3838 NOVEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 381
RHAT20Wireless
★★★★★
£200•From http://www.amazon.co.uk
IN-EAR BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES
BRITISHHEADPHONEMANUFACTURER
RHA has produced some stellar earphones
over the past fewyears, from the impressive
true wireless TrueConnect (Shopper375) to
the excellent-sounding wired T20i. Building on
the success of the latter,the Glaswegian firm
has now developed the T20 Wireless, which
take the sonic components of the T20i and
add wireless connectivity to the mix.
The RHA T20 Wireless employaneckband
design, where the two earpieces are connected
by acable that hooks around your neck. This
cable has asingle-button remoteonthe right
side and arechargeable battery pod with a
USB Type-C port forcharging on the left. The
earphones don’t have active noise-cancelling,
relying instead on the passive noise isolation
provided by the ear tips.
MIXAND MATCH
Unusually,though no less cleverly,you don’t
have to use the neckband if you don’t want to.
The RHA T20 Wireless are equipped with
special connectors that allow you to swap out
the neckband foraregular 3.5mm wired
connection; RHA includes a1.5m-long cable
in the box forthis exact purpose.
As forbuild quality,the RHA T20 Wireless
are just as well made as the original T20i, with
an all-metal housing that oozes apremium
feel. Leftand right channel indicators are
engraved intothe shell so they’ll never wear
off,and magnets are built intothe housings
so the earpieces snap them together when
you’re wearing them around your neck.
Disappointingly,the T20 Wireless don’t power
off automatically when clipped together –
something the OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2do
–soyou’ll need to remember to power them
down manually every time you stop listening.
Aside from audio cables and the
build quality,the box contains plenty
of extra treats. There’s aUSB Type-C-to-
Type-Acharging cable,asoft carrying
pouch, aclothing and sports clip,and a
good selection of ear tips, including two sets
of Comply Tsx-400 foam tips. These are
arguably the most important of the lot,
as everyone’s ears are different, and you
can swap in different tips to get the
most comfortable fit.
Youalso get three screw-on
tuning filters, which are used
to customise the T20
Wireless’s sound profile.The
copper-colouredfilterdelivers
atreble-biased sound, the
black filters give you more bass,
and the silver filters provide a
happymiddle ground. Having the
ability to tailor the earphones’
sound signature isn’t essential, but
it’s avery nice feature to have.
Whichever filter you prefer,
sound quality is very good indeed.
We recommend using awired connection
whenever possible,however –switching
from wireless to the wired mode results in
acrisper,less congested sound and a
noticeably wider soundstage.
DARLING BUDS
Despitethe limitations of Bluetooth, the T20
Wireless still sound great if you want to stick
with wireless. In terms of the overall sound
profile theysit somewhere between the
analytical Sennheiser Momentum Free and the
smooth, laid-back approach of Brainwavz’s
B400 (Shopper367). Theyuse the higher-
quality aptX codec to transmit audio,which is
aconsiderable advantage over headphones
that only use the standard SBC codec.
We conducted most of our listening tests
in wireless mode,and here,the RHA T20
Wireless extend well intothe higher
frequencies while providing apronounced
bassline with plenty of impact. Even in tracks
filled with challenging sub- and mid-bass
tones, vocals and background instruments,
the RHA T20 Wireless coped admirably by
delivering acontrolled bass response and
maintained an excellent extension in the
highs. We’ve heard headphones such as
the Sennheiser Momentum Free struggle
with such complex songs, sounding sibilant
and strained especially at louder volumes.
There are no such issues here.
Unfortunately,the T20 Wireless aren’t
sonically flawless: they’re alittle veiled in the
mids, lack control around the 250Hz region
and have an air of closeness to them. If you
want the ultimatesound quality,your best bet
remains apair of wired headphones. Overall,
however,these are enjoyable headphones to
listen to,and are better than most other
wireless earphones on pure audio quality.
WEIGHT IN GOLD
The RHA T20 Wireless subsequently deliver a
compelling package.The ability to switch
cables and tweak the sound profile makes
them more flexible than most, and they
sound better than the competition, too.
They’re superior to the 1More Triple Driver BT
and OnePlus Bullets Wireless 2, make fora
slightly more laid-back listen than the
Sennheiser Momentum Free and deliver a
meatier sound than the Libratone Track+.
Truly,the only problem with these
earphones is the price.Ifyour budget can
stretch to it, however,it’s worth splashing out.
ChristopherMinasians
VERDICT
They’renotcheap,butthesewell-designed
earphonesdeliversuperbsoundquality
HEADPHONESSUBTYPEIn-ear•PLUGTYPENone•
WEIGHT37g•CABLELENGTH1.35m•WARRANTY
OneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.rha-audio.com•
PARTCODE 602055
SPECIFICATIONS
Aside from audio cables and the
build quality,the box contains plenty
extra treats. There’s aUSB Type-C-to-
Type-Acharging cable,asoft carrying
pouch, aclothing and sports clip,and a
good selection of ear tips, including two sets
Comply Tsx-400 foam tips. These are
arguably the most important of the lot,
everyone’s ears are different, and you
can swap in different tips to get the
most comfortable fit.
Youalso get three screw-on
tuning filters, which are used
customise the T20
Wireless’s sound profile.The
copper-colouredfilterdelivers
treble-biased sound, the
black filters give you more bass,
and the silver filters provide a
happy middle ground. Having the
ability to tailor the earphones’
sound signature isn’t essential, but
savery nice feature to have.
Whichever filter you prefer,
sound quality is very good indeed.
We recommend using awired connection
whenever possible however –switching
Unfortunately,the T20 Wireless aren’t
sonically flawless: they’re alittle veiled in the
