Before I start, I want to remind you of MKBHD’s wonderful phrase – good smartphones get cheaper and cheap ones get better. And you know… This applies to headphones as well. For example, today’s review of new products from Canyon includes the Canyon TWS-6 and Canyon TWS-8, as well as the Canyon WS-304 wireless charger.
Prices. The Canyon TWS-6 costs $22 and the Canyon TWS-8 costs $24. Even ignoring the dollar jump, these are some of the cheapest fully wireless headphones I’ve come across. And the fact that the TWS-8 is now my main smartphone headphone means something.
Oh, and the cost of the Canyon WS-304 is $55. It’s the most expensive wireless charger I’ve ever inspected. And there are very good reasons for that, which will be discussed at the end.
The headsets come complete with instructions and a USB-C cable. The TWS-8 additionally has vacuum ear cushion sets in several sizes, and the TWS-6 comes in a silicone case with carabiner.
Considering that such cases for, say, AirPods cost as much as half a TWS-6, I can only express my respect.
Just so you know right away – both the Canyon TWS-6 and Canyon TWS-8 are the best budget headsets I’ve ever seen. And Canyon’s credit for that is minimal, but it’s there. The build quality is competent, considering the price.
There are noticeable splices on the headphones, but the quality of both the cases and the silicone cover, is a 4 out of 5. There are even charge indicators and Type-C charging.
Also dependent on Canyon was the Bluetooth chip, and in both models it turned out to be the JL 6976D4, specifically for the Bluetooth 5.3 variant. It’s a very, very energy efficient chip, which combined with the battery capacity (40mAh each on the headphones and 470mAh on the case) gives 7.5 hours of battery life and another 30 from the case.
So, in fact, the TWS-8 was the first headphone at this price point that I personally took into everyday use. And yes, the battery life is really top-notch here. The TWS-6 sags here, they have 4.5 hours without a case. But that’s due to the format. Because as you can see – the headphones are open type. And that leads to extra power consumption.
However, both headphone models have another advantage. And that is sound quality. I’ll be honest – $20 headphones have no right for such detail and sound quality. The scene is unnecessarily voluminous, especially with the TWS-6, but the frequency response itself is noticeably steep.
That said, I would describe the TWS-6 as a headphone with a non-switchable transparency mode, while the TWS-8 has a non-switchable noise mode. So they are open and closed type headphones. On the other hand, I haven’t used open type headphones before TWS-6 and you know – I like it. They have better acoustics than the TWS-8. But the autonomy is lacking.
I’ll also say a few words about the controls. A single tap on the area just below the ear cup does nothing, but double and triple taps pause and switch tracks respectively.
A double tap can also start and end a conversation. And pressing for 2 seconds on the left earpiece activates the assistant and on the right earpiece the gaming mode with a 50 ms delay. Microphone quality was also much better than I expected Well, of course, there’s no noise modulation here, nor is there a proprietary program. These are $20 headphones with absolutely cool sound and battery life, people, what are you?
Now. Canyon WS-304. The model is fresh and surprisingly cool for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it comes complete with a charger, which is very rare for branded items of this type. It also comes with a Type-C cable and a manual.
Further, the charger is collapsible, so it takes up VERY little space and is suitable for, say, travel. It is also three-position and can charge a smartphone, watch and headphones. And even simultaneously, because the maximum power is up to 18 watts. 15 for the smartphone, up to 2.5 for the watch and 3 for the headphones, that’s it.
Or up to 0.28 A for a watch, up to 0.35 A for a headset and up to 1.67 A for a smartphone. As I understand it, when charging all devices, it is the low-power accessories that take priority, leaving less than 10 watts for the smartphone. This is well below the norm, but no discharge is allowed, which is not bad in principle.
The Canyon WS-304 is also equipped with a backlight as a working indicator. There is a separate button to turn it off. And the good news is that there is protection against under- and over-voltage, excessive temperature, amperage and more. A separate chip called Chipvision is responsible for this as well as for the analysis of the necessary power.
And when asked if the Canyon WS-304 has any disadvantages – I will answer that only the fact that you have to look for a combination of headset, watch and smartphone with wireless charging, and which speed will be enough for you. Because I, for one, am not satisfied even with the 25watt speeds. But I also deplete my smartphone in hours, so to each his own.
I personally recommend the Canyon TWS-6 and Canyon TWS-8 headphones, and I especially personally recommend the latter. As for a budget headset, they are ultra-autonomous, very cool in sound and not badly built. The Canyon WS-304 wireless charger requires a special combination of accessories, but is cool on its own too.
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