Bose SoundSport Free
While Bose is undergoing signficant changes in its Australian retail footprint, these true wireless buds show it hasn’t lost its ability to deliver enjoyable well-featured ’phones.
As the name suggests, these true wireless buds are built with sporty types in mind, both sweat- and water-resistant, and with a rugged feel to them that might indicate durability, although they are also relatively weighty (well, a whole 9 grams), while their appearance might be best described as ‘chunky’, and they protrude from your ears a bit more than some rivals. You could argue that some of the competition (such as the Sony WF-1000X) look both more stylish and more discreet, especially if you diverge from the glossy Triple Black finish of our review sample and go with the Midnight Blue, Bright Orange or the rather luscious Ultraviolet (which is actually a visible violet, as ultraviolet would look merely black to our poor human eyes).
The SoundSport Frees are held neatly in place by Bose’s StayHear tips, which feature little wings that rest against the inside of your ear for extra stability. They come in small, medium and large sizes, which means they should fit most ears.
Despite their obviously sporty overtones, the Bose SoundSport Free have more than enough in their locker to appeal to casual commuters as well. They boast a good five hours of battery life, though the solid plastic charging carrycase adds only an extra ten hours of power.
On the right earpiece there’s a full array of controls, so that while some rivals offer only basic track skipping and play/pause functions, the SoundSport Frees add the ability to change volume. The buttons are built into the top edge. Press the raised bumps at either end to move the volume up or down. Press the flat surface between them once to play, pause or answer a call. Functionally it all works fine, although the volume buttons are a bit fiddly and don’t feel especially pleasant to touch.
To pair them to your source, however, you’ll need the Bose Connect app, which will walk you through the set-up process. You may also need the app to switch them off, as there’s no physical way to do this. If you have their case, no problem — placing them in there automatically cuts power. Drop the headphones into their relevant moulded slots and they’ll charge using the contact patches which run along the bottom of each earpiece, and the headphones are held in place magnetically, so they won’t move around inside. On the front of the case you’ll see a row of five LED lights. Press the release catch on the front and they’ll light up to show you how much juice is left. Handy.
If you don’t have the case to hand, the Bose Connect app can set a timer to switch them off. This also offers a
‘Find My Buds’ function, similar to
Apple’s Find My iPhone, and given how easy it is to misplace small wireless buds, we reckon this is another useful bonus.
The buds manage to create a good seal in your ears, and sound-wise they deliver a bold but balanced sonic flavour much in keeping with other Bose headphones. There’s some roll-off which prevents harshness up top, but the highs aren’t wrapped in cotton wool, it just prevents them sounding excitable or bright. The deep and foreboding bassline on The Weeknd’s The Hills shows that they don’t lack for low-end authority either; this hits with serious force, tight and well-defined, so the shifts in weight and depth are easy to differentiate. Vocals are expressive and full of life, capturing the dynamic range of Dan Owen’s gospel-flecked Hideaway nicely.
An early problem with signal drop-out between the buds has been fixed, which doesn’t leave a whole lot to criticise. The Bose SoundSport Free wireless buds are good enough to give the best here a run for their money for both sound and features.