Review - The Cowin Apex Elite give you ANC for less than $100 - Android

Cowin hones in on key features to win you over.

If you've never worn or heard anything from Cowin, it might be hard to convince you its headphones are even worth the lower prices they often sell for. Like most upstarts, the value proposition is that you come away feeling like you got more for less, and that's probably the best way to summarize the Apex Elite.

Budget earbuds come with caveats just about all the time, and that's no different here, but when performance meets most of the feature promises, you get something that sounds like a good deal.

At a glance

Cowin Apex Elite Wireless Earbuds

Bottom line: Cowin stays within budget territory with the Apex Elite, and thinks it has the right stuff with these earbuds once you wear them and start the music. It's hard to argue with the results, even if there are bumps along the way that set things back a little.

The Good

• Good audio quality
• Decent ANC and Ambient modes
• Small and lightweight
• Pretty durable
• Good call quality
• Affordable price

The Bad

• Finicky touch controls
• No wireless charging
• No dedicated app

$90 at Cowin

Jump to:

• What I like
• What needs work
• Competition
• Should you buy them?

Cowin Apex Elite Wireless Earbuds What I like

This isn't Cowin's first kick at the can for true wireless earbuds. While I haven't tested the others to get a sense of what I was wading into here, the Apex Elite did turn out to be a nice debut for me, personally. Engineers and designers put some thought into their look and feel, and it's fairly obvious that at least some of those things come from Cowin's earlier efforts, especially the Apex Pro.

That includes going with a stem design — a popular choice, given all the cheap AirPods clones available now. But they don't look like cheap knockoffs, either. Their understated look is neither flashy nor boring, and for that reason, no one would look out of place wearing these earbuds. The lightweight build also gives them a feathery feel over longer listening periods, which is also easy to appreciate. It's even easier to like all that when you factor in the IPX7 water and sweat resistance that makes these earbuds pretty durable for workouts and runs.

Fit and comfort are all about finding the right size. The three sizes of silicone ear tips (small, medium, large) actually come in two sets of softness for six pairs total. My review unit was missing the "super soft" set, but Cowin says they do come with all Apex Elite units. It's getting a good seal that matters most, and when there are 10mm drivers inside, there's enough power to pump out some decent audio. More on that in a bit.

The charging case is a nice size. Not quite as small as others, but nowhere near as big, either. The earbuds are a snug fit inside, with magnets locking them into place for consistent charging. If you plan to try extra-large ear tips, be careful because the top of the inside of the case contours to the body of the earbuds, so if they're too elevated, the case doesn't necessarily close properly.

I wasn't initially taken with these earbuds after first listening to them out of the box, but they grew on me after a couple of days.

I wasn't initially taken with these earbuds after first listening to them out of the box, but they grew on me after a couple of days. Like many earbuds in the affordable range, they skew a little more to the lows, yet deliver enough balance in the mids and highs for agreeable sound. Doing so makes them easier to like, regardless of the musical genres you prefer to serenade your ears. The soundstage is resonant, and even vibrant with the right tracks, but I found them surprisingly good when listening to acoustic, Spanish guitar, and flamenco tunes.

But even with popular music, the results aren't bad at all. Låpsley's Falling Short sounded just as good as Dua Lipa's Don't Start Now, despite being completely different songs. It's interesting because bass guitar melodies might feel more bass-heavy than the kind you'd find in a hip hop track, but it really is a subjective point.

The 10mm drivers don't force you to raise the volume as much, which serves to help with battery life. Then there's the active noise cancelation (ANC) and ambient mode support. ANC is always hit or miss at this price range, and the Apex Elite didn't jilt my expectations in any significant way. Holding either earbud for two seconds toggles between ANC on, ambient mode, and ANC off, so it's easy to switch on the fly.

The Apex Elite aren't bad at cutting down low-frequency background noises, though less so with high-frequency sounds. Again, right on par with earbuds in this range. Ambient mode isn't bad, even if it isn't remarkable. I had little problem engaging in conversation with it on, but I've definitely heard better from other, more expensive pairs. I was, however, impressed with the call quality, which made callers sound loud and clear, and I never once heard a complaint about how I came through.

Cowin rates battery life at up to six hours per charge, albeit five hours with ANC on. Those numbers aren't terrible, but certainly not exceptional. The one saving grace is you won't have to raise the volume as much, thus preserving the best the battery can muster. I generally got about 4.5 hours with ANC on, sometimes less. With it off, and only a tick upward on volume, I got very close to six hours.

The case has up to three extra charges, for a total of 20 hours with ANC on. No wireless charging, unfortunately, but you should be up and running again reasonably quickly with USB-C charging.