AXS Audio was created by legendary musician Rikki Farr to make earbuds that bring an accurate representation of music, they have gathered a team of sound engineers, hardware engineers, and many other specialists and spent a long time making sure that the tuning is perfect in addition to improving other aspects such as comfort and battery life, The result of all this hard work is the AXS Audio Professional earbuds which they have sent me to make a full and honest review of.
The AXS audio professional earbuds are equipped with features and technologies making at once a device to enjoy the high-end sound quality as well as a fine daily driver, that is because it has the improved and power-efficient Bluetooth 5.2 chip, long-lasting battery life of up to 10 hours, IPX4 water resistance, Active Noise-canceling and ENC, very responsive and accurate multifunction touch control area in addition to AXS studio tuning that reproduces music as recorded that provided a great experience, in this review I will go over all of this in more details.
AXS Audio Pro Features
- Instant pairing and connectivity
- AXS Studio Tuning
- Bluetooth LE 5.2
- Independent earbuds can be used solo or as pair
- Low Latency (always on)
- IPX4 Certified Sweat and Water Resistant
- ANC (Active Noise Cancelling -25db or lower)
- ENC (Environmental Noise Cancelling)
- 6 Hypo-allergenic sets of earbud tips (SML)
- Fast USB-C Charging + Wireless Charging
- 10+ hours of playtime and 8+ hours of playtime with ANC on
- 38+ hours of total playtime from charged case
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Design & Build Quality
Charging Case
The charging case of the AXS Audio professional earbuds has a pretty standard design, nothing fancy about it, it comes in a square shape with curved edges, it is available in two colors black and white, it is made out of ABS plastic with a nice matt finish that keeps its new look for a long time, doesn’t get scratches easily and doesn’t leave fingerprints.
On the front side, you will notice three things, first, the 4 LED white dots that indicate the battery level of the case as well as that of the earbuds whether they are fully charged or not, the second thing is the AXS Audio logo in gray right in the center of the case, and near the top, you will notice a small cut that helps open the lid, the lid is held firmly with magnets to the rest of the body, but I was able to open it by shaking the case very hard, that being said it is very unlikely that it will open on its own, it is worth noting that the hinge doesn’t budge at all which gives me a good feeling about the durability of this device.
Inside the case, we find the compartments for the earbuds made with glossy plastic to help them slip in quickly, and deep inside you can notice the contact pins responsible for charging the earbuds, from underneath, we find the USB C charging port along the reset button and some information about the device such as its model and serial number.
Overall the build quality is top tier, it feels sturdy and well crafted and I love the simplicity of the design, especially that the stripe that goes from the left to the right makes it even more comfortable and easy to hold in one hand.
The Earbuds
The AXS Audio pro earbuds are pretty standard looking, they are made out of ABS plastic with a matt finish just like the case, they have a stem that is slim and longer than usual, but they are still lightweight, and they have rubber hypoallergenic ear tips in 3 sizes to fit better for different ear sizes which stick very well to the ear and don’t fall off no matter how hard you shake them which is encouraging for people who want to practice sports while listening to their favorite music.
On top of the stem, it has got an LED dot that indicates the charging as well as the connectivity status, it has a couple of microphone holes one on top and one on the bottom, and the multifunction touch control area is located right underneath the LED light and marked by gray.
To achieve the comfort, the AXS Audio pro earbuds offer, ASX Studios reached out to an audiologist for design, fitment, and comfort, so they came up with Hypo-Allergenic earbud tips that create a great seal and are so comfortable that I was able to wear them for a whole day and it didn’t hurt my ear which is unprecedented.
Touch Control Area
The touch control area is located right underneath the LED dot and is marked with gray, it is sensitive and highly responsive, but because of the long and stem design, the multifunction touch area is also slim and you might miss it if you don’t pay attention, the good thing is, the problem of accidental touching is eliminated because the stem is long and you can adjust, put in or take out the earbuds right by the stem.
The touch control area on this device is mainly used for music playback, volume control, voice assistant, and accepting or rejecting calls, as well as activating Active noise canceling mode, it is highly precise and lag-free and I enjoyed having a reliable touch control.
