Closer Examination

The case is instrumental to true wireless earphones, providing storage and charging capability, and I am happy to see Monoprice has done more than just take on one of the two common designs that seem so prevalent in the TWS world. With a predominantly black color and an off-white logo, the color scheme and design are both in line with the clean aesthetics expected of Monolith products. The majority of the plastic case gets a matte finish, and the top has a glossy finish for better contrast with the Monolith logo. It might as well be a rectangular cuboid with rounded corners throughout. There is no other branding or certification information on the box, with a notch in the front to open it and an in-set hinge on the back finishing the clean aesthetics. A USB Type-C port greets us on the back too, which is where the provided cable from earlier comes into play to charge the case.

Lifting up the lid gives us our first look at the earphones that come nestled in place and protected for a pristine unboxing experience. The printed technical specifications of the case are extremely hard to make out on purpose and even harder to photograph. They tell us that it takes 5 V input and a maximum current of 545 mA, so USB 2.0 will suffice for charging. The battery capacity is rated for 2 Wh, and when you open the lid, an LED indicates the battery status when charging or discharging in pulses as shown in the manual. This does help keep things clean, but is very easy to miss altogether unless you are looking for it. Regardless, with a peak of 2.72 W fed and a 2.02 Wh capacity, the total charging time will be ~1 hour 20 minutes on paper, and closer to 1.5 hours in practice. The case also provides 84 mA to each ear bud over 5 V, so each bud has a battery capacity of 0.42 Wh, and thus the case has two charge cycles at most, which is exactly what Monoprice rates it at. This is a shame since the case is large enough to easily accommodate a much higher-capacity battery.


Taking the buds out for a closer examination, we see a similar color scheme with a predominantly black base and the off-white logo in the middle. Thankfully, there is no glossy finish anywhere, and the ear buds come fully charged and with a plastic cover over the magnetic charging pins, which you need to remove for connectivity of the case to the ear buds for charging. Expect the LED on each bud to shine when you take it out, first to indicate the battery level and then to show that the pairing process has initiated. These are relatively large ear buds with a design unlike most others unless you have come across the Tronsmart Apollo Bold, so on this level alone, Monoprice deserves some props. As assumed earlier, a size M silicone ear tip comes pre-installed on each bud.


Holding them in hand, actual mass density is quite low. Yes, these are larger than usual mostly owing to that large circular shell, but made out of plastic and with a smaller capacity battery than average for TWS earbuds, let alone ANC TWS ones. This results in a weight of ~6.6 g for each ear bud, which should be fine for comfort. There is somewhat of an ergonomic design, as the extension housing and LED coupled with the circular shell will fit the ear conchas better than just a spherical ear bud. Two larger vents along the sides and two smaller ones on the back are for comfort, but also hold the microphones for headset functionality as well as the hybrid noise cancellation.

The inner surface has the magnetic pins that come in handy with the charging case and a marker to indicate L/R earbuds in case it is not immediately obvious. Removing the ear tips is simple enough, and we see retaining notches for a secure fit in conjunction with the provided silicone tips. A protective mesh on the protruding nozzle keeps the working assembly inside clean from dirt, ear wax, hair, and other extraneous particles. The nozzle is also more oval in shape, although the ear tip bore is still circular.