Rating: ⅗
There has been a lot of hype with this brand, and I am very excited to have the chance to try and review them.
Likes & Dislikes most:
There is a lot to like about these wireless earbuds.
I most liked the aesthetic of the earbuds and the case.
Appearance:
The appearance of the earbuds and the case are very modern. I love how sleek and black the case is. The transparent case and earbuds are very cool, and give it a very modern techy kind of look. However, right out the box there was a scratch along the bottom of my case.
It has a very unique look. I love that you can see the magnets inside the case as well as the small text inside the case. The LED indicators to show that they are charging and are very responsive on my wireless charging pad. The case is very light and easy to carry around.
Here are some photos of the text inside the case and on the earbuds:
Setup and connection:
The setup was very easy. To pair to an IPhone, there is a small button on the side of the case. To pair, simply hold the button and the headphones become discoverable.
When using them at home, I found the connectivity to be quite good as well. I had my phone in my living room, with the headphones in my ears while i was doing dishes in the kitchen. A distance of about 25 feet with a wall separating me from my phone. The music did not cut out at all during that time.
Functionality:
The battery life with the active noise cancellation was about 4 hours while I used them at work. Doing some research, I found that other similar earbuds can last from 5 to 7 hours with active noise cancellation. However, for me personally this is not a huge deal since I will primarily use these for working out for max one hour and a half. However, this may be something to keep in mind if you are using them for long plane rides/travels.
I found the active noise cancellation to work very well. I could not hear anything outside the earbuds at all when at the gym, even though my music was not turned up that high.
To control your music, there are several gestures you can do on the earbuds themselves.
By sliding your fingers along the earbuds you can adjust the volume. You can also start/stop the music by tapping on the side of the earbuds.
You can also set a customize some of the gestures. For example, you can change what three taps on the earbuds will do (next song/previous song), or change if the tap and hold will activate the noise cancellation or not.
However, I did find the gestures to be finicky at times. Sometimes it would not register my taps or changing the volume. Not sure if I received a bad pair but this is a core feature and should not have such issues.
One feature I did like is that the earbuds will automatically play music when the earbuds are in your ears and pause when they are removed.
Performance in different scenarios:
Its great to use at the gym. It stayed very steady in my ears the whole time and I didn’t have any connectivity issues.
I have used a lot of different wireless earbuds in the past. From the $50-$100 range. Most of them have had issues with connectivity depending on where the phone is placed. For example, if I’m doing bench with my phone in my pocket, it will sometimes cut out on my cheaper wireless earbuds. These I have had no issues with.
In addition to that, the USB C charging port is convenient as well since most devices charge via USB C these days. Some of my lower end wireless earbuds charge via micro USB which now feels archaic.
Overall, I find the sound quality of the earbuds quite good for mids, but not enough bass.
The mic is quite good when taking calls, no issues on that front.
Comparison with other similar products:
I know that there are some similar products out there that are rated IPX5, meaning they are rain and sweat proof, whereas these are IPX4 splash proof. I wonder how they will hold up in rain and heavy workouts. Battery life is not as impressive as some out there but for normal usage it should not be an issue.
Suggestions for the products:
This might just be me but I kept struggling to put the earbuds correctly into the case. I would put them in on the wrong side and have to flip them around. Eventually, I got the hang of it though. If there was something on the case to make it more intuitive then that would be great for future earbuds.
Price range:
I think $100 is a fair price to pay for these earbuds. They are affordable and offer a lot of the features other popular wireless earbuds on the market currently have. For a pair of budget earbuds, these are quite a good option.
