Every now and then a set of very cheap earbuds from a lesser-known brand lands on top of the heavy-hitters in my inbox and makes me think: what if, though?
The AceFast T9 are one such product. At just $19 / £18 on certain portals (including AliExpress), they are cheaper than all of the best budget wireless earbuds we recommend. What if they’re actually as good as the press release claims they are, for less than the price of two large festive coffee creations and a cookie?
Well, it turns out they’re not bad at all…
$20 challenge
This is the latest in a regular series of articles in which we test really cheap gadgets to see if they’re worth even the small price you’ll pay for them. Read them all here.
AceFast (which was founded in 2020, so a relative newcomer to the audio world and electronics in general) actually urged me to take a look at the T8, rather than this set. Why? I’m told those earbuds offer “even better sound quality”. They also offered me the most recent AceFast AceFit Pro, aka the company’s first ever open-ear offering. But both of those options are slightly pricier and my curiosity was piqued by the Chinese company’s super-affordable option. I wanted to see what it could do in the sub-$20 market.
So, has AceFast become ace, fast? Actually, yes – and not just from a design perspective. Just look at what arrived…
I cannot impress upon you how premium the packaging, build quality and accessories feel, for this nominal outlay. You also get a decent quick-start guide, a total of four good-quality ear tip sizes, a nicely branded USB-A to USB-C cable and even a color coordinating rubberized cover for the case, with a generous lanyard supplied!
But the kicker for me is the visual battery indicator, which shines out from the opalescent case when you pluck either earbud out of its side. This, I’m told, is a patented display and I love it; there’s no discernible (or breakable) ‘screen’ to speak of, just solid casework that illuminates with information.
The buds sit flush with the case’s edges while charging or not in use, but slip the protective rubber cover over it and they’re well protected but still easy to access. Yes, because there’s no lid, there’s a possibility of debris from your pockets getting into the earbud recesses and battery connection points when you’re actually wearing the earbuds. But that’s why the company’s given you a lanyard, right?
Anyone who knows me knows that while sound is king in my world, I love a purple audio product. And this is one of the prettiest I’ve seen in some time.
Purple reign
And my praise doesn’t stop there! No sooner had I removed the protective film covering the buds’ stems, put them in the case and retrieved them again, they paired easily to my iPhone. And right off the bat, that beats around 40% of the competition at this level.
The battery indicator gives you a lovely quick (and accurate) visual guide to remaining juice, but with a 30-hour total or 6.5 hours from the buds alone before they need a charge, they’re more than up to scratch for stamina at the level.
The smallest ear tips allow me to fit the driver housings in my ear without issue (check my guide to the best earbuds for small ears if you know what I mean) and for me, call handling is good – callers all said I sounded clear over the dual-mic setup.
AceFast does mention ENC (environmental noise cancellation), but do not be misinformed: there is no tweakable active noise cancellation to select here and no app either. That said, passive noise isolation was good, allowing the 9.5mm drivers to do their good work without much extraneous noise at all.
On-ear touch controls are also supported and (joy!) they include the ability to single press either earbud to decrease (left) or increase (right) volume, which is a perk never usually seen at the level – and often not seen much farther up the food chain. All good blessings so far…
And the sound? Look, you have to take a hit here. If you’re paying these kinds of prices, you will make a compromise in terms of the detail, vivacity, dynamic nuance and bass clout you’ll hear compared to the options I usually test and recommend to you, dear reader. But that is a hugely unfair comparison when you note that the earbuds I regularly test cost 10 or 11 times the price of these likeable buds!
I will say this: the AceFast T9’s sound didn’t suffer for timing. In fact, all musical strands were held together rather nicely in a toe-tapping and cohesive mix. Yes, the overall performance was a little flat and lacking an extra ounce of detail through the leading edges of notes (you’re getting Bluetooth 5.3, but no higher-quality codec support, in case you wanted to know) but what of it? This is not wearying sound to listen to – and I definitely didn’t suffer any connectivity issues or ‘scratchy’ audio from one earpiece, as I might have feared.
My early verdict is that these earbuds will not disappoint you, if this is where your budget maxes out. This initial appraisal should not be taken as a full review (no stars at the top of this missive, and so on) but in my few days with them after a thorough run-in, I’m pleasantly surprised.
The AceFast T9 are made with pride, displayed with panache and for this money, the sound is more than passable. I’m not entirely sure of the availability in some regions (when I checked, US retailers were scarce), but I am very excited to see what the brand can achieve going forward.