The Touch operation for music playback control:
- Double Tap on either earbud to stop/resume music
- Triple tap on the right earbud to play the next track
- Triple tap on the left earbud to play the previous track
- One tap on the right earbud to raise the volume
- One tap on the left earbud to decrease the volume
- Long press on the right earbud to turn ON ANC
- 2 seconds long press on the left earbud for voice assistant
The touch operation for calls:
- One tap on either earbud to accept calls
- Two taps on either earbud to hang up
- 2 seconds long tap on either earbud to reject calls
AXS Audio Pro IPX4 Water Resistance
The AXS audio pro wireless headphones are IPX4 waterproof certified and they were able to pass the water spraying test and remained intact, which indicates that they will be able to function properly under rain and even resist sweat droplets which will allow you to practice sports without worrying about the earphones getting damaged, but you should never submerge them under water or rinse them because they will get damaged.
How to pair The AXS Earbuds with your smartphone
Thanks to the improved Bluetooth 5.2 chip, the AXS earbuds provide a seamless and smooth pairing experience and connectivity, it is compatible with most Bluetooth-enabled devices, the pairing process of the AXS earbuds was pretty straightforward, by following these simple steps:
- Take the AXS Earbuds out of the charging case and remove the seal off of them
- Turn on Bluetooth on your device whether it is a smartphone or a computer
- Put your device in discovery mode and look up AXS Earbuds
- Click on it and allow it to pair and you are good to go
This process is only required once, from that point on, you will only need to take the earbuds out and turn Bluetooth on and the two devices will connect automatically with each other, in the Bluetooth settings you can choose the decoding technology, if you are on android it is preferable to use SBC decoding, but if you are on an apple device, it is recommended that you set the decoding to AAC, this technology provides a much better sound quality but drains the battery except that it is optimized on apple devices to be power efficient.
In my experience, I had a connectivity issue at first that confused me, the earbuds were acting like two separate entities, and my phone kept playing music on one of the earphones without the other, the solution to this problem is easy, all I had to do was put the earbuds back in their case, keep the case open, and click on the reset button underneath for a while until the LED dots on the case started blinking and the so was the LED on the earbuds, then I repeated the process above and everything worked out fine.
AXS Audio Earbuds – Sound Quality
One of the main selling points of the AXS Earbuds is that it brings accurate studio sound, and even though AXS provides great audio quality, it doesn’t come close to studio sound, and neither does any wireless earphone at this price range, but I must say that I have enjoyed listening to music using the AXS Earbuds a lot, the sound is very detailed and bassy, the vocals are clear and have a great presence, the separation of sound is on point, you can hear each instrument playing individually which gives an amazing experience.
Technically speaking the sound signature is warm, the AXS Earbuds are tuned to enhance bass, and the bass is punchy, this translates to a fantastic experience when listening to the electric bass, kick drums, and such, the sub-bass sounds warm and has weight, the rumble has texture and you can feel it, it doesn’t sound lean or dry.
Even though the soundstage is warm and the treble is recessed, that is not to say that the highs are not good, I have enjoyed listening to the violin and the soprano, they sound amazing and I could listen to them for hours with these earphones, I didn’t notice any sibilance and I can imagine that with the right equalization these earphones can deliver bright highs.
Overall, the sound quality of the AXS earbuds is above average, the sound is amazing, rich, and full of details, it is one of the finest options, it provides a wide soundstage, for bass head and treble heads, and both can enjoy their favorite tracks with the AXS earbuds, especially that they are very loud, at 70% they were already very loud and clear I can only imagine what 100% sounds like, but I don’t recommend since it can cause hearing loss, it’s worth to mention that due them being loud, they leak sound and that could be an issue for some people.
AXS Earbuds Active Noise Canceling
As for the Noise canceling, on top of the passive noise canceling due to the rubber ear tips sealing your ear from background noise, these TWS earphones are equipped with Active Noise canceling, which can be activated only by pressing on the touch control area for around 5 seconds and it has two modes:
- Active Noise canceling ON: this mode eliminates all background noise and brings it down by up to 25db making it quieter, it uses the built-in mics to detect the sounds coming in, and create opposite waves that eliminate the noise before it reaches your ear, this only works with continuous noises such as a loud fan, it is well optimized and extremely effective on the AXS Earbuds, but it reduces the battery life of the earbud to around 8 hours instead of 10.
