TOZO Golden X1 Review

TOZO Golden X1 Review – On Par With The Big Boys

Tozo’s latest flagship the Golden X1 TWS brings a standard in-ear design. They are made from plastic and feature a matte texture with gold elements for the Tozo logo. Each bud weighs just over 5 grams while the charging case comes in at 43 grams.

The pill-shaped charging case opens up to reveal an LED status bar with battery indicators for the case and each earbud as well as a pairing button. There’s a second color LED indicator for the case battery at the opening of the lid and a USB-C port at the back for charging. The case lid mechanism is firm enough though it got a tad looser after a week’s use. There are no worries it will open on its own as it’s held in place with strong magnets.

The retail packaging is a step up from most competitors with a well-crafted box that opens up from the side with a magnetic flap. The insides house the buds, their case, a USB-C cable as well as a total of six silicone tips in sizes ranging from XS to XXL which should be good enough for just about any ear shape and size.

I found the Tozo Golden X1’s lightweight and ergonomic design quite comfortable even with prolonged usage. The large array of ear tips help with the right fit and I’m happy to report the buds stayed in place even during active gym sessions and the occasional jog.

Tozo is betting big on features with the Golden X1 and you’ll find all the essential hallmarks for a premium pair of wireless earbuds here. Golden X1 features hybrid drivers setup with 12mm carbon nanotube diaphragm dynamic drivers and balanced armature drivers by Knowles. This sort of setup is not something you’d expect from a pair of buds in this price range from an up-and-coming brand and it’s certainly a key selling point here.

The buds cover a wide 12Hz to 44.1KHz frequency range which is an impressive feat that even most of the flagship earbuds from established audio brands fail to offer. Pairing happens over Bluetooth 5.3 and you get support for the AAC, SBC, and LDAC codecs. The audio equalizer can be tweaked inside the Tozo companion app available for Android and iOS devices.

I enjoyed the neat layout of the Tozo companion app. The menus were well organized and you can reach the ANC, EQ, and touch control settings with a few taps. Tozo also provides an ear test dubbed “Earprint” which sends out a series of low, mid, and high-frequency sounds to your ears to determine your hearing curve. At the end of the hearing test, you get a detailed hearing curve which shows where the Tozo app has applied an AI algorithm compensation for the sound ranges where your hearing is not as sharp.

Tozo’s Acoustic Labs added a total of 16 EQ presets including varying bass and treble modes as well as music genre-specific ones to suit your listening preference. On top of the EQ modes, you’re also free to tweak the EQ to your liking and save your own preset.

Golden X1 also comes with active noise cancelation (ANC) which is advertised to drown out up to 42dB of noise around you. On top of the EQ customization, you also get 6 noise reduction modes with varying noise cancelation strength ranging from transparency mode to wind noise reduction and even a custom pattern mode that lets you crank how much noise you want to reduce. The buds also feature an environmental call noise cancelation feature.

Tozo went with good old touch controls located on the Golden X1 which you can re-map inside the companion app. There’s even volume control which utilizes long presses on the left and right sides of the buds.

Tozo Golden X1 offers good ANC provided you have the right ear tips on the buds. Once you enable ANC you immediately notice lower-frequency sounds disappear and these buds even do a great job of drowning out unwanted noise in busier environments.

The touch controls worked well in mytesting with occasional misses on double tap gestures as our only complaint. I was surprised to find that the Golden X1 lacks wear-detection sensors for automatically playing and pausing media which is now a common feature even on entry-level earbuds

Connection strength proved reliable. The multi-point pairing feature worked well though you can expect some initial latency when switching between a laptop and a phone for example.

Golden X1 worked well enough during calls managing to pick up my voice well in quieter environments but had a tougher time outdoors with winds and heavy car traffic. The latter two aspects are well-known weak points for most earbuds.

Tozo Golden X1 is supposed to last up to 8 hours on a single charge with SBS and AAC codecs with ANC off based on Tozo’s claims and the charging case should extend the total playback time to 32 hours.

I managed 7 hours of usage on a single charge with ANC off and up to four complete recharges with the charging case. Using ANC and streaming over LDAC brought the buds’ endurance down to 4 hours. A full charge of the buds and their case via USB-C takes 2 hours.

Specs

Sound

The added LDAC support offers even richer sound on supported devices with an improved stereo effect. Once enabled you get to hear finer nuances and details that you may not otherwise hear and it certainly brings an elevated listening experience. The main drawback is that the high bitrate codec is taxing on the battery.

Bass

The Tozo Golden X1 has an elevated, impactful, and full-bodied bass reproduction. The textured, powerful bass contributes to the fun factor of the X1. It’s tuned in a way (close to Harman 2019 V2) to prevent the bass from bleeding into the lower midsection. The detail level is also good. The Golden X1 performs well in this regard, the bass is controlled, very powerful, and quite exciting to listen to.

There is a definite bass boost with this set, and the frequency response graph makes clear, the big bump to around 200Hz. The placement of this bump makes low-frequency sounds come across as big and full. It extends deep into the sub-bass, which makes bass almost rumble in your ear. This makes it a great fit for gaming and movies, as well as music.

Mids

Starting with the lower mids, Golden X1 follows a recipe of linearity here. I would easily say that this smart move ensures that the signature stays airy and a general sense of air is present. The overall signature feels quite spacious, as well as the stage and the space between the instruments. The midrange has a linear tonality and features a note weight that is rather on the lighter side of the scale. However, the body of the instruments and the body of the vocals do not feel particularly thin and insufficient. The vocals feel breathy with plenty of details and they are quite engaging to listen to.

The resolution and detail retrieval are really good here, you can hear and track micro-details and individual instruments on the stage, easily. The slightly recessed midrange does not stick out at all, it feels quite alright, following the rest of the spectrum effortlessly. The Golden X1 has an elevated upper midrange with a crisper tone.

Treble

The excitement that was present in the bass makes a return in the treble region. The treble range follows the bass line, they are a little more pronounced compared to the lower midrange. The X1 does a great job of reproducing detailed, articulate, and clean treble. The resolution and detail level are certainly impressive for this price and the extension is quite satisfactory. The dispersion of extended highs of the Golden X1 helps stereo imaging and enhances the perception of stage height and width.

The energy of the sound signature starts to crawl back up in the highs. Not many glitters from the top, but the timbre of the frequencies themselves has some flavor to them. X1 does a great job of reproducing detailed, articulate, and clean treble. The resolution and detail level are certainly impressive. Sound elements contain a nice shine on their top end, and the Golden X1 reacts with some solid articulation and transparency.

Soundstage

The soundstage is definitely one of the strong suits. The instruments have accurate positioning with ample space between them and you can easily track individual instruments on the stage. The Golden X1 also handles congestion quite well thanks to its well-tuned signature and technical prowess. 

Sum-Up

The TOZO Golden X1 was a complete surprise for me if I’m being honest. I wasn’t expecting this kind of sound quality, meaning a good tuning from a brand that I did not hear before. And the TOZO App is also quite good in that manner, which is an important key point when it comes to TWS’. You get a complete package for a rather competitive price.