COUMI ANC-860 True Wireless Earbuds Review

Note: COUMI has sent these TWS earbuds for us to review, but the review is not a paid, or promotional review. We are not paid by COUMI for any products you may purchase from them.

The COUMI ANC-860 Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation True Wireless Earbuds are the most affordable high-quality microphone TWS earbuds that we have reviewed so far. Coupled with Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation, IPX7 waterproof rating, and responsive touch-sensitive controls, they are certainly a great choice overall.

What comes in the box

• COUMI ANC-860 TWS Earbuds with 2 Medium Eartips
• Earbuds Charging Case
• 10 Extra Eartips (4 Small-sized, 2 Medium-sized, 4 Large-sized)
• USB Type-C Charging Cable
• User Guide
• Quick Guide
• Warranty Card

Design & Comfort

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Ear Tips

The COUMI ANC-860 come with three different ear-tip sizes. What makes these unique compared to many other models is the shape of their tips. They have the part that wraps around the earbuds, then another part that goes in the ear itself. The secondary part acts as padding, and does help with fitting in the earbuds. I’ve tried them on and they are surprisingly effective at staying on the ear.

I found the medium-sized ear-tips to be the best fit for me. The large ones were not that comfortable after around half an hour of wearing, but they may be right for you if you have larger earholes. After all, the varying sizes exist to ensure everyone can enjoy the earbuds based on the way it best fits their ear. The smaller tips were comfortable, but they did not fit as well in the ear, and weren’t as effective with ANC.

Overall, I find the ear tips to be above average in design and comfort.

Earbud Design

The earbuds feature touch controls in a specific circular engraved area. Upon first sight, I was fooled that this was a button-click control TWS model, but I was wrong. Personally, I do love that the area is both visible and easily distinguishable from non-touch parts of the earbuds. When using models such as Haylou’s GT1 or TaoTronics SoundLiberty 79, I often felt lost on where I should click, and this makes that a whole lot easier.

Based on my experience, the touch countrols very well, and especially considering the price at which these earbuds come, the responsiveness with the varying commands that the touch controls offer are really impressive.

The earbuds come with 60 mAh (3.7V) batteries, capable of 7.5 hours of playtime without ANC, and 5.5 hours with ANC. This is better than most earbuds we’ve reviewed so far.

Charging Case

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The charging case is certainly larger than what I’m used to reviewing. It comes with a matte black design that has COUMI’s logo on the front, and specs on the back, written to be read when light is shined onto it. The USB-C port is at the top for charging, and on the top left of the case, there is also a rope attached that’s handy for hanging or attaching the earbuds anywhere.

The inside of the case looks extremely clean, and the magnet on the case is quite strong, but not too strong – just the right amount.

Despite its large size, the case offers up to 41 hours of playtime with its 600 mAh 5V battery (or 720 mAh with 3.7V). I would normally expect more battery life based on its size, but perhaps future models would come with more battery.

Sound Quality

The ANC-860 earbuds provide quite a clear sound quality for a pair that is priced around $50, and comes with ANC. We will cover the ANC later in the review.

My only criticism is that the bass can be too heavy and this could leave the mids lacking. Nevertheless, the sound quality is satisfactory considering everything else.

Call Quality

These earbuds feature six microphones to use during calls. I was shocked to hear how well they sound, and for the first time, actually relied on a fairly affordable TWS earbud model to call. Even when there is a lot of surrounding noise, they pick up audio clearly.

Especially given its IPX7 waterproof rating, this was quite unexpected from my end. You simply won’t get a TWS earbud at this price with this quality of microphone – it’s truly top-notch. Unlike most earbuds I’ve reviewed with a similar price tag, I would actually encourage people to use these for calling, rather than suggesting the opposite.

Bluetooth

The ANC-860 earbuds come with Bluetooth 5.0, which is the industry standard for TWS earbuds at this time. The connection is stable for listening, however I have found that the earbuds stop picking up audio from the microphones at around 10-20m away from the device, and this should be kept in mind when relying on calls where the phone is distant from the earbuds.

Control Features

The COUMI ANC-860 earbuds have impressed me with their carved responsive touch controls.

Here are the control features they offer:

• Power On: Hold the earbud for 3 seconds (normally not necessary, as they power on automatically once they’re picked up from their case)
• Play/Pause: Double tap the right earbud
• Previous Track: Hold the left earbud for 2 seconds
• Next Track: Hold the right earbud for 2 seconds
• Volume Up: Tap the right earbud
• Volume Down: Tap the left earbud
• Answer: Tap either earbud
• Hang Up (while in a call): Tap either earbud
  • This took the phone from Bluetooth to normal call mode for me, so do make sure it hands up the call.
• Reject: Hold either earbud for 2 seconds
• Power Off: Hold the earbud for 6 seconds (normally not necessary, as they power off when you put them back in the charging case)
• Voice Assistant: Hold either earbud for 1 second

Pressing either earbud just once will play/pause your music, press and hold the left earbud to bring down the volume, and to increase it you have to press and hold the right earbud, press thrice to access Voice Assistant, etc,.

