Tronsmart Apollo Air+ review

Tronsmart stuffed the Apollo Air+ earbuds with so many solid performing features I forgot they cost just $49. For under $50, you get powerfully thumpy 10-millimeter drivers that deliver a quality audio experience and equally great ANC. And thanks to its wireless charging case, 20 hours of playtime. Rated at IP45 dust and water-resistant, they can handle the sweat from your workout and day-to-day travels. Because of all of these things, the Apollo Air+ earned a spot on our best cheap wireless earbuds page. Let's take these earbuds for a jaunt around New York City and find out why.

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ pricing and availability

The Tronsmart Apollo Air+ cost $49, which makes them a great option for anyone in the market for noise-canceling earbuds on a tight budget. Other options include the $79 One Plus Buds Z2 and the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2’s, which offer excellent sound quality and battery life for $50.

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ design

Available in either glossy white or glossy black, the earbuds feature the gray Tronsmart logo on the back of the driver housing. It’s not the most stylish presentation, and the shiny finish on the plastic makes them look cheap. It’s a shame because it belies the actual sound quality. It reminds me of one of the first hoopties that I drove around thinking I looked cool despite its different colored doors, dents, and a booming audio system.

The earbud's silicone tips slide easily into your ear and are very comfortable. When you open the box, you’re given four additional silicon tip size options so you can find the fit that works best for you. Overall, I found the stem-styled Apollo Air+’s fairly comfortable and wearing them for several hours never bothered me. I recommend finding the fit that works best for you so that you don’t have to worry about them popping out. Sure, they only cost $49, but there’s no worse feeling than losing a bud.  

The charging case is small, oblong and powder-coated black with the Tronsmart logo spelled across the top. The curved edges give it a nice look but, when you open it, the hinge has zero resistance. It flies open and feels poorly made. I dropped them from two feet and the earbuds flew across my apartment floor like they were trying to run away from the case. On the front, there is a charging indicator light that reads red when charging and blue when fully charged.

On the back, we find the USB-C charging port, but you can also charge it wirelessly. 

Rated at IP45, the Apollo Air+ is water and sweat resistant meaning you don’t have to worry if you’re running around and get sweaty. 

The Apollo Air+ are 3.36 x 1.26 x 1.46 inches and weigh 1.52 ounces. They are close in size to the other members of this comparison group, the One Plus Buds Z2 (1.29 x 0.88 x 0.85 inches, weight 0.16 ounces) and the Liberty Air 2’s (1.97 x 2.2 x 0.98 inches, weight 2.03 ounces).

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ comfort

I have malformed monster ears which make finding proper fitting earbuds challenging. Thankfully, the Tronsmart Apollo Air+’s come with five different pairs of silicon tips and it only took two tries to find the right fit for me. The silicon is soft and gently sits within your ears. The buds themselves are lightweight and stayed firmly in my ears during my vigorous jog around the park.

I wore the Apollo’s for over five hours accidentally and didn’t get that ache you sometimes can get with buds. However, my maximum comfort level with earbuds of every kind is six and a half hours, which is what I comfortably reached, and then removed them from my ears so I could charge them.

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ setup

Setting up the Apollo Air+ was painless. Once fully charged, I popped them out of their case and my iPhone recognized them and connected. I was listening to music in under a minute. You can also download the Tronsmart app and set them up that way, but I love things that just work and don’t require me to push a special button or have to download an app.

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ controls 

The Tronsmart Apollo Air+ are extremely easy to control with simple taps. Two taps pause music or answer calls. Two taps will end calls and return to playing your music. Three taps control the audio modes switching between normal, ANC, or ambient. If you tap and hold for two seconds it will skip to the next song. If you remove one earbud, it will pause your music and once you put it back in your ear the music returns.

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ app

Tronsmart’s free app is available on both iOS and Android but, is a little rudimentary and that’s fine. The user interface is clean and easy to use. Within the app you can choose from the different audio modes (ambient, ANC off, ANC On), select from one of the eight different equalizer presets to customize the tap controls. However, I do wish they had a manual option that would give users more control over the already excellent audio experience.  

