InsideTech

EarFun Clip Open Earbuds Review 🎧🔥

Here’s another review on a pair of open earbuds that didn’t quite make the Top 7 best overall performers: EarFun Clip. They’ve got an excellent spec and feature list, button controls (which are relatively rare for this style of earbud) and are often easy to find heavily discounted. You can actually get them for under $50 right now - so they offer fantastic value for money.

Key Specs:
🟡 3D surround sound
🟡 Bluetooth 6.0
🟡 High Res with LDAC
🟡 4-mic AI noise reduction for calls
🟡 10 h / 40 h battery life
🟡 10.8 mm dynamic drivers
🟡 Button controls
🟡 Game mode
🟡 Google Fast Pair
🟡 IP55 dust and water resistance
🟡 $48.99 / $39.99 (current discounts)

[Design]
I really like the design here. The 2-tone matt/glossy textures help these feel bit more premium. And the firm, thin hinge makes it very easy to grab and insert the earbuds. It’s a small touch that makes wearing and putting them back/taking from the case a lot easier. They’re still flexible enough to accommodate various ear sizes, and comfortably too. They’re fairly light (5.7 g) and can be worn for long periods without problems. They sit securely and will be very good for exercising (IP55 protected) without pinching or feeling too tight either. They’ve also got silver or red accents to indicate the L and R earbuds, which is useful - they’re not interchangeable though.
The charging case is small and compact, has strong magnets for the earbuds but sadly doesn’t support wireless charging.

[Controls]
These use button controls only in the form of a small, easy to reach button at the top of each earbud. It supports a single, double, triple and long press - so you can fit loads of gestures on at once. The app lets you fully customise each gesture too, so they’re totally flexible. They would be perfect…but sadly don’t offer wearing detection. Still, most competing open earbuds use touch controls (which many don’t get on with) so the button controls could be a great advantage.

[App]
The app is feature-heavy with battery tracking, game mode, voice prompt controls, codec selection and multipoint toggle plus a find my feature (loud sound, not GPS). You can set a volume limiter for hearing health and adjust the L/R balance too.

For audio, you’ll also find loads of EQ options, and both a ‘Theatre’ mode (expands the soundstage for an immersive surround sound-like experience) and a ‘Privacy’ mode to instantly drop the volume to further help you engage with your surroundings. You can map this to one of the controls for faster activation. The Theatre mode is ok…but doesn’t expand the soundstage as much as i’d like. You hear some frequencies get boosted but it doesn’t really feel particularly immersive - I wouldn’t personally describe this as ‘3D’ or ‘surround’ sound. The EQ options are very extensive with loads of presets and also a 10-band custom EQ. I did find it tricky to improve the sound over the default tuning though - the ‘bass boost’ mode, for example, sounds like it reduces all of the other frequencies and drops the volume rather than boosting the bass.

[Battery/connectivity]
Battery life is excellent with up to 10 hours on a single charge and up to 40 hours in total with the charging case. A 10 min charge in the case will get you 2.5 h of listening time too. Connectivity specs are equally as good with super stable Bluetooth 6.0, multipoint, Google Fast Pairing and the high-res LDAC codec. I’ve said before that it’s hard to hear the subtle nuances of LDAC in an open earbud, but a nice option to have still.

[Mic]
The mic quality here is average. They let in some background noise but otherwise isolate reasonably well. But the voice quality is not as good as lots of other competitors. They’ll be fine for the odd phone call, in quiet environments especially, but don’t get these if mic quality is a main priority.

[Sound]
EarFun Clip’s sound quality is good, very good for the price…but pales in comparison to the market’s best options. The mids and highs are clear and crisp, vocals come through really well. But the bass and sub-bass are lacking weight, so the overall tone leans bright and feels slightly thin. The treble can become a tad harsh at very high volumes as well. The EQ options can help here, but all seem to lower the overall volume - and that’s already only average at best. I can listen at max volume relatively easily, and would prefer a few more notches especially for when using these outdoors with traffic noise etc to compete with. If you prefer a brighter tone and crisp sounding highs then these will work really well for you. But that classic complaint of open earbuds lacking bass is really personified here. Ultimately you’ve got to view the sound quality in the scope of the price bracket, and these are one of the best sounding under $50 right now.

[Verdict]
There’s lots to like about EarFun’s Clip open earbuds. The battery life and connectivity specs are excellent. They’re comfortable and fit securely. The controls use physical buttons and are highly customisable. And for less than $50 right now…the value for money is fantastic. The mic quality and the lack of bass let them down slightly, but these remain one of the best options on the market for the current price.

Here’s a link to find them on Amazon with the latest discounts (it’s an affiliate link, so it might help me out if you use it): amzn.to/3MjfOyw

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3 days ago | [YT] | 16

InsideTech

Edifier LolliClip Open Earbuds | Very Good Earbuds…You Might Struggle to Buy!

The results for the 2025 'Best Open Earbuds' are being finalised very soon, and I want to tell you about one pair that narrowly missed out on a top spot. They carry a lot of pretty rare and unique features that most open earbuds don’t offer. They still rank very highly in my price-adjusted rankings though, so they’re one of the best value open earbuds on the market…but are they ‘on the market’? Last I checked, the Amazon listings are gone and only AliExpress and eBay re-sales remain. So you may struggle to buy them now anyway.

Here’s my review on the LolliClip earbuds.

Key Specs:
🔵 Adaptive ANC
🔵 Head-tracked Spatial Audio
🔵 High Res with LDAC
🔵 6-mic AI noise reduction for calls
🔵 Interchangeable L/R earbuds
🔵 13 mm dynamic drivers
🔵 Touch controls
🔵 Game mode
🔵 Wearing detection
🔵 IP56 dust and water resistance
🔵 ($79.99?)

