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We've recently released our Test Bench 1.8 update for Headphones! Read the R&D Article to learn more.

Altec Lansing True Evo Truly Wireless Headphones Review

Tested using Methodology v1.3.1
Review updated Feb 07, 2019 at 10:32 am
Latest change: Writing modified Sep 03, 2021 at 04:11 pm
Altec Lansing True Evo Truly Wireless Picture
6.8
Mixed Usage
6.5
Neutral Sound
7.3
Commute/Travel
7.9
Sports/Fitness
6.5
Office
5.0
Wireless Gaming
5.0
Wired Gaming
6.3
Phone Call

The Altec Lansing True Evo are fairly versatile truly wireless in-ears. They have a bass-heavy sound profile that'll be better for music genres like EDM and hip-hop. They don’t enter your ear canal as deeply as many in-ears, making them a bit more comfortable for some. Unfortunately, they don’t isolate low frequencies well, meaning they won’t be a great choice for commuting. However, their IPX6 rating and portable, breathable, and stable design are great for sports. These Bluetooth headphones have very high latency and may not be a good option for watching videos and gaming.

Our Verdict

6.8 Mixed Usage

The Altec Lansing True Evo are okay for mixed usage. Their sound profile will be better suited for fans of heavy-bass music and won’t be great for vocal-centric music. They don’t isolate low frequencies well like plane and bus engine rumbles, which won’t be ideal for commuting. However, they have a very portable design. They also have stability fins and are very breathable, which is good for sports. Unfortunately, their short battery life isn’t great for the office as they also take a lot of time to charge fully. Also, their latency will be noticeable while watching video content and gaming.

Pros
  • Lightweight and portable design.
  • Wireless Qi charging case.
Cons
  • Short battery life and long charging time.
  • Limited control scheme.
  • High latency.
6.5 Neutral Sound

The Altec Lansing True Evo are fair for neutral listening. They have an average and boomy bass with a cluttered mid-range. Unfortunately, vocals and lead instruments sound thick and pushed back to the back of the mix. On the other hand, they have a great and well-balanced treble. They're better suited for fans of bass-heavy music. Also, the in-ear fit might not be ideal for long listening sessions.

7.3 Commute/Travel

The Altec Lansing True Evoare decent for commuting. They're very portable, and you can easily carry them around, but unfortunately, they don’t isolate engine rumble well and may not be the best option for traveling. They're comfortable for short rides, but you might feel ear fatigue during long flights.

7.9 Sports/Fitness

The Altec Lansing True Evo are very good for sports. These truly wireless headphones don’t make you sweat more than usual, thanks to their breathable design. They also have stability fins which are great to keep a secure fit while working out. They also have a good wireless range, so you can leave your phone on a bench or the treadmill without getting audio cuts.

6.5 Office

The Altec Lansing True Evo are alright for the office. While they isolate a good amount of ambient chatter and barely leak, they have a few things that won’t be ideal for the office. They have short 3-hour battery life on one charge, and it will take you the same amount of time to recharge them fully. Also, the in-ear fit won’t be as comfortable throughout the day, and you’ll feel ear fatigue after a while. They also don’t have multi-device pairing, which would have been helpful to switch between your phone and work computer.

5.0 Wireless Gaming

The Altec Lansing True Evo aren't suitable for wireless gaming. They're not suitable for gaming as they have high latency, and their microphone is mediocre for online gaming. They also have poor battery life that won’t last long gaming sessions.

5.0 Wired Gaming

The Altec Lansing True Evo aren't suitable for wired gaming.

  • 6.8 Mixed Usage
  • 6.5 Neutral Sound
  • 7.3 Commute/Travel
  • 7.9 Sports/Fitness
  • 6.5 Office
  • 5.0 Wireless Gaming
  • 5.0 Wired Gaming
  • 6.3 Phone Call
  1. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
  2. Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
  3. Updated Feb 07, 2019: Review published.
  4. Updated Feb 05, 2019: Early access published.
  5. Updated Feb 04, 2019: Our testers have started testing this product.
  6. Updated Feb 03, 2019: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
  7. Updated Jan 25, 2019: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.

Compared To Other Headphones

Comparison picture

The Altec Lansing True Evo are truly wireless headphones that come with a case that supports Qi wireless charging. However, they don’t perform better than many other similar headphones on the market.

If you’re interested in truly wireless headphones, see our recommendations for the best true wireless earbuds, the best wireless earbuds, and the best wireless earbuds under $100.

XFYRO xS2 Truly Wireless

The XFYRO xS2 Tuly Wireless are better truly wireless headphones than the Altec Lansing True Evo Truly Wireless. The XFYRO are a bit more versatile thanks to their better isolation performance, which can be useful while commuting and at the office. The XFYRO also have a better wireless range and, for about the same battery life, take less time to charge. On the other hand, the Altec feel better-built, and some may prefer a design with stability fins for sports.

