- Table of Contents
- Intro
- Our Verdict
- Test Results
- Compared To Others
- Deals
- Discussions
The TOZO T12 are a decent pair of budget-friendly truly wireless earbuds. They’re lacking in frills and features but have a sturdy, somewhat comfortable design. Their sound profile is bass-heavy but not overwhelming, so they're suitable for a fairly wide range of musical genres and audio content. On the downside, their battery performance isn’t particularly impressive, their integrated mic is sub-par, and their deep in-ear fit may not suit everyone. Still, if you’re looking for a fairly versatile set of earbuds and don't want the hassle of a wired connection, they aren’t a bad choice.
Our Verdict
The TOZO T12 are satisfactory for mixed usage. They offer decently well-balanced audio reproduction with plenty of extra bass to keep you pumped up. Combined with their sturdy construction and stable fit, they’re not a bad choice for taking to the gym or out on a run. They’re also incredibly portable, do a very good job of passively blocking out ambient noise, and barely leak any audio, so they’re a good fit for your daily commute. Unfortunately, they don’t have enough battery to get you through the daily grind without several stints in their charging case.
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Stable fit.
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Very good passive noise isolation.
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Sturdy build quality.
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Short continuous battery life.
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Sub-par microphone noise handling capability.
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No multi-device pairing.
The TOZO T12 are adequate for neutral sound. They have an overemphasized bass that creates a fair bit of boominess, but their amazingly well-reproduced mids prevent vocals and lead instruments from sounding overly muddy or cluttered. Their treble accuracy is satisfactory, though some listeners may experience a bit of harshness. Unfortunately, they don't have a companion app with EQ presets to personalize your listening experience. Like most in-ears, they provide a very closed-off, narrow soundstage.
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Bass-heavy but not overwhelming sound profile.
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No EQ in companion app.
The TOZO T12 are good for commuters and travelers. They’re small enough to be easily tossed into your pocket or a bag and an excellent job of blocking out chatter from fellow commuters. That said, the rumble of bus and train engines may disturb your listening experience on the way home. They also don’t have an especially long continuous battery life, so if you’ve used most of their charge at work, you may have to put them back in their case. It's possible to listen to one bud at a time while the other recharges.
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Very good passive noise isolation.
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Sturdy build quality.
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Remarkably low audio leakage.
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Short continuous battery life.
The TOZO T12 are great for sports. They feel sturdy, have a secure fit that shouldn’t fall out of your ears, even during moderately strenuous exercise, and are rated IPX8 for water and sweat resistance, though we don’t currently test for that. Meanwhile, their bass-heavy sound profile should keep you pumped up during your next workout session while their intuitive control scheme lets you make simple adjustments without interrupting your rhythm.
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Stable fit.
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Sturdy build quality.
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Bass-heavy but not overwhelming sound profile.
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Short continuous battery life.
The TOZO T12 are alright for office use. They do an outstanding job of blocking out the chatter of fellow coworkers and the high-pitched hum of a noisy AC unit, so you can stay focused on your work. They also barely leak any audio, so even if you’re the type to blast your music at high volumes, you won’t disturb people nearby, even in a quiet workplace. Unfortunately, their 5.3-hour battery life won’t last you the day without a stint in their charging case. Meanwhile, their deep in-ear fit may become a little fatiguing during longer listening sessions.
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Very good passive noise isolation.
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Remarkably low audio leakage.
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Short continuous battery life.
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No multi-device pairing.
The TOZO T12 can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs, but their audio latency is a little too high for them to be well-suited for wireless gaming. They also aren’t compatible with PS4 and Xbox One consoles.
The TOZO T12 are Bluetooth-only and can’t be used with a wired connection.
The TOZO T12 are passable for phone calls. While your voice should sound somewhat natural over the line, it’s also perceived as being thin and muffled. Their integrated mic also does a middling job of isolating speech from background noise, so people may have a hard time understanding you if you call from a noisy or crowded environment. Thankfully, you should hear people talking to you more clearly as these in-ears do a good job of passively isolating you from background noise.
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Very good passive noise isolation.
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Sub-par microphone noise handling capability.
- 7.0 Mixed Usage
- 6.8 Neutral Sound
- 7.6 Commute/Travel
- 8.0 Sports/Fitness
- 6.7 Office
- 5.1 Wireless Gaming
- 5.0 Wired Gaming
- 6.2 Phone Calls
- Updated Aug 25, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Aug 18, 2020: Early access published.
Test Results
The TOZO T12 are conventional-looking truly wireless earbuds. They have a primarily matte plastic construction that resists fingerprints, although they’re accented with a glossy outer ring. Aesthetically, they're similar to the TOZO T10 Truly Wireless, though they're slightly larger and rounder.
