The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are satisfactory truly wireless in-ears for mixed usage. They have a fairly neutral sound profile, although some people might feel like they sound a bit warm due to their small excess of bass thump and lack of detail in their treble range. They isolate most noise well, except for bass sounds, so they won't help on buses, trains, or planes to block out engine sounds. They don't leak much noise, meaning they're good for an office environment. Like most Bluetooth in-ears, the microphone recording quality is poor. They have decent build quality for budget earbuds, but the case - especially the lid - feels flimsy and cheap. However, the case can hold up to 18 charges, according to the manufacturer, plus it has a USB-A output, so it serves as a power bank as well.
Our Verdict
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are satisfactory for mixed usage. The sound is fairly neutral but might lack too much detail for some. One of the upsides to these earbuds is the case, which holds up to 18 charges plus has a USB-A output so you can charge your phone with it, but the earbuds' battery life is poor. They're very portable, making them good for sports and fitness, and like most in-ears, they won't hold much heat in. Their microphone recording quality is poor, so we don't recommend them for phone calls, but they're good at isolating noise, meaning you can enjoy your music in most environments.
- Case holds up to 18 charges; can be used as a power bank.
- Decently well-balanced sound profile.
- Good passive noise isolation.
- Poor single charge battery life.
- Bad microphone.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are fair if you're looking for a neutral sound. Their sound profile is rather well-balanced, although there's a bit of extra thump and rumble in the bass. They also lack a bit of detail on higher frequencies. On the upside, they perform similarly every time you use them, and most people should be satisfied with them.
The Ylife True Wireless are good for commuting. They have good noise isolation but aren't good at reducing the deep rumble of a bus or a plane engine. Also, they only have about three hours of battery life, so you might have to charge them during a long flight, but they should be fine for your daily commute. On the upside, they're pretty comfortable for in-ears and are very easy to carry around with you.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are great for sports. They're small, fantastically portable, and have good stability, so if you don't like the bulkiness of headphones or the wires on other earbuds, these are a good fit. Like most in-ears, they don't trap heat.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are reasonable for office use. They'll isolate chatter around you, and they don't leak much, so your coworkers shouldn't hear your music either. However, their battery life isn't good, and you might need to charge them multiple times in a workday, depending on the use. However, they're comfortable to wear for long periods.
The Ylife ST-BE18 are truly wireless headphones, but their Bluetooth latency is too high for gaming.
The Ylife TWS Bluetooth are wireless-only headphones that you can't use for wired gaming.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are sub-par for phone calls. The microphone's recording quality is poor. Speech is hardly understandable, and they struggle to separate your voice from background noise.
Changelog
- Updated Feb 20, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Feb 13, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Feb 10, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Dec 17, 2019: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
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Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are decent for their price. The battery life isn't good in comparison to other wireless earbuds, but for what it lacks, it makes up with the case that can act as a power bank. Like most truly wireless earbuds, they're a good choice for sports with great portability, and they won't trap much heat.
See our other recommendations for the best true wireless earbuds, the best cheap wireless earbuds, the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds, and the best cheap earbuds.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are somewhat better than the Raycon E25 True Wireless, especially when it comes to sound quality. The Ylife is better for neutral sound. The Raycon earbuds have easier-to-use controls, which include volume control, and the battery life lasts longer on a single charge. The Ylife case holds up to 18 charges and has better noise isolation, so they're a bit better for commuting.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are slightly better than the JLab Audio JBuds Air Truly Wireless in terms of mixed usage. The JLab has controls that the Ylife doesn't have, including volume control. However, the Ylife has much better bass accuracy than the JLab and better overall sound quality. If you're looking for user-friendly controls and don't plan on listening to bass-heavy music, go for the JLab; otherwise, the Ylife are a better choice.
The SoundPeats TrueFree/True Wireless and the Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are two very similar budget true wireless earbuds. The SoundPeats have better build quality and are more stable in the ears. Both have similar battery life, but the SoundPeats have a standby mode, so they won't lose their charge as quickly if you forget to turn the power off. The Ylife's case has a USB-A output, so it can be used to charge your phone.
The EarFun Free Truly Wireless are slightly better than the Ylife True Wireless Earbuds. The EarFun perform better for neutral sound quality, and they're significantly better for treble accuracy. They also have better battery life, but the EarFun case doesn't hold as many charges as the Ylife's 18. The Ylife are also better for the office with significantly stronger noise isolation and have better leakage as well.
