First impressions from the first true wireless set after Airpods Gen1 (which have been broken for a few years now). They were purchased 3 days ago (25/11/23).
Until now, I used SoundCore Life Q35 when I went to outdoor meetings and an old Plantronics, which is now on its last legs, was always in my pocket just for calls. So it was time for the next road set and I wanted it to be acceptable for music in cases where the Q35 was "too much" due to its size.
The important points:
1) The call quality is very good, I can hear and be heard clearly and with good voice quality. One day with wind, the person I was talking to said that the wind could be heard normally, which for me means that it didn't cut off the sound.
2) The Noise Cancelling function is considered inadequate to non-existent. In an old subway train, the one with the independent orange carriages, I turned off the music because I practically couldn't hear anything. On the way back, with a recent train, the sound was at acceptable levels, as if I had chosen to have communication with the environment. I didn't expect the isolation of an over-ear model (Q35), but I would expect to at least hear the music. I also played with the 6 levels of NC provided by the app, but I didn't notice any significant difference.
3) The gesture control takes some getting used to. I'm still trying to do what I want. They work with some beeps and maybe holding (single tap / double tap / tap & hold), which can be heard in silence but not in a noisy environment (here the inadequacy of NC comes into play again), which means you don't really know how many beeps you've pressed and therefore what will happen.
The gesture modes I have selected are Volume Control for the left earbud and Music Control for the right earbud. The settings are almost specific, without bothering me much, but for example, I can't disable Voice Control, which appears with tap & hold. If you hold your finger on the earbud a little longer (because you didn't hear the beep...), you lose everything because it expects a command.
4) The app itself is fine. I didn't have any difficulty navigating and using it. In general, I have left a few functions active to avoid too many surprises (see point 3).
5) In the sound settings, there is an equalizer and I ended up with my own curve to have the desired feeling. It sounds good for its price, at least in my opinion, since I don't have experience with other true wireless sets lately and the AirPods are just a memory now (as an object, not in terms of color and sound quality). And they have bass, midrange, and treble.
6) As for the Flex part, I use the (small) ear tips that isolate the sound and keep the earbuds stable in my ear. None of them have fallen out, and I haven't felt them trying to do so, which is something new for me since the AirPods used to escape/fall frequently. I definitely remember that!
In general, my conclusion so far is that I see that I can do my job and enjoy this purchase. If there is something better with improved performance in all the above aspects, please let me know.
I will wait to see how they perform over time because there have been complaints. I will come back with anything I think is valuable for a potential buyer.
09/12/23
I am changing my rating from 4 stars to 3.
The main reason is my complaints about the handling.
1) Either I haven't gotten used to the tap/double tap yet or the earbuds are not well-made. I am still trying to figure out where I should tap my finger to "hear". Earlier, I was trying to decrease the volume (double tap / volume down) and it ended up increasing because it registered one of the taps as volume up. Not pleasant. I find sliding up/down for volume much clearer.
2) I believe the communication between the headphones and the mobile should be faster. For example, I need to tap on the right earphone to pause. I don't hear the beep indicating that it registered the tap, especially when music is playing. So, I tap again (eventually a second tap) and then in the next fraction of a second, I hear the music stop and start again. Not pleasant. I had to experience this 2-3 times before it stopped without me having to start it again.
3) Another time, I arrive home, stop the music, put the headphones in the case, and at some point, I glance at my phone and see the Music player suggesting the controls for previous/pause/next. Without going into too much detail, obviously, by grabbing the headphone to put it in the case, it activated again, started playing, and didn't even stop when I put them in the case and closed it. I find this unacceptable. Whatever happens when you put them in the case and close it, they should stop.
And the good things...
Other than that, the sound is still to my liking, and I found the perfect fit with the additional rubber tips on the edge of the earphone. Now I have good insulation from the surroundings, without putting pressure on my ear and without them falling out even during movement.
Also, I don't even remember when I last charged them. I must listen to music for about an hour and a half a day while walking my dog.
Not to mention, the good side of the not-so-good insulation from the surroundings is that for safety reasons, when I walk on the street, I want to hear what's happening around me, especially with a dog in my hand, and I don't need Noise Cancelling/Transparency solution (which is practically nonexistent [the NC]) since it permanently operates in Transparency mode.