Anker SoundCore Liberty Air Truly Wireless

The Anker SoundCore Liberty Air Truly Wireless are better truly wireless headphones than the Altec Lansing True Evo Truly Wireless. The Anker have a more neutral sound profile and isolate more ambient noise, making them a more versatile and better option for commuting. The Anker also have slightly better battery life, and their case is more compact. The Anker also support Bluetooth 5.0, which may translate into better range and connection stability. On the other hand, the Altec come with a good amount of tip options and feel less cheap than the glossy and plastic feel of the Anker.

Skullcandy Push Truly Wireless

The Skullcandy Push Truly Wireless are better headphones than the Altec Lansing True Evo Truly Wireless. The Skullcandy include volume controls, which the Lansing lack, and a control scheme that is more complete. The Skullcandy also have a longer battery life on a single charge, but their case only holds one additional charge, which is disappointing compared to the Altec's four. The Altec also feel better built and have less of a plastic feel than the Skullcandy, especially in regards to their case.

Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless

The Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless are better truly wireless headphones than the Altec Lansing True Evo Truly Wireless, especially if you care about sound quality. The Bose have a more neutral sound and include a more comfortable, durable build. You get volume controls, which you don’t have on the Altec, and their battery life is longer. However, the Altec have a better and more portable case. Since the Altec are closed-back, they isolate more than the semi-open design of the Bose.

Test Results

Design
Design
Style
Type In-ear
Enclosure Closed-Back
Wireless Truly Wireless
Transducer Dynamic

The Altec Lansing True Evo are truly wireless in-ears with an oval design and low-profile look in their all-black color scheme. The buds have stability fins, giving them a sporty look, but they don’t stand out with flashy colors. The buds are bulky and thick and will protrude out of your ears.

7.0
Design
Comfort
Weight 0.03 lbs
Clamping Force
0 lbs

The Altec Lansing True Evo wireless earbuds are lightweight, fairly comfortable, and come with multiple tip sizes and stability fins to help you find the best fit. They also come with two foam tips that some people prefer. They don’t enter your ear canal as deeply as typical in-ears, meaning that they might be more comfortable for some users. However, the fit might not be ideal for everyone, and some may feel ear fatigue after a while.

5.5
Design
Controls
OS Compatibility
N/A
Ease Of Use Decent
Feedback Decent
Call/Music Control Yes
Volume Control No
Microphone Control No
Channel Mixing
N/A
Noise Cancelling Control N/A
Talk-Through
N/A
Additional Buttons No

Similar to the SoundPeats TrueFree, the Altec Lansing True Evo have a single button on each earbud, meaning their control scheme is limited. You can manage calls and music and trigger your device's voice assistant, but that’s about it. They don’t have any volume control, and you can't skip tracks, which is disappointing. The buttons are fairly easy to use but aren’t versatile, and they give you decent feedback. However, you have to push the earbuds a bit deeper into your ear if you want to register a command.

9.2
Design
Breathability
Avg.Temp.Difference 0.8 °C

Like most in-ears, the Altec Lansing True Evo wireless earbuds are very breathable and don’t create much temperature difference when inside the ear for a while. You shouldn’t sweat more if you use them for sports since they don’t trap any heat under an ear cup like over-ears do.

9.4
Design
Portability
L 1.7"
W 1"
H 1"
Volume 1.7 in³
Transmitter Required N/A

Like most truly wireless in-ears, the Altec Lansing True Evo are very portable since you can easily fit the buds inside pockets or a bag. They also come with a small hard case, but it's bulkier than some other truly wireless headphones cases. It'll still fit in most pockets, so it won’t be too hard to keep on you at all times.

7.5
Design
Case
Type Hard case
L 3.2"
W 2.2"
H 1.6"
Volume 11 in³

The Altec Lansing True Evo wireless earbuds have a good hard case to protect the headphones against scratches, minor water exposure, and small impacts. The case also supports Qi wireless charging, which is a nice addition. Unfortunately, the buds don’t fit well inside the case, and you might have to play around with them until you see the LED light up, confirming they are charging. Also, for some reason, the right earbud is stored on the left, and vice versa. The overall build of the case feels a bit cheap, but it has a locking mechanism to keep the buds inside. On the upside, the case's lid is also see-through, so you can always see the LED status. You also receive a small pouch to travel with the case, accessories, and charging cable.

