MPOW T5 Review

The new MPOW T5 True Wireless earphone arrived on my review desk yesterday, and it has been begging for a review ever since.  Like most MPOW models, it’s aimed at users who want good sound on a budget.  And at $45, the T5 is BUDGET, son.  But how does it sound?  And is that sound worth the price tag?

MPOW T5 Review

The MPOW T5 arrives in your basic cardboard box with the usual plastic insert – a cheap affair with a few necessary accessories.  Those accessories include a charging case, micro-USB charging cable, and some eartips.

Once you break out the earpieces, you’ll be dumbstruck by how small these things are.  And I’ve seen small True Wireless earphones before, but MPOW still managed to stick up to 5 hours of battery life into this sucker.  The case delivers an addition 35 hours of playtime with a 2 hour charge.

Running on Bluetooth 5.0, the T5 supports APTX, HSP, HFP, A2DP, and AVRCP codecs and has a range of more than 33 ft (10 m).

Once placed in my giant ears, I’m again stricken by the small footprint (earprint?) of the T5.  It’s swallowed up by my gigantic radar dish ears.  But isolation also comes across as top notch, blocking out the sound of my coworkers debating the best Kaiju film (it’s Eibirah, Horror of the Deep, dammit).

Call quality sounds relatively clean with no real issues – whether ordering a pizza or a date, every phone conversation goes off smoothly without a hitch.  Connection strength is decent too; I only had one or two slight drop outs during my street tests – and that’s in Times Square, folks, where you’ve got more sources of interference than you can shake a stick at.

With it’s IPX7 rating, the T5 also remains a solid option when it comes to gym sweat or the elements in general.  This earphone can also operate as a single earpiece for folks who prefer one-ear listening.

Low End

The MPOW T5’s low end can seem a bit heavy at times.  Not in an unpleasant way – it’s not an uncontrolled weight, but it allows the bass to land with real, palpable impact.  Imparting contrast and depth to the lows, this characteristic helps to mask a slight deficit in detail.  Still, this lack of low-end detail may not derail one’s listening experience; the T5 still sounds decent with most tracks (and way better than I was expecting for a $45 earphone).

Midrange

There’s a little more detail here, with the T5 leaning just a tad bit forward in its presentation.  Likewise, the mids offer a clean sound without compression or distortion.  This results in an impressive level of tonal accuracy – and one I’ve never heard in any earphone this cheap.  Overall, the T5’s mids come across as natural but intimate, with enough detail to sate the appetite of the hungriest audiophiles.

High End

In the high end, the MPOW T5 True Wireless earphone rolls off in the upper limits of the frequency range.  While this does end up decreasing the overall detail you’ll hear in the highs, it also prevents them from becoming too sharp or piercing.  And to be fair, the highs remain decent, even without that little bit of extra detail.  Though some strings may seem just a shade blunted or veiled, female vocals sound pleasantly smooth.

Soundstage

The soundstage is good – for the price.  There’s some real depth in the T5’s sound.  But placement feels cramped and confused at times – pretty much what I would expect from any sub-$100 true wireless earphone.  With that being said, it still doesn’t sound horrible.  I mean, sure, the guitars and drums might sound like they’re occupying the same position in relation to you ears, but at least the vocalist seems to be somewhere else.

Other Observations

The solid midrange doesn’t just lend itself to phone calls and music enjoyment.  Thanks to those rich mids, the MPOW T5 offers a great sound for podcasts, audio books, and any dialogue-heavy audio.

Recommendations

Right now, the MPOW T5 is my new favorite sub-$50 true wireless earphone.  If you’re on a budget and love a mid-heavy sound as much as this reviewer, you need the MPOW T5.  Sure it’s cheap and bare-bones, but it still has the power to rock your socks off if you can keep an open mind.

What if you want more bass though?  While you won’t find a much better earphone at this price point, you could consider the wireless (but not true wireless) JBL Tune 205BT or JBL Tune 110BT (both at around $40).

On the other side of the fence, folks who want more emphasis on the high end could opt for the Kaneye F9/Peohzarr F9 (at $38).  While probably the cheapest true wireless earphone I’ve ever tested – and with a solid sound – it may lack some of the mids that the T5 offers so much of.

Final Analysis

With it’s cheap-as-chips pricetag and an impressively detailed sound, the MPOW T5 True Wireless earphones offer a solid value for anyone on a budget looking for sound that just won’t quit.  While the highs and lows could be a bit more present for some listeners, anyone who prefers a mid-heavy sound will jump at this $45 powerhouse of an earphone.

If interested in true wireless earphones, check out our review of the new Strauss and Wagner SW-TW401 true wireless earphones!  Priced at a competitive $59 and our highest awarded true wireless earphones!  Check it out here.  

Invest in an MPOW T5 for the best price here:

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