RHA TrueConnect earbuds review: High quality, stylish wireless earbuds for your commute or workout

After testing out the Jabra Elite Active 65t in June 2018, my AirPods have been sitting idle. RHA’s new TrueConnect earbuds compete directly with products like this Jabra headset with long battery life, water resistance, and better fit than the generic AirPods.

The AirPods let me down with no water/dust resistant rating, one-size-fits all fit (or unfit as it may be), and limited support for Android smartphones. Thankfully, there are options today and the RHA TrueConnect is a great option for iOS and Android phone and tablet users. The sound quality is great, the earbuds are sweat/splash/weather resistant, digital assistants on iOS and Android are supported, and a wide variety of tips to fit your ears are provided.

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I’ve been commuting, running, and traveling with these earbuds for the last few weeks and am very impressed with their performance. There is one aspect I would like to see improved, but overall the RHA TrueConnect is a headset to consider.

Specifications

• Driver: 6mm dynamic
• Frequency range: 20-20,000 Hz
• Water resistance: IPX5 rating
• Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
• Battery life: Up to 5 hours of play with charging case providing another 20 hours. 15 minutes of charging in the case give you 50 percent charge on the earbuds.
• Earbud weight: 13 grams total
• Warranty: Industry-leading three year manufacturer’s warranty

Hardware

The retail package includes the two wireless earbuds, a charging case with integrated battery, a USB-C cable, and an array of earbud tips. It is awesome to finally see accessory providers using USB-C to charge up devices since most phones use this cable and it is getting harder and harder to find older microUSB cables.

RHA is known for providing a massive selection of earbud tips and with the TrueConnect package you will find two sets of silicone tips for your ears in sizes small, medium, and large. You will also find one set of small, medium, and large Comply foam tips that are more effective for sound isolation if you want to block the outside world and enjoy your media content.

The RHA TrueConnect has a different form factor than we have seen from Jabra, Samsung, and others. It is similar to an AirPod with a stem that extends downwards, but not as long as the AirPods. The extension fits in nicely with the groove in your ear to help lock it securely into place.

The earbuds have a matte black finish with a soft touch covering. They are easy to grasp and stay securely in your ears.

The buttons on the earbuds do not offer much tactile feedback and is the one aspect of the TrueConnect that keep me from calling them perfect. It is hard for me to tell when I double or triple tap the earbud and I often end up pushing the earbud further into my ear canal as a result. A more pronounced button or a touch interface might be a better approach here.

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There are buttons on both the right and left side. A single press activates play/pause on both sides with a 1.5 second press and hold activating the voice assistant from either side. A double press on the left side skips ahead while a triple press on the left side skips back. A double press on the right side increases volume while a triple press on the right side lowers volume.

Both sides have the same functionality for calls with answer, reject, volume up, and volume down options through single, double, and triple presses.

A high quality metal and soft touch material charging/carrying case is provided. There is a small red dot to indicate the right earbud on the earbud and on the case next to the compartment the earbud is inserted into. The metal spine of the carrying case is held in an upwards position and then you flip out the soft touch compartment. It opens like a roll out drawer and then you grab each earbud to insert it into your ear. It can be a bit tough to get the earbuds out of the charging case too.

There are four white LED indicator lights on the lower left front of the charging case that gives you the charging status of the case, it gives you 20 hours of capacity (four full charges), and charging status of the earbuds when they are inserted into the case for charging.

It is great to see USB-C as the standard charging port and a USB-A to USB-C cable is provided in the retail package.

Price and competition

There is quite a bit of competition in the fully wireless earbud market today, but not all of them are designed for active exercise routines. The Apple AirPods are priced at $159, but do not have tips for the best fit of your ear and there is no level of dust/water resistance.

The Jabra Elite Active 65t earbuds have a MSRP of $189.99, the Samsung Gear Icon X is priced at $129.99 ($50 off MSRP), the Jaybird Run is $179.99, and the Bose SoundSport Free is $169.95.

As you can see, the $169.95 RHA TrueConnect is priced about the same as most of these other water resistant truly wireless earbuds. When you compare all of these, the TrueConnect stands our with a long warranty, excellent battery life, and great quality phone calls.

Daily usage experiences and conclusion

Headphone jacks are no longer the default on smartphones so most of us are making the move to wireless headsets. While Apple may have been one of the first to offer a compelling truly wireless experience, others quickly surpassed them with better options for those who are active and for those looking for more than a very basic experience.

RHA has always impressed me with its committment to quality, demonstrated by its long three-year warranty period. The RHA TrueConnect has worked very well for me over the past few weeks, with only the limited tactile feel of its buttons my only concern.

The TrueConnect earbuds also do not support the aptX profile and at this price I would think it would support this common stack. I did notice a bit of broken audio from time-to-time when I had my phone in my pocket, but most of the time playback was flawless.

The stem design helps bring the mic down closer to your mouth and may be a major reason that callers confirmed the call quality with the headset was excellent. Many of these truly wireless headsets are good for music, but don’t perform as well for phone calls.

RHA headsets have impressed me in the past and I had high expectations for its first truly wireless headset. The design is impressive, the battery life is above average, you can control playback and volume right from the headset, and they fit well even when running in the rain. I’m not a fan of the buttons and the lack of aptX is an oversight.

The RHA TrueConnect earbuds are very comfortable for long time wear, making them perfect for commuters, people who like to workout with music, and those looking for something better than the AirPods.