[Design]
It’s a fairly simple plastic design with a rubberised hinge - I think they look quite nice though. The speaker itself looks and feels like an AirPod and these clip onto your ears snugly with very little movement. They’ll be great for exercising and should stay put easily. They should also flex to accommodate lots of ear shapes and sizes. They’re slightly bigger and heavier (7 g) than some other designs - they’re still comfortable, but you notice them in your ears more than lots of others and they can ache after a few hours. They’ve got a decent IP56 protection rating against dust and jets of water. Full IPX7+ water resistance would’ve been perfect, but this is still more than most open earbuds give you.

The charging case feels rather cheap with its glossy plastic build and it is a bit bulky. But at least the magnets snap onto the earbuds in a satisfying way. The earbuds will intelligently adapt and calibrate the audio channels depending on whether they’re in the left or right ears. So you’re free to put them back in the case either way round and wear them as you please - very convenient.

[Controls]
They use both touch controls on the hinge (which are fairly responsive) and also include auto-pause/play with wearing detection. It’s great to see another pair of open earbuds with this feature, though it is very slow to activate. That really spoils things. The touch controls are only a double or triple tap, so although you can customise these fully in the app, you are still a bit restricted on gestures. You can even adjust the touch sensitivity, but it doesn’t change things that drastically.

[ANC]
These are one of the very few open design earbuds that offers ANC - I know…crazy. Obviously with your ears left open to your surroundings, you can never expect ANC to be very effective. But you can actually hear a (very) slight difference toggling it on…it works. Does it make enough of a difference to be worthwhile? Not really. It’s probably not worth the battery drain. But it’s definitely interesting that they have it.

[Mic quality]
The mic quality is impressive and one of the stronger aspects - these rank in the 'top 6' for open earbud mics so far. They isolate your voice quite well but can intermittently muffle it as well - especially when fighting against loud background noise. Normally they keep your voice sounding quite loud and clear though.

[Battery/Specs]
These will last up to 9 hours on a single charge and carry 39 h in total with the charging case - very good. They charge via USB-C but there’s sadly no wireless charging. For connectivity specs, we have Bluetooth 5.4, SBC and LDAC codecs, a Game mode, multipoint and Google Fast Pairing - a pretty comprehensive list. The Game mode is fairly effective and definitely improves latency - though it’s not one of the best i’ve tested. I don’t really think that LDAC is necessary for an open earbud design - it’s hard to hear the subtle audio differences this can bring when you’ve got background noise to compete with. But audiophiles will still appreciate seeing it here, I expect.

[App]
In the Edifier ConneX app, beside the control adjustments you can toggle ANC and adjust the sound mode between Music, Game mode or Spatial Audio. There are 4 preset EQs (Classic, Bass Boost, Vocal, Treble Boost), but sadly no custom EQ. It’s good to have some adjustment, but a custom EQ really should be provided here. You can also view your heart rate and blood oxygen levels (yes, the earbuds even include these sensors!). It’s cool but…also a bit pointless. There are additional settings to toggle wearing detection, codec selection, multipoint and even activate a drainage feature to remove water droplets from the speakers.

[Spatial Audio]
Spatial Audio definitely helps these to stand out in the market, especially since this is head-tracked too. The tracking actually works surprisingly well and the effect is great for movies and games. For music…it does give that slight echoey quality and I don’t think it’s worth the trade off in sound quality. It’s not as good as some of the Dolby Audio modes i’ve tested in competitors. Cool to have though.

[Sound quality]
Lolliclip are an A-tier ranked earbud for sound quality - though they have slipped outside of the top 10 now. Price-adjusted though, they’re one of the better performers. They offer a relatively decent range of volume (albeit not enough to be particularly uncomfortable, as most open earbuds struggle with). One thing they do rather well is bass. It doesn’t feel thin or empty here, though still pales in comparison to in-ear designs of course. The mids are quite clear and the highs are smooth and not harsh. It’s a shame there’s no custom EQ to get the best of the sound, all of the presets have drawbacks to them. There’s a step up in sound quality with the S-tier competitors, but in general these sound very good. There are far more much poorer sounding options out there!

[Verdict]
The Edifier Lolliclip has an extensive feature set, really solid all-round performance and no major weaknesses. It’s no wonder they came so close to the Top 7 overall performers, but they have been edged out by some better sounding competitors. I think the biggest problem is their availability - it does seem like Edifier is winding down on these now. If you do manage to find them though, anything under $80 would be really great value for money!

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5 days ago | [YT] | 14

InsideTech

Edifier ES850NB Headphones Review

I've been using them for the past few months, at $169.99 they offer great value for money but there is strong competition at this price point these days.

Key specs:
🔵 40 mm dynamic drivers
🔵 -45 dB Active Noise Cancellation
🔵 92 h battery life (53 h with ANC)
🔵 AI noise reduction for calls
🔵 Bluetooth 5.4
🔵 SBC / LDAC
🔵 Touch-to-Chat
🔵 Game mode
🔵 Spatial Audio
🔵 Foldable for portability
🔵 $169.99 / £149.99

[Design]
Edifier is sticking to their familiar design with a metal headband encased in plastic. But the leather-like material covering the outside of the ear cups does give them a more interesting look and feel than you’d typically see. Build quality is on par with what you’d expect at this price with no creaky headband nor any super premium materials. The silver accents on this ‘Ivory’ colour provide a nice pop of contrast to this otherwise minimal and sleek looking set. You can also get these in Black, Pink and Brown. The ear cups fold inwards for easier transport and will also rotate flat in one direction to pack into the included semi-hard shell carry case.

