Optoma NuForce earbuds
Great audio and battery, but some issues
The earbuds manage to handle both sweat and rain
£89.99 FROM Optoma, optoma.co.uk FEATURES Bluetooth 5, USB-C charging
The successor to the BE Free5, the BE Free6 earbuds offer quality audio and generous battery life. However, they do lack in a few areas that may prove to be a dealbreaker for some.
Thanks to iPX5 water-resistance, the BE Free6 earbuds manage to handle both sweat and rain, making them ideal for your audio needs on an outdoors trek or in the gym. Thanks to Bluetooth 5, the buds can be used individually in mono mode or together. They sit tight in the ear, so they’re unlikely to work loose and fall out, although the cramped fit can be a little uncomfortable after prolonged wear. While they won’t necessarily win any awards for design, they are small enough to sit in the ear without being overly noticeable.
Unfortunately, the case is a bit disappointing. The rough matt texture picks up scratches easily. It’s also large enough to feel uncomfortable in the pocket and isn’t particularly light – presumably a trade-off for the long battery life promised.
The earbuds don’t play too nicely with the iPhone either. More than once we found our phone still connected to the buds, even though they they’d been placed back in the box. Obviously, they can be disconnected manually through the Bluetooth settings on your phone, but you shouldn’t have to do that.
In-ear detection for automatic play, which we’ve come to expect as pretty much a standard feature these days, is also absent.
Each earbud has just one physical button for controlling audio and summoning Siri, and we found that the button on the right earbud didn’t click as easily as the one the left.
Summoning Siri was also an issue, since a long press often resulted in the earbuds actually being switched off. You get the hang of it after a while, but it’s a bit of a steep learning curve that’s rather annoying.
Performance
When it comes to sound, though, the BE Free6 set is a real winner. Even at 20%, the audio was much clearer than the AirPods. We never felt the need to increase the level beyond 50%, even when we were in noisy environments like a park or city centre.
Whether it was music or podcasts, all audio was clear enough without sounding distorted. True audiophiles may notice issues with the higher end, but otherwise they work well with a variety of music genres.
The battery life on the buds is also quite exceptional. Optoma promises six hours for the buds once charged, and up to 18 hours on a single charge of the case. We managed to get through 10 hours of listening (albeit not continuous) without the case indicating a drop in battery level.
While the BE Free6 offer good sound and long battery life, the lack of in-ear detection, awkward button control and connection issues means there’s room for improvement. SRIVATS LAKSHMAN