Expert assessment
Advantages
- Incredible battery life
- Top class audio performance
- Ultra stable connection
Cons
- No companion app
- No wireless charging
Our verdict
The 100% wireless Tribit FlyBuds C1 promise premium audio performance and excellent battery life at a very affordable price, but they’re not completely flawless.
Price at review
$74.99
Best prices today: Tribit FlyBuds C1
$59.99
Since 2017, Tribit has made a habit of making innovative, high-quality audio devices at prices that challenge competitors.
With its FlyBuds C1, the Chinese company offers a comparable product to Apple’s AirPods for half the price. According to Tribit, they also have better transmission capacity than other earphones in the same range, with stable connectivity and balanced sound.
But is this the real thing? I was lucky enough to try them out and have all the answers you need.
Design
- Extremely comfortable
- Modern design
- Physical checks
The design of the FlyBuds C1 gives an impression of solidity and durability, which is reassuring for mid-range headphones. The model tested is a black wireless pair, with small flashes of red in the outer areas, which I appreciate for their discretion. Their shape, and that of the housing, is similar to that of the well-known AirPods, although the latter are much thinner.
Mathilde Vicente / Foundry
They are housed in a lightly textured oval case that prevents them from slipping out of your hands. In addition, the earphones are secured by a magnet placed in each hole, so they stay in place without the fear of them getting lost or falling off once the case is open.
For comfort, Tribit includes different sizes of ear tips to attach to the earphones so they can be adjusted to fit the wearer’s ears. Thanks to the silicone material, they are very comfortable to wear and rarely fall out once the right angle is found.
Each earpiece is equipped with physical micro buttons with instant haptic feedback that let you control music playback and calls, or activate the voice assistant (which unfortunately didn’t work for us) and adjust the volume. These are located on the stem and are useful in situations where the headphones need to be adjusted more often, such as during sports sessions.
Mathilde Vicente / Foundry
Tribit has provided these earbuds with IPX5 protection for resistance to splashes and perspiration.
Link
- Stable Bluetooth
- Simple configuration
As you can see, the Tribit FlyBud C1 is a pair of wireless headphones that connects to your smartphone or computer via Bluetooth 5.0 technology and supports AAC, AptX, and SBC codecs.
Pairing is simple and straightforward. All you need to do is place the earphones in their case and hold the button for a few seconds before looking for it in your phone’s Bluetooth settings.
The connection was very stable during our tests with a range of up to eight meters. After pairing with your smartphone once, they will do so automatically the next few times, without you having to go through the settings.
Audio performance
- Good active noise cancellation, except during calls
- Balanced, clear sound
After testing them while listening to different styles of music (afropop, rock and jazz), I was more than pleasantly surprised by the experience.
They use ENC and CVC 8.0 technology with 4 microphones to reduce background noise by 90%, according to the brand. Personally, I can’t confirm or deny such information, but I found it very effective when waiting at the station, strolling downtown, or working in the office.
I found the sound to be very balanced, immersive and optimized, a surprising result for such a small price. The mids sound soft and warm, the highs are clear despite a slight lack of brilliance and the bass is powerful and well-tuned.
To put the microphones to the test, I made several calls where the voices were clear and well reproduced. However, it was during these conversations that the active noise canceling system showed its weaknesses, letting some of the ambient noise through.
Mathilde Vicente / Foundry
This performance is made possible by the integration of the Qualcomm QCC3040 aptX chip, which offers even better transmission, with a 75% increase in connectivity. In addition, it supports 16-bit audio with a sampling frequency of 48 kHz, which translates into CD quality, with surprisingly high precision in all directions – as if they contained surround technology.
To top it off, I would have liked to be able to tweak and customize the audio with a companion app. At this price, however, it’s not surprising there isn’t one. If that’s not enough for you, consider using the available FlyBuds C1 Pro model for £79.99 from Amazon.
Battery life and charging
- 50 hours battery life with case
- Charge faster or slower
Energy consumption has been reduced by 30% thanks to the advanced technology of the Qualcomm QCC340 chip, giving you 60 hours of autonomy with the Flybuds C1 housing, which can be charged in two hours with the included USB-C cable.
Without the cable and on a single charge, you can listen for about ten hours. This battery life is much better than comparable or even high-end earphones.
There are 4 small LED indicators on the front of the case to let you know the battery status and that of the earphones.
Mathilde Vicente / Foundry
Price and availability
At just $74.99 / £59.99 (and discounted even further at the time of writing), the Tribit FlyBuds C1 are highly affordable and formidable contenders among the best cheap 100% wireless headphones. In the US you can get them from Tribit and Amazon – British readers can just take them out Amazon.
And if you want to spend less, keep in mind that wireless headphones with ANC are very rare at this price point. Here you have a pair of earphones that offer exceptional value for money, with surprisingly high-end features.
You can see more options in our list of the best cheap headphones and the best true wireless earbuds.
Pronunciation
The FlyBuds C1 offer active noise cancellation at a competitive price, excellent sound quality thanks to advanced technologies such as the ANC mode and an impressive battery life.
In addition, they have a pleasant AirPod-inspired design and are very comfortable, especially over time. The lack of a companion app is a shame, as is the lack of wireless charging.
That said, if you choose to buy the FlyBuds C1, you won’t be disappointed. They’re perfectly capable of holding their own – all for a tempting price tag.
This review is a translated and localized piece – you can find Mathilde Vicente’s original article on Tech Advisor France.
Specifications
- IPX5
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Range up to 8 meters
- Up to 50 hours with charging case
- 12 hours of listening time on a single charge
- Audio codec laptX™, AAC, SBC