7.5
Design
Build Quality

The overall build quality seems solid enough to survive a few accidental drops. The buds are small and made of dense plastic that feels solid and shouldn’t break easily. However, the case feels lightweight and not as sturdy as the headphones. On the upside, these headphones are rated IPX6 for sweat and water resistance, but we haven't tested this.

7.5
Design
Stability

The Altec Lansing True Evo are stable headphones for running and working out. You might need to take some time to find the perfect fit with all the tip and fin options, but once you get it right, they barely move in your ears. Unfortunately, the bud design is bulky, and you might feel like they aren’t very stable. On the upside, they are truly wireless, and you won’t have to worry about a cable getting stuck on something and pulling them out of your ears.

Design
Headshots 1
Design
Headshots 2
Design
Top
Design
In The Box

  • Altec Lansing True Evo headphones
  • Charging case
  • 7x tips
  • 2x foam tips
  • 3x stability fins
  • Carrying pouch
  • Charging cable
  • Manuals

Sound
Sound
Sound Profile
Bass Amount
2.42 dB
Treble Amount
-1.69 dB
8.8
Sound
Frequency Response Consistency
Avg. Std. Deviation
0.25 dB

The Altec Lansing True Evo's frequency response consistency is great. Assuming the user can achieve a proper fit and an air-tight seal using the assortment of tips that come with the headphones, they should get consistent bass and treble delivery every time they use the headphones. However, since the buds are big, some people may have difficulty getting a good seal.

Sound
Raw Frequency Response
6.2
Sound
Bass Accuracy
Std. Err.
5.36 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
22.78 Hz
Low-Bass
-1.48 dB
Mid-Bass
5.94 dB
High-Bass
7.64 dB

The Altec Lansing True Evo have passable bass accuracy. LFE (low-frequency extension) is down to 23Hz, which is great. However, the sub-bass range, responsible for low-end thump and rumble, is slightly lacking. However, this shouldn’t be too noticeable on headphones. On the other hand, mid-bass, responsible for the body of bass guitars and the punch of kick drums, and high-bass, responsible for warmth, are over our target by about 6dB and 8dB, respectively, resulting in an overpowering and boomy sounding bass.

7.4
Sound
Mid Accuracy
Std. Err.
3.43 dB
Low-Mid
1.54 dB
Mid-Mid
-4.12 dB
High-Mid
-3.21 dB

The Altec Lansing True Evo wireless earbuds have decent mid-range accuracy. Low-mid is slightly overemphasized, which adds to the muddiness and boominess caused by the excess high-bass. Mid-mid and high-mid are consistently underemphasized by about 3dB and 4dB, weakening vocals and lead instruments and pushing them to the back of the mix.

8.4
Sound
Treble Accuracy
Std. Err.
3.04 dB
Low-Treble
-2.01 dB
Mid-Treble
0.55 dB
High-Treble
-3.61 dB

The Altec Lansing True Evo's treble accuracy is great. The response is fairly flat and even throughout the range. The small peaks around 6-7KHz and 10KHz might make these frequencies a bit sibilant, but not everyone will hear it as intensely.

6.6
Sound
Peaks/Dips
Peaks
2.27 dB
Dips
1.63 dB
8.9
Sound
Imaging
Weighted Group Delay
0.29
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.86
Weighted Frequency Mismatch
1
Weighted Phase Mismatch
1.24

The stereo imaging is excellent. Their weighted group delay is at 0.29, which is very low. The group delay graph also shows that the entire response is below the audibility threshold. This ensures a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Also, the L/R drivers of our test unit were well-matched in frequency, amplitude, and phase response. This is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects (voices, instruments, video games effects) in the stereo image. Note that these results are only valid for our unit, and yours may perform differently.

0.9
Sound
Soundstage
PRTF Accuracy (Std. Dev.)
N/A
PRTF Size (Avg.)
N/A
PRTF Distance
N/A
Openness
3.2
Acoustic Space Excitation
1.3

Their passive soundstage performance is bad. This is because creating an out-of-head and speaker-like soundstage is largely dependent on activating the resonances of the pinna (outer ear). The design of in-ears and earbuds fully bypasses the pinna and doesn't interact with it. Also, because these headphones have a closed-back enclosure, their soundstage won't be perceived to be as open as that of open-back earbuds like the Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless, Google Pixel Buds 2017 Wireless, or the Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless.

6.9
Sound
Weighted Harmonic Distortion
WHD @ 90
0.499
WHD @ 100
0.331
Isolation
6.8
Isolation
Noise Isolation
Isolation Audio
Overall Attenuation
-17.6 dB
Noise Cancelling No
Bass
-5.74 dB
Mid
-18.53 dB
Treble
-29.83 dB

The Altec Lansing True Evo's noise isolation performance is okay. These in-ear headphones don't have active noise cancelling and passively achieve about 6dB of isolation in the bass range, which is mediocre. It won't be quite adequate for reducing the rumble of airplane and bus engines that occupy that frequency range. In the mid-range, important for blocking out speech, they isolate more than 18dB, which is good. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts and fan noises like A/C systems, they achieved about 30dB of isolation, which is also good.

