Review: Thecoopidea CARGO True Wireless Earbuds

There’s something unique about true wireless earbuds from thecoopedia, Inspired by military style, CARGO is designed with a unique shape and it comes with a metal case.

5 hours play time is good enough for most people and it’s rated with IPX4. it has Bluetooth 5.0 and promised to deliver a low battery consumption and a stable Connection

Three colors selection for the earbuds, they are equally interesting color: the classic black, the green army green and the orange. I like them all but if you really want to go for the army style the green is definitely the best among them.

Unboxing The Cargo True Wireless

Presentation of the box is great, you can open the flap on the box and protected with a transparent plastic you can see both the earphone and the charging case.

There is a quick guide highlighted in yellow to explain how to use the true wireless earbuds for the first time. Remove the film covers, charge to 1 hour, both left and right unit will auto connect and just pair it with your phone.

It’s more than the earbuds and the case, you’ll see some accessories behind the simple presentation.

What’s included?

• Wireless earbuds
• Charging case
• Strap for the case
• 3 sizes of ear tips (S, M, L)
• USB cable
• Stickers
• Guide (4 languages)

Cargo Case Review

Like all the other true wireless free earbuds, these come with a case to protect the earbuds and allow you to charge the wireless earbuds on the go.

The case is made from metal, yes it’s metal! Really fitting the military style. It’s stylish but the problem with metal is the weight and scratch resistance.

The weight of the case is approximately 150 grams. it’s pretty heavy for a case and you can really feel the weight when you put the case inside your pocket.

The paint is not scratch resistance, you’ll have a mark pretty soon if you toss it inside your bag with keys but I’m not really worried about it, every scratch and dent add a little bit of “military character” into the case.

I don’t have any issue putting the earbuds back into the case, thanks for the magnet, it will just snap and re-align with the charger pin connector once you put the earbuds near the mold.

Opening and closing the case is pretty effortless thanks for the magnet mechanism. the magnet is not really strong and sometimes it’s opened accidentally when you take out the case with your hand, you need to remember to hold the base instead of the upper area of the case.

The case gives you an additional 30 hours of playback. The case charges with mini USB, there’s a tiny charging light indication on the case to let you know when the battery has a full charge. Too bad that it doesn’t have a wireless charging capability.

Build & Fit

The cargo has a simple and clean design with a single multi-functional button in the middle.

The earbuds made from plastic and have a slightly different finishing on the outer and inner side.

The outer side has more reflection while the inner side is smooth and matte. both sides are not a fingerprint magnet which is a really a good point.

On the button, there’s a LED indicator light. The LED will light-up when pairing / connecting to your phone and also when it’s charging.

The earbuds rated with IPX4, good enough to protect against sweat during exercise.

The earbuds are very light, I appreciate the lightness especially when I’m in the gym lifting those weights.

The earbuds are fitted and secured enough in my ear during my running session and wearing true wireless earbuds are just liberating.

Sound isolation is pretty standard, I can still hear sound from outside since it doesn’t provide a perfect seal. The additional ear tips is a welcome, for me the L size is better in fit and isolation compared to the M size.

Connectivity and Operation

The earbuds will auto on and pair each other between the left and right earbuds then it will pair with your phone.

When you put the earbuds back to the case, it will automatically disconnect the connection to the phone.

Supported by Bluetooth 5.0, the range it’s pretty good. I’ve 10 meters range with a wall and wooden door in between and there’s no connection issue, it starts to have a problem once it’s hit 11 meters and above.

Watching video could be a problem, it doesn’t sync well with between the video and the voice (lip sync issue) there’s a delay about 1 – 2 seconds. This is a common problem for the true wireless earbuds for other brands as well.

It’s a stereo for a phone call, the other party could hear me well. it’s challenging the other party to hear under the noisy environment such as inside the train (in the tunnel).

I don’t encounter any connection drop or issue but there was once or twice that I have an issue that the left bud doesn’t turn on and auto pair with the right earbuds.

I found out the issue happened when the left earbud was in the case with a wrong placement (the connector between earbud and casing is not connected)

Button on each of the earbuds allows you to give you some control like pickup/reject call, play/pause/skip track, volume up/down.

I like that it has a feedback when you press the button. the only issue that I have is if you required a long press it could hurt your ear a little bit.

Sound Impression.

Supporting Bluetooth 5.0, it supports the basic SBC and Apple audio codex AAC.

The sound signature is V-shaped with emphasized towards bright and clarity.

Some other true wireless earphone (even top tier like Sony WF-1000X) has a pretty low volume but not with Cargo. Volume gain is great, 70-80% volume (iPhone X) is good and loud enough to bring everything out in a quiet environment.

Low is present but can sound muddy at times for songs that required details and balance.

Bass could provide a good punch (with a very fast decay) depends on the song that you are playing. As an example, the Cargo performs better playing Beverly Hills Cop compared to Orinoco Flow.

Mid frequencies are a little bit too thin and lack of body. the vocal is forward. The soundstage is pretty limited but I’m surprised that it’s quite airy. Even though it’s quite forward, it could be pleasant to songs that required a little bit push like Do You Hear the People Sing.

If you like clarity, you won’t be disappointed. with emphasis on the high frequency, everything sounds sharp and clear. Sibilance is very minimum, it performs really well, much better than wired earphone at the same price range.

The Cargo performs well for a general genre like Pop, Acoustic, Soul and songs that are not demanding technically.

It couldn’t really bring out the best for demanding songs like Rock, blues, heavy metal, etc. it lacks smoothness and body when it’s required to have a balance between low, mid and high.

If you really concern about sound quality, I’m afraid that you might bump up your budget a little bit more or get a headphone instead like Sony WH-1000XM2 or the new version XM3.

Summary

With a military design and clarity of the sound with a price below $100 range, it could provide a good alternative for your wired earphone if you like the sound signature (bright) and can live with the sound slightly behind the video.

I also like how easy to use the earbuds with the auto connect and pairing feature whenever you take it out (or in) from the case.

I would love to know how many percents of battery left to be able to plan ahead.

The notification when the battery is low is pretty annoying, it has an audible voice “Low, battery please charge” every 1 minute until it died. perhaps one or two-time notification should be sufficient because I want to enjoy the little bit of juice that I’ve left.

For the case, i wouldn’t let it hang on the strap. with a good shake there’s a possibility that the case will open and your earbuds could fall because the mechanism is using a magnet and it’s not strong enough. It’s great if there’s an extra locking mechanism other than the magnet.

For wireless under $100, I believe the cargo offering something special with the military looks that none of the other manufacturers could offer.

The Cargo True Wireless is available through Lazada (Singapore) for SGD 169.90 or TheCoopidea for USD 89.90