Klipsch T5 II True Wireless ANC Headphones Review

The Klipsch T5 II ANC look similar to the Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport with round casings and a silver manufacturer's logo on each earbud. However, they also have a somewhat bulky design and stick out of your ears a bit. They come in three different colors: 'Gun Metal', 'Copper', and 'Silver'. You can also purchase them in a 'McLaren Edition' variant, which uses a black and orange color scheme.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC have a fairly comfortable fit. They come in six different sizes of silicone ear tips and don't put too much pressure on your ears. However, they have a very deep fit, which some users may not like. Using the controls can also put a bit of pressure on your ears.

The Klipsch T5 II True Wireless ANC have great controls. There are voice prompts when turning them on or off, when pairing, and when using transparency mode. There are also beeps to let you know how many clicks were registered. However, there are a lot of different commands to remember, and the buttons feel mushy and flimsy. That said, these earbuds also have built-in Bragi Moves, which is a feature that allows you to register commands using head movements. While we didn't test this feature out, you can access it via the companion app.

On either bud:

• One-second press: Turns the headphones on.
• One click and one-second press: Turns the headphones off.
• Three-second hold: Puts the headphones in pairing mode.

On the left earbud:

• One click: Cycles between transparency mode on, off, and ANC.
• Two clicks: Raises the volume when there's audio playing.
• Three clicks: Lowers the volume when there's audio playing.

On the right earbud:

• One click: Play or pause audio and answer calls. During calls, this command mutes the mic.
• Two clicks: Fast forward through audio.
• Three clicks: Rewind track through audio.
• One-second hold: Activates voice assistant. During a call, this command ends the call.

You can also use one earbud at a time but the controls are more limited:

• One click: Plays or pauses audio and answers calls. If you're in a call, this command also mutes your mic.
• Two clicks: Activates voice assistant or ends calls.

These headphones have a very breathable fit. They don't really trap heat in or around your ear. You shouldn't sweat more than usual while wearing them, even if you're doing moderate physical activity.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC are outstandingly portable. Their truly wireless design makes them very small, and they can easily fit in most pockets without an issue. Their carrying case should fit into most pockets or bags.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC's carrying case is great. It's a bit heavy as it has a metal casing but is similar in design to the Klipsch T5 True Wireless. There are three LED lights to indicate battery life. The silicone bottom is meant to help the case stand upright as it can only wirelessly charge when oriented in this position.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC have a good build quality. The buds are mostly made of plastic, while the carrying case has a metal casing, making them look sleek and durable. They should survive accidental drops without too much of an issue. The buds are also rated IPX4 for water resistance, although we don't currently test for this. However, the buttons on the earbuds feel a bit flimsy.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC have decent stability. They aren't the most stable, especially as they have a weird in-ear fit and lack stability fins to help keep them in your ears. However, once you get a good seal, they should stay in your ears during more casual listening sessions. If you're looking for more stable Klipsch earbuds, consider the Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport instead.

• Klipsch T5 II ANC headphones
• 6x silicone ear tips
• Charging case
• USB-C to USB-C charging cable
• USB-C to USB-A adapter
• Manuals

The Klipsch T5 II ANC have a bass-heavy sound profile that delivers extra boom to your mixes, which should please fans of EDM and hip-hop. If you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers a graphic EQ so that you can adjust their sound to your liking.

Note: Our model's left and right driver are mismatched in the bass range. However, this may be unique to our model.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC have good frequency response consistency. They're prone to inconsistencies in bass delivery, and you may notice deviations if you don't form a good seal. On the upside, their treble delivery is much more consistent.

The bass accuracy is good. It's overemphasized across the range, resulting in extra thump, rumble, and boom in your mixes. However, some users may find they sound very muddy.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC's mid accuracy is great. There's a bit of overemphasis from the bass range that extends into the low-mid, resulting in a slightly cluttered sound. A dip in the mid-mid nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix. That said, the high-mid is very flat and neutral, so vocals and lead instruments are clear and detailed.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC's treble accuracy is good. The low-treble is slightly overemphasized, brightening vocals and lead instruments. A dip in the mid-treble dulls sibilants like S and T sounds, though.