[Comfort]
The padding is very soft, thick and plush on both the headband and the ear cushions and at just 265 g these are a very comfortable and light pair to wear for hours at a time. Edifier describes ‘skin-friendly leather’ though it’s unclear how much genuine leather is used in the construction here. The clamping force is around average but there’s not too much pressure at the crown of your head. Ideally i’d prefer some more space inside the ear cups to reduce ear warming - there’s not much depth there and your ears will likely brush up against the soft fabric liner - but that’s not a big issue. The overall comfort is very good and there’s a good range of headband extension to suit even very large heads. Conversely, those with very small heads may struggle with these.

[Controls / app]
Edifier’s typical 3-in-1 volume up, down plus multifunction button returns along with a single, separate button used for changing the ANC mode, sound mode or entering Bluetooth pairing. You end up with a lot of functions on the headphones at once, which is good, and the buttons are all clicky and tactile. I still find the multifunction button centred between the volume keys a little hard to distinguish, despite its slightly raised appearance. I find myself fumbling to hit pause sometimes, but overall the controls are fine. There’s sadly no wearing detection here - I really think this should come as a standard now, especially at this price. One small saving grace is the ‘touch-to-chat’ feature: touching and holding the right ear cup will pause your music and turn on ambient sound mode as you’re holding (everything reverts back as soon as you let go). It’s not the smoothest implementation of this feature, it’s a little slow to activate despite immediately resuming once you let go. Good to have though and helps these stand out at this price.

These pair up with Edifier’s ConneX app which includes toggles for the ANC mode, EQ or sound mode (either Music, Game or Spatial). You can also customise the multifunction button behaviour, touch-to-chat sensitivity, codec selection, prompt volume and multipoint toggle. So the app is a little more involved than something super basic, but you’ve also not got too much reason to keep revisiting it. I have to criticise Edifier’s choice to stick with the same EQ options though. You get 4 basic presets, but the custom EQ is both overly complicated and too simplistic at the same time. You only get 4 bands to play with, but Edifier justifies this in letting you set specific Q factor and frequency adjustments - in effect giving you far more control than most EQs. In practice though it’s overly complicated and frustrating to use, especially the average consumer these headphones are marketed towards. I never feel I can tune my music exactly as i’d like to here. I’d much prefer to have an 8 or 10 band EQ with fixed frequencies (as a lot of the competition offers).

[Battery / connectivity]
For connectivity we have Bluetooth 5.4, SBC and LDAC codecs and multipoint support. No Google Fast Pair. There’s also a pretty effective Game Mode that reduces the latency quite noticeably (it doesn’t remove it entirely but will help out most casual gamers). The battery life is the standout feature though at a very impressive 92 hours. This drops down to 53 hours when using ANC, but that’s still very good. A 15 minute fast charge will get you up to 11.5 h of playback too. There’s also passive listening via USB-C for when the battery runs out or just general wired listening.

[ANC / Transparency]
There are multiple ANC modes to choose from: Medium or High ANC, a dedicated wind noise reduction, ambient sound or ‘off’. In ‘High’ mode, the ANC does a good job of removing the low end frequencies especially, but struggles a bit more with mid-highs like voices (as expected). The performance is on par with most competitors at this price point, probably slightly above most actually, and overall these do a decent job of blocking out surrounding noise. But it won’t blow you away nor is it the best you’ll find at this price. The transparency mode is again roughly average in performance and amplifies reasonably well. I do find myself cranking the slider up to +3 and still wanting a little more though.

[Mic]
In typical Edifier fashion, the mic quality is above average here and these isolate your voice well whilst minimising background noise. It’s not overly aggressive as to clip and muffle your voice though. There are some competitors that sound a bit more ‘natural’ but almost all cost considerably more. In general these are a good option for phone calls.

[Sound]
The ES850NB are not a huge departure from Edifier’s previous, similarly-priced options in terms of sound quality. Though these are perhaps the most balanced pair yet. Previously, they’ve all had a slightly V-shaped tuning, or were at least a little bass-heavy, and that’s where the ES850NB are different from most of the competition. The bass is a lot more natural-sounding, tight and controlled. To the point where bass heads, or those used to the more typical consumer-friendly tuning, may even find it slightly lacking here. I think those people will find even the ‘Heavy Bass’ EQ preset doesn’t go far enough. Your music has just enough body and weight to not sound thin but the bass doesn’t reach boomy (or muddy) levels either. This is balanced with a clear mid range where vocals shine through (slightly forward without disrupting the balance too much) and some crisp treble to round things out. The treble never reaches harsh or piercing levels, even when cranked up with the EQ - so you get a relaxing listening experience. I’d personally prefer a little more scope with both the lows and highs, but the lack of that may be down more to the limitations of the custom EQ. Still, I did push both of the upper EQ bands slightly to get the little extra brightness that my ears prefer. There’s good detail and instrument separation here and these certainly offer better sound quality than most competitors at this price.

I do have a couple of complaints though: firstly the volume levels. The max volume simply doesn’t get high enough (in either SBC or LDAC modes). I can comfortably listen at max volume whereas I think headphones should have the scope to reach at least uncomfortable levels. And secondly, the ‘Spatial Sound’ mode only diminishes the sound quality. We’ve seen this countless times before in similarly priced headphones. You can hear a slightly widened soundstage, but this comes at the cost of an echoey quality and the mid range and vocals become distant. Oddly, the bass seems more enhanced - you gain a more V-shaped tuning. But you loose a sense of immersion in the music and I don’t think it’s worth using.

[Verdict]
To summarise, I should start by saying that the ES850NB are clearly a very capable pair of headphones with good performance across the board. They’re fairly priced at $169 / £149 and you’d be getting good value for money. One of the things that struck me when testing these was just how many (very similar) models Edifier has in the lineup. It can make things quite confusing. I wouldn’t say these are so drastically different, feature or performance-wise, from their other mid range options that these are the new go-to. However, these do outperform the older 830NB, 700 series, 900 series and are Edifier’s best option under $200 right now. I still really wish they’d bring wearing detection to the lineup, but that doesn’t eliminate them from competing in a ‘best under $200’ competition - a video I may well make if people want it.

