TOZO NC9 Review: budget ANC earbuds that do the job without costing a fortune

I’ve been using the TOZO NC9 for a couple of weeks for work calls, commuting, and a few gaming sessions at night. I went in with pretty moderate expectations because of the price and the brand, but I was curious about the 45 dB ANC claim and the 60-hour battery they push in the description. On paper it sounds like a lot for the money, so I wanted to see what actually holds up in real use.

Most of my testing was on a laptop and a phone, bouncing between Spotify, YouTube, Teams calls, and some gaming. I also used them in a noisy room with a PC fan, in public transport, and while walking outside. So this isn’t lab testing, more like “can I live with these every day without getting annoyed”. I’ve also used other cheap earbuds before (Soundcore, Xiaomi), so I have some reference in this price range.

Overall, they come across as pretty solid budget ANC earbuds with a couple of obvious compromises. The sound is decent, the ANC is better than I expected for the price, and the battery is clearly one of the strong points. On the other hand, the transparency mode is rough, the mic is fine but not great, and they still feel like budget hardware once you pay attention to the details.

If you’re looking for something to kill background noise on a train or during office work without paying premium-brand prices, these are worth a look. If you’re picky about sound quality or call quality, or you really want wireless charging and a premium feel, you’ll probably find the limits pretty fast. I’ll break down the good and the annoying bits in more detail below.

Looking at everything together—the sound, ANC, battery, build, and the app—the NC9 offers good value for money. You’re getting hybrid ANC, a long-lasting battery with a clear display, IPX8 water resistance, an EQ app, and fairly solid comfort, all at a price that’s still in the budget zone. Compared to some big-name brands that charge two or three times more, you’re obviously giving up some polish and audio finesse, but for a lot of people that trade-off is worth it.

Where they save money is clear: no wireless charging, all-plastic build, transparency mode that’s noisy, and microphones that are fine but not premium. The design is basic, and you don’t get that “premium product” feeling in the hand. But if you’re honest about what you’re paying, the feature-to-price ratio is pretty strong. For commuting, travel, and casual listening, they do almost everything you’d expect from more expensive models, just in a slightly rougher way.

If I compare them to other budget earbuds I’ve tried (Soundcore Life series, some Xiaomi/Redmi models), the NC9 holds its own mainly in three areas: ANC strength, battery life, and the app EQ options. Sound quality is roughly on par with most bass-heavy budget models. Call quality is decent, not outstanding. So you’re basically paying for a very complete package rather than one standout feature.

In short, if your budget is limited and you want one pair that covers travel, work, and daily use, these are a sensible choice. If you’re ready to spend more, you can find better sound and cleaner transparency elsewhere. But at this price, the NC9 feels like money reasonably well spent, as long as you accept the few compromises and don’t expect high-end performance.

Design-wise, the NC9 plays it very safe. The earbuds are the usual in-ear bullet shape with a short stem, in plain black. No flashy logos, no weird shapes. If you’ve seen any cheap wireless earbuds in the last three years, you’ve basically seen these. Personally, I don’t mind. I’d rather have something low-key that doesn’t look like a toy. The finish is matte-ish plastic, which helps hide fingerprints and scratches a bit.

The charging case is small and rounded, easy to pocket. The hinge feels okay, not super solid but not loose either. You do get a little digital display on the front showing the battery level, which is actually very practical. Instead of guessing how much juice is left, you just check the percentage. The downside: the case still charges only via USB-C, no wireless charging. Not a deal-breaker, but in 2026 it would have been nice, even on a budget model.

The touch areas on the buds are clearly marked and quite sensitive. Sometimes too sensitive: if you adjust them while lying on your side or pull a hoodie over your head, you can easily pause music or toggle ANC by mistake. This matches what some Amazon reviewers said. It’s not the end of the world, but you do have to get used to touching them more carefully. Luckily, you can tweak some of the touch actions in the app, which helps a bit.

