Nokia E3100 Review - A pair of TWS with good audio in hip colors

The Nokia E3100 TWS buds are the other pair from Nokia along with the E3500. These wireless buds are colorful and hip. How do they sound though?

Meet the Nokia E3100 TWS earbuds

Build Quality/Design

This is a great looking device

The Nokia E3100's overall design is a mix of small form factors and great color combinations. The charging case itself is made out of plastic with a matte finish. It has a pill shape with a very light feel. The magnetic mechanism for closing the lid is strong. It is not easy to open with one hand due to its shape. However, the hinge, for the price, is pretty reliable too.

The lid of the charging case

The earbuds themselves look chic and feel very light. It has a stem-less shape typical to most TWS earbuds in the price range. The material used for the body is plastic with a matte finish. It also features multiple silicone tips that are soft and comfortable. Both are IPX5 water splash resistant which is great for fitness buffs. Both earbuds have LED indicators used for pairing and charging.

The colorful earbuds

Instead of touch controls, both earbuds have a physical button that can be easily pressed. There are different press combinations for different functions discussed later in this article.

Comfort/Isolation

What you get in the box

The Nokia E3100 is very comfortable to use. It does not fall off my ear since I found the perfect tip among the three total pairs you get out of the box. Working out and walking proves that it has a secure fit. However, the uber-light build of it always gives me that feeling that it might fall off anytime. Fortunately, it did not.

You get two more pairs of silicone tips

Sound isolation is great too. Racking up the volume to around 60 to 70 percent while watching videos immersed me in the content. There's no Ambient Mode like the Nokia E3500 though but it's no big deal for us especially for the asking price.

Battery

The Nokia E3100 has a 45mAh battery in each earbud. The charging case itself has a 400mAh battery to extend its battery life. It is marketed to last up to 10+ hours of music playback via A2DP and up to 20 hours with the charging case.

In our experience, the E3100 TWS easily lasted for a full day. We use it for around 5 hours a day for music while working out and working. The charging case was able to last a full week before needing a recharge as well so that's great. We played music and other audio at 70 percent volume all throughout our tests.

For charging, the earbuds can be fully charged at around 1 hour and 30 minutes. The charging case can fully charge the buds at around 3 to 4 times over.

The charging case can be fully charged via USB-C charging in around 2 hours. No wireless charging here though. There is an LED indicator that changes according to the charge. Just like the Nokia E3500, 1 dot means low battery, 2 means around 25 percent, 3 means 50 percent. 4 means 75 percent, and a line means full battery.

Features

The Nokia E3100 TWS can be easily connected to your device once paired. Pairing is easy enough. Once out of the case, you can press the buttons for 2 seconds to enter pairing mode. Once detected by the device you are using, allow it to pair, and that's it. Once paired, reconnecting is as easy as taking it out of the case.

Connectivity is reliable with our POCO X3 NFC and realme 7. However, there are some times that we lose connection to the left earbud when walking or lying down in bed. It can be an isolated case though but we still think it's worth noting.

When it comes to music playback and video playback, it is great with little to no latency. However, in calls, the mic seems to be cutting on and off too just like in Nokia E3500. We tried to reposition it so that the mic is closer to our mouths but to no avail. Recording audio does not recreate the same problem though. We compared it using our Galaxy Buds to make sure that it is not our phone and we can confirm that it is not. It still uses Bluetooth 5.0 though.

Here is are the touch controls:

Press once - Play/Pause, Answer Call

Double Press Right Earbud - Next, End Call

Double Press Left Earbud - Ambient Mode

Press for 2 seconds Right - Volume Up, Reject Call

Press for 2 seconds Left - Volume Dow, Reject Call

Triple Press - Voice Assistant

The touch controls are intuitive and easy to understand. You can also restart the earbuds by holding both buttons for 6 seconds. Hold it for 9 seconds and you can factory reset it. These are great touch controls but it is weird not having a previous track option. However, if you wanna use it lying down, you need to stay straight as turning to your side will activate the controls easily.

In the box, you get a short USB-C cable for charging and three different-sized silicone tips. The charging chase itself is made out of plastic but does not feel cheap.

Audio

It has a 6mm dynamic driver for each earbud

The Nokia E3100 has a 6mm dynamic driver in each earbud. This audio driver delivers good quality audio. Bass is not that prominent but ample enough for the price. In the mids and highs, we can say that it is pretty balanced. I enjoyed listening to music and watching movies. Music came with a rich sound with a good balance of bass, mids, and highs.

Dialogs in Netflix shows and movies came out clear while actions sound like explosions and ambient environmental noises can be a hit or miss. There are shows or movies wherein the sound effects overpower dialog but this may not be the Nokia E3100's issue but the media itself. Even at just 50 to 60 percent volume, you can clearly hear what you are listening to.

However, we also had trouble with the microphones of the Nokia E3100 for calls. Just like the Nokia E3500, the person I am talking to is always having trouble hearing me. They say that my audio cuts in and out. Again, this may be an isolated case in our units but we felt that it is worth noting.

The same problem is not present in recordings though. The issue is consistent between three phones which are Samsung Galaxy Note 10, POCO X3 NFC, and realme 7.

Pros - Chic and colorful design, long battery life, good Bluetooth codec support, great audio quality with balanced bass/mids/highs, IPX5 water splash resistance

Cons - No wireless charging, inconsistent microphone

Nokia E3100 Specs

Drivers: 6mm dynamic

Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz

Impedance: 32 ohms

Microphone: MEMS x1

Battery: 45mAh (per earbud), 400mAh (charging case)

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 HSP, HFP, AVRCP, A2DP (SBC, aptX)

Others: IPX5 water splash resistance, button controls, Google Assistant, USB-C, Colors: Black, Blue, Orange, Red, Light Blue

Weight: 4 g (per earbud), 30 g (case)

Price: PHP 1,999

Verdict

For PHP 1,999, the Nokia E3100 is a fun-looking and good-sounding budget-friendly TWS earbuds. It also has amazing battery life, responsive controls, IPX5 resistance, and great Bluetooth Codec support.

However, the lack of wireless charging though forgivable is something we miss. Mic responsiveness during calls can also be improved.

Overall, as a budget-friendly TWS earbud, we highly recommend the Nokia E3100.

Build/Design - 4.5

Comfort/Isolation - 4.0

Battery Life - 4.5

Features - 4.0

Sound - 4.25

Average - 4.25/5