“Tranya joins the budget leaders producing surprisingly good earbuds at bargain-basement prices.”
- Great sound quality, especially in highs
- Outstanding call quality
- Wireless charging
- Great battery life
- Cheap-feeling, slippery plastic
- Bulky design
- Poor-fitting eartips
Tranya is one of those companies that has practically no brand recognition but is producing a bunch of affordable audio products. You know, one of those Amazon-based companies that clearly use stock images with their earbuds Photoshopped into models’ ears? But can you blame a company for being budget-conscious when they’re making full-featured products for under $100?
I don’t, especially if you are getting a ton of value for the money. So, do the Tranya T10s deliver?
What’s in the box?
Tranya’s packaging is simple, yet elegant. It’s a nice package for what are considered budget earbuds. The all-cardboard box (except for the plastic film that seals it closed) holds an instruction manual, a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, two additional eartips, and the buds themselves nestled in an extruded plastic tub.
That plastic tub is glued to the cardboard, so the average consumer isn’t going to go out of their way to separate them, and since the plastic is almost certainly not recyclable, this packaging is overall not particularly sustainable.
The instruction manual included with the buds is information rich, which was a nice surprise. I’ve seen quite a few instruction manuals lately that at first seem hefty and full of info until you open them only to realize they just have the same baseline warnings and warranty information written in 50 languages. This one has both written and pictorial explanations of all the buds’ features and how to use them. It made getting up and running with the T10s fast and easy.
Some downsides? The charging cable is comically short. At this point it’s likely you have a longer cable sitting around the house somewhere, but if you’re forced to use this one, I’m sorry but it’s going to be unpleasant. Also, Tranya only includes two additional eartip sizes, which is below average (more on that below).
Build Quality
Continuing on from the short cable and lack of eartips, the overall build quality of the Tranya T10 are the earbuds’ weakest point. The case feels light and flimsy despite offering a solid level of battery life (more on that later). It and the buds themselves are made with a light, glossy plastic that just feels really cheap.
That’s not to say they are cheap or flimsy, they just feel that way. I’m sure they are just as sturdy as any earbud. They’re going to break if you step on them or throw them against a wall, but in everyday use I don’t think they’ll be particularly susceptible to damage.
The buds are slippery to the touch thanks to their glossy plastic. If you take a moment and look at the buds, you’ll see a line where two pieces of plastic were molded together. It’s such little things that lead to an overall feeling of general displeasure with the build.
Look and Comfort
As mentioned, the inclusion of only two additional ear-tips is below average and makes it challenging to find a comfortable fit with the T10s. I have particularly small ear canals, so even the small size was too big for me to get a firm yet comfortable fit. Your mileage will vary, but we would have preferred to see more sizes included here.
Overall they qualify as “fine” as far as comfort goes. I never had that moment where I forgot I was wearing them – I was always acutely aware I had buds in – but I did manage to get past the light discomfort of having eartips slightly too large for my ears and just enjoy the music for a couple hours. I eventually tired of them, my ear canals too fatigued to wear them longer, but again this might be different for you.
The buds are very lightweight, which means that even though they have the Frankenstein monster’s neck-bolt design, they don’t feel like they’re going to dip out of my ears. I will say that they aren’t the most attractive buds, though. They get the job done, but the Soundpeats Truengine SE might be a better choice if you’re going for a budget pair of buds that don’t draw too much attention.
Features
The Tranya T10 aren’t light on features, especially for the price, and include wireless charging, aptX compatibility, IPX7 weatherproofing, and touch controls. The buds can be charged via USB-C but are also compatible with wireless charging, a feature we don’t see even in buds several times more expensive. The case has four LEDs on the front that indicate its level of charge, which is a helpful visual.
If your phone supports it (sorry iPhone users), the T10s are compatible with aptX, which means higher quality audio streams, especially from sources like Tidal. I’ll get into what this means for quality below, but it’s great to see that support in affordable buds like these.
The Tranya T10 aren’t light on features especially for the price, and include wireless charging, aptX compatibility, IPX7 weatherproofing, and touch controls.
These buds are sealed to the IPX7 specification, which means they have some protection from water, but not from dust. That isn’t to say you should run these under the sink, though a light dip in water in no deeper than 1 meter (3.3 feet) for no more than 30 minutes should be OK. In that aforementioned user manual, they show the buds being used while swimming, and I don’t recommend this.
Not only will you have a heck of a time keeping them in your ear while water is rushing past them since they have no over-ear hooks, or even little wings to keep them in place, IPX7 only protects an item from being submerged and the pressure of water rushing against them will likely lead to them giving out faster than if they were just sitting in water.
The touch controls have what Tranya calls accidental press protection, meaning that none of the controls can be activated with a single quick touch. Play/Pause is a single tap, skipping songs is a triple tap, and changing volume is a double tap. If it were up to me, I would have swapped those last two and made volume a triple tap and skip a double tap. Not super intuitive, but you can learn them easy enough.
