We review products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use. Pricing for true wireless earphones is coming down, though there still aren't a ton of great pairs out there for less than $100. For $79.99, TCL's SOCL 500TWS earphones deliver crisp, detailed audio with solid bass depth that's neither thin nor exaggerated. The in-ear fit is secure, and the controls are relatively easy to operate. In terms of extra features, there aren't really any to discuss—you're getting true wireless audio and it ends there. But they're worth checking out for the price, if not quite as strong as our Editors' Choice, the $80 Anker Soundcore Liberty Air. Design Available in a matte, semi-translucent purple, orange, black, or blue, the SOCL 500TWS earpieces utilize silicone eartips without earfins or any additional fit accessories. The earpieces are neither overly bulky nor tiny, and the matte surface rests against the ear when the tips are securely sealed in the canal, for a fit that's comfortable and quite secure over long listening sessions. TCL includes three pairs of eartips in small, medium, and large sizes. The earpieces have an IPX4 rating, which means they can withstand some light splashes, but they're not suitable for dunking underwater or running under a faucet. IPX4 is a relatively low rating as far as water resistance goes, so if you really need something that can work in heavy downpours or be rinsed off easily, you should check out a pair with a higher rating. Each earpiece has a push button on its outer panel, and controls are divided between the two. Tapping the button once on either ear plays or pauses music, and answers or ends calls. Two taps on the left earpiece lowers the volume, and two taps on the right raises it. A two-second hold on the left skips backward a track, while the right skips forward. Tapping either ear three times summons your mobile device's voice assistant. Generally speaking, the controls are fairly easy to use, but it can feel as if the earpieces are being pressed into your ear canal when operating them. Internally, each earpiece houses 5.8mm drivers. The included battery case is a bit larger than typical. Its flip-top lid protects two magnetic charging cradles and is semi-translucent, so you can see the status LEDs through the top of the case. On the back panel, a button displays a battery life status LED for the case itself when pressed. A USB-C charging cable is included. TCL estimates battery life to be roughly 6.5 hours per charge, while the charging case carries an additional 20 hours or so, but your results will vary with your volume levels. Performance With the earpieces properly in place, and on tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the earphones deliver laudable low-frequency response matched with crisp, bright highs. There's no distortion on the bass, even at top volumes, and the drivers can get louder than they need to. The bass feels powerful without overwhelming the mix. See How We Test Headphones Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the general sound signature. The drums on this track sound full, round, and heavy, but don't quite veer into overly thunderous territory. (If the drums on this track sound thin, that's an obvious sign that the earpieces need to be twisted around to create a better seal in your ear.) Callahan's baritone vocals get a solid low-mid richness, matched by some treble edge in the high-mids. The acoustic strums and percussive hits also receive a crisp, detailed presence. On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives ideal high-mid presence, accentuating its punchy attack, and the vinyl crackle and hiss that's usually in the background takes a step forward here. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with laudable depth—if you're looking for the in-ear subwoofer experience, that's not what these drivers offer, but the bass is there and the track sounds full and balanced. The three vocal performances are delivered with excellent high-mid clarity and avoid sounding overly sibilant despite some added high-mid presence. Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, sound wonderfully balanced through the SOCL 500TWS. The lower-register instrumentation has a nice richness to it without sounding unnatural, and the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals are excellently detailed and bright. The mic offers slightly above-average intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded clearly, but the mic's signal sounded a little weak, and there was some typical Bluetooth fuzzy distortion around the edges. It's definitely in the upper half of the true wireless models we've tested in terms of mic clarity, however. Conclusions The SOCL 500TWS earphones wouldn't stand out if they were priced in line with most other true wireless models, around $150. For nearly half that price, however, they represent a solid deal. We won't go so far as to call them a bargain, but they function well, deliver crisp, rich audio, have a decent mic, and the in-ear fit is secure. The low IP rating is only an issue if you plan to use them for running marathons, but a trip to the gym shouldn't hurt. That said, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air are available for the same price, and feature a more bass-forward sound signature with a higher IP rating, earning our Editors' Choice. And if you want to spend even less, the EarFun Free represent a solid value at just $50. Bottom Line: The TCL SOCL 500TWS is a barebones pair of true wireless earphones that offer quality audio performance at a relatively friendly price. Top Comparisons

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