Rose Technics Earfree i3 TWS

Rose Technics Earfree i3 TWS Review

The Rose Technics Earfree i3 TWS are a gorgeous pair of TWS earbuds with an exceptional high quality ‘feel’, an excellent feature set at this price point and some excellent audio quality. But it’s not perfect so read on to find out my opinions.

Before getting the review I feel that the name of the Earfree I3 is a bad choice for such a TWS, it makes them sound like one of the many generic bluetooth ANC TWS sets you can pick up on Aliexpress or Amazon but the Earfree I3 are much better than those generic TWS sets.

Unboxing

The earfree-i3 comes in a nice box that reminds me a little of Airpods Pro:

With some specifications on the back:

Upon unboxing the Rose Technics Earfree i3, you’ll find a well-organized package split into 2 smaller boxes:

Taking everything out you get:

• The Earfree i3 TWS earbuds • A charging case • USB-C charging cable • Multiple sizes of silicone ear tips • User manual

Buid quality of the Earbuds and the Case

Firstly focusing on the earbuds themselves, these photos do not do them justice.

This is the “champagne’ colour: The Earfree-i3 also comes in black and white.

I found they were just about the perfect size and weight for earbuds, where they never felt like they might fall out of my ears, yet I forgot I was wearing them. My wife who has smaller more normal ears (than mine) also found they were exceptional comfortable.

They are also IP54 rated waterproof and dustproof to so good for outdoor sports and while I don’t think I would swim with them, I can imagine cooling off in a pool side shower without worrying about them getting wet.

Near to where the touch controls are ’tapped’ there is a quicky design feature which I am guessing is to allow better bluetooth transmission as it has different material than the rest of the earbud:

I recorded a short video comparing the size of the earfree-i3 against an Apple Airpods Pro, a Soundcore P3i, the Moondrop Golden Ages and the Moondrop Space Travel:

And then just focusing on the shape of each earbud you can see it shares allot of ergonomics with the Airpods:

I also thought rhe charging case was a nice size and shape:

I liked how it has a flat base so can sit easily on a table (unlike many TWS cases).

Opening it up the earbuds fit nicely well and I did try custom ear tips with this case and most XL sized eartips also fit and the case still closed:

There is a pairing ‘reset’ button on the back:

And underneath you get a usb-c charging connection - the case also supports wireless charging when placed on its side:

Features

The Earfree-i3 has many features, but I thought it would be useful get into details of a few of these features.

Before getting into the physical features of the TWS sets lets cover the mobile Application features:

App Features

The Roselink App is a relatively good mobile app that enhances the user experience with the Earfree i3, I imagine it will be extended over time with more features but it does the basics.

When I first launched the Roselink app I was told there was updated firmware availalbe with I then downloaded:

Once the firmware was updated the earfree-i3 reboots:

The App home screen looks like this:

As you can see you can see the battery levels, control tne ANC and EQ sound profiles as well as enabling some key features like LDAC. Along the bottom you can switch to other screens to customise other parts of the experience.

For example, allowing users to personalize their touch commands.:

Note: I did find the touch controls where sometimes not as responsive as I would have like, so I mainly left these on the defaults and while I played with configuring the single tap functionality on each ear I decided to leave them ‘unused’ which was the default, as it was confusing the single tap with 2 double taps.

The ‘Touch Switch’ option on the home screen also controls how you can switch between ANC, transparency and normal.

Holding your finger on either earbud will cycle through the options. Switching on ANC you immediately see the change within the app. You can obviously also switch using the app:

When switching between LDAC and dual connection mode the earfree-i3 will need to reboot which it tells you within the app:

For me once I settled on using LDAC with my Android DAP, I mainly used the app to toggle between the 3 EQ presets. More on those presets when we get to the subjective sound quality and the measurements sections below.

Note: It does have one annoying feature where it popups up a message (on IOS) after you disconnect the earbuds, I imagine Rose Technics will release an update to the application to ignore this popup.

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)

The hybrid ANC technology in the Earfree i3 is capable of reducing ambient noise by up to 45 dB, and according to the specifications it particularly effective within the frequency range of 3000 Hz.

In my testing, I found it better than average ANC at this price point and better than say the more expensive Moondrop Golden Ages, but not at the level of say Airpods Pro / Pro 2, but my wife who loved the style of the earfree-i3, borrowed them for a few days and found the ANC to be excellent, so the quality of the ANC will depend on the seal.

Microphones and call quality

The marketing behind the Earfree i3 talks about the four mics with Neural Network Noise Reduction Algorithm ensure that external noise is minimized while maintaining clarity in voice calls. While my voice was clear on calls, I did find the microphones recorded extremely in low volume, this caused me to have to talk much louder on some company calls I made while using the earfree-i3. It also lacks the wind reduction and AI feaures you get in more expensive models which can help when using the microphone outside on a busy street.

Connectivity

Equipped with Bluetooth 5.3, the Earfree i3 provided me a stable and efficient connection even as I walked around my house and was a good distance from my iPhone. Another good bluetooth feature is its dual-device connectivity, where I had both my phone and my laptop connected at the same time.

