Pairing and Customization

The Shanling MTW300 uses the newer, mainstream QCC3040 wireless chipset with native Bluetooth 5.2 support, and I had no issues pairing it with my phone on Bluetooth 5.0, my laptop on Bluetooth 5.1, and my PC with the Intel AX210 NIC on Bluetooth 5.2. Pairing is quite simple since it comes up as a new device under the same name. There is the option to pair in mono by only taking one of the earbuds out of the case, but removing both will trigger pairing in stereo mode, which is how I used these. It is also here that we see not much has changed as far as codec support goes, with Qualcomm aptX being the best option on most Android devices, other than the basic SBC codec. This means you do not get any aptX HD or LDAC support. On iOS, we just have the AAC codec to go on.


Despite Shanling not advertising it much on the packaging or the user guide, the MTW300 is still somewhat supported by the first-party Shanling Controller mobile app available on both Android and iOS. There are a couple of language barriers to jump over, including the home page itself with the MTW300 shown on it if it is already paired to the mobile device. There's a green light indicating as much, but then the button below reads "disconnected." Pressing it actually disconnects the earphones from the app, so this should actually read "Disconnect." The hamburger menu on the left brings up three option menus, including checking for any firmware updates, pulling up a brief user guide, and finding out more about the app. I will say that when the earphones are indeed disconnected from the app, it reads "Connection" for the red light, which at least makes more sense. There is also a voice cue on the earphones that confirms the status of the MTW300 and helps avoid any confusion.


There are some obvious issues in addition to the language barrier since some options simply do not work. This could be a limitation of the chipset used, but it is also clearly a work in progress, which explains the lack of marketing. I still recommend using the app since you do get more working options than not, includes volume memory and channel balance, changing the gain setting, and the voice prompt tone itself.


There is also a very handy 10-band equalizer which, when turned on, allows the user to pick between several genre-specific presets and a custom one to make your own. The presets can also be customized at any time, and there is a slider action to change the frequency range, which unfortunately is a bit finicky and can result in inadvertent EQ changes instead. The other two pages at the bottom don't do anything, but the app at least says as much in some cases. Shanling confirmed that the MTW300 is not officially supported by the app at this time, so I don't fault the issues necessarily as much as clearly not having the app ready to go at launch. If you treat this as a freebie, it does help. Compared to competing solutions with fully supported apps for further customization, this experience falls short. There is no guarantee that the app will be updated for complete functionality with the MTW300, so go in knowing this current state of affairs may be the best-case scenario.