Bluetooth headphones can be annoying. You have to charge them; you have to pair them and all that jazz. But the market for truly wireless earphones is rapidly evolving. There are some costly numbers in the market as well as some really inexpensive ones. Whatever you do, don’t cringe too much, for the Rs 2,000 ones don’t cut the mustard when it comes to fit or sound.
After many years, I had the chance to review a Creative Technology product. No, this isn’t a new company; Creative products have been around since the 1980s. They have given some fantastic sound cards. The new product from the company is Creative Outlier Air, a pair of true wireless in-ear headphones. Fits and looks good
Enclosed in an aluminium case are two neatly-designed earbuds. At a glance, the case looks good and all the info one may need about the earbuds are easily visible on the side — battery life, charge on each of the buds and so on. Slide it open and voila! The earbuds appear with a red ring glowing around them, suggesting they are unpaired. Pairing is not an issue and it hardly takes a few seconds.
The buds have no ear wings around them while an extra pair of earphone tips comes in the box. The buds are smooth, very light and look good. First the good news: The ear tips are very small and go well into the ear canal, allowing the speakers to be close to the eardrums, which helps in isolating the sound around you. The not-so-good news: There are no touch sensitive buttons on this pair of in-ear headphones. In other words, one really has to mash the buttons to trigger the extra functions.
Of course, this product is about sound and that it delivers in way of boundaries and sixes.
Top-notch sound
The in-ear headphones come with Bluetooth 5.0, which is important. I managed to cover 90 per cent of my living space without the signal cracking. There were no syncing issues when it came to video streaming on any platform, which is usually the problem with many of the devices in the market.
Second, it comes with Qualcomm aptX and AAC, two outstanding codecs that usually come with high-end products. Creative could have just thrown in SBC but no. With aptX, you get great transfer rates, helping preserve more data to make audio sound great. Yes, there is aptX HD and LDAC in the market but look at the pricing and what is being offered!
The sound rocks. At 30 per cent volume, you can listen to casual music. At 50 per cent, enjoy a jam session. Take it up by 20 more points and a good workout session awaits you. And at full volume, Metallica sounds awesome. Though the sound is perfect for hip-hop and metal, there is never a muddy moment.
There is a good amount of bass, especially when the pricing of the product is taken into consideration. The audio separation is great; the mid-range is clean while vocals come through crystal clear.
The fact that after six-seven hours of play, there is zero listening fatigue. The Outlier Air offers 10 hours of use and then two full recharges in the case, effectively offering listening time of up to 30 hours, something even many top brands can’t achieve.
Obviously music is the not only aspect one should consider. How about calls? Waking up Google Assistant or Siri is easy. While using the true wireless in-ear headphones on the road, there is some amount of noise in the background, but the voice remains clear, clearer than on some premium brands.
Verdict
There is very little not to like about this truly wireless set — good IPX5 rating (meaning rain or sweat can’t damage it), great battery life and crisp sound. The Creative Outlier Air offers vibrant sound that shines all the time.
Quick look
10 hours on a single charge; total playtime of up to 30 hours
Bluetooth 5.0 low energy with aptX and AAC
5.6mm graphene driver diaphragm
IPX5 certified (sweat proof)
Siri and Google Assistant compatibility
Price: Rs 7,499 (Amazon.in)
