Noise TuneELITE review: a solid entrant in the budget wireless audio space

“Our hot take on the Noise TuneELITE Bluetooth earphones”

With more and more manufacturers omitting the headphone jack from their smartphones, the time is right to invest in a pair of Bluetooth earphones. Thankfully, the barrier for entry into the realm of wireless audio is quite low, and you can get your hands on a quality pair of Bluetooth earphones for as low as Rs 2K. Case in point, the Noise TuneELITE, which were recently announced by the company and boast good sound and great battery life. I managed to get my hands on a pair and after testing it for a week, here’s what I make of it.

Design and Comfort

The Noise TrueELITE are among the most generic-looking pair of wireless earbuds you’ll find in the market, but what the pair lacks in aesthetics, it makes up for in the comfort department. You see, thanks to the neckband’s rubberised finish, the Noise TrueELITE didn’t itch my neck and the pair’s angular ear tips managed to achieve a snug fit in the ears. In fact, after hours of listening to music and watching TV shows, I all but forgot that I had the earphones in my ears – there was no listening fatigue so to speak of and the band conformed to the shape of my neck comfortably.  

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Furthermore, Noise has added clip-ons on either end of the headset, which allows you to variate the length of the cable running to your ears. That’s quite a nifty feature, and I hope other manufacturers will incorporate it in their neckband-styled earphones too. What’s more, the Noise TrueELITE features magnetic earpieces which latch onto each other when you’re not using them. So, you won’t have to worry about the earpieces dangling on your pecs when you’re in a gym or out for a run. Speaking of which, despite its affordable price tag, the Noise TrueELITE ship with IPX5 rating, making the unit impervious to damage from sweat. I am glad the company didn’t cut corners here, and I’m certain runners will share my sentiment too.

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Unfortunately, the magnetic lock-on feature doesn’t offer any fringe benefits, so if you were hoping the music would automatically pause or play when you latch/unlatch the earpieces, then you might want to look at OnePlus’ Bullets Wireless 2. On the flip side, the earphones ship with an in-line remote control which allows buyers to seamlessly flip through their music library, increase or decrease the volume levels, invoke either Google Assistant or Siri as well as answer calls. The control scheme is fairly straightforward too, and I got acclimated to it within a few hours of using the headset.

Sound Quality, Battery life, and Connectivity

The Noise TrueELITE has been designed for the masses and unsurprisingly, the headset’s sound signature puts great emphasis on the low end. Coming to the specs, the earphones are backed by a pair of 14mm drivers positioned inside each earpiece and the unit connects to compatible devices over Bluetooth v4.2.

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As for the sound quality, the earphones are a godsend for buyers who only listen to EDM/Hip-hop songs. The bass output is phenomenal as the beats sound thunderous and impactful. On the downside, the thumps have a noticeable decay and therefore, it takes the earphones a second too long to settle down and transition to the next note. Naturally, you can expect the low-end to interfere with the rest of the frequencies too.

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For instance, the mid-range sounds darker, which is evident if you listen to any singer with a relatively high-pitched voice such as Ed Sheeran. Thankfully, the earphone’s bass-heavy sound signature doesn’t push its weight around much and consequently, vocals still sound lush and are rich in details. In fact, barring tracks from the rock/metal genre, you can pretty much listen to any song on the pair and be satisfied with the audio output. However, if you like to listen to artists like The Killers or Thirty Seconds to Mars, then you might be somewhat disappointed with the earphone’s performance. For one, even at relatively low volume, rock ballads come across as muddy and jarring and the earphone’s offer poor instrument separation too. Correspondingly, you’ll find it difficult to tell apart different instruments in a song.

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The Noise TuneELITE somewhat redeems itself in the battery department by offering ten hours of juice off a single charge. During my testing, I managed to get through a week with the pair, with my usage including listening to music for around an hour every day. Suffice it to say, you will not have to worry about charging the earphones every other day.

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I was quite satisfied with the TuneELITE’s connectivity too. While I would’ve liked the company to make use of the newer Bluetooth v5.0 standard, the pair still managed to retain a rock-solid connection to my phone. Pairing the device to my laptop and smartphone was as easy as pie too, so no complaints here either.

Verdict

The Noise TuneELITE is listed at Rs 1,499 and for the price, the earphones offer decent sound quality, a comfortable design, and great battery life. What’s more, the pair comes with a one-year warranty, which gives the end consumer, assurances about the product’s longevity.

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Consequently, I feel that buyers looking for a pair of affordable Bluetooth earphones will find their money well spent on the Noise TuneELITE.

Editor’s rating: 3.5 / 5

Pros:

  • Affordable 
  • Great battery life
  • Thumping bass 
  • Comfortable to wear

Cons:

  • Highs are non-existent 
  • Design feels generic 
Photos by Raj Rout