That sad truth though is that they’re far from winning. Soundcore’s Space One Pro (a Headphones Awards finalist this year) are available for the same price right now and frankly blow these out of the water. They offer superior sound quality, comfort, ANC and mic performance, and feature set. I simply don’t know how I could reasonably recommend people go for Edifier instead whilst they’re the same price. The 850NB wins for battery life, but that’s not enough. I’m not trying to talk Edifier down or suggest the ES850NB aren’t good headphones - they are. But I have a duty to use my knowledge and experience in this field and make a fair, informed recommendation to buyers. It just isn’t possible to overlook the strong competition right now.

Edifier’s best bet is in offering better value for money through discounts, which they very often do. So keep your eyes open with places like Amazon to try and nab these on the cheap. I’ll leave my affiliate link below to take you straight to their page with the current pricing and discounts. If you use that, I may earn a small commission, but it costs you no extra at all.

👉🏼 amzn.to/4ojaB7Z

Any further questions on these headphones…just let me know!

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1 month ago | [YT] | 25

InsideTech

Tronsmart OpenFly 2 Pro Review 🎧🔥

Another quick review, this time on the Tronsmart OpenFly 2 Pro open-ear earbuds. This budget-friendly model costs only $59.99…but are they any good?

Key specs:
🟣 12 mm drivers
🟣 Touch controls
🟣 10 h playtime (40 h total)
🟣 Bluetooth 5.3
🟣 IPX5 water resistance
🟣 4-Mic AI powered calls

In the box:
- OpenFly 2 Pro earbuds
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- User manual

[Design]
The charging case design is very minimal but also compact and, in spite of the all-plastic build, escapes being branded ‘cheap feeling’ with a nice weight to the lid mechanism. The earbuds are equally as plain and inoffensive in their design, albeit not especially exciting. There’s a rubberised texture for the side that makes contact with your skin to improve comfort and they sit loosely and gently over the ear. I find that the speaker portion sits just underneath the upper cartilage of my ear so it keeps them secure and they don’t bounce around whilst running. The shape is extremely similar to that of the Shokz OpenFit - they feel almost exactly the same in the ear too. This is a good thing: they’re comfortable, lightweight and feel secure. You could probably forget you’re wearing these, so long-term comfort is great.

[Controls/app]
The controls are…not great. I find them quite unresponsive and they usually need a very firm tap to trigger consistently - which is annoying. There’s no wearing detection either, but maybe to be expected at this price. The app lets you customise the gestures to a decent level, so you may find this helps somewhat. The app is extremely basic though and otherwise only lets you toggle voice prompts, see battery levels, set an auto-power off timer or set an EQ. You won’t need to revisit the app and could easily forgo ever downloading it.

[Battery/connectivity]
For specs these offer up to 10 hours of listening on a single charge and then up to 40 h in total with the charging case. This charges via USB-C only (no wireless charging). We also have Bluetooth 5.3, an IPX5 protection rating against jets of water but we’re missing features like multipoint, Google Fast Pair or any kind of low-latency mode.

[Mic quality]
The mic quality was better than expected and usually keeps your voice sounding clear in most environments. They will let in some background noise in noisy environments but don’t aggressively try to isolate (and therefore distort) your voice either. So they’re about average overall for phone calls, but pretty good for the price.

[Sound quality]
The sound quality was better than expected and offers good clarity, no harsh sibilance and a good range of volume. They don’t reach super loud levels though and won’t offer thumping bass either. There’s just about enough bass to stop these sounding thin - and i’d suggest using the custom EQ option in the app to improve your experience. I think a V-shaped tuning helps. There’s certainly a step up in quality with some of the market leaders for open earbuds, but those also come with a price tag more than twice as much as what Tronsmart is asking for here. For under $60, these are one of the best sounding open earbuds you’ll find.

[Verdict]
The Tronsmart OpenFly 2 Pro might get overlooked on account of their lack of features and what may reasonably be described as even a lack of a USP altogether. This is very much a ‘no frills’ experience. But for those who are looking into open earbuds and don’t want to spend a fortune…this is a great place to start.
I was surprised to find them rank inside the ‘Top 10’ for ear-hook style open earbuds in my testing list so far, and that’s based solely on performance. But for just $59.99, the performance to price ratio is actually very high. These are up there with the best value open earbuds on the market! So maybe that’s the USP after all.

You can check them out here: www.tronsmart.com/products/tronsmart-openfly-2-pro…

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2 months ago | [YT] | 13

InsideTech

You choose the next video! 📊 So i'm going to do the 'Best Open Earbuds' video next before the iPhone 17s launch. You've got two main categories in ear-hook open-ear and now clip-on style. I've found that the clip-on style often perform a lot better, so they might dominate a 'best of' video. Some people don't like this design though. Maybe people want ear-hook designs specifically?

So my question is, would you prefer separate videos with one on the 'Best Ear Hook Open Earbuds' (e.g. soundcore AeroFit 2, 1MORE S71, etc.) and another for 'Best Clip-On Open Earbuds' (e.g. soundcore AeroClip, SHOKZ OpenDots One etc)?

Or would you just like these two together in one video with just whatever the best open earbuds are regardless of the style?

You vote...i'll make it!

2 months ago | [YT] | 11

InsideTech

EarFun UBOOM X Bluetooth Speaker 🔊🔥

Another summer time Bluetooth speaker review, this time for EarFun’s UBOOM X - an undoubtedly excellent portable speaker with impressive bass and volume levels. But also one potentially deal-breaking flaw.