Test Results
The earbuds have a small design and feel light in the ear. Each piece has a physical button that glows up with blue and red lights and has a rubber finish, so you know where they're just by touch. The rest of the earbuds have a glossy finish.
The Ylife ST-BE18 are decently comfortable and come with three different tip sizes, so you can find which one is the best for your ears. They're small earbuds, and the buttons are easy to use and don't hurt too much when you press them. They're comfortable to use for long periods.
The controls are easy to use, although the buttons aren't very clicky. The feedback is great, with a voice prompt for track skipping and voice assistant. Also, you can play/pause your music with a single tap. Unfortunately, there are no volume controls, so if you're looking for those features plus the volume control, the JLab Audio JBuds Air Truly Wireless have significantly better controls.
As with most in-ear headphones, they have amazing breathability. Heat doesn't get trapped in the ear, making them good to use for sports.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds are very small. The earbuds can be carried anywhere and fit wherever you need to keep them, like in your pockets or bag.
The case is decent for wireless earbuds. While its large battery makes the case bigger and heavier than most of its competitor's cases, it's still small enough that you should be able to easily slide it into your pocket. The trade-off is that you can use the case as a power bank with a USB-A output, meaning you can charge your phone with it. The lid feels flimsy; it's a bit loose yet hard to open and is a fingerprint magnet. However, the case still feels solid with the sturdy battery at the bottom.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds have a decent build, made out of solid plastic. They're also rated IPX5 for water resistance. Unfortunately, the disappointing case brings the build quality down. Also, the case on our unit has a crooked USB port, but it's still able to charge a phone.
The Ylife True Wireless Earbuds' stability is good. It comes with different sizes of tips, but they lack stability fins. These should be fine if you plan on running but may not be suitable for more intense workouts.
They have a fairly neutral sound profile but have a bit extra of bass without sounding too boomy. There's also a small dip in the mid-range, which can make vocals a bit nudged to the back of the mix.
The Ylife's frequency response consistency is outstanding. Once you achieve a proper seal, they should perform similarly every time.
These headphones have great bass accuracy. It's well-balanced, although it's a bit over our target curve, giving them a bit of extra thump and punch.
The mid accuracy is great. There's only a small dip in the mid-mid range, which might make vocals a bit more distant and pushed to the back of the mix, but most people won't notice this.
They have fair treble accuracy. There's a rather large dip in the range, which will negatively affect the brightness and detail of sibilants.
The peaks and dips performance is decent. These are rather well-balanced headphones, but there's a dip in the mid-range that will affect vocals a bit. There's also a noticeable lack of detail in the treble range.
They have remarkable stereo imaging. The group delay is well below the audibility threshold and should result in tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. Our unit's drivers are very well-matched, but these results are only valid for ours, and yours may be different.
Like most in-ears, the Ylife True Wireless Earbuds can't produce a proper soundstage, as they don't interact with the pinna by design, which is essential for creating a spacious, out-of-head experience.
These headphones don't have virtual soundstage support.
The weighted harmonic distortion is good. It's within good limits throughout the range, with a slight rise in treble, but this won't be noticeable.
The results are only valid for these test settings.
The earbuds have good noise isolation. These would be good in an office environment with their strong ability to block ambient chatter and the noise coming from an AC unit. However, they might still struggle a bit at blocking deeper noises like the engine of a bus or plane.
Like most in-ears, these headphones barely leak any noise. You should be able to play your music at a fairly high volume without bothering those around you.
These headphones have an integrated microphone, so you can't see it.
The recording quality is poor. Speech is barely comprehensible and sounds very muffled and without any detail.
The microphone's noise handling is just mediocre. It struggles to separate background noise from your voice and won't be suitable for moderately loud environments.
While the single charge battery life is quite disappointing, Ylife claims the case can hold up to 18 additional charges. They have a playtime of just over three hours, which is quite lower than the advertised five hours. If you're looking for comparable earbuds with better battery life, the Raycon E25 True Wireless are a good alternative.
There's no dedicated mobile app for these earbuds.
The Bluetooth connectivity is acceptable, but unfortunately, they have minimal range. However, the latency on PC, iOS, and Android performs well, and some people might not notice any delay when watching video content on some apps.
The earbuds can only connect via Bluetooth.
There's no wired connection, but they do come with a micro-USB cable for charging.
These Bluetooth-only headphones aren't compatible with PS4. While they can connect to any Bluetooth-enabled PC, their latency is likely be too high for competitive gaming.