Water Resistance

The COUMI ANC-860 earbuds have an IPX7 waterproof rating. This means that sweat, rain, water spills and the like won’t be an issue while using the earbuds. Based on the IPX7 rating, the earbuds should be able to survive 1 meter under water for 30 minutes.

This rating is impressive given their great microphone quality, which is rare in high IP rating TWS earbuds.

ANC (Active Noise Canceling Technology)

As the name suggests, the COUMI ANC-860 earbuds do come with ANC. This is often uncommon in models below the $100 range. In the past, we’ve reviewed only one model that has ANC and is under $100: the AUKEY EP-N5.

COUMI claims that the earbuds feature Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation. This means that there are microphones inside and outside the earbuds to listen to surrounding noise, cancel it, and then see how effective it is at doing so.

Do these $53 earbuds live up to this claim though? The answer is, yes. While the ANC offered by the earbuds can’t match models such as the Sony WF-1000XM3, it must be noted that every manufacturer has their own noise cancelling mechanism, and they will often be better or worse at cancelling different types of sounds.

The COUMI ANC-860 has passed the ANC test, and reduced a lot of background noise for me. Depending on your expectations, you may or may not be satisfied with it. Standalone, it performs phenomenally. If you compare it with more expensive models on the other hand, you may find that it is lacking in noise cancellation performance. Although this would be unfair given its affordable cost, and that it lives up to its promise of coming with hybrid ANC (I haven’t opened the earbuds up to see the various microphones myself, but I’m convinced based on my experience using the earbuds).

Listening Options

• Hybrid ANC Option – for cancelling surrounding noise. I was fairly satisfied with the noise cancellation provided by these earbuds. On my first try, I wasn’t even able to hear some noises that were around me in the change of atmosphere.
• Ambient Mode Option – for enhanced attention to surrounding noise. I didn’t notice this mode to be extremely effective in projecting outside voice as you would hear it without the earbuds. I think that this mode could be improved given the hybrid ANC built-in to the earbuds that should allow hearing and amplifying outside noise (at least at a natural level).
• Normal Mode Option – for those that want to listen to the earbuds without any noise cancellation. This one is pretty self-explanatory, and I found it pretty well. I did prefer listening to music and using the earbuds with ANC enabled in general, but the normal mode option is there in case you still want to be aware of your surroundings.

The earbuds also work whether you have one or both the earbuds on. However, in order to make full use of the controls and features of the earbuds, it is best to use both at the same time.

Specifications

• Environment Noise Cancellation
• Active Noise Cancellation
• Transparency Mode
• Type C Charging Port
• Multi-Function Touch Contols
• Smart Voice Assistant
• Single or Double Earbud Mode
• Supports HFP/HSP/A2DP/AVRCP/SPP/PBAP Protocols
• Bluetooth 5.0
• 41 Hours Charging Case Playtime with 600 mAH capacity with 5V or 720 mAh Capacity with 3.7V
• 7.5 Hours Music Playtime with 60 mAh Earbud capacity
• Rope tied to the charging case
• 20 Hz – 20 KHz Frequency Response
• 97 +- 3dB Sensitivity

Brand Credibility

Coumi is certainly a new brand in the TWS arena. Their website states that COUMI is: “a brand focusing on high-end Bluetooth headphone. Its product series include AI voice-controlled earphones, TWS earphones, ANC earphones, hearing safety earphone, smart voice EQ earphone, Hi-Res earphones with in-ear, on-ear on-ear,ear hook,over neck types.” (coumi-sport.com/about)

While they may not be as popular as other brands, there is nothing we could find that was questionable in their history. As the ANC-860 is their first TWS earbud, the quality is fascinating and they have left a good impression in the TWS community.

Quality & Materials Used

While the case of the COUMI ANC-860 is pretty large, it is quite lightweight. Due to its battery size, the model isn’t as heavy overall. They have a great build quality overall using a hard plastic case.

Price

At the time of this review, the COUMI ANC-860 True Wireless Earbuds are priced at $52.99 on Amazon.com

Pros & Cons

Pros

• The microphone on these earbuds is as good as it gets for the price that they come at.
• The earbuds feature Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation
• The earbuds come with ANC, Ambient, and Normal listening modes, not limiting the user to a single condition.
• The playtime on the earbuds is great, at 7.5 hours without ANC, and 5.5 hours with ANC.
• The earbuds come with a charging case that has USB-C port.
• The touch control area is clear, so you don’t have to look or guess where to tap in order to control the earbuds.
• The earbuds feature volume control with a single tap.
• They are IPX7 waterproof and feature Bluetooth 5.0.
• The earbuds can be used in pair or standalone.
• They are extremely cheap given the plethora of features and controls they have to offer.
• The earbuds come with a variety of ear tips that are both unique in design, and comfortable.

Cons

• The charging case is larger than other a lot of other models, yet only offers 41 hours of playtime.
• The bass on the earbuds is a bit heavy, and the mids are lacking.

Final Verdict

The Mpow M20 True Wireless Earbuds offer good value for a pair of budget earbuds as the battery life they offer is brilliant, they feature simple touch controls and they are also waterproof.