Key features:
🟡 80 W power output
🟡 Customisable LED lights
🟡 30 h battery
🟡 USB-C in and out charging
🟡 IP67 dust and water resistance
🟡 Detachable shoulder strap
🟡 Bluetooth 5.3, SBC / AAC
🟡 Party connect with up to 50 speakers
🟡 Aux in playback
🟡 400 x 150 x 217 mm, 4.15 kg
🟡 $159.99 / £149.99 (discounted further right now at link below)

In the box:
- UBOOM X speaker
- USB-C to C cable
- Adjustable shoulder strap
- User manual

- - - - - - - - - - -

[Design]
Another pretty generic boombox-style design, but good to see both a metal grill (better sound quality over fabric) and metal attachment points for the carrying strap. The speaker and its included strap both feel sturdy and very durable. It has an IP67 protection rating, meaning you can fully submerge it underwater - it should easily survive most situations. Nice to have dust resistance too (beach-proof) which Bluetooth speakers regularly ignore. It also floats, which is very important (and it seemed to balance nicely in the water with the speaker grill facing upwards too…so floating pool tunes does seem possible here). Behind the rubberised rear seal are the dual-USB-C ports and an aux-in port.

We have some LED lights here to illuminate the 2 central woofers. It adds a nice pop of colour, which it makes it slightly more interesting than a lot of competitors, but these also aren’t especially bright. You can customise the effects in the EarFun app. The button controls on the top surface are rubberised and offer a nice, tactile click - but it’s a shame these aren’t illuminated so you can use them easily in the dark. All of the expected playback, power and pairing controls are here. Plus a toggle for the lights and the multi-speaker pairing button. There’s a 4-LED battery indicator on the surface here too, which is handier than the typical single LED most speakers offer. The heavy duty, large carrying handle would make it nice and easy to lug around…if only it weren’t so freaking heavy…

Overall the design would be absolutely fine…but weighing in at more than 4 kg is a serious drawback. You’ve got competitors (like the StormBox Lava I posted about below) that weigh around half as much and still offer the same power output. The UBOOM X is noticeably heavier than a lot of close competitors, verging on uncomfortably heavy…and that immediately puts it a major disadvantage.

[Battery]
Battery life provides up to 30 h of playback - and testing at around 50% volume (already pretty loud) I reached 29 hours 34 min - so it checks out. The lights and higher volumes will drain it much faster though. It recharges via USB-C (30 W, 10 min fast charge = 3 h playback) and can also act as a power bank, charging other devices ALSO via USB-C - excellent. Most competitors with a power bank feature lazily opt for an inferior USB-A out. They include a C to C charging cable too.

[Connectivity]
We have Bluetooth 5.3, SBC and AAC codecs and either stereo pairing with another UBOOM X, or party mode pairing with up to 50 others. No one is ever going to actually use more than 2 of these together, but still cool to have. There’s also a video mode (press and hold Bluetooth button) for low latency, which makes a subtle improvement. The multifunction power button can activate your phone’s voice assistant. The built-in mic makes taking calls possible…but the mic pickup isn’t great and I can’t see many using this. You’re gonna sound a bit distant at best.

EarFun’s app offers playback controls, video mode toggle, voice prompt and auto power off adjustments, along with lighting and EQ customisation. The carousel of preset EQs is a little cumbersome to use, but you do get a LOT of preset options (as well as a useful 10-band EQ). I would highly recommend using the EQ to find better sound than the stock settings.

[Sound]
The 80 W speakers deliver truly powerful, deep bass at very loud volume levels. There’s a distinctively warm, bass-focussed tone in the default settings, but I was surprised at how much I could brighten the sound and achieve much better clarity and detail with some treble-boosting EQ tweaks. This is a speaker that sounds great at lower volume levels as well as the ground-shaking higher levels it was really designed for. It’s quite clearly one of the better sounding Bluetooth speakers at this price point. You could comfortably use just one of these speakers to fill a garden with sound or create a party atmosphere in a large room - the sound remains largely distortion-free even at those super high levels. The speaker’s heavy weight is partially forgiven when you hear the powerful sound this thing can pump out - I imagine the vast majority of people will be very pleased with how this sounds. But it’s hard to not think about the (far lighter) competitors offering a similar sound to this.


[Summary]
EarFun’s UBOOM X is undeniably a great-sounding and very capable Bluetooth speaker. But you can’t ignore the (very strong) competition…and that’s where things might get awkward for EarFun.

The UBOOM X was always a hard sell at the original $189.99 / £189.99, but given their track record of frequently offering large discounts, perhaps it was always the plan to offer it at its current $149.99 price point. This is much more reasonable and brings it closer in line with competitors like Tribit’s StormBox Lava ($139.99) and soundcore’s Boom 2 ($129.99). Both offer the same 80 W power output, but arguably superior designs and certainly far better portability - weighing 2.3 kg and just 1.66 kg respectively compared to EarFun’s 4.15 kg. This alone makes a HUGE difference in how easy and enjoyable these speakers are to use.

The UBOOM’s bulkier build isn’t completely redundant - compared to the smaller StormBox Lava I tested recently, you get a much bigger sound, higher volume levels and more powerful bass at those higher levels. But the treble can also be tweaked to be clearer, more detailed and more crisp. Reading 80 W on a spec sheet can be misleading, and EarFun certainly offers a more powerful sound overall. You also get slightly better battery life at 30 h compared to around 24 h, along with a modern USB-C out port

If I was throwing a party…this is the speaker i’d rather have. But if i’m just buying ‘one’ Bluetooth speaker for my day to day use (as most would be)…its heavy weight becomes an issue. I think most would trade those volume gains for one of the much more compact and portable speakers from Tribit or soundcore. I’d personally get more benefit out of that day to day, especially when those competitors aren’t exactly slouches in the bass and volume departments themselves. I guess the floating, speaker-facing-up thing might actually appeal for that niche use case too. But are any of EarFun’s perks really enough to justify the speaker being drastically heavier? As great as it is, i’m finding it kind of tough to make a case for the UBOOM X here. As I said, I would prefer it in a party situation - set down in a corner and left alone…the weight is no longer an issue. But this kind of defeats the point of being a ‘portable’ Bluetooth speaker.