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ active noise canceling

The active noise cancellation on the Apollo Air+ buds, powered by the Qualcomm QCC3046 chip, worked beautifully. It offered up some of the best noise cancellation I’ve experienced in a pair of sub-$100 earbuds. Unlike some of the competition, they didn’t ever overreach, or make my calls sound choppy, which is appreciated. Typically, I have a habit of turning ANC off because I feel most effect the quality of the audio experience but, with the Air+’s I never felt the need to do so. 

ANC mode on the Apollo Air+ can cancel up to 35 decibels of surrounding noise. I found it was very effective in blocking out the rush hour traffic noise in my neighborhood as I walked around debating whether Goku could beat Superman in a fight. I also found that ambient mode worked very well, allowing me to walk around safely. It lets me hear the right amount of background noise so that I stayed aware of my surroundings.

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ audio quality

The 10-millimeter drivers in the Apollo Air produce thunderous bass with excellent mid-range performance and wonderful treble. I recently reviewed a pair of thumpy One Plus Pro Buds that I thoroughly enjoyed but, these Apollo Air produced low-end on another level. The Bass gods were very happy as I listened to Nice & Smooth’s “Hip Hop Junkies” and when that bassline hit, I wopped myself down the street.

I moved on to Lenny Kravitz's “American Woman”, his powerful vocals were crisp, clear and the guitar was sultry and sexy. I never experienced any distortion no matter how loud I was blasting the music. By the way, I do not believe in playing music low, it’s against my religion.

I closed out my public dance party strolling by the park listening to Doja Cat’s “Need To Know”. She said “yeah,” and that thumpy bassline kicked in and “ Baby I need to know whooo.” Well, the Tronsmart Apollo Air+ let me know, yeah this is my genre buddy, now street dance big man and scare the neighbors, which I did. For under $50, these Apollo Air+ produce a fun, pumping audio experience that will have you dancing.

When comparing the Tronsmart Apollo Air+ to the One Plus Pro Buds, I found them to be on equal footing in every area, with both sets of buds producing excellent results during calls and when playing music. The one exception is that although the One Plus Pros produce thumpy bass, the Apollo Air+ j produces lows and thunderous bass on a whole other level. It’s like the difference between actually being inside the club vs waiting in line and every time someone opens the door you get hit with bass you’re missing out on.

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ battery and Bluetooth

I averaged a little over six hours of continuous use on one charge and got four charges out of the wireless charging case for a total of 24 hours. I got more than Tronsmart’s estimated 20 hours of use with the Tronsamart Apollo Air+ during mixed-use and charging. I preferred to charge the case up via my wireless charging pad. However, they do come with a USB-Type C charging cable. I didn’t notice any time difference in reaching a full charge with either method. 

The Apollo Air use Bluetooth 5.2. The earbuds never dropped the connection over short distances, which I’ve dealt with other earbuds. I could walk away from my phone or tablet and only lost connection when I was over 25 feet away, which allowed me to roam around my apartment while listening to music and taking calls.  

Tronsmart Apollo Air+ call quality

During calls, the Apollo Air+ provided standout performance, with my daughter reporting not hearing any of the background noise she’s used to when I am walking around my neighborhood during rush hour. The other thing I did, which I normally never do, is make a call-in radio appearance. When I listened to the audio playback, I have to say you couldn’t tell I was using a pair of earbuds and walking around Brooklyn.  

Bottom line

For just $49, the Tronsmart Apollo Air+ are hard to beat as they produce a thumpy high-quality listening experience, excellent ANC, and good battery life. Plus, you get wireless charging, clear calls, and easy-to-use tap controls. However, there are quite a few compromises made in the name of cost. The case hinge feels flimsy and if you drop it, the buds will pop out and skitter across the floor.  I wish you could manually adjust the EQ, but, nothing is perfect in life. However, for the price, these are an excellent pair of everyday earbuds that won’t let you down.