Playing it by ear with these cool new buds
Buds prove best things come in small packages
Wires and cables have been cluttering up our digital lives for far too long. Over the last few years though, we’ve seen gadgets such as wireless speakers becoming more common in living-rooms, while Samsung and others are using wireless charging to help set us free from cluttered bedside tables.
Now, headphones are getting the wire-free treatment. The new Elyxr Air Earbuds are an attempt to get rid of the wires while adding some clever features that make it easier to stay powered up when you’re on the move. Opening up the Elyxr Air box
provided a surprise: these earbuds are tiny. Many Bluetooth headphones use a cable to connect one to the other, but these are small individual headphones that you pop into each ear, and they link wirelessly.
They use Bluetooth, so after ensuring it was enabled on my phone, I put the earbuds into pairing mode and they quickly appeared on my phone’s pairing screen. Cleverly, they then combine into one device, rather than two, and my phone will automatically connect to them from then on. They weigh only 8 grams each, so it’s almost impossible to feel them in your ear, making them easy to wear for a train or plane journey. They’re slim at only 20mm long and they’re well fitted. Usefully though, there are three different tips that can be swapped on each earbud making sure that you have a snug fit. This is a crucial feature for wireless earbuds. If you’re walking or jogging, you have to be sure that you’re not going to lose an earphone and the Elyxr Air performed brilliantly in this area and remained snug but comfortable for hours of use.
Wireless earbuds have been around for a while but Elyxr’s spin on this technology is clever. The earbuds arrive in a handy carry case which is small and easily packed for travel as it weighs less than three ounces. What’s more, the case itself is a charging powerbank for the headphones. If you’re running low on power, you take the earbuds out and they magnetically attach to the carry case, which neatly closes around the headphones to keep them safe.
Many of the wireless headphones I’ve tested have been dreadfully power-hungry, but the Elyxr Air have good battery life and I got at least the promised three hours. Their performance is good, too. There is no annoying wireless hiss and they are punchy with pleasant bass tones. They are also responsive, and regardless of your choice of music or audio book, the audio is well defined.
Wireless earphones find it difficult to compete with the hi-fi audio from higher-end wired headphones. However, the Elyxr Air Earbuds do more than hold their own. When you add in the power bank that can store and charge your earbuds, you end up with a powerful package in wonderfully small case.