Edifier W240TN review: Budget bangers

The mid-range audio market has been home to some of the best wireless earbuds worth your hard-earned money. In many situations, you can save some money, ditch the super expensive options, and get something that is similar in quality.

Edifier’s W240TN set their sights directly on being this kind of combo breaker and, as you can see from the review score, they do a damn good job at providing peak value for money.

A powerful dual dynamic driver system, up to 8.5 hours listening time on one charge, ANC, and more. This sounds like a spec list for buds that could easily cost twice as much, so what compromises are being made here? Read on and I’ll tell you.

Edifier W240TN availability and price

The Edifier W240TNs are available for $79.99 in the US and £79 in the UK. You can pick them up from Amazon in either white or black.

That matches up to two of the best pairs of mid-range earbuds: the Soundcore Life P3 and Creative Outlier Pro ANC.

Edifier W240TN design

Gearheads may look upon these rather fondly, as Edifier admits that the aesthetic of the W240TN earbuds is very much inspired by pistons in a car’s engine. But, while my description may make them sound rather masculine, the end result is quite an attractive, sleek design all round.

The smaller piston-esque construction means they fit snugly in ears of all sizes without a stem impeding entry — constructed of plastics that feel premium to the touch and give a durable sense of confidence. Alongside with this, the soft touch case has a nice, subtle angularity to its curvature that invites your thumbs to caress its edges if you’re a fidgety person (like me).

Speaking of the durability, IP55 water resistance means these will be able to hang with even the sweatiest of workouts, which the W240TNs can easily handle thanks to the staying power granted by the small dimensions and the multiple ear tip sizes in the box.

Going more granular, the case measures 2.3 x 1.7 x 1.1 inches with a weight of 1.4 ounces, whereas the buds themselves are 0.9 x 0.6 x 1 inches and an impressively lightweight 0.2 ounces. 

That makes them smaller than the Soundcore Life P3s (1.5 x 0.9 x 0.9 inches, 0.2 ounces) and the Creative Outlier Pro ANCs (1.0 x 0.8 x 1.0 inches, 0.2 ounces). When comparing the cases, the difference becomes far greater, with the P3 container coming in at 2.4 x 2.1 x 1.2 inches and weighing 1.4 ounces, whereas the weird prism shape of the Outlier Pros is a pocket-bulging 3.2 x 1.8 x 1.2 inches, 2.6 ounces.

While I could continue to admire the sleek, refined design and the tiny dimensions, that LED strip still gets me with every pair of Edifier earbuds I try. Unfortunately, you can’t customize it like you could on the NeoBuds S and while we all know it’s just a a gimmick, watching it pulse is damn cool.

Edifier W240TN controls and digital assistant

Edifier’s relationship with touch has been a rocky one to say the least — with every pair of buds I’ve tested from them, since the NeoBuds Pro, having pretty basic and (at times) unresponsive controls.

To combat this, the team has gone back to buttons — specifically that metallic surface is now one giant button. Interactions are limited to double or triple taps, or long presses on each button, which restricts just how many functions you can control without getting your phone out. 

But at least these are quick and responsive now, as that touch-based point of failure has been removed entirely. I had no problem using these with my iPhone 13 Pro, Nothing phone (1), and M1 MacBook Pro

Along with these controls, the built-in microphones are sensitive enough to pick up requests made to Siri and Google Assistant, but lengthier dictation can get lost when outside in loud environments.

Edifier W240TN active noise cancellation and ambient listening

With active noise cancellation becoming a trend in cheaper earbuds, we’re learning that it’s not just a feature you can add and call it a day. At first glance, Edifier had me worried — given there was only one ANC option (“on”). But, as it turns out, you don’t need different modes to give good noise isolation.

In real-world use, the W240TNs do a solid job of eliminating distractions, like my neighbor’s obsession with mowing the lawn or the sound of passing cars when the window is open. There are odd moments of noise leakage, especially in windy conditions like during a walk along the River Trent, but the noise cancellation is still great for the price. 

What really impressed me, though, was the Transparency Mode — a hiss-free implementation with no discernible lag and microphones sensitive enough that I could easily hear a conversation and discern each word being said from across the room.

Edifier W240TN audio quality

Edifier has created some amazing-sounding earbuds that make its more expensive competition sweat, so it should come as no surprise that the W240TN follow suit with a detailed soundstage — courtesy of the dual dynamic drivers in each bud.

The smaller 6mm acts almost like a tweeter by delivering the highs and aiding on the definition of mids, while the 10mm provides a nice warmth to most of the tunes I threw at them (emphasis on “most”).

For example, popular track mixes like Chance the Rapper’s “Do You Remember” are warmly welcomed by this driver structure with a calm and composed production that provides life to every level and room for Chance’s lyrics. However, once you hear some edge cases, like Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No.6,” the lower tones are discernible, but just not as strong as I’d like to provide a cushion of warmth to the soaring string section.

So for the vast majority of what you will listen to, these work great. For the moments where sub bass may pose a challenge, dip into the EQ and crank up those lows. But for the most part, there’s a lot to love here.

Edifier W240TN app

Edifier’s companion app design has been…interesting, to put it lightly. Sure, all of the features you need are readily available, but they are presented alongside an unnecessary amount of promo and marketing.

To the company’s credit, the free Edifier Connect app has been updated a little bit. The default screen is all your standard things like monitoring battery levels, an ANC/transparency mode switch, and a customizable EQ.

But the app is still dominated by efforts to drive you to its online store. That space could have been used for additional icons to access settings faster, but no. Why would I need to buy more earbuds after already getting these earbuds?

You will also find the Game mode, which improves latency slightly, though not enough to get rid of the delay between on-screen actions and their accompanying sound. As I always say, if you’re gaming, a wired headset will always be the best option for truly low audio latency, but these are an adequate replacement for casual gaming.

Edifier W240TN battery life

Edifier promises a seven-hour listening time with ANC turned on — extended by a further 14 hours in the charging case. These times can be extended by an additional 90 minutes and three hours respectively by turning ANC off, but let’s be honest, you’ll keep that feature on most of the time.

In real-world use, I hit these numbers comfortably, which means you get an extra hour of juice out of these than the Soundcore Life P3s, but three hours less than the Creative Outlier Pro ANCs.

There is no smart-wearing detection to prolong the battery life, but you get enough longevity for a full day of podcast listening while working.

Edifier W240TN call quality and connectivity

Using two microphones built into each earbud, the W240TNs fall down when it comes to call quality. Don’t get me wrong — most of the time, when you’re indoors or outside on quiet streets, you can be heard.

However, once you put them under a little pressure such as a slight breeze outdoors, the clanging of plates and mugs at a cafe, or casual conversation in the background, your voice is quickly overwhelmed. It’s clear this is the cut back Edifier has made to keep those costs down.

Meanwhile, the latest Bluetooth 5.3 ensures a stable connection up to a range of around 30 feet and the Edifier W240TN kept playing music when streaming through multiple walls between my bedroom and kitchen. Initial pairing is rapid and re-pairing is even quicker. I would have loved to see multipoint technology to pair these to two devices simultaneously. 

Bottom Line

The Edifier W240TNs go in hard for mid-range earbud supremacy and overall, they come damn close.

They sound, look, and feel good, and last a long time on one charge.Best of all, at a time of serious penny pinching, they offer amazing value for money.

Of course, they’re not perfect. Call quality is below average and the app is a little weird. However, when looking at the whole rather than the sum of its parts, these are easily forgivable in a fine pair of earbuds that don’t break the bank.