8.9
Isolation
Leakage
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
27.78 dB

The Altec Lansing True Evo's leakage performance is excellent. These in-ears leak very little audio, so you don't need to worry about disturbing people around you unless you are blasting your music in a very quiet room. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at 1 foot away averages 28dB SPL and peaks at 37dB SPL, which is quieter than the noise floor of an average office.

Microphone
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
In-line
No
Boom
No
Detachable Boom
N/A
Mic Yes

The Altec Lansing True Evo's microphone is mediocre, like most Bluetooth microphones. In quiet environments, speech recorded or transmitted with this mic will sound relatively thin, noticeably muffled, and lacking detail. It'll struggle to separate speech from ambient noise in noisy situations, even in moderately loud environments like a busy street.

6.6
Microphone
Recording Quality
Recorded Speech
LFE
265.23 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
2.99 dB
HFE
3,417.19 Hz
Weighted THD
12.588
Gain
42.83 dB

The Altec Lansing True Evo's integrated microphone has an adequate recording quality. The LFE of 265Hz results in recorded or transmitted speech that is relatively thin. The HFE of 3.4KHz suggests speech that lacks detail and presence, but this is expected on Bluetooth microphones. However, the understandability of speech on this microphone will be decent in quiet environments.

5.8
Microphone
Noise Handling
Speech + Pink Noise
Speech + Subway Noise
SpNR
9.03 dB

The Altec Lansing True Evo's integrated microphone has poor noise handling. In our SpNR test, the mic achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of about 9dB, indicating it is best suited for quiet environments. However, it'll struggle to separate speech from ambient noise even in moderately loud situations.

Active Features
4.8
Active Features
Battery
Battery Type
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
3.3 hrs
Additional Charges
4
Total Battery Life
16.5 hrs
Charge Time
2.7 hrs
Power Saving Feature
No
Audio While Charging
No
Passive Playback
No
Charging Port micro-USB

The Altec Lansing True Evo wireless earbuds have short 3.3-hour battery life on one charge, but thankfully the charging case gives you four additional charges for an estimated total of about 15 hours. Unfortunately, they take about the same time to charge, which is disappointing. They also can’t extend their battery life thanks to its power-saving feature, so be sure to turn them off when you’re not using them. Also, you might have to fiddle with the buds a bit to ensure they are charging in the case.

0
Active Features
App Support
App Name N/A
iOS N/A
Android N/A
macOS N/A
Windows N/A
Equalizer
N/A
ANC Control
N/A
Mic Control N/A
Room effects
N/A
Playback Control
N/A
Button Mapping N/A
Surround Sound N/A

Unfortunately, the Altec Lansing True Evo don’t have a companion app with customization options.

Connectivity
6.9
Connectivity
Bluetooth
Bluetooth Version
4.2
Multi-Device Pairing
No
NFC Pairing
No
Line of Sight Range
122 ft
Default Latency
323 ms
aptX Latency
N/A
aptX(LL) Latency
N/A

These Bluetooth-only headphones are very simple and don’t offer NFC pairing. They also can’t connect to more than one device at a time, which would have been convenient if you often switch between a PC and your phone. The Altec Lansing True Evo wireless earbuds have very high latency and may not be suitable for watching videos and gaming. You might notice a delay between what you see and what you hear. However, some devices and apps seem to compensate differently for latency, so your experience may vary.

Note: We couldn't confirm the Bluetooth version.

0
Connectivity
Non-Bluetooth Wireless
Non-BT Line of Sight Range
N/A
Non-BT Latency
N/A
0
Connectivity
Wired
Analog Audio
N/A
USB Audio
N/A
Detachable N/A
Length N/A
Connection N/A
Wired Latency
N/A

These Bluetooth-only headphones don’t have a wired connection.

Connectivity
PC / PS4 Compatibility
PC / PS4 Analog
No
PC / PS4 Wired USB
No
PC / PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
Connectivity
Xbox One Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
Xbox One Wireless
No
2.2
Connectivity
Base/Dock
Type
Charging Case
USB Input
No
Line In
No
Line Out
No
Optical Input
No
RCA Input
No
Dock Charging
Yes
Power Supply
USB

The Altec Lansing True Evo wireless earbuds come with a charging case that gives you four additional charges, but it doesn’t have any inputs. On the upside, you can use a Qi wireless charger to charge the case.