Vivo launched TWS 2 ANC, the company’s latest true wireless earphones in India last month, after it was introduced in China last year. The earbuds feature IP54 splash-resistant body, Bluetooth 5.2 with Qualcomm aptX Adaptive with low latency gaming experience and also comes with up to 40dB ANC. Does it live up to the expectations? Let us dive into the review to find out.
Box Contents
- Vivo TWS 2 ANC in Starry Blue colour
- USB Type-C Cable
- Ear Tips
- User manual
Design and Build Quality
Starting with the design, the headset comes in a round case that fits in your pocket. There is a function key on the front and a status light. The Vivo branding is also present on the front. The headset has a plastic finish that is glossy, so it is prone to fingerprints and scratches, as you can see in the images. The case measures 60.0×24.3×45.4mm and weighs 41.9 grams.
The USB Type-C port is present on the bottom.
Even the earbuds feature a glossy finish that is prone to fingerprints. The earbuds measure 23.8×22.2×30.2mm and weigh about 4.7 grams, which is light. These feature an in-ear design and also come with medium-sized ear tips pre-installed. You can change to bundled Large or Small sized ear tips if you wish. It also has an Optical Sensor for Wear Detection.
There is another microphone on the bottom. You can also see the charging contacts next to it.
You can see the microphone on the back of the earbuds. The earbuds feature pinch pressure control instead of touch controls for play/pause, attend or disconnect calls, change tracks and also control the volume. Overall, the headset has a decent build quality, but the glossy finish might not be preferred by everyone.
The earbuds fit your ears perfectly so that they don’t fall off your ears easily, even when running or cycling. The earphones also have IP54 dust and water resistance rating, so that it can withstand splash, rain, and sweat in everyday use scenarios. However, the case is not water-resistant.
Connectivity, Pairing, and Controls
The vivo TWS 2 ANC supports Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX Adaptive high quality audio codec that can bring down the latency down to 88ms, which is useful especially when playing games. If the aptX Adaptive codec support is not available in your phone, it will support AAC. aptX Adaptive will be enabled by default, but you can turn it off manually, if you feel it drains the battery quickly
The pairing process is very easy, put the earphones in the case and simply press and hold the function button on the case for 2 seconds, after which the LED on the case should start blinking, this means that Vivo TWS 2 ANC is now ready to be paired to a device. Now open the Bluetooth settings on the phone, and it shows up as Vivo TWS 2 ANC, and you can connect to it. As soon as the connection is established, the blinking LED should go off. You can take the earbuds out of the case and start using.
It also has Google Fast pair. If your phone supports it, once you open the case it shows up on your phone, and you instantly pair it, and it gets remembered in your Google account.
The earbuds also come with multipoint connection support that lets you simultaneously connect to two devices, and switch between them automatically. When you receive a call on your phone while connected to the video on your computer, TWS 2 ANC automatically streams your call, then back to your computer after you hang up.
Since the phone pairs with the case and not the headset, you will need the case if you want to reconnect it. Wish the buds had a manual on or off button, since you need to place the buds in the case, if it’s disconnected from the phone for long. The slide controls need time to get used to, but it has the perfect amount of sensitivity.
| Function | Left earphone (L) | Right earphone (R) |
| Play / Pause or Answer call / Hang calls | Single Press | |
| Change tracks / Reject calls | Double Press | |
| Switch between ANC and Transparency Mode | Press and Hold | |
| Volume up or down | Slide up or down by holding the stem | |
The headset has Smart wear detection that can sense when they’re in the ear and automatically pause the music when taken out and resume when you put back.
You can customize the controls from the settings in a vivo or iQOO phone running Funtouch OS. If you have any other phone, you can download the vivo Earphones app on Android, but it is not available on iPhone. You can change actions for the press function, but not for swipe, which is default for volume adjustment.
Audio Quality, Call Performance and Noise Cancellation
The vivo TWS 2 ANC packs an 12.2mm dynamic drivers, which the company says uses a bio-carbon fiber composite diaphragm. vivo says that it has Hi-Fi-vivo Golden Ear Acoustics and DEEP-HD Ultra HD Audio Engine.
You can also switch from Standard to Clear voice, mega bass or Clear high pitch. I use Clear voice for podcasts and mega bass for music. With the aptX adaptive enabled, audio quality is good with clear vocals, but the bass or low frequency audio could have been better. It handles high and middle frequencies well. I also found the volume a bit low compared to Nothing ear (1) and OnePlus Buds Z2 in the price range.
Regarding the Noise cancellation, the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) blocks the ambient sound up to 40dB that helps in most cases. You can feel the difference when you are listening outdoors and even indoors when the AC or fan is on. There are several modes – Adaptive, Depth, Standard and Mild noise cancellation.
You can switch between noise cancellation, transparency and noise cancellation off with a long pinch on the earbuds. There are different combinations in selection which is useful. You need to select the right size of the ear tips that fit your ears since it also helps to certain extent.
The noise cancellation is good, but I found the Nothing ear (1) is slightly better when it comes to noise cancellation quality, even though this uses the same triple microphones for intelligent dynamic noise reduction up to 40dB.
Coming to the call noise cancellation, it uses two external beamforming microphones to pinpoint and eliminate background noise and another internal microphone with a high SNR for voice pickup. The company said that it uses all-new duct improves wind noise reduction by 148% compared to TWS Neo. It tried it in a noisy outdoor setup, and the wind noise was hardly noticeable, but it couldn’t cut out the traffic noise completely, and during my run footsteps were also faintly audible.
Battery Life
The earphones pack 45mAh battery that promises about 7.3 hours of standalone battery life and 4.1 hours with noise cancellation enabled. During my use with aptX Adaptive and noise cancellation on and off rarely, I got about 5 hours of battery life in about 70% volume, so it is decent. For calls, it lasts for less than 4 hours since it uses call noise cancellation tech.
With the 505mAh charging case, it promises up to 29 hours of total battery life without ANC. I got about 22 hours with mixed use, which is decent. You can also see the charge left in the case in the app when the earbuds are placed in the case. Charging the case fully with the earbuds takes about 2 hours, which is high. The earbuds take about an hour to charge and doesn’t come with fast charging, which is available even in cheaper models.
Conclusion
Overall, the vivo TWS 2 ANC is a decent ANC earbuds for the price. It offers a decent audio quality and noise cancellation and good call noise cancellation for the price. It also has a compact design, but the glossy finish for the case and the buds might not impressive to everyone. The battery life is decent, but it doesn’t come with fast charging support. Priced at Rs. 5,999 it is available from Amazon.in and vivo.com online and offline stores.
Pros
- aptX Adaptive and multipoint connectivity
- Decent audio quality
- Good call quality
- Up to 40dB ANC is good
- IP54 ratings for the headset
- Custom controls, including volume control
- Decent battery life
Cons
- Glossy case and headset
- 88ms low latency is not the best
- No fast charging