Note: I did briefly have one connectivity problem when using the TWS set on a bus, when one earbud failed to connect. I had to put them both back in their case and wait a few seconds before trying again and they both connected fine the second time, so possible something to bear in mind.

Battery Life and Charging

The Earfree i3 offers an impressive battery life, with a rated 50 hours of total playtime when combined with the charging case.

Both wireless and wired charging is supported something you definitely do not see at this price range. A quick 30-minute charge via the cable can replenish the battery to 80%, making it easy to keep the music going with minimal downtime.

I found because of the wireless charging provided by the case, I never had an issue with battery life and the case was never below 50% so never had a problem with the battery life.

Game Mode

For gamers, the 54ms low-latency Game Mode ensures a smooth and responsive gaming experience. This feature is particularly beneficial for fast-paced FPS and rhythm games where timing is crucial. I am not a gamer, but I did briefly test this feature, and it worked well with my PC with a latency test.

Sound Quality

There is very impressive sound quality from the earfree-i3, it is more a V-Shaped sound but it a well balanced V-shaped especially via the hi-fi profile which provides some decent bass punch but with some nice complementary treble without every getting sibiliant. Obviously Rose Technics used all their expertise from their extensive IEM range to come up with an excellent tuning for this TWS.

In summary, as I mentioned above there are 3 sound profiles within the app, after a brief listen with my main audio test playlist, For my listening I preferred the hi-fi preset but those who like a little more bass may like the Pop and though who like a more ‘rich bass’ sound will definitely like the Rock preset.

Bass

The Earfree i3, depending on the preset used, the bass response will vary greatly. For me I mainly used the Hifi preset and this bass response was powerful without being overwhelming, providing a solid foundation for a wide range of music genres. Tracks like Xanny by Billie Ellish had an excellent bass quality which never overpowered the midrange.

Midrange

The midrange is mainly clear and detailed, allowing vocals and instruments to stand out distinctly. I did find that some female tracks the vocals were a little recessed, but this was rare and mostly pianos and vocal were excellent. Some of my midrange favourites like Elton John’s like “Sweet Painted Lady” sounded exceptional on the earfree-i3 with every note of the piano standing out with accurate tonal clarity.

Treble

High frequencies are crisp and articulate, adding a sense of airiness to the sound signature. The treble is well-balanced with the bass as I mentioned earlier, avoiding harshness while maintaining detail and brightness.

Soundstage and Imaging

One of the standout features of the Earfree i3 is its expansive soundstage. I believe the trade-off made with the tuning of the earfree-i3 in the midrange that I mentioned above was done to allow a greater sense of soundstage than you would normally get on a TWS set. Once of my favourite albums for Soundstage is Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours where you can clearly hear the different setup for each song where the band members stood in different locations.

The Imaging is also precise, allowing listeners to pinpoint the location of instruments and vocals within the soundscape.

Specifications and Measurements

Here are the basic specifications provided by Rose Technics: • Driver Unit: 10mm DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) Dynamics • Audio Formats Supported: LDAC, AAC, mSBC, SBC • Impedance: 32 Ω • Output Power: 15 mW • Frequency Response Range: 14 - 23,600 Hz • Bluetooth Version: 5.3 • Communication Range: Up to 10 meters • Battery Capacity: • Earbuds: 40 mAh • Charging Case: 500 mAh

Measurements

Note: All my measurements are taken with my 711 clone coupler and are available on my measurement DB: here

First lets look at the frequency responses of the 3 different EQ profiles provided within the Mobile Application compared to Harman:

As you can see they vary in amount of bass provided. For me the Hifi profile provides the best experience but I can definitely understand people liking more bass, especially since there is some extra treble the Rock profile may actually provide a better V-shaped balance between the bass and the treble.

Next comparing the Hifi profile with ANC enabled and disabled:

As you can see there a upper bass boost when ANC is enabled - I think this is to compensate for the ‘unreal’ sound you can get with ANC enabled.

Comparing the earfree-i3 with some other TWS sets: It obviously has a better response than the Airpods Pro and then compared to the 2 Moondrops ‘reference’ profiles you can see that the hifi profile on the earfree-i3 provides more bass and then matches this with some extra treble, hence why I called it a “balanced” V-shape earlier.

Finally, with the distorion values from the earfree-i3 show nothing to be concerned:

Rating

While it’s not perfect, but considering the impressive feature set, excellent sound quality, and affordable price, the Rose Technics Earfree i3 TWS earbuds earn a pragmatic 5 stars. I did find some minor problems mainly with the application and for me personally the ANC was only average, but for my wife it was excellent.

Conclusion

The Rose Technics Earfree i3 TWS earbuds offers exceptional value at their price point of $49.99. It doesn’t look like a cheap TWS and it certainly doesn’t sound like a cheap TWS. It has enough well implemented features including a reasonable good companion application that it is a very hard to beat at its price point.

For anyone looking to upgrade their audio experience with some quality comfortable ANC TWS without breaking the bank, the Earfree i3 is a highly recommended option.