Tozo HT2 Review

The HT2 is a true crowd-pleaser; some of our experts had a hard time handing it over when testing was done.

Sound Quality

“What a pleasant surprise!” our expert ear tester proclaimed when assessing Tozo's sound. The sound mix is friendly and balanced with sufficient detailing. If you like to crank the volume, the HT2's 40-millimeter drivers will take you there, maintaining clarity across loud, powerful wails from your favorite rock and metal. More discerning ears will notice the lack of pristine, crisp detailing and a fully expansive soundstage, especially when listening at low volumes. Still, these do an incredible job for the price. Most average listeners will find it hard to differentiate the sound quality between the Tozo and the premium models.

Sound Quality Ratings

Product	Bass	Mid-Range	Treble
Best	9.5	9.4	8.8
Average	7	7.2	6.4
Tozo HT2	6.9	6.5	6.7
Worst	4.3	4.0	2.5

The HT2's greatest strong suit is its widely appealing sound profile: “Not too heavy in the bass, warm and inoffensive mids, and present highs with some glimmer and teeth.” The bass has a powerful presence but doesn't dominate the mix. The heavy metal hit “Atlas, Rise!” by Metallica tends to overwhelm some headsets with its commanding bass drum and bass guitar, but the HT2 handles it, providing the right amount of thump without blowing out the mix.

The mids are pleasing and unassuming, though you're unlikely to pick out any new minuscule details you hadn't noticed before. Vocal harmonies in folk songs like “Helplessly Hoping” by Crosby, Stills, & Nash and indie tracks like “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence & The Machine are particularly delightful with the Tozo. The highs are forward and more than acceptable, but not as fully fleshed out with crisp detailing as others. Occasionally, the upper registers can bite, like when listening to the high-hitting Joni Mitchell in “California,” but not with enough consistency to fault the HT2.

Soundstage

While it falls short of some pricier models, the Tozo delivers an admirable soundstage experience with enough instrument separation that the listener can “feel as if they are at a live performance.” We had to crank up the volume to fully tune out ambient sounds, but we eventually felt immersed in our own sonic world. “The Battle,” an epic orchestral production by Hans Zimmer, showcases the HT2's great stereo spread.

Soundstage Ratings

Product	Expert ear Soundstage Score
Best	9.5
Tozo HT2	7.0
Average	6.8
Worst	3.0

Frequency Response

Supplementing our assessment is a measurement of the Tozo's frequency response. Frequency response gives a sense of the overall balance of the sound mix and highlights which music genres will shine or feel underwhelming.

We spent hours creating our Target Curve, considering what profile produces a broadly appealing sound signature. The HT2 tracks our Target Curve almost perfectly, indicating it provides the right amount of emphasis at every frequency to create a balanced sound mix that most users will love.

One of our testers elegantly said, “Each musical voice comes through clearly with enough emphasis to acknowledge its unique timbre while contributing to a blended soundscape that sounds rich, balanced, and nuanced in texture and depth.” The bass is slightly elevated above our curve, but doesn't sound overly emphasized. There's a narrow peak in the middle of the treble range, which explains why the highs can sometimes sound a bit shouty if they hit the 8-kiloHertz mark.

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Comfort and Fit

Tozo seems to have taken design inspiration from Bose when crafting the HT2. The earcups and headband are softly padded and wrapped in a smooth faux leather that is a joy to wear for low-impact activities like housework and dog walking. We wore them comfortably for six hours without issue. The earpads can get sweaty, and without a water resistance rating, you need to be careful to avoid moisture buildup in the earcups.

The fit is fully adjustable with swiveling earcups and an aluminum slider-extending headband, but if you have a small or narrow head, the HT2 can feel big. It was pretty stable, passing the deep back stretch test and falling off only with vigorous head banging. However, another tester with a narrow face experienced the headphones slipping off, even on the smallest setting. On the plus side, all our ears fit well into the 59 x 40-millimeter earcups.

Noise Cancellation

You can't always get everything on a budget; noise cancellation is one feature where the HT2 falls short. Sure, it has active noise cancellation, but it's ineffective.

With ANC enabled, the Tozo blocks an average of 21 decibels across the entire frequency spectrum, which is good but not great. The ANC primarily works in the sub-800 Hertz frequency range, with the remainder of the noise blocking provided passively by the fit of the headphones themselves (with ANC off). We could still hear mumbly conversations, but birds and keyboards were effectively blocked. One of our testers said, “It's more like it turns the volume down for outside noises, than truly blocking them.”