Let me know what you think about this in the comments. Got any specific questions about this or others it matches up against? More detailed testing and comparisons have been done behind the scenes! Perhaps we need to make another best Bluetooth speaker comparison video for the channel.

Here's a link to check it out on Amazon 👉🏼 amzn.to/4nX1zxK
It's an affiliate link so I may earn a small commission if you use it, that would be very helpful, and it costs you nothing extra!

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4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 26

InsideTech

Tribit StormBox Lava Bluetooth Speaker Review 🌋🔥

As we enter Summer, I thought it was a nice time to give a little review on the StormBox Lava from Tribit. It’s a relatively small Bluetooth speaker for the power it’s packing - I was pleasantly surprised by the sound (and especially bass). It’s certainly one of the best value speakers i’ve tested in this price range, and yet…somehow hard to get super excited about.

Key features:
🟡 80 W power output (2 x 30 W woofer + 2 x 10 W tweeter)
🟡 43 Hz - 20 kHz
🟡 24 h battery
🟡 USB-C in charging / USB-A out charging
🟡 IP67 dust and water resistance
🟡 Detachable handle + Shoulder strap
🟡 Bluetooth 5.4, SBC/AAC
🟡 Stereo/multi speaker pairing (160+ speakers)
🟡 Aux in playback
🟡 310 mm x 147 x 152 mm, 2.3 kg
🟡 $139.99 / £112.00

In the box:
- StormBox Lava speaker
- USB-A to C cable
- Carrying handle strap
- Adjustable shoulder strap
- User manual

- - - - - - - - - - -

[Design]
It has a pretty typical design and shape (reminiscent of a small JBL extreme) comprised of a tough fabric and plastic body. There’s a heavy duty rubberised bass to keep it stable (which you can use to angle the speaker upwards). Overall it feels robust and durable - there’s an IP67 protection rating so it can be fully submersed underwater. That’s great, but pretty much a must-have for me with Bluetooth speakers now. It feels quite heavy for such a compact size though (2.3 kg). I have to be honest and say that nothing about the design excites me at all - there are no LED lights either (aside from battery/connection indicators). I’m not sure why this speaker is called “Lava”.

The rubberised buttons are all easy to distinguish and press (in the day time, they don’t light up sadly). All of the usual controls are here, including an Extra Bass toggle, a TWS button for pairing to other Lava speakers and you can press and hold the multifunction button to talk to your phone’s voice assistant.

It comes with both a carrying handle and an adjustable shoulder strap, which is awesome. They connect with metal carabiners to metal attachment points - all high quality. Shoulder straps are practical for travel but cumbersome and ugly day to day, so the carrying strap is a great addition.

[Battery]
Battery life is rated at up to 24 hours - but you’ll likely get a lot less unless you stick to below 50% volume and don’t use Extra Bass. I surpassed 18 hours using Extra Bass at around 60%, so it’s pretty decent. It takes around 5 hours to charge the speaker, and it has power saving auto off features (you can toggle off if you wish). You can use the speaker as a power bank and charge other devices with the USB-A port (shame this isn’t also USB-C like the charge port, it should be). It would’ve been cool if the USB-C port offered audio-in as well.

[Connectivity]
The speaker supports the latest Bluetooth 5.4, the SBC and AAC codecs and multipoint for 2 devices. We have a USB-C in for charging, USB-A out for charging other devices and an aux in for wired audio.
Two Lava speakers can be connected to play with left/right stereo separation, or you can use ‘Party mode’ to play the same sound through both speakers. In party mode, you can actually pair up to 160 Lava speakers together…which is crazy…and also something no one is ever going to do. There is a built-in mic here for phone calls and talking to your phone’s voice assistant. It’s about as good as on any other speaker (not great, and you have to be fairly close to be heard clearly).

The speaker connects to the Tribit app which is very basic, but includes a countdown to shut down, voice prompt toggles and firmware updates. The voice prompts are actually just prompt ‘tones’, but it’s nice to be able to toggle them individually (e.g. turn off the jarring low battery prompt that interrupts playback, but keep the useful ‘device connected’ and power on/off beeps). It also has two very useful functions: one is an EQ, including a 10-band custom EQ. But the other is setting which EQs the Extra Bass button on the speaker toggles between - that’s awesome. I set it be my own custom mode for the best sound, and then one with lower bass for quieter times. Most speakers don’t let you customise the Extra Bass button.

[Sound]
The 80 W speakers can indeed pump out ultra deep bass and at impressive volume levels too. At max volume the sound is stable and mostly distortion-free, though the treble can become a little harsh if not EQ’d down. The speaker sounds best where it’ll likely spend most of its time in that 50-80% volume range. This is certainly a party speaker and can comfortably fill a medium-large sized room entirely with sound. It punches above its weight for a speaker at roughly the $100 mark and sits in quite a sweet spot in terms of size/sound output.

The only issue is that the default ‘Extra Bass’ and ‘Extra Bass off’ EQs sound a bit congested and lacking in clarity/treble. You can easily rectify this with a custom EQ, and i’d highly recommend you do to get the most out of it. The 10 bands allow a lot of room to play around with the sound and you can get really clean and clear sound after doing so. The drivers are forward-firing - there’s no 360º or rear-firing sound here. But the distribution is good and you get pretty decent stereo sound even in a single speaker set up.

[Summary]
The Tribit StormBox Lava is a reliable, good value, no frills speaker that would be great for both parties or home use. The functionality is good, the sound is good, the price is good…there’s not a lot to dislike. But with a lacklustre design and strong competition from the likes of EarFun’s UBOOM X or soundcore’s Boom 2 at around the same price (and which are both much more interesting in design), it might be hard to justifying getting the StormBox Lava instead. It’s a great speaker just…hard to get excited about. Tribit does frequently offer discounts though, so if any of those take the price down even further…that could make this much more worthwhile.

