True wi-fi earbuds are actually flooding the market and it looks like virtually everyone seems to be making a pair today, rising the extent of alternative for anybody trying to absolutely lower the twine.
Whereas it is a crowded area, the Aerobuds, from an organization referred to as LiteXim, are carving out a distinct segment for themselves by being of the reasonably priced selection at solely $50 (round £40 / AU$70) and but handle to remain constant in methods we didn’t actually count on. They sound first rate, provide fairly good battery life and are fairly snug.
In the event you’ve by no means heard of LiteXim, don’t fear as a result of few even have. The Chinese language firm’s pedigree is unknown to most, however everybody likes an underdog, and the Aerobuds are very a lot preventing their nook.
Design
The Aerobuds aren’t flashy, by any means. There’s no eccentric design or remedy to make them stand out. They feel and appear … nicely, normal for a product on this class. Rounded and contoured in considerate methods, nevertheless, they’re very mild and slim in hand – it’s just about all plastic right here, in order that does assist, however as we’ll discover out, there’s some sturdiness to notice right here, too.
Like different true wi-fi earbuds, these include a charging case, which appears to be like like an outsized capsule, and compared to different fashions in the marketplace, it’s comparatively giant. We didn’t discover it a deal-breaker nevertheless, as a result of it is not inconveniently sized and might nonetheless simply slot in a pocket.
Every earpiece has metallic connectors to deal with the cost, and LiteXim neatly made them magnetic, so popping them into the case feels easy – as long as we put them in symmetrically. Crimson LEDs within the again point out when each are charging, together with a separate one for the case itself, and when white, the buds are absolutely charged.
The entrance of the case has a button latch to open them up. Shut the lid, and the click sound signifies they’re safe.
Within the field, you get three sizes of eartips (giant, medium, small), three units of wings to assist safe them within the ear canal, plus a brief microUSB cable for charging. A wax paper insert explains the pairing course of, whereas a small guide guides you thru how they work. A QR code was even thrown in for an in depth consumer information obtainable on-line.
Options
Bluetooth pairing required us to show each earpieces on and maintain down their respective buttons concurrently. They appeared on our telephone’s Bluetooth record, we chosen them, and that was it – to date, so good. An inside voice pronounces each time they energy on, off and have a connection on either side.
Telephone calls solely route by the fitting earpiece, the place we may settle for incoming calls by urgent the multi-function button on the surface. We hung up the identical approach, and a double-press rejects the decision.
With music or podcasts, a single-press alerts to your system to begin enjoying or pause. Double-pressing skipped a monitor, however we may by no means work out the way to repeat one, which is a slight annoyance should you prefer to take heed to the identical track over and over. The detailed consumer information provided nothing on that, both, so we’re assuming there’s no approach to do it. Not solely that, however there’s additionally no quantity management, so we needed to deal with that by the playback system as a substitute.
As a rule, the connection between the 2 earpieces was secure, however there have been occasions after we skilled dropouts. This affected the left aspect each time, and normally occurred each time we positioned the telephone someplace with an obstruction. Thoughts you, this was fairly random as, we discovered we could possibly be in a distinct room lower than 30 ft away and don’t have any hiccups. Placing the telephone in a pocket additionally typically interfered with the connection.
It didn’t occur usually sufficient to get annoying, however we discovered it constant below particular circumstances.
One other technical level that could possibly be a problem for audiophiles is the dearth of aptX help. Non-iOS customers wouldn’t get the upper Bluetooth high quality of that codec, forcing anybody with an Android telephone to accept the lesser SBC (Subband Codec), that means the audio high quality could possibly be compromised.
The case has a 500mAh battery inside, good for 4 whole expenses, and 16 whole hours. The earbuds themselves performed audio for about a mean of three hours, with LiteXim claiming they’re good for 4 hours, albeit at 50% quantity. Since we needed to routinely go above that, we skilled nearer to a few.
A full cost by the case took about 90 minutes so we all the time made a degree to maintain the case itself absolutely charged – nevertheless, should you’re the forgetful kind and have a tendency to depart headphones out of their case, you would possibly wish to persist with wired headphones as to keep away from the frustration of selecting up the earbuds solely to seek out they’re out of juice.
Efficiency
Alongside these traces, we must also level out that the Aerobuds don’t activate routinely when faraway from the case, with either side needing to be powered on first. Solely taking them off, putting them within the case and shutting it powers them down.
After we first listened to music carrying the Aerobuds, we have been stunned on the readability and steadiness they put out, significantly for the comparatively low worth – by way of audio high quality, they don’t sound like finances earphones.
Bass was punchy and carried some weight and the highs weren’t tremendous crisp, however have been usually effective. The mids have been the muddiest of the three, although not detrimental to the broader soundstage, making these a good selection for individuals who simply wish to take heed to music wirelessly for a very good worth. Though they is probably not appropriate for true audiophiles, the Aerobuds exceeded our expectations with a reasonably nicely rounded sound.
We tried quite a lot of tracks and playlists to check the in-ears, together with dancehall within the type of Maxi Priest’s Near You, which sounded full and vibrant, whereas we discovered rock music like Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir didn’t really feel distantly distorted when pumped up slightly.
Poppier tracks, like Ed Sheeran’s Form of You and Guarantees by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith, got here by with good bass. We don’t count on Beats lovers to return away impressed, however everybody else searching for some low finish presence may be happy.
Quantity degree was one other nice shock. The snug match meant we obtained good passive noise cancellation, trapping the audio in our ears and stopping the sound from leaking and annoying the individuals round us. That negated the necessity to elevate the amount additional, which in flip, helped us preserve battery life.
There’s a cause LiteXim ensured that you just don’t must blast your music at excessive volumes. At a a lot increased quantity — say, about 75-80%— you do get delicate indicators of distortion. Nonetheless, the passive noise cancellation was good in noisier environments, with he tight match maintaining Lots of the background noise out, that means you may take heed to your music uninterrupted.
We additionally appreciated that LiteXim used sweat-proof supplies so as to add some sturdiness with an IPX4 score, making them appropriate for carrying throughout exercises. After carrying them for an hour straight, we have been surprised by snug they felt, which is commonly a stumbling block of earphones throughout the market.
Closing verdict
It feels as if you get good worth for cash with the Aerobuds at $50, even when they gained’t impress each pair of ears. Their help for AAC makes them fascinating options to the Apple AirPods, whereas Android customers could be higher off wanting elsewhere for headphones that help aptX. That being mentioned, they sound higher than pairs we’ve got examined that value extra, and appear to have some sturdiness, not less than for the short-term.
In the event you care extra about branding or demand the most effective efficiency, these aren’t for you. However for everybody else? The Aerobuds are in all probability well worth the gamble.