- Voice trough: this mode amplifies the surrounding sound almost as if it is negating the effect of the passive noise canceling created by the rubber ear tips, this mode is my least favorite because it creates a loud noise when it doesn’t exist in my environment and it also drains the battery as much as the ANC.
I think the passive noise canceling is great, the ear tips on their own do a good job of removing the background noise to allow you to focus better on what you are doing, but if there is a loud noise in your environment such as a loud fan or a drill sound, ANC will take care of that and you will be surprised by the difference without really compromising the sound quality.
AXS Audio earbuds – Microphone quality
The AXS Earbuds are equipped with a set of HD microphones that can do both recording and Bluetooth calling, the mic on the right earbud is used for the recording and it has a good sound quality, I have tested it with the Audacity program and the voice was clear and audible, the hands-free microphones are the ones responsible for Bluetooth calling and electronic noise canceling, the quality I got with them was acceptable in a quiet environment, the recipient can hear and understand just fine, but in a complex environment the experience was unpleasant, so much that I had to deactivate Bluetooth calling and use my phone, additionally, my voice sounds scuffed and a little robotic which tells me that the ENC is not doing a great job.
Overall, the microphone and Bluetooth calling aren’t AXS’s Earbuds’ strongest suit, it is nice that it can take calls with a simple touch on the right earbud and that the voice is clear in a quiet space, but it is hard to pass calls in a complex environment.
Latency and gaming with the AXS Audio earbuds
The AXS earbuds pro’s Bluetooth 5.2 chip provides a good latency, even though it is not the best thing for gamers, it still provides very low latency under 100ms, I have tested them with games such as PUBG mobile, and there was some delay between the weapon being shot and the sound of it, but it was nothing to ruin my gaming experience, I was able to locate my opponents with accuracy as well as act on time which means that the latency is still good for video games.
As for content consumption, the experience is flawless, the lip-synching is on point and you will not be alarmed by any delays between the audio and the video, whether it is Netflix, youtube, or any other platform, the AXS earbuds work perfectly on all of them, this means you can use these to watch your favorite movies and TV shows with high sound quality and lag-free.
AXS Audio Battery Life & Charging
The AXS Earbuds were created with battery life in mind it is one of its main selling points, both the earbuds and the charging case are equipped with a huge battery of capacity of 55mah and 500mah respectively offering +10 hours of continuous usage without ANC and +38 hours of total usage in a single charge, the earbuds fully charge in less than 1 hour and the charging case takes about 1.5 hours to fully charge either using the USB C cable that comes in the box or using an external wireless charger when charging, the four LEDs on the case will light up indicating the battery level, and the earbuds will also light red to indicate that they are charging.
This huge autonomy makes the AXS Earbuds a perfect daily driver and companion on the go, you will never have to worry again about your earbuds running out of juice in the middle of the day, my tests have shown that a single charge can last up to a week of moderate usage without ANC which is impressive given their tiny size and high sound quality.
Final Verdict
Finally, I must say that the AXS earphones are a jack of all trades but specialize in high sound quality and battery life, I have had fun testing these earbuds, the sound quality they offered was amazing, but it has so much more to offer than sound, it has a great battery life to take it with you on the go and a perfectly stable Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity with laptops and smartphones, the active noise canceling is very effective to eliminate background noise without compromising sound quality, the touch control is precise and versatile, because of all of these features, I can see myself using them as a daily driver if you consider their price, they offer great value.
AXS Earphones Price & Where to Buy
The AXS Audio Professional Earbuds Are available on The Official AXS Audio Website and Amazon for purchase, check it out, and don’t miss out on this amazing pair of earphones.
Package content
- Quick Connect Guide
- AXS Charging case and earbuds
- USB C charging cable
- 6 Hypo-Allergenic Eartips Sizes S M L
- Warranty Card
AXS Audio Specifications
- Wireless connection: Bluetooth 5.2
- Noise-canceling: ANC and ENC
- Charging interface： Type-C
- Communication distance：12 meters (barrier-free open environment)
- Single playtime： About 10 hours without ANC
- Total playtime: Up to 38 Hours
- Battery capacity： (single earbud) 55mAh
- Battery capacity ：(charging case) 500mAh
- Charging time： (earbud) About 1 hour (10 minutes = 2 hours with quick charge)
- Charging time： (charging case) About 1.5 hour
