ROSESELSA EARFREE i5 makes up for the weakness of EARFREE i3 in noise cancelling (which is not good enough compared to TWS earbuds of the same price), and the tuning is also better. The battery life, functionality, workmanship and materials are also very sincere at a price below 60 dollars.
- $55 – Check latest price on AliExpress, Amazon US, Amazon Germany or other Amazon countries
Appearance Design & Comfort Fit
The Earfree i5 charging case is nothing special – it has a classic flat cylindrical design, and the body is made of aviation-grade aluminum alloy through four-axis CNC processing, grinding, and sandblasting – the touch is still very good. The pairing button and USB-C port are both at the bottom, and the button feel solid and the feedback is crisp.
EARFREE i5 earbuds use a long stem in-ear design, similar in shape to AirPods Pro 2 or TOZO T20. The earbud cavity is ergonomically designed, and the weight of a single earbud is 4.7g, so it can be worn for a long time without tired. The wearing stability and comfort are very good, and there is no problem of compressing the auricle.
There are three holes on the surface of the earbud cavity. The hole at the bottom of the earbud stem is used for the call microphone to receive sound; there is a microphone hole on the inside of the cavity, and there is another hole near the base of the catheter (with an integrated wear recognition sensor). The earbuds have no obvious air pressure balance problem, and the passive sound insulation performance is average among wireless earbuds of the same volume.
Connection & App Support
The earbuds use Bluetooth 5.3 protocol and support SBC, AAC and LDAC codec. When connecting for the first time, just select “EARFREE-i5” in the bluetooth device list of your phone to quickly connect. When you use it again, open the lid to automatically connect to the last successfully paired bluetooth device. Plus, EARFREE i5 supports multipoint connection and can connect mobile phone and computer at the same time.
EARFREE i5 supports ROSELINK APP for Android and iOS. The app provides noise control, preset EQ options, dual device connection switch, LDAC switch, game mode switch, touch control setting, firmware updates, and more.
Controls & Battery Life
All touch controls rely on the touch recognition sensor in the upper area of the earbud stem, which can recognize single, double, triple and long press. By default, long press on the left earbud activates the voice assistant, long press on the right earbud to switch the noise cancelling mode, single-tap is not set (null), double-tap is for playback control, and triple-tap is for switching tracks. The controls can be customized in the app.
The earbuds is equipped with a wear recognition sensor, which needs to be turned on in the app. Perhaps due to the location of the wear sensor, the action of taking off and putting on the earbud is not always accurately recognized. When the recognition is successful, the response speed is relatively fast.
The false touch rate of the operation is not high, and the default setting of single-tap is not defined, which can also reduce the impact of false touch to a certain extent. The volume of the voice prompt is moderate, and the operation feedback has a clear prompt sound.
The single battery life with ANC off is up to 10 hours, and the total battery life is up to 50 hours. The battery life with ANC on is up to 6 hours. The battery life will be further reduced when LDAC on.
Active Noise Cancelling & Calls & Gaming Mode
The maximum noise cancelling depth of Earfree i5 is 48dB, and the bandwidth is 4000Hz. It has four noise cancelling modes – Noise Cancelling, Wind Noise, Normal (ANC OFF), Transparency. After turning on the noise cancelling mode, the noise cancelling effect of the low-frequency band is still noticeable. The tire noise and lawn mower sound during commuting can be suppressed to a more comfortable level. The processing of some instantaneous high sound pressure noise needs to be strengthened.
After turning on the wind noise mode, Earfree i5 can indeed significantly suppress the wind noise coming from the front and side. Plus, the ear pressure is also very low, which you can think of as a combination of cozy noise cancelling and anti-wind noise.
In transparency mode, the volume of external ambient sound is not particularly loud. It can be perceived that the low frequency is still attenuated to a certain extent, and there is a little noise in the mid-high frequency. The overall naturalness is acceptable, and the usability during conversation is not very good. There is also some wind noise perception in this state.
When it comes to the calls, the earbuds are equipped with four microphones and support AI call noise cancelling. The clarity during the call is still good. The introduction of the noise cancelling algorithm in a noisy environment is also quite obvious, which will appropriately affect the coherence of the voice.
The EARFREE i5 also has a dedicated low-latency game mode you can activate from the Android and iPhone app, and does not conflict with LDAC. This helps to synchronize the sound effects with the action on your screen, and the latency as low as 54ms.
Acoustic Configuration & Sound Description
ROSESELSA EARFREE i5 is equipped with HR2 topology diaphragm dynamic driver. Coupled with Cadence HiFi 5 DSP decoding headphone amplifier module, it has good hardware support for sound performance. Supported codecs include SBC, AAC and LDAC.
The energy distribution of the tri-frequency is very reasonable, not all concentrated in one frequency band. The low-frequency quantity is moderate, and the thickness and fullness are not outstanding. The elasticity is not very perceptible, and the extension ability is good. The speed of retraction and release is moderate, and not much reverberation is retained. The low-frequency does not have a strong sense of energy, the striking area is large, and it sounds relatively smooth and diffuse.
The thickness and distance of the vocals are moderate, there is almost no sibilance, and it has strong adaptability. Both male and female voices can be performed well. The separation and density are excellent. The transparency of the vocals is quite satisfactory.
The high-frequency performance is very good. The high-frequency brightness is moderate, the details are rich and solid, and the extension is also based on comfort. The restoration of the instrument’s tone is very accurate. The extension of the ultra-high frequency is acceptable, and the roll-off is not too fast.
The soundstage is large, with a certain distance in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The separation between vocals and instruments is quite satisfactory, and the overall feeling is not affected. The resolution is excellent, and the dynamics and transients are also good.
On the ROSELINK APP, you can switch between four sound modes. Although there is no custom equalizer, the difference between the sound modes is perceptible.
Conclusion & Specs
Overall, the cost-performance of ROSESELSA EARFREE i5 is still high. It provides a good experience in terms of connection stability, sound quality, battery life and functionality. In particular, the sound quality is better than most wireless earbuds in the same price range.
ROSESELSA EARFREE i5 specs and features:
- Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC/AAC/LDAC codec
- IPX5 waterproof rating (rain and sweat resistant)
- 6 – 10 hours playback of per charge (ANC on/off)
- Charging case can charge earbuds fully 4 times
- Game mode & Multipoint connection & Wear detection
- $55 – Check latest price on AliExpress, Amazon US, Amazon Germany or other Amazon countries