Hey guys, its Greg with Apple Explainedand today were gonna take a look at these tws-i9 earbuds, theyre essentially knockoffsof the AirPods, and I was given this pair by my friends at Knockies and lucky for youguys they sent me three extras to give away. So if you want a chance win a pair make sureyoure subscribed and leave a comment on the video. And even if you dont win, Knockies is offeringa 10%-off coupon code just for you guys. Now you might remember a previous video Imade about the TWS-i7s which is an older generation of these earbuds and I wasnt so excitedabout them, but Im pleased to report that these new i9s are a huge improvement.So first, well begin with an unboxing andreview, second, well compare them to the i7s and the official AirPods, and lastly Illgive you guys my final thoughts so you can decide whether or not these earphones areright for you. Now these TWS-i9s are $39.99 from Knockieswebsite and theyre available in white, just like the AirPods. When you order these things they arrive inthis nice little box thats not too different from the AirPods, with a picture of the earbudson the front, model name on either side, headlining features on the bottom like its built-in battery,calling capabilities, audio quality, built-in microphones, and wireless technology.And on the back we have a picture of the earbudsin their charging case and detailed specifications like its model number, battery capacity, andmore. Now the box is sealed by these two circularpieces of tape on either side, and after those have been broken we can go ahead and liftthe lid which slides off very similarly to the AirPods but with less resistance. Now once inside, were immediately greetedby the i9s charging case which sits front and center. We can go ahead and easily lift the case outof the box and right off the bat youll notice how tiny this case is compared to theprevious i7s, but well take a closer look at that in a minute. For now, lets see what else is in the box.After lifting out the plastic tray we findsomething thats new to this generation of earphones, a white silicon case completewith a safety hook to easily attach the charging case to your belt hook or backpack. This isnt something I used but it couldbe very convenient for hikers or travelers. Next we find a micro USB cable to power thecharging case and a manual to help us pair these things with our phone or other device. So thats everything included in the box,now lets take a closer look at the TWS-i9 earbuds themselves. The charging case is the exact same size asthe AirPods which is a huge improvement from the previous generation. And it has the same rounded design as well. The lid is magnetic and very easy to openone handed which allows us to access the earbuds much quicker than before. On the back youll find a silver hinge thatlooks almost exactly like the AirPods and a Micro USB port on the bottom with a nicesilver accent that matches the hinge.And although the earbuds shake a little bitwhen the case is open, they’re nice and compact and very easy to remove from the case. Now I should mention that just like the AirPods,these TWS-i9 earbuds cannot be charged individually. So if you lose the charging case, the earbudswill become useless. Now wearing these things in your ears is verycomfortable and secure, which is a huge improvement from the previous i7s. And keep in mind that these i9 earbuds arethe same size as the AirPods so you can expect the same level of comfort. Now these earbuds charge up in about 45 minutesand provide three hours of music playback or talk time, which is more than enough formost users.And the charging case provides about threerecharges to the earbuds before running out of power. So these earbuds have blue and red LEDs thatare used to indicate pairing and charging status. While pairing, the earbuds flash blue andred which means theyre ready to be discovered by your device. And while charging, they shine red insidethe case and turn off once fully charged. As for the charging case itself, it also hasa red LED that turns on while charging and also turns off when fully powered. Now while in use, the only way to check thebattery life on these things is directly from your device. So lets go through the pairing processand connect these earbuds to our device. Now I have an iPhone 7 here, but these arebluetooth enabled with means they can be used with any bluetooth device. So the first thing we have to do is take theearbuds out of their charging case and find the multi-function button on the back, wehold down on both buttons for about three seconds, or until the LEDs begin to flash.And if we look in our bluetooth settings wellfind the earbuds listed under TWS-i9 and all we have to do is tap on them to connect. Now I didnt have any connectivity issueswith these things since they have Bluetooth 4.1 and there wasnt any lag in music playbackthanks to its EDR or enhanced data rate technology. Now lets get into a little more detailabout music playback with these earbuds starting with sound quality. While they arent at the same level as theAirPods in this respect, they do sound much better than the previous generation TWS-i7s. Music still sounds a little tinny but I wasdefinitely able to enjoy the songs since the quality is more than passable. As for controlling music