The TOZO T12 are decently comfortable. They enter the ear canal pretty deeply but come with a wide assortment of ear tips, which should help you find a suitable fit. Thanks to their touch-sensitive controls, you won’t need to exert nearly as much force to make an input compared to the TOZO T10 Truly Wireless’ stiff physical buttons. Combined with their plusher tips, the T12 are less tiring to wear during long listening sessions.
These in-ears have an alright control scheme. The outer faces of the buds are touch-sensitive and are decently easy to use. A single press of either bud plays and pauses your music and answers incoming calls. A quick double-tap of the right bud skips your current track while the same command on the left unit skips backward. Volume controls are similar, with long presses on the left and right buds to lower and increase media volume, respectively. Overall, this control scheme offers good levels of feedback, with voice prompts for all functions except for volume changes, which notify you with beeps.
Like most truly wireless headphones such as the ENACFIRE E60, the TOZO T12 are exceptionally portable. It’s easy to put them into your pocket or throw them into a bag. Though their charging case is a little on the tall side, it’s still not too big and is pretty easy to carry around with you.
These headphones have a good charging case. It feels sturdy and should protect the headphones from bumps, drops, and falls without issues. It’s also IPX8-rated for water resistance, though this isn’t something we currently test for. Much like the TOZO T10 Truly Wireless’ case, it supports wireless charging. It also features a small interior display for the buds’ and case’s battery status, between the buds' charging cradles.
The TOZO T12’s build quality is good. The buds and case are made of dense, high-grade plastic that shouldn’t be damaged by small drops and falls. The buds are also rated IPX8 for total submersion in water, though this isn’t something we currently test for.
The TOZO T12 are decently stable. They should stay in your ears during mildly intense workouts, despite lacking stability fins or ear hooks.
These headphones have a somewhat excited V-shaped sound profile that provides more than enough low-end thump and rumble for fans of EDM and hip-hop as well as an overly bright treble response that occasionally sounds a little piercing. That said, mids are sufficiently well-reproduced so that vocals and lead instruments won’t be drowned out, making them more musically versatile than the muddier and more cluttered-sounding TOZO T10 Truly Wireless.
The frequency response consistency of the TOZO T12 is fantastic. So long as you find a secure, airtight seal with the included ear tips, you should get a consistent listening experience every time you wear them.
The bass accuracy of these in-ears is mediocre. It’s heavily overemphasized across the range, which results in a fair bit of boominess in some tracks. That said, fans of bass-heavy genres like EDM and hip-hop may prefer the added thump and rumble.
These headphones' mid accuracy is excellent. Aside from a slight dip in the mid-mid range that nudges vocals and lead instruments toward the back of the mix, sounds in this frequency range are amazingly well-reproduced. This results in clear, full-bodied vocals and lead instruments without any clutter or harshness.
The TOZO T12 have satisfactory treble accuracy. It's fairly bright overall, though they have an overemphasized low-treble response that generates a bit of harshness in some tracks.
Their peaks and dips performance is good. Most of the entire frequency range is fairly flat, with a couple of noticeable deviations. There’s a dip in the mid-mids that pushes vocals and lead instruments toward the back of the mix, as well as a sharp peak in the low-treble that causes some harshness. That's followed by a drop in the mid-treble range that makes some sibilants sound dull and lispy.
The TOZO T12 deliver remarkable stereo imaging performance. Their weighted group delay falls entirely beneath the audibility threshold, which guarantees tight bass and transparent treble. The L/R drivers are also exceptionally well-matched in regards to amplitude, frequency, and phase response. These traits are important in accurately localizing objects and sound effects in the stereo image, which in turn makes for a more immersive listening experience. That said, these results are only valid for our test unit, and yours may perform differently.
The TOZO T12’s passive soundstage is terrible, which is normal for a pair of in-ear headphones. Since they bypass the outer-ear and have a closed-back design, they deliver a closed-off listening experience that causes sound to be perceived as coming from the inside of your head rather than as a speaker setup placed around you.
These truly wireless headphones don’t have any virtual soundstage features.
The weighted harmonic distortion performance of these in-ears is excellent. There are no significant spikes across the frequency spectrum, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction.
These are the settings used to test the TOZO T12. Our results are only valid when the headphones are configured this way.
The TOZO T12’s noise isolation performance is very good. You likely won’t hear too much background chatter or ambient high-pitched noise, as these headphones block out a substantial amount of sound in the mid and treble range. Unfortunately, they struggle somewhat with lower-pitched frequencies like the rumble of bus, plane, and train engines. For headphones with an ANC feature that offer a better noise isolation performance, check out the TOZO NC9 Truly Wireless.
These in-ears leak almost no audio. You should be able to listen to your music at very high volumes without disturbing anyone nearby, even if you’re in a quiet setting like a library.
