QCY T13 ANC – Perfect for CALLS and CRAZY for music
At just over 30 euros, the QCY T13 ANC are among the cheapest wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation on the market. Are they worth it? Of course, especially for those who make a lot of phone calls and I'll talk about them in more detail in this review.
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DESIGN, COMFORT AND BATTERY LIFE
The QCY T13 ANC are TWS earphones with a stick shape of the in-ear type, so much so that 3 sets of silicone rubber tips are supplied in the package to best adapt the headphones to the inside of our ears, as well as the manuals and the charging cable USB Type-C. The charging case is square with rounded corners so as not to create discomfort when placed inside a trouser pocket, all made of plastic materials with a matte finish. The charging input is positioned on the right side, slightly off-centre, while on the front below the small recess for opening the lid, we find a status LED of the residual battery charge of the case.
The construction is good, confirmed by the fact that the lid of the case is not wobbly, which once opened hides the earphones anchored inside by means of small highly efficient magnets, so much so that by shaking the container the headphones do not fall and then we also find a small button that will be used to reset the headphones from the previously entrusted settings. To better adapt the QCY T13 ANC you need to rotate them slightly, even if in all honesty, during my tests the left earpiece escaped my ear several times, so I don't recommend these headphones for sports or activities in general. In any case, the comfort of wearing them is good even after several hours.
The QCY earphones integrate a battery inside the 380 mah case, which allows the headphones to be recharged at least 4 times before recharging everything by means of Type-C, while the T13 ANC can perform on a single charge, for about 7 hours without the ANC function, which once activated brings the autonomy to about 5 hours, for a maximum total of about 37 hours counting the recharges by the case. In extreme cases, know that they enjoy a sort of quick charge which for 10 minutes offers further autonomy for 120 minutes of music playback. Finally, the presence of the IPX5 certification does not hurt, making the T13 ANC resistant to rain and sweat.
CONTROLS AND CONNECTIVITY
Of course, the QCY T13 ANC have a touch surface from which to issue commands for managing music and calls. The nice thing is that through the companion app the touches can be customized for each headset, as the headphones are independent of each other. In any case, everything is controlled by means of a single, double and triple touch as well as a prolonged touch. We can then put the music into play/paulsa, switch from ANC to Transparency mode or deactivate it, enable game mode, skip the music track forward or backward, call up the voice assistant, manage the volume and of course also answer, end or reject a call.
As regards the functions of ANC, Transparency and game mode, a voice in English will warn us of which function we have enabled, while always from the companion app we can also manage the degree of intensity of the chosen function as well as balance it between the right earphone and left. The connection with the smartphone takes place by means of Bluetooth 5.3 technology, which has always been stable with a distance of up to over 10 meters. The codec used instead is the AAC, which overall gives a good depth of bass without particular alterations of the musical sound spectrum. Unfortunately, the music doesn't automatically stop when you take out an earphone as there is no proximity sensor.
QUALITY PHONE CALLS AND MUSIC WITH QCY T13 ANC
Making a phone call or a video call with QCY T13 ANC is one of the strengths of these headphones, counting on the presence of 4 microphones in total that work perfectly, cleaning the voice from external noise, thanks also to the ENC technology. In fact, they enjoy a particular noise cancellation algorithm specific for the wind up to 25 Km/h, effectively returning a voice that is always clear and crystalline, which is not a given if we compare the headphones to other earphones around this price.
The QCY T13 ANC can be associated with both Android and iOS devices and the latency in video and music playback is practically zero. We can further reduce the delay (50ms) by activating the appropriate game mode by synchronizing the sounds well with the action on the screen, for example in games like Call of Duty Mobile. Personally I found them perfect for calls without disdaining a good result even in music where there is enough "pumping" power to have fun with modern dance and electro genres. All this is expressed by means of 10 mm biological diaphragm dynamic drivers and highly elastic CCAW voice coils.
In terms of ANC and Transparency mode, we certainly cannot expect miracles, but I must say that for the price range these headphones are sold, the performance is quite impressive. The noise cancellation, up to -30dB, however, does not muffle the quality of music reproduction, offering good isolation from the surrounding environment. The Transparency mode allows you to follow a conversation if the interlocutor is nearby and I personally appreciated it when used in the car, where traffic noise and any sound alerts must remain present if we listen to music.
SUPPORTING APPS
The QCY app is free for Android and iPhone and has progressed significantly over time, becoming more and more refined. We have many features available such as checking the battery status complete with pop-ups, Airpods-style, but only on Android devices. We can control the ANC and transparency modes and as already mentioned we can adjust the intensity level as well as calibrate the effect by shifting attention to the right or left ear, enable game mode, customize touch controls, activate Sleep mode or a function that deactivates the touch controls, convenient for example for falling asleep with the headphones on. Finally, we can set equalizer presets or create personal ones and finally update the firmware.
PROJECTED IMPACT
The QCY T13 ANC are a valid economic alternative to the many TWS headphones in circulation. They offer active noise cancellation, lots of autonomy, excellent call performance and above all the support of a well-crafted and functional companion app. Ingredients that combined with a very small price lead me to recommend them warmly. On the other hand, QCY is becoming a confirmation of the excellent quality/price ratio which has been on the market since the first specimens.
