Truke is a German audio company that are known for their high-quality headphones and headsets. The company has launched a number of truly wireless earbuds and wireless neckbands in India in recent years. Among them, the Truke Buds S1 and Truke Buds Q1 are two budget-focused TWS earbuds with features that rival more premium earbuds. Here is our review of both earbuds.
Truke Buds Q1 Specifications:
| Model | Buds Q1 |
| Type of speakers | Graphene speakers |
| Drivers | 10mm drivers |
| Type of charging case | Traditional clamshell lid design |
| Noise cancellation type | Environmental Noise cancellation |
| Playtime (Single Charge) | 10 hours |
| Playtime (Total life) | 72 hours |
| Battery | 500mAh lithium polymer battery |
| Weight of each Bud | 4g |
| Total weight | 70 Grams |
| Bluetooth | 5.1 |
| Compatibility | Android & iOS |
| Waterproof level | IPX4 |
| Dimensions | 8.1 x 5.9 x 3.2 cm |
Truke Buds S1 Specifications:
| Model | Buds S1 |
| Type of speakers | Graphene speakers |
| Drivers | 10mm drivers |
| Type of charging case | Sliding lid design |
| Noise cancellation type | Environmental Noise cancellation |
| Playtime (Single Charge) | 10 hours |
| Playtime (Total life) | 72 hours |
| Battery | 500mAh lithium polymer battery |
| Weight of each Bud | 4g |
| Total weight | 44 Grams |
| Bluetooth | 5.1 |
| Compatibility | Android & iOS |
| Waterproof level | IPX4 |
| Dimensions | 6.7 x 4.7 x 2.8 cm |
Design
The earbuds for both the Buds Q1 and Buds S1 are basically identical, with an in-ear design, and are entirely made out of plastic. They come with silicon tips for the in-ear part, and they are incredibly lightweight, weighing just about 4gms each. Being this lightweight adds to the comfort of the earbuds, along with a nice ergonomic shape that sits nicely in the ear.
Each earbud have touchpads on the side facing out of the earbuds, and they have small stems sticking out below the touchpads. At the end of the stems, there is a small LED light that indicates the connection status. Another feature is its IPX4 rating, which should protect it from accidental splashes and sweat.
The main difference between the Buds Q1 and Buds S1 are with the charging cases. The Buds Q1 has a more traditional case with a lid that opens up like a clamshell. It has a rectangular shape with softly-rounded corners that make it really easy to put in and take out of pockets. It has a smooth matte black finish that feels good and on the back of the earbuds case, there is a USB-C charging port.
The Buds S1 on the other hand, has a more unique sliding lid design that has a very nice opening and closing action. Instead of a regular rectangular design like the Buds Q1, the Buds S1’s case has a smooth oval design, and it is larger than the Buds Q1’s charging case in size. This larger size lends to a larger 500mAh battery inside, whereas the Buds Q1 comes with a 400mAh battery inside. The USB-C charging port on the Buds S1 has a rubber flap for protection too.
A feature that is shared among both charging cases is the presence of a digital display inside that shows the charge levels. As soon as the earbuds are placed inside, the display shows the battery level of both earbuds individually and the battery level of the charging case too, which is a nice feature to have.
Sound quality, features and controls
For truly wireless earbuds in this price range, both the Buds S1 and Q1 sound really good. They have 10mm dynamic drivers with support for AAC codec, that provide a nice listening experience overall, with good performance in the mids and acceptable highs. The bass feels a little underwhelming, so I would not recommend them for bass-heavy music. The sound stage is decent, and the earbuds can get reasonably loud too.
For calls, the earbuds have multiple microphones to enable environmental noise cancellation and when during my testing, the microphone quality was alright.
Another feature is the ability to turn on gaming mode, which will reduce the Bluetooth connection latency to 88ms. It achieves this by switching to the SBC codec, which can reduce audio quality, however the latency reduction in games makes up for it. Users can quickly enter gaming mode with a triple tap on the right earbud.
The rest of the controls are fairly simple:
- Single tap to play/pause music and answer calls
- Touch and hold the earbud to reject calls.
- Hold the left earbud for 2 second to play the previous song
- Hold the right earbud for 2 second to play the next song
- Double tap the left earbud to trigger the assistant.
Unfortunately, there are no on-earbuds controls for changing the volume, and there is no app to customize the existing controls.
Battery Life
The battery life for each earbud is their best feature. Both Buds S1 and Buds Q1 have 40mAh batteries inside that will last about 10 hours on a single charge, and I found this to mostly accurate during my review. The Buds S1 has a 500mAh charging case which will provide a total of 72 hours of listening time, while the Buds Q1 has a 400mAh charging case, which will provide a total of 60 hours of playback.
Conclusion
The Truke Buds S1 and Truke Buds Q1 are lightweight, offer a long battery life, and perform decently when it comes to audio quality. Charging via USB-C is a nice bonus, and the low-latency gaming feature is useful for casual gamers.
The touch controls are not customizable and there is no quick charge support, however they are acceptable when you consider the price range. Overall, the Buds S1 and Buds Q1 offer a great value for truly wireless earbuds that cost Rs. 1499 and Rs. 1299 respectively.
Between the two earbuds, the main difference is the shape of the charging case and the total battery life. If these are not that important to you, I would recommend going for the Buds Q1 instead of the Buds S1 and save Rs. 200.
As mentioned above, the Buds S1 is available for purchase on Amazon for a price of Rs. 1499, while the Buds Q1 is available on Amazon and Flipkart for Rs. 1299.