These headphones have an integrated microphone.
The TOZO T12’s mic recording quality is mediocre. Your voice should sound fairly natural, but also thin and somewhat muffled, so some on the other end of the line may occasionally have a hard time understanding you.
The noise handling performance of the TOZO T12’s integrated mic is middling. People on the other end of the line may have trouble understanding you, even if you’re calling from an only moderately noisy environment.
These headphones deliver mediocre battery performance. The headphones have a continuous runtime of just over five hours, which is sub-par. That said, their case holds approximately 3.5 charges, which should be more than enough to get you through the daily grind. That still doesn't compare favorably to the Anker Soundcore Life Dot 2 Truly Wireless, which last more than seven hours off a single charge and have a case capable of delivering over 12 additional full charges. On the plus side, you can listen to your music in mono format through one earbud while the other charges in its case.
The TOZO T12 don’t have a companion app.
The TOZO T12 have okay Bluetooth connectivity. They support Bluetooth 5.0, but not multi-device or NFC pairing. Their latency is far too high on PC to make them viable for gaming or streaming movies. While they perform much better on mobile iOS and Android devices, their audio lag is still a little high and may make hardcore mobile gaming with them a slightly frustrating experience. That said, apps compensate for this latency differently, so your experience in the real-world may vary.
These in-ears are Bluetooth-only.
The TOZO T12 can’t be used with a wired connection, though they do come with a USB-C cable to recharge their case.
The TOZO T12 can connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs, but their audio latency is far too high to make them suitable for gaming. They're incompatible with PS4 consoles.
Compared To Other Headphones
The TOZO T12 are a decently versatile pair of truly wireless earbuds that won’t break the bank. They’re well-built, very stable, and have a good noise isolation performance. On the downside, they don’t last that long on a single charge, their integrated mic is sub-par, and their deep in-ear fit may not suit everyone. If you’re looking for more options, check out our list of recommendations for the best true wireless earbuds, the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds, and the best wireless Bluetooth earbuds under $50.
The TOZO T6 Truly Wireless and the TOZO T12 Truly Wireless are very similarly-performing headphones, though the T6 hold a slight advantage. The T6 block out marginally more ambient noise, have a better-performing mic, and have a slightly longer total battery life. That said, the T12 have lower latency across all platforms and provide a marginally more accurate listening experience.
The TOZO T12 Truly Wireless are better for mixed usage than the TOZO T10 Truly Wireless. The T12 are more comfortable, have an easier-to-use control scheme, and a far better-balanced sound profile. They also last longer on a single charge and have lower audio latency across all platforms. Conversely, the T10 have a better-performing integrated mic and block out even more ambient noise.
The TOZO NC9 Truly Wireless and the TOZO T12 Truly Wireless are very similarly performing headphones, so depending on your listening habits, you may prefer one over the other. The NC9 have an ANC feature that offers better noise isolation, especially against bass-heavy background noises like bus and plane engines. However, the T12 have a better leakage performance, and their continuous battery life is a bit longer.
The Mpow M30 Truly Wireless are slightly better than the TOZO T12 Truly Wireless for mixed usage. The Mpow have a more comfortable, stable fit, a better-balanced sound profile, and a microphone that isolates speech from background noise more effectively. However, the TOZO last longer on a single charge, block out more ambient noise, and have lower wireless latency.
The ENACFIRE E60 Truly Wireless are slightly better truly wireless in-ears than the TOZO T12 Truly Wireless. The ENACFIRE are more comfortable, their sound profile is more balanced and neutral-sounding, and they have longer continuous battery life. Their charging case also holds more charges and they support aptX codec. However, the TOZO's integrated mic has a significantly better recording quality.
The TOZO T12 Truly Wireless and the TOZO NC2 Truly Wireless are quite similar headphones, but the T12 are better for most uses. The T12 have a more stable fit and deliver sound more consistently. They don't have an ANC feature, but block out more noise than the NC9s, and don't leak as much audio when you're listening at high volumes. On the other hand, the NC9s have much better battery life and a more neutral, less bass-heavy sound profile, which some users may prefer.
The Anker Soundcore Life Dot 2 Truly Wireless are slightly better for mixed usage than the TOZO T12 Truly Wireless. The Anker offer a more neutral listening experience, block out a greater amount of ambient noise, and have a better integrated microphone. However, their largest advantage is their battery life: not only do they last longer off of a single charge, but they also have a case that yields almost 100 hours of total runtime, which comfortably eclipses the TOZO’s 23.9-hour total battery life. With that said, the TOZO have slightly lower latency on mobile devices, charge a bit faster, and have a higher IPX8 rating for water resistance, though we don’t currently test for this.