Here's a link to check it out on Amazon 👉🏼 amzn.to/3HzovTh
It's an affiliate link so I may earn a small commission if you use it, that would be very helpful, and it costs you nothing extra!

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5 months ago | [YT] | 12

InsideTech

1MORE SonoFlow SE HQ31 Headphones Review 🎧🔥

Here’s my quick review for one of the best bang for your buck pairs of headphones on the market right now: 1MORE’s SonoFlow SE HQ31. I’ve featured the original SonoFlow on the channel before (which are great) but this cheaper model offers even better value for money. They’re a contender for best budget headphones!

Here are the key specs:
🔴 40 mm drivers with titanium-coated composite diaphragm
🔴 QuietMax hybrid ANC / transparency
🔴 90 h battery life (60 h with ANC)
🔴 5 min charge = 5 h play (USB-C)
🔴 Wired listening via USB-C (active)
🔴 Lightweight & comfortable (273 g)
🔴 Rotating earcups & foldable design
🔴 Bluetooth 5.3 | SBC / AAC / LDAC
🔴 2-mic ENC for calls
🔴 $59.99 / £59.99 / €59.99

In the box:
* 1MORE SonoFlow SE HQ31
* USB-A to USB-C Charging Cable
* User Guide

[Design]
These are aesthetically pleasing with a clean, minimal design. 1MORE’s subtle logo and red-coloured USB-C port are nice touches. Build quality is modest, but better than expected for the price. There’s a metal headband which didn’t creak when really stressed twisting and turning. They feel pretty durable. The ear cups rotate flat and the headphones fold down for easier transport. The button controls themselves are fine, they’re nice and clicky when pressed. But the multifunction power button is awkwardly positioned around the front - controls are easier to reach at the back and should have been spread over both ear cups for better convenience. Also skipping tracks ‘forward’ is on volume ‘down’, not up, confusingly. It’s backwards. I’d suggest using your phone for controls to be honest. There’s no wearing detection here (as expected).

[Comfort]
The ear cups are large and spacious, so ear warming is kept to a minimum. The clamping force is fine, the padding ample and these are pretty light at just 273 g. So I can wear these for quite a while comfortably. They only start to cause discomfort after a 4-5 hours. You get a lot of headband extension too, so these suit even larger head sizes.

[ANC/Transparency]
The ANC here is decent, not great. As to be expected. It mostly focusses on taking out the low end frequencies, but you can definitely hear the difference turning it on. It’s not adaptive and you’re not able to customise it though. The transparency mode was poorer and didn’t amplify my surroundings especially clearly or loudly. I wish this was better.

[Mic]
The mic quality was also relatively poor. My voice came through fairly muffled and quiet when I had any kind of background noise. They block out the noise fairly well and isolate your voice, but it comes at the cost of clarity. They’re usable at best, unfortunately.

[Battery/Connectivity]
Battery life is extremely impressive at a huge 90 hours (60 h with ANC). These fast charge quickly too, so this is a big plus. For connectivity we have Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint and even high-res listening with LDAC. You don’t always get that at this price. You also get wired listening with a USB-C cable (there’s no aux port). It’s not passive though and plugging in a cable will power these on.

The 1MORE app...is awful. There are frequent connection/crash issues - it’s a real pain. This has been a problem with other products of theirs. Luckily, you won’t need to use the app much because it’s relatively feature-light. The EQ options are here, including a rather poor Spatial Audio mode (it adds a slightly echoey quality and, as with most sub-$100 headphones, it’s not worth using). There’s also a Game Mode which reduces the lag slightly (though I barely noticed) and you can toggle LDAC and multipoint.

[Sound]
The sound here may seem a little underwhelming at first - these aren’t the most dynamic and exciting cans out there. But in the context of the near $50 price tag…it’s actually great. It’s surprisingly balanced and not bass-heavy - there’s a decent weight to the low end but it’s not super punchy or deep. The sound is clear and free from any harsh or piercing sibilance (and the treble isn’t too mellow either). If you can stomach using the app, you’ve got 12 preset EQs and a 10-band custom EQ to play with. A few of those bands feel redundant, it’s hard to hear the impact, but you can slightly improve the clarity and vocal presence with a small tweak. You can give the bass a bit more thump too if that’s your preference. Generally these sound good enough in the default settings though.

I don’t think you can expect much more at this price - though if you step up to around the $100 mark there is a bit of a step up in quality. I’d perhaps want a couple more notches of volume though, I found myself listening at around 90% as opposed to my typical 60-70%.

[Verdict]
The SonoFlow SE HQ31 more than justify their budget-friendly price tag ($59.99). There may not be too much here to get really excited about, no standout features or class-defying performance. But you've got to set your expectations for what a ~$60 pair of headphones can offer...and I think these exceed those. Certainly where sound quality is concerned.

The only issue would be competition from other sub-$100 headphones that may now have received discounts to bring them down to around this price. I’m thinking about soundcore’s Space One, Edifier’s W830NB, Sony’s WH-CH720N and even the original 1MORE SonoFlow (or newer SonoFlow Pro). That being said, $59.99 is just the ‘starting’ price for the HQ31…so they themselves could get discounted and become incredible value for money.

One thing to note is that I can no longer see these as an option on 1MORE’s website, i’m not sure why. They are still being sold on places like Amazon though, so i’ll link them here for those interested 👉🏼 amzn.to/4dPqizv

It’s an affiliate link, so it doesn’t cost you anything extra, but I may earn a small commission if you use it!