Overall, the design is functional and discreet. It doesn’t look expensive, but it also doesn’t scream cheap junk. If you want something that looks stylish or unique, this isn’t it. If you just want black earbuds that don’t draw attention and fit in a pocket, they get the job done. I’d give the design a thumbs up for practicality, with some minor annoyances on the touch control sensitivity.

Battery life is where the NC9 really pulls ahead for a budget pair. TOZO claims up to 14 hours per charge (ANC off) and 10 hours (ANC on), with a total of up to 60 hours with the case. Obviously those numbers depend on volume and usage, but in real life I got very solid results. With ANC on and volume around 60–70%, I was regularly getting around 7–8 hours before needing to drop them back in the case, which is already more than enough for a full workday with breaks.

Over a week of mixed use (a few hours a day of music, calls, and some gaming), I only had to charge the case once. The digital battery display on the case is genuinely useful. You don’t have to guess how much is left; you see the percentage, and that’s it. Compared to other cheap earbuds that just give you a vague LED color, this is much more practical. It also makes it easier to know if you need to top up before a long trip.

Charging time is about 2 hours for the case, which is fine. There’s no wireless charging, which would have been nice to just drop it on a pad, but again, we’re in budget territory. At least it’s USB-C, so you don’t need a special cable. During my tests, I never found myself in a situation where the earbuds died on me unexpectedly; the combo of long single-charge life and the case capacity is honestly one of the main reasons I’d recommend these to someone who travels or hates charging gear every day.

In short, if battery life is high on your list, these score well. Not the absolute best on the market, but far above a lot of cheap competitors that start dropping after 3–4 hours. For commuting, flights, or just not worrying about charging all the time, they’re very practical.

Comfort is actually one of the strong points here. The earbuds are light and don’t stick out too much. With the right ear tips, they sit snugly without feeling like they’re drilling into your ear canal. I wore them for several 2–3 hour stretches (work calls + music) and didn’t get that sore feeling you sometimes get with cheaper, heavier buds. The fact that they include multiple ear tip sizes really helps. It took me two tries to find the right size, but once I did, the seal was good and stable.

For day-to-day use—walking, commuting, working at a desk—they stay in place well. I did a couple of light workouts with them (basic cardio, no crazy jumping) and they didn’t fall out. I wouldn’t fully trust them for hardcore running without checking them from time to time, but for normal movement they’re fine. The IPX8 rating gives some peace of mind with sweat and light rain. I didn’t dunk them in water, but they handled sweat and a bit of drizzle with no problem.

Now the annoying part: lying on your side with them is not great. Like one of the Amazon reviews mentioned, if you try to use them in bed with your head on a pillow, the earbud gets pressed into your ear and becomes uncomfortable pretty quickly. On top of that, the side pressure easily triggers the touch controls, so you end up pausing your show or toggling ANC by accident. For me, they’re fine for watching something sitting up in bed, but not for falling asleep on my side.

Overall, I’d say comfort is good for long, upright use (work, commuting, walking) and less good for sleeping or side-lying. If you mainly want something to wear during the day and at your desk, they’re solid. If your main use case is “sleeping with earbuds in”, I’d look for something flatter and more low-profile.

On the performance side, the NC9 is honestly better than I expected for this price bracket, especially for ANC and general sound. The noise cancelling is clearly not on the same level as high-end brands, but it does a good job with constant background noises: PC fans, air conditioners, bus or train engine rumble. In front of a noisy gaming PC, the fan noise dropped to a faint hum, and I could hear in-game sounds and footsteps much more clearly, exactly like one of the Amazon reviewers said. Voices and sudden sounds still come through, but overall it makes noisy environments much more tolerable.

