I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up I don’t know how many pairs of earphones I broke by accidentally catching the cable on something (that was when the world used Walkman’s and tapes rather than phones, mp3s and streaming services). Thankfully technology has evolved and improved a lot since then, giving us wireless earbuds – smaller earbuds with no more cables to catch, pull or damage.
At Our Family Reviews we are big fans of wireless earbuds as over the years we have tried out several (and surprisingly, not one of us has lost a single one). Personally, I have been extremely happy with the Edifier TWS1 Pro True Wireless Stereo Earbuds, they go everywhere with me and work well with my phone and tablet. When we were sent the Edifier NeoBuds Pro true wireless stereo earbuds we were really looking forward to trying them out as they are the first Hi-res certificated wireless earbuds.
The Edifier NeoBuds are Hi-Res Audio TWS earbuds with LDAC and LHDC (Low Latency High-Definition Audio Codec), three-microphone noise cancellation with Hybrid ANC technology to reduce noise by up to 42dB for the perfect listening experience. They have 6+18 hours (24 hours) of continuous playback, both earbuds and charging case support quick charge – 15 minutes charging = 3hours playback. The NeoBuds have been recommended by CES Innovation Awards, Rolling Stone PRO and Digital Trends.
The Edifier NeoBuds are a pair of truly wireless Bluetooth earbuds with Hi-Res Audio that have up to 24 hours of playback (6+18 hours). The earbuds have enough charge in them for up to 6 hours of playback if you have active noise cancellation (ANC) turned off with another 18 hours in the portable wireless charging case.
Main Features:
- Hi-Res Audio TWS headphones with LDAC and LHDC deliver high-resolution sound
- Knowles Balanced Armature driver + dynamic driver + electronic crossover technology for natural and balanced sound
- Hybrid ANC technology reduces noise by up to 42dB
- Three-microphone noise cancellation ensures clear phone calls
- 6+18 hours of continuous playback
- Quick charge of ten minutes for one hour listening
- 80ms low-latency game mode supported
- IP54-rated dust and water resistance for outdoor scenarios
- Various sizes of antibiotic ear tips for your comfort and health
- Personalize your experience with the EDIFIER CONNECT APP
Edifier’s NeoBuds are a sleek looking, lightweight pair of truly wireless stereo earbuds complete with a portable charging case and even their own carry bag. After using the NeoBuds for a few weeks now, they are they are definitely Edifier’s best yet for comfort, fit and sound quality. The fit is perfect (has a range of removable eartips to achieve the best fit), the sound is much sharper and we love the fast charging.
When we first received them, we already found that the earbuds were already fully charged with some charge left in the charge case so we were able to use them straight away (the earbuds can be fully charged in 1 hour), all we had to do was fit some eartips (it comes with five colour coded pairs) and pair them to the phone.
Pairing the earbuds to the phone (or other device) is the simplest way yet that we have ever paired wireless devices to our phone – just the simple press of a button. Before taking the earbuds out of the case, open the lid on the charging case and press the pairing button on the inside on the case and they will pair to your tablet or phone with ease (just make sure that Bluetooth is enabled on your device).
The charging case and the earbuds support fast charging, and we love this feature, no more having to wait for a few hours before use. There is no charging adapter supplied, as with most things these days, but we all have loads of them laying around the house or already in use to charge our various phones and other devices. Using a USB-C cable, which is supplied, the case and earbuds will fast charge in around 1 hour. Once fully charged, you will have up to 24 hours playback time – this is made up of 6 hours in the earbuds and 18 hours from the charging case (3 charges). The case will automatically charge the earbuds each time they are placed back in for 3 full charges before the case itself needs charging). We love the charging case, the earbuds can be charged when not in use without the need for a charger or having to search for a power source. The earbuds are quite secure in the charging case as they are magnetically held in.