The peaks and dips performance is good. There's a bit of a discrepancy between the left and right driver in the bass range, so there's a peak in the left driver's low-bass, adding thump and rumble. In contrast, a dip in the right driver's low-bass results in weak thump and rumble. A peak in the high-bass also adds a bit of boom to your mixes. In the mid-mid, a dip nudges vocals and lead instruments to the back of the mix while a couple of peaks in the low-treble brighten their upper harmonics, which could sound a bit harsh. A dip in the mid-treble also dulls sibilants like cymbals.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC's imaging performance is excellent. Their group delay falls below the audibility threshold, resulting in tight bass and transparent treble. While the L/R drivers are well-matched in amplitude, there's some mismatch present in phase and frequency response, which can affect the placement of objects like footsteps in the stereo image. It can also be noticeable when listening to regular audio content. However, these results are only valid for our unit, and your experience may vary.

Note: These headphones also support Dirac HD Sound technology. It's advertised to enhance their frequency response, which can improve their imaging performance. You can see a comparison of the imaging performance when this feature is on and off here.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC's passive soundstage is bad, which is to be expected from in-ear headphones. By design, sound doesn't interact with your outer ear at all, which is one of the key factors in creating a wide passive soundstage. As a result, audio is perceived as coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC support Dirac HD sound technology, which is advertised as an audio enhancement feature that optimizes the headphones' sound profile by correcting impulse and magnitude frequency response. It's also advertised to improve audio staging, clarity, bass fidelity, and speech intelligibility. You can see the difference in performance between Dirac HD Sound on and off here. However, we don't consider this to be a virtual surround feature.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC's weighted harmonic distortion performance is very good. All frequencies fall within good limits at both moderate and high volumes, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Klipsch T5 II ANC. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC have a disappointing noise isolation performance. Unfortunately, the active noise cancelling (ANC) system doesn't offer a significantly better noise isolation performance than the earbuds' passive isolation capabilities. As a result, they struggle to block out the low rumble of bus and plane engines, which can be annoying if you commute a lot. On the upside, they do a better job of reducing ambient chatter as well as the high-pitched hum of an AC unit.

These headphones have an excellent leakage performance. The leakage is mostly concentrated in the treble range, but it sounds very thin. If you like to listen to your audio at high volumes, it shouldn't be too audible to those around you.

The recording quality of the Klipsch T5 II ANC's integrated microphone is acceptable. Your voice is understandable, but it sounds thin, muffled, and lacking in detail.

The microphone's recording quality is passable. The mic struggles to separate your voice from moderate ambient noise around you. If you're taking a call from a noisy place like a busy street, your voice may get lost.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC have a fair battery performance. They're advertised to last five hours continuously with the ANC on, and we measured just a little less than that. Their carrying case also holds roughly three additional charges if you need it, and you can use one bud while the other one charges. That said, battery life can vary depending on usage, so your real-life experience may vary.

Note: These headphones are equipped with an auto-off timer. However, the manual doesn't specify how long it takes for the headphones to turn off. During our tests, we noticed that they would disconnect and turn off if the headphones hadn't been moved for one to two hours. However, you shouldn't experience this issue as long as you have them in your ears during this time.

The Klipsch Connect app is great. It offers a six-band graphic EQ as well as presets so that you can adjust their sound to your liking, turn on or off transparency mode and ANC, remap controls, and view each bud's battery life. You can also name the earbuds, turn on or off Dirac HD, and update the app's firmware.

The Klipsch T5 II True Wireless ANC also have built-in Bragi Moves, which allows you to control certain aspects of the earbuds with head movements. The app allows you to turn on and off gestures like head nodding three times to accept a call in the 'Interaction' tab.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC have okay Bluetooth connectivity. Unfortunately, they don't support multi-device or NFC pairing. They also have high latency on PC, iOS, and Android devices, which may be a bit annoying if you like to stream video. However, some apps and devices compensate for latency differently, so your real-world experience may vary.

These headphones come with a USB-C to USB-C cable for charging their carrying case, as well as a USB-A adapter. However, you can't use these headphones wired.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC are truly wireless headphones that you can only use with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. They can't connect to PCs in any other way.

The Klipsch T5 II ANC come with a carrying case that holds roughly three additional charges. It only has a USB-C port to charge the case.

The case also supports wireless charging. However, it needs to be placed upright on its silicone base in order to properly work.