The sound profile out of the box is bass-heavy, which is pretty typical for this type of earbuds. You get deep, punchy bass, decent mids, and highs that are okay but nothing special. It’s fun for movies, games, and modern music. If you’re picky about audio, you’ll notice that the detail and separation are average, but for casual listening, it’s absolutely fine. The nice part is the TOZO app with EQ: you can tone down the bass, boost vocals, or pick from 32 presets. It’s a bit overkill, but at least you can adjust things instead of being stuck with a single muddy profile.

Latency is surprisingly low for Bluetooth. Watching Netflix and YouTube, I didn’t notice any lip-sync issues. For gaming, it’s not as instant as a wired headset, but for casual gaming it’s very usable. The Bluetooth 5.3 connection was stable within a normal range—no random dropouts for me within a room or two. They claim up to 15–20 meters; I didn’t measure, but I could walk around my small apartment without losing signal.

Overall performance: good ANC for the price, fun sound, stable connection. If you’re an audiophile, you’ll find the limits, but if you just want decent sound, strong bass, and something that kills background hum while you work or travel, they do the job well. The weak spots are mostly in the finer details of the sound, which is expected at this price.

Out of the box, the NC9 is pretty straightforward: charging case with a little LED display, the two earbuds, a USB-C cable, and a bunch of silicone tips. You get several sizes of ear tips, which is nice if your ears are weird like mine. The case itself is compact and light, easy to slip into a pocket without feeling like you’re carrying a rock. It’s all plastic, no metal hinges or fancy finishes, but at this price I wasn’t expecting anything more.

The spec sheet is kind of ambitious: Bluetooth 5.3, up to 60 hours of total playtime with ANC off, IPX8 water resistance, hybrid ANC up to 45 dB, and 6 mics with ENC for calls. There’s also the TOZO app with 32 EQ presets and the option to tweak touch controls. On paper, it covers basically everything most people need: commuting, gym, calls, and Netflix in bed.

In practice, most of these features work, just not all at the same level. The ANC is actually quite effective for low, constant noises like fans or engine hum. The ENC for calls is okay, but your voice still sounds a bit compressed and slightly echoey. The app is better than a lot of cheap earbud apps, but the 32 EQ options are a bit overkill; you’ll probably pick 1 or 2 and never touch the rest. Still, having an app at this price is already a plus.

If I had to sum up the presentation: this is a feature-packed budget pair. Nothing feels premium, but nothing screams toy either. You get a lot of functions, and most of them are usable. That’s already more than I can say for some other low-cost earbuds I’ve tried that promise the moon and then fall apart after a month.

In day-to-day use, the NC9 does what it says on the tin. For work calls, the 6-mic ENC setup is decent. On the other side of the call, people could hear me clearly most of the time, even with some background noise. It does a good job cutting constant noises like fans or traffic, but your voice can sound a bit processed and slightly echoey, which lines up with what one of the Amazon reviewers mentioned. It’s fine for Zoom, Teams, or phone calls, but if you do professional recording or very frequent calls, you’ll notice the compression.

For ANC effectiveness, it’s strong enough to make a real difference on public transport or next to noisy hardware. It takes the edge off engine noise and office hum, which helps you focus. It’s not total silence, but it’s enough that I found myself turning down the volume because I didn’t need to blast the sound to hear things. That’s a good sign. Where it struggles more is with higher-pitched or random noises (people talking loudly, clattering dishes), but that’s normal at this price.

On the flip side, transparency mode is the weak link. It does let some outside sound in, but it adds a noticeable hiss and doesn’t sound very natural. It’s okay if you just quickly need to hear an announcement or talk to someone for a moment, but I wouldn’t keep it on for long. I mostly used either full ANC or normal mode and just took one earbud out if I needed to really hear my surroundings.

Overall effectiveness: as an everyday tool for music, travel, and calls, they hold up well. They’re not perfect, but for the price, the mix of good ANC, usable mic quality, and long battery makes them practical. If you expect premium-level clarity and super clean transparency, you’ll be disappointed, but if you just need something that works reliably across a normal day, they get the job done.