Audio Quality
I have to say, the Tranya T10 make up for their lackluster build quality with what I can only describe as great sound quality. These little buds sound fantastic when connected to an aptX compatible device (like an Android phone).
You’re not going to get teeth-rattling bass with these, but it’s strong, and good enough to satisfy those shopping around the sub-$100 market.
Using the AAC codec you get with an iPhone results in “good enough” audio quality. The mids and highs are there, with vocals especially sounding crystal clear. The lows are present, but not strongly, nor with any detail. In many songs they can sound hollow and unbalanced, leading to a slightly less enjoyable rendition of your favorite song. Still good, but you’ve heard better.
My jaw dropped…I was hit with rich, relatively balanced, warm music with a surprising soundstage
But switch to a device that can take advantage of the Qualcomm chip in these buds and get ready to be surprised. They are remarkably balanced for the price. My jaw actually dropped when I swapped over to my Android phone as I was hit with rich, relatively balanced, warm music with a surprising soundstage. It’s not going to compete with buds like the Jabra Elite 75t or the Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro, but those buds are twice the cost and more of the Tranya T10, and for the money these are punching way above their weight class.
The acoustic version of Somebody by Dagny showed off the T10’s excellent vocal reproduction, with the mids and highs beautifully rendered. When the piano comes in, those lows join the party, bringing a well-rounded experience. I was shocked by how strong the bass line was coming through in You! by Lany. It had considerable reverb and put a big smile on my face. Other tracks with strong, underlying lows were equally impressive.
That said, the more nuanced bass in No Time for Caution by Hans Zimmer is decently projected, but a bit muddier than I would like it to be. The T10s struggle when tasked with reproducing detail in those lows. Still, the sound quality produced for $70 is strikingly good.
Battery Life
The Tranya T10 are rated for 8 hours per charge with an additional three charges in the case, and I can confirm getting that in my testing. Without an app, it’s tough to get a specific reading on how much life is left in either your buds or your case (though you do get LED indicators on the case), but you should get a ton of life out of these between charges. I’ve certainly had no problems keeping these going all day.
The T10s also support a quick charge feature. 10 minutes in the case will net you an hour of playtime. It’s not anywhere near the best, but at least it’s there.
Call Quality
Tranya markets the T10 as having “crystal clear calls” on the box, and I’m always dubious of this claim, especially in earbuds.
Color me surprised yet again, as these buds have some of the best voice quality of any personal audio device I’ve tested at any price point. I usually call my mom, who is very sensitive to sounds, and have her give me her opinion. She said she could only recommend two other devices I’ve used as making me sound better: the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live and the Montblanc MB01 headphones. One of those is $170, the other is $595. She liked the call quality of the Tranya T10 so much she had me buy my dad a pair.
These buds have some of the best voice quality of any personal audio device I’ve tested at any price point
That’s as glowing of a review of call quality as I can imagine, and on my end voices sound super clear as well. I had no issue carrying on long conversations with these buds, and my only wish was to have a passthrough mode to allow me to hear my own voice a bit better. The noise isolation is pretty good with these — not the best, as the Liberty 2 Pro are currently my top pick for pure noise isolation, but still good — so it can be annoying to hear the nasal sound of my voice coming from inside my head.
If you can get past that, though, you’ll love these for making calls (and so will those you’re talking to).
Our Take
For $70, there is a lot of value in the Tranya T10 earbuds. They do the one thing earbuds should excel at — presenting excellent sound – but also come with a bunch of added bonus features that make them compelling. I’m not big on the build quality, design, or physical customization options, but when you’re making buds this cheap, you have to cut costs somewhere.
Here is the thing though: Their regular price puts them up against the excellent Soundcore SpiritX buds, and there I lean towards the SpiritX. But we’ve seen the Tranya T10s drop as low as $37 on Amazon with two active sales working in unison, which makes them one of the leaders in features and sound quality at that price. If you see these on sale, they’re absolutely worth snagging.
Are there better alternatives?
The Soundcore Spirit X2 are going to be the better buds for workouts and sound quality, though at $80, they are slightly more expensive when the T10s are at full price. For $40, the Soundpeats Truengine SE bring in better design and good sound quality, but lack the Tranya T10’s wireless charging and call quality. For even less, the JLab Go Air may not sound as good but they’re better for workouts and cost just $30.
When the Tranya are discounted down below $40, though, it’s going to be hard to beat what they offer.
How long will they last?
Tranya offers a one-year limited warranty (that can be extended to 15 months if you register the earbuds within two weeks of receipt) and a 30-day “any reason” money-back guarantee. Though I’m not a big fan of the build quality, they are going to be fine for everyday use for at least a couple years. Lithium batteries do get worse over time though, so expect battery life to start to suffer as these get older.
Should you buy them?
Yes, especially if you can nab them at a discount. The Tranya T10 are worth the full $70 thanks to great sound, outstanding call quality, and a lot of bonus features, but being able to nab them at nearly half off makes them a no-brainer.