playback, the multifunctionbuttons are able to pause and play your music with a single press, but double pressing actuallyinitiates a call to your most recent contact. And while were on the subject of phonecalls, lets discuss call quality on these things. Right off the bat I noticed that call audioonly played through the right earbud. And thats not uncommon with third partywireless earbuds since audio from phone calls are mono instead of stereo.Now theres a microphone at the end of eachof these earbuds that picks up your voice quite well and makes phone calls much moreconvenient considering you can go completely hands free. So now lets talk about how these TWS-i9sstack up against their predecessor the TWS-i7s. Lets start off with the most obvious difference:their design. With the i7s, everything was bigger. The charging case, the earbuds themselves,the packaging. This meant carrying the charging case in yourpocket was pretty inconvenient and uncomfortable but now that isnt a problem thanks to thei9s compact size. Also, the smaller earbuds fit much more comfortablyin your ear and are more secure compared to the larger i7s.Even something as simple as opening the chargingcase has been improved drastically. The magnetic lid on the i9s can be openedeffortlessly one-handed and closed with a satisfying snap. But the lid on the i7s has a lot of resistanceto it and requires quite a bit of effort to get open. They both have a MicroUSB port for charging,but as you can see, the newer i9 case has nice silver accents whereas the i7 case doesnot. Its also much easier to insert and removethe earbuds from the i9s case since theres not a pin that you have to push the earbudsonto. Another difference between these two modelsare their packaging. Once you open their boxes its pretty easyto see which one is more appealing.The TWS-i9s are presented beautifully withoutany plastic bags or clumsy cardboard inserts. This may not be a big deal for most people,but I value a nice unboxing experience since its the first interaction a user has withany new product. Now lets talk about sound quality. This is another area where the i9s have improvedconsiderably since I can actually enjoy listening to music with these things. And if you remember what I said about thesound quality of the i7s, youll know that I didnt recommend them for music playbacksince the sound quality was so thin and tinny. So the battery life of these two models isabout the same which is pretty impressive considering the compact size of the i9s.But whats more important is how these earbudscharge. The older i7s have to be pushed down ontocharging pins inside the case which becomes pretty annoying after youve done it a hundredtimes, while the new i9s fall right into the case without any effort at all thanks to thecontact chargers that connect to the earbuds after youd closed the lid. Now lets talk about how these new TWS-i9scompare to the official Apple AirPods. But I want to make it clear that these i9sare $40 earbuds compared to the 159 dollar AirPods. So the packaging is pretty similar althoughno one can deny that Apple provides the best unboxing experience of any company on earth. The plastic tray that presents the i9s doesa great job framing the product but things get a little messy underneath. The audio quality of the i9s are a big improvementover the i7s, but still not on same level as the AirPods. One area where the i9s really impress is withdesign.Its the same exact size as the AirPodswhich is a pretty amazing accomplishment and that means the earbuds are just as comfortableand secure in your ear. The i9s also have something the AirPods dontand thats the multifunction button on each earbud. These buttons make it easy to play and pausemusic and answer calls, although they dont activate Siri like the AirPods can. And finally we have to keep in mind that theAirPods do play phone call audio through both earbuds whereas the i9s only play call audiothrough the right earbud. And the beam-forming microphones on the AirPodsare more advanced than the standard microphones on the i9s, but they still do a great jobof picking up your voice clearly. Now let me give you my final thoughts on theseTWS-i9 earbuds. Theyre an enormous improvement over theprevious TWS-i7 model, without a huge increase in cost.So if you already own a pair of i7s and arelooking to upgrade, I think the i9s new design and increased performance definitely justifiesmaking the jump to this new model. And if youre someone who has always wanteda pair of AirPods for the convenience and comfort, but havent pulled the triggeryet because of the high price, then you should take a serious look at the i9s. Theyre a really fantastic alternative tothe AirPods at a quarter of the cost. And while battery life may be a problem ifyou listen to music for hours at time, I dont think its a dealbreaker since they do chargeback up pretty quickly.So that is the unboxing and review of theTWS-i9 wireless earbuds, if you want to check them out for yourself go ahead and click thelink in the description and dont forget to use the 10%-off coupon code if you decideto buy them. And if you want a chance to win a free pair,make sure youre subscribed and leave a comment down below so I know youre interested. Alright guys, thanks for watching and Illsee you next time..