The fit of the NeoBuds is excellent. This is in some part due to them being supplied with 5 sets of different colour coded eartips, rather than the standard small, medium and large sizes that most earbuds come with. The Edifier NeoBuds come with 5 pairs of eartips in different sizes to give just that bit more variety and custom fit, making them just that little bit more comfortable to wear once you find the size for your ear – a really secure fit giving much more comfort once you have the correct size, and their lightweight construction almost makes you forget that you are wearing them. With them having colour coding on them, family members can also have their own tips so that the earbuds can be shared germ free. Edifier also claim that they have “Germ-proof Eartips – ear tips specially designed to prevent bacterial growth caused by daily wear-and-tear, NeoBuds Pro can maintain a sanitation rate of up to 99.8%, ensuring the health of your ears no matter how often you use NeoBuds Pro”.
Once we had found the correctly sized eartips and paired to our phone we downloaded the Edifier Connect App to the phone. The app allows you to control settings on the earbuds; High-Noise cancellation, Low-Noise-Cancellation, Ambient Sound, Normal Mode, Sound Turning (Classics, Dynamic and Customised), Game Mode on or off) as well as re-pairing, disconnecting Bluetooth, turning the earbuds on or off and being able to see the remaining battery power in each earbud.
We are suitability impressed with the fit, comfort and ease of pairing but what about that all important sound quality? Well, the sound quality is just perfect.
The sound the NeoBuds produce is crisp and clear with no distortion with good high/low sounds and bass. They also feature very effective noise cancellation, reducing surrounding noise by up to 42dB (standard earbuds only go up to 30dB). Just to note, with the ANC turned on battery life is reduced. With the ANC turned on, surrounding noises were very effectively blocked out (although if using the earbuds when walking down the street you might want to turn this off for safety reasons so that you can still hear road and traffic noises).
You can also use the NeoBuds to make and receive telephone calls without having to remove the earbuds or turn them off (they stop any music playing when you answer a call). The NeoBuds feature a total of six built-in microphones, three per earbud, and use four microphones to direct your voice when you’re on the phone, filtering it out of surrounding noise. The two additional microphones are specifically designed to suppress wind noise, adding an extra layer of crystal-clear quality to the conversations that matter most. We found that the call quality (for the person receiving the call as well as the person making the call) was very clear and surrounding noise and wind interference was reduced drastically, effectively making the earbuds nearly as good as if talking directly into the handset.
Answering calls, skipping tracks and turning on/off different modes can all be executed by tapping the earbuds (this might take a bit of getting used to, tapping the effective area or each earbud). Once you get the hang of where the different effective areas are and how many taps etc., they are very simple to use (or you can just use the phone app). The tapping area sensitivity is very good and works well all the time.
Overall, we found the Edifier NeoBuds very stylish complete with superior sound and very effective noise cancellation, excellent Bluetooth connectivity and a very good secure and comfortable fit. Charging is superfast and with up to 24 hours playback it is enough for everything that you are doing before needing to plug them in for a full recharge.
The NeoBuds are very lightweight and extremely comfortable to wear and the charging case (it even comes with its own carry pouch) is small and lightweight to fit in your pocket. The USB-C connection makes the case easy to charge (and if you have ever watched Knight Rider, the front of the case reminded us of KITT with the charging light strip across the front of the case).
For the gamers out there, the NeoBuds also have a gamer mode. They are perfect with their ultra-reactive gaming mode as the latency is reduced to as little as 80ms, so you can hear as fast as what you see on the screen just as fast as the real thing with no disconnect or lag between the two.
We love the Edifier NeoBuds. The style and fit are outstanding, as is the quality of the sound, call quality and charging speed. The comfort is superb, even after extended periods of time. They are definitely a premium pair of excellent quality wireless earbuds with hi-res sound that surpasses other earbuds that we have tried. You really won’t be disappointed using these, we certainly aren’t. The NeoBuds make wearing earbuds a really pleasurable experience.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £129.99 (Available in black or white)
For more information, visit www.edifier.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
