyBuds C1, we’re trying them out for ourselves.

Everything on the Tribit FlyBuds C1 is centered around a true wireless design that’s become the go-to these days. There’s an in-ear fit with the usual stem design that houses the earbuds’ microphones. But where things start to get a bit more interesting is the whopping 12-hour battery life offered on a single charge. That jumps up to 50 hours of overall usage with the bundled charging case, not to mention the IPX5 water-resistance or noise reduction technology.

All of that is seemingly even more impressive when considering the $69.99 price tag. While it’s certainly on the more affordable side compared to the gold standard that is AirPods, these are some of the more feature-packed and experience earbuds from Tribit.

Here’s a look at the spec sheet:

• Immersive Sound and Strong Bass: Tribit Flybuds C1 wireless earbuds employ Qualcomm QCC3040 chip, APTX high-quality audio decoding, up to 48KHz frequency.
• Get up to 12hrs music playback per charge, and up to 50hrs with the charging case for earbuds wireless headphones.
• Tribit Bluetooth earbuds wireless use the latest Bluetooth 5.2 dual-channel transmission, providing faster one-step pairing connection speed, more stable transmission, lower power consumption, and ultra-low latency listening experience than Bluetooth 5.0.
• Tribit Flybuds C1 wireless earphones creatively incorporate physical buttons on the handle for a single-button, multi-control design.

9to5Toys’ Take:

At the end of the day, a $70 pair of earbuds are never going to be able to compete with the latest and greatest offerings from Apple and other third-party brands. But even if these aren’t going to win best-sounding or most feature-packed earbuds awards, there’s plenty to live at the price point.

For starters, Tribit’s claim that the FlyBuds C1 can go 12 hours per charge before needing to be topped off might be a bit of a stretch depending on what volume level you’re rocking out at, but it’s certainly quite close. I went about an entire workday with these in my ears with only a few minutes in the charging case here and there and still had battery left.

These earbuds also deliver a pretty notable in-ear fit. While six additional pairs of silicone tips are included to help you get the right seal, they had no issues staying in my ear. That also lends itself well to passive noise cancellation, which does a solid job at blocking out the world around you when music is playing. It’s nowhere near actual ANC but deserves some praise at least.

Now onto sound quality, which may be the most important factor of any pair of earbuds. And I’m here to say that overall, Tribit FlyBuds C1 deliver for the price. Audio does get a bit distorted at higher volumes, and the buds don’t have the best mid-range performance, but the quality is nothing to sneeze at for the price – especially compared to other sub-$100 true wireless earbuds I’ve tried out in the past, which don’t sound anywhere quite as nice as these do.

All of this is to say that these earbuds do a very notable job at balancing between features and quality for the price. There are some downsides for sure, mainly no Qi wireless charging support and a less-than-premium overall build. But for $70, there has to be some comprises, and I think Tribit definitely made the right ones.

The in-ear fit in particular has me thinking that these would be a pretty ideal set of workout earbuds for those who already have a preferred pair of over-ear headphones and are looking for something a bit more portable. Plus with the 50-hour battery life, you won’t have to worry about refueling them all the time like with some more affordable buds. Or if you’re just not interested in paying the premium price tags on more expensive earbuds, the Tribit FlyBuds C1 are certainly worth a look at the price.

Buy the Tribit FlyBuds C1

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