Klipsch T5 II ANC review: Form over function
The market for wireless earbuds is highly saturated these days with seemingly every company coming out with their own version of the product. While most people don’t expect much from low-cost buds, it’s not hard to find really great options in the mid-range. When I began using the Klipsch T5 II True Wireless ANC earbuds, I naturally expected quite a bit for the premium price tag, but the features and overall experience didn’t exceed much cheaper alternatives, and in some ways is even below their standards.
Klipsch T5 II True Wireless ANC
The Klipsch T5 II True Wireless ANC earbuds offer top quality sound; and they’re lightweight with a great fit, making them easy to wear for long periods of time. However, they’re held back by poor active noise-canceling, middling battery life, and very few of the features available from competitors.
Design, hardware, what’s in the box
The case deserves a lot of attention, but not always for the best reasons. Perhaps the most noticeable detail is the surprising mass—it weighs significantly more than it looks like it should. Since the internal battery only provides about three full charge cycles to the buds, I doubt it is solely responsible for making the case so heavy. There is also a non-skid rubber pad on the bottom, which leads me to think the case has added weight to make it less prone to sliding around on a table or desk when a heavy charging cable is attached.
There’s a glossy gunmetal finish with the Klipsch logo on the front of the case, and it looks pretty great in direct sunlight. However, the details disappear in darker settings and leave the surface looking completely black. The surface doesn’t really show fingerprints, and it’s supposed to be resistant to damage, but a few scars and a lot of hairline scratches appeared on mine. I never dropped the case or treated it roughly, so I’m not sure how this happened.
The lid swings on a side-mounted hinge, much like a Zippo lighter. It’s a fairly unique design among wireless earbuds, and while this doesn’t really improve or detract from anything, it’s an interesting distinction from the competition. However, unlike a Zippo, you should definitely not try to flick your wrist to open the lid unless you want to send one or both buds flying.
All in all, my opinion on the case is split down the middle. Itfeelsvery premium and looks nicer than most; but it may be more vulnerable to wear and tear, and the atypical design choices feel like they’re different just for the sake of being different.
However, the bud design is nearly perfect in both aesthetics and comfort. They are all-black, except for the buttons which have the Klipsch logo engraved with silver lettering. The buttons are inset enough that they’re easy to find by touch, and it has a satisfying press that also doesn’t require much pressure.
To my ears, the fit is very lightweight and comfortable; I had no trouble with ear fatigue even after a couple hours of listening. There are a total of six differently shaped and sized tips included in the box, so it’s easy enough to find a good fit.
Klipsch designed these earbuds without sticks, which I’ve come to prefer. It ultimately means there’s nothing sticking out from your ear that will be easily bumped. Nevertheless, I would be cautious about using these for a workout. They stay in my ears through casual activity, and even some intentional jarring doesn’t dislodge them, but I don’t feel confident enough that they’ll stay put at the gym or during a run.
In addition to the buds, case, and six pairs of silicone tips, Klipsch also includes a USB C-to-C cable and an A-to-C adapter for charging.
Sound quality, features, and battery life
Audio quality from the T5 II earbuds is fantastic, and so far the only pair of wireless buds I’ve encountered that don’t feel like they’re making a compromise. There’s a great balance throughout the frequency spectrum, the highs and mids are crisp, and there’s a fairly good sound stage. The only minor weakness I detected was that the mids seem to fall off a bit early as the volume increases, which suggests the drivers may be hitting their limit.
Unfortunately, sound quality isn’t the only thing to judge, and the picture isn’t great in most of the other categories. For starters, several of the features you would expect for a premium pair of buds are simply not present on the Klipsch T5 II. There aren’t any convenience features like Google’s Quick Pair or multipoint audio for people with multiple devices to connect, there’s no low-latency mode for gamers, and they’re even missing in-ear detection.
However, Klipsch did add one interesting feature: a gesture system based on head movement. Basically, you can nod your head to answer calls or shake your head to reject a call or skip to the next song. I never found myself using this much, but there are obviously situations that call for truly hands-free operation, and this is the most reasonable way to do it. Unfortunately, my tests with the song skipping feature came out pretty hit-and-miss, and that’s probably the reason this feature is marked as a ‘beta’ in the app.
As the product name makes very clear, these buds are equipped with active noise canceling (ANC). However, the actual effect is so minimal that it’s often difficult to tell if ANC is active, even with the highest setting in the app. Frankly, I think Klipsch only included ANC so it could be listed as a feature on the box. Since the buds knock out a lot of surrounding noise by virtue of a good seal in the ear canal, I would advise turning off the ANC altogether to extend the battery life.
Transparency Mode is also available so you could hear your surroundings while wearing the buds, and it actually works reasonably well. The only problem is that the microphone’s default setting has the gain maxed out, which captures a lot of air noise. Turning this down to about half power is enough to clear it up.
The biggest letdown came up when I used the T5 II buds for phone calls. While I could hear the other person just fine, everybody else complained that my voice was breaking up and filled with static, almost as if I were calling from the end of a dead zone. This makes the buds effectively unusable for calls. Here’s a voicemail recording with and without the buds — the difference is immediately obvious.
Klipsch says the battery life should reach 5 hours per charge, or 7 with ANC turned off. In my usage, these numbers are probably possible, but generally optimistic. It’s more reasonable to say that it’s safe to count on 4 hours with ANC, but expect to be out of juice about 20 minutes short of the 5-hour mark. But with that said, I’ll reiterate my earlier advice to turn off ANC since it does little more than eat battery life.
The charging behavior is also a little quirky when the buds are left for several days without use. They discharge more quickly than I expected, and they won’t automatically begin charging again. As a result, there were a couple of times that I pulled the buds from the case and found them basically dead.
Should you buy it?
Maybe, but probably not.The audio quality is great, and the buds are really comfortable. However, when compared to buds that are half the price, it’s hard to recommend the Klipsch T5 II. Like many premium products, there are diminishing returns when you’re comparing audio quality against price, and the value quickly sinks when the ANC serves little purpose, the buds can’t be used for phone calls, and they lack features like Quick Pair, in-ear detection, and low-latency mode.
Of course, if the price and lack of features don’t matter to you, and the only thing you’re looking for is the best audio quality for listening to music, the Klipsch T5 II earbuds may be the right choice for you.
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
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