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5 months ago | [YT] | 28

InsideTech

It's been a while...who's ready for this year's Earbuds Awards? 👀

After months and months of prep work, testing, ranking...the results are in! The best earbuds on the market will be announced TOMORROW! Don't miss it! 🙏🏼

5 months ago | [YT] | 72

InsideTech

Edifier NeoDots Earbuds Review | The Battery King?!

Here’s the second Edifier earbuds review following the Stax Spirit S10 yesterday. This time we’re looking at the cheaper NeoDots model, and these are interesting for having what might well be the best battery life on the market right now!

🔵 10 mm dynamic + balanced armature drivers
🔵 Bluetooth 5.4, multipoint, Google Fast Pair
🔵 SBC/AAC/LDAC
🔵 3-mic + AI voice calls
🔵 ANC/Ambient Sound
🔵 17 h battery ANC off (56 h total with case)
🔵 Wireless charging + USB-C
🔵 Pinch controls + wearing detection
🔵 IP55 dust + water resistance
🔵 Game mode
🔵 ConneX app
🔵 $129 / £119


[Design]
NeoDots look like a shorter version of the Stax Spirit S10 earbuds - complete with the same sparkly black/grey finish. They’re still slightly larger than average but have a decent build quality and offer a reasonably comfortable and secure fit in the ear. They’re a bit too bulky to fit into the ‘very comfortable’ category though. Once again, most people should find these stay secure during exercise. These are protected with an IP55 rating against dust and water. You get just the typical 3 sizes of ear tips here, not Edifier’s complete selection as with the Spirit S10. The charging case is a a little bulkier than most and not especially premium in build - but it does offer wireless charging!

[Controls]
The controls are essentially the same as the S10, so these also use pinch controls which are okay. But their position is a little high up which can make them a bit tricky to use. Double and triple press can be especially cumbersome. You’ll likely want to increase the pinch sensitivity in the app, and you get good gesture customisation there. Wearing detection works quite well though.

[ANC/transparency]
This is also like the S10 setup, you just don’t have an ‘adaptive’ option. Ambient sound is just a slider for sensitivity too - though that’s fine by me since the options for the S10 were overkill. A slider might even be useful for ANC as opposed to options like ‘Low, Medium and High’. The ANC performance is very disappointing though, far from that of the Spirit S10, let alone Edifier’s NeoBuds Pro 2. These are average at best in terms of noise cancellation even on the highest setting. It focusses mostly on low-end frequencies, but even then these underperform against the competition. The passive isolation was quite good for me, which helped alleviate this somewhat, but that’s no real excuse. The ambient sound (transparency) is slightly better than the Spirit S10 and offers good amplification of your surroundings without too much ‘hiss’.

[Mic quality/phone calls]
The mic quality is fantastic, surprisingly good. It matches that of NeoBuds Pro 2, so it’s likely they have the same mic tech inside. They isolate your voice really well without being overly aggressive and keep it sounding loud and clear. These two break into the Top 10 for mic quality, and it’s a substantial step up vs other Edifier earbuds. It’s surprising that the mic quality can match NeoBuds pro 2 so closely, when the ANC trails far behind. But Edifier…why is this?!

[Battery/Connectivity]
Battery life is the unexpectedly standout feature here. 17 hours on a single charge! That beats the M&D MW09 and I’ve not heard of anything better than this yet! You also get 56 hours total with the case, or 12/40 h with ANC ‘on’. Super impressive. A 15 min fast charge gives you 5 hours of play time too. The case also charges via USB-C or wireless charging. Faultless battery specs.

Connectivity is almost as good with the latest Bluetooth 5.4, multipoint, Google Fast Pair and the high res LDAC codec. So not as many codecs as the Spirit S10, but a good selection still. The Game Mode here is pretty effective as well and noticeably lowers the latency. As always, it varies from device to device, but this is one of the better game modes.

[ConneX app]
The ConneX app offers an almost identical feature set to the Spirit S10. 4 preset EQs and a 4-band custom one (with the confusing Q factor and frequency adjustments). Other settings include the controls and sensitivity, toggling wearing detection and multipoint, the prompt tones and a find my device (loud sound not GPS). The app is fine, but has some annoying quirks like a complicated layout and unnecessary sub menus for basic controls. You won’t likely need to revisit it often.

[Sound quality]
The overall tone here is slightly warm, but these are a lot more balanced than previous Edifier entries. The problem is that they don’t offer as deep or powerful bass nor the crisp, detailed treble of the NeoBuds Pro 2. They’re a long way off, and a substantial step down from the flagship Stax Spirit S10 (as to be expected). But they even trail behind the older NeoBuds Pro and S models. Not to do the earbuds a disservice, the overall richness and clarity is still quite good and above average for this price point. It’s actually nice not having such an overly bass-heavy, muddy sound for once. But the competition is fierce and there are plenty of better sounding earbuds at this price point. The sound quality here is good, but ‘good’ just isn’t good enough these days.

Like the S10 earbuds, these are slightly lacking in max volume (though to a much lesser extent). I find the max level is uncomfortable, but i’d expect it to be ‘deafening’ in any pair of earbuds to ensure there’s sufficient volume range there. Some may find them too quiet still.

[Verdict]
NeoDots slightly complicate the Edifier lineup. Whilst the Stax Spirit S10 are clearly the expensive flagship (much like their Stax over-ear headphones), it’s now confusing as to where NeoDots sit amongst the other earbuds like NeoBuds. They’re priced the same as the NeoBuds Pro 2…but those are much better all-round performers. For that reason alone, NeoDots become a tough sell. The battery life here is far better, but i’m not sure that alone is enough to justify buying them - the competition is just too strong at this price point.

It’s a shame because the mic quality and battery life are super impressive! NeoDots have a decent spec sheet and solid all-round performance…but in the end they’re still tough to recommend.

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8 months ago | [YT] | 18