Yamaha TW-ES5A Review

April 21, 2023 4:20 pm

Yamaha has a new line of wireless products and we’re looking to cover them all to see how they stack up. I’ve checked out the L700A headphones and their TW-E7B true wireless earbuds. The TW-ES5A is one of their more economical models that has come out, and it’s also made for sports. Is it a good option for you?

What You Get

Earbuds
Charging case
USB power cable
Silicon fins (XS, S, M, L)
Eartips (XS, S, M, L)

Look & Feel

The ES5A has an odd shape to it, but some sports earbuds that I’ve seen have a similar style. Its housing is quite big, but the actual in-ear cavity is very small. You get two big ear hooks that also add some support but, overall I think they’re pretty loose. They never fit all that tightly but were still comfortable to a degree. If there was more support here, the fit would be really great.

Design & Functionality

For its driver, the ES5A uses a 6mm dynamic unit, which is quite small but it isn’t more or less powerful than what you are used to seeing in this range. Its output has some volume to it, but headroom is still limited. Volume and playback are controlled via physical buttons that sit on top of each earpiece. There is a motion sensor that will automatically play and pause your music when you take the earbuds in and out. Other features include a gaming mode that improves latency and a “listening care mode,” which aims to bring the same sound quality no matter what level you’re listening at. These modes are all accessible within Yamaha’s companion app, which also offers a parametric EQ.

Bluetooth

The 5.2 version of Bluetooth is offered here, along with a Qualcomm aptX CODEC. You should get high bandwidth and range through the ES5A, with no instances of dropout.

Battery Life

These earbuds boast a pretty good battery life for the price. You should experience 9 hours of playback from a single charge, and with the charge from the case, that will ad up to 34 hours of listening time total.

Soundstage

While the ES5A does an excellent job keeping the arrangments somewhat organized, nothing about the soundstage or imaging really jumps out. Everything mostly sits in one large area, where the sound elements stack onto each other with slight separation. Some layers are unraveled, but little depth is added. This is mostly a linear response, but it works for Bluetooth earbuds in this price range. The sound never feels congealed, even as a few elements like vocals stick out above the instrumentation.

Low End

The bass tone doesn’t elicit a ton of excitement but has a fine range of frequency content to bite on. You get some good punch, but not much fullness to it. It starts to lean out in the sub-bass and doesn’t really extend or play with any other textures in that range. However, nothing feels missing from the response though, and its tone comes through pretty clearly. Just don’t expect any significant energy to be expressed here.

Mids

In the midrange, the ES5A starts to show some legs with a richer response. Instruments have a more noticeable glow here, with clearer details and fuller performances. There’s a considerable dip in the fundamental range but keeps things pretty intact otherwise. You won’t get much depth with notes, but it sustains clarity pretty well even without EQ. Vocals are the most favored range of frequencies, as they stick out more in the sound signature, cutting through mixes and showcasing intimate performances.

Highs

There isn’t a ton of extension in the highs, and even with EQ, it’s hard to make them stand out. They appear pretty relaxed and roll-off is present but minimal. With EQ boosted I tried to make a shelf, but the only positive result I got was a raised height with little frequency content to actually fill in the gaps.

Summary

The TW-ES5A from Yamaha is quite an odd pair of wireless sports earbuds. They don’t really bring that much bass, but the rest of the frequency range is pretty clear and balanced. I don’t think it has the best fit for sports, but the earbuds are still pretty comfortable. There isn’t a lot about the ES5A that really strikes me as a good pair of workout buds, but they’re still a solid pair of true wireless earphones for the price.