The HT2 also offers Reduce Wind Noise, Leisure, Adaptive, and Transparency. The wind mode cancels out the bass range, letting speech through. Leisure mode is for those who experience disorientation or discomfort with typical ANC. It turns down the ANC in the hopes of alleviating some of that sensitivity. The adaptive mode automatically adjusts the ANC level to the environment. Transparency mode lets external sounds pass through, but it can uncomfortably amplify the sound of some ambient noise.

Ease of Use

With a comfortable design, intuitive controls, customizable EQ, and a reliable connection, the Tozo checks most of the boxes.

User Experience Ratings

Product	Comfort	Controls	Customization
Best	10.0	8.5	8
Tozo HT2	8.0	8.5	7.5
Average	7.6	8	6.8
Worst	4.0	6.0	5

We wish it were easier to pair two devices for Multipoint and that the Tozo app didn't feel so spammy, but overall, the HT2 rocks.

Controls

It is incredibly easy to navigate the all-button controls while wearing the Tozo. There are three controls on the right earcup, with a multipurpose button and volume rocker on the back and an ANC mode button on the front. The HT2 also supports passive playback, so if the battery dies on a long travel day, you can plug in to continue.

Customization

Tozo provides users with a fully customizable EQ. The app has 16 EQ presets (which almost is too many) and a 10-point manual slider. We noticed a drastic change in the sound mix when using the presets or the slider. So, if you want more thump than the default balanced sound signature, you can have that.

The app also offers access to six different ANC modes. The Explore feature has many ambient sound options like “Thunderstorm and Light Rain,” though we didn't find the sounds impressive.

The app includes many unnecessary features, such as a social media component that links users to the Tozo community and a shopping platform.

Connectivity

The HT2 paired easily with Android and Apple devices and reliably held that connection. The Bluetooth 5.3 connection was so strong that the HT2 continued streaming music up to 130 feet from our paired device in an outdoor setting with minimal interference.

Unfortunately, achieving a Multipoint connection was cumbersome. We had to turn Bluetooth off on the first device before pairing the second, but in the grand scheme, this is a minor hiccup that many competitors share. The Multipoint feature worked beautifully once both devices were paired, seamlessly switching audio between Apple and Android devices.

Reported Connectivity Issues

Product	Percent Cited
Worst	1.81
Average	0.58
Tozo HT2	0.49
Best	0.00

A mere 0.49% of 1-star Amazon User Reviews report any issues, which is a little better than average.

Battery

Tozo claims that the HT2 will last 40 hours with the ANC enabled and the volume set at 50%. We only eked out 25 hours, with multiple tests. We had the volume fully maxed, but the change in volume does not account for the wide difference. Despite the discrepancy, 25 hours wasn't the worst and is about average.

According to the manufacturer, two hours of charge time is required to recharge fully. You can continue listening after your battery dies by plugging your headphones into your device.

Call Quality

The Tozo falls short in our call quality metric. While it has three microphones dedicated to voice detection, the speech is relayed with a distorted quality that can be hard to understand.

This was the case across all our test settings. While the Tozo performed slightly better in our simulated call from a quiet environment than it did from a noisy one, our real-life demo call was unimpressive. These results indicate that the HT2 shouldn't be the first choice for making phone calls.

The Tozo attempts to dilute loudspeaker announcements and roaring train sounds in our simulated phone call from a subway, but doesn't do a great job.

In a simulated office setting, the Tozo fares better, but the quality is still lacking. Even without a noisy setting, the call quality is subpar.

In addition to simulated phone calls, we also conducted real-life phone calls from a secluded conference room. As we experienced in the lab, the live phone calls were gravelly. Words ran together, and some syllables cut out.

Should You Buy the Tozo HT2?

The HT2 is a great choice for college students, commuters, and money-conscious shoppers. It does what you want headphones to do, and the sound is highly customizable with an EQ slider and presets that will bring the most vibrancy to your rap, rock, acoustic, or jazz mixes. It's incredibly comfortable, but kids with smaller heads or adults with narrower heads may find the larger fit unstable. The biggest consideration you'll want to make before purchasing is whether you are okay with so-so noise canceling. If you need to tune out the world, we have other recommendations.

What Other Wireless Headphones Should You Consider?

The 1More SonoFlow offers better performance across the board for a marginally higher price. The JBL Tune 720 BT has one of the best call quality performances and battery life, but it isn't as comfy as the HT2 and lacks ANC.