Earfun reached out to me about their most recent earbuds, the Earfun Air 2. I was interested in seeing how they compared to the Air Pro I also reviewed. These look a lot like a combination between the Apple Air pods\Pros, which seems to be what a lot of companies are doing these days.

Accessories (what comes in the box) -

You get several sets of tips (6 pairs in total), allowing for fitting multiple ear types. The case is small and very pocket friendly and charges quickly both via usb c or wirelessly, 27 hours total. The earbuds give 7 hours. A usb c cable is included also.



Build -




I found the case to be very light and easy to open. The earbuds are held in magnetically, so they are very secure and it is easy to taken them out or put them back in the case. The headphones are also light and made of a durable plastic. The earbuds have angled nozzles and a short stem. Everything is very compact. Also these did well in a fairly heavy downpour that I was caught in, they worked great thanks to their IPX5 rating.

Controls -




If you have used any recent Earfun earbuds, you already know how to use these. 3 taps on the left earbud go back a track and 3 on the right advance to the next track. Volume is controlled by a single tap. You can cycle through the the settings on the left earbud by touching it, allowing you to cycle nose cancelling, ambient, and normal. I never use ambient, I have never liked the exaggerated amplification on any earbud I have use. I found it easy to navigate between the sound profiles. The controls were precise and I never had a problem using the earbuds at the gym or walking my dog. These also allow for mono use (single earbud listening).

Connectivity -


Here is the compact charging case

The Earfun 2 Air Pro were always solid, never lost connection. They paired to my Iphone 13 Pro immediately upon opening the case. I could not get these things to lose connection, tried my fun in my front pocket, back pocket etc. Only when I would leave my phone on the window sill at the gym and walked 50 or so feet away, did they start to falter and lose connection.

Comfort\Fit -


I apologize that I am not sexy ear model, but you can see how they fit.

The Air Pro 2 lend themselves to long listening sessions. They are very light at 53g and sit in your ear without any pressure. I found that they do stay in my ears when doing pull ups, battle ropes and so on. But, even with the multiple tips, I would have liked them to fit more snugly. I was worried that they might fall out, because they did sometimes feel loose and I would have to reseat them. I have several tips from all my reviews over the years and I will see if one of those works better for me. I did find that they did fit well, but I think tips that are less pliable would go a long way in making these more secure. I would also like a deeper fit into the ear, allowing for even better passive noise cancellation. I find that the build of the Earfun Free Pro have a tighter fit for me. Of course that is my opinion and you might not agree.

Sound -

I found the Air Pro 2 to have a very nice sound signature with smooth highs, punchy but not overbearing bass, good mids, sub-bass, and treble. I enjoyed the clarity and dynamics of these earbuds. I looked forward to using them. I listened to several genres of music, from classical, techno, metal, and everything in between. The Air Pro 2 did well with everything I threw at them. Despite not having AptX, these sounded really good to me. They worked very well with my new Iphone 13 Pro. The hybrid ANC was really good, it blocked the thumping of the runner on the treadmill at the gym, the constant drone of air conditioner while I was on a walk. The hybrid noise cancelling did a great job. I also wanted to mention that unlike several of the other ANC earbuds I have used, that these can handle some wind with ANC on and did not have digital wind noise when outside unless then wind was over 10mph.

Calls -

I made several calls with these outdoors and had no complaints, everyone could hear me and there was no distortion.



Overall I really enjoyed listening to these and think they are comparable to several much more expensive models out there. At $79.99 the Air Pro 2 are a pretty good deal and I think you will be pleasantly surprised by them.

I remember reading about the SoundPeats H1 and the Kickstarter for them. I was intrigued at the time but did not take part in the Kickstarter (I have run into problems with other Kickstarters in the past). I saw that the H1 was now being offered and I reached out to SoudPeats to see if the would send me them to review.

Accessories -



The H1 come with the usb C charging case, usb C charging cable, 3 sets of small, medium, and large tips. A pair of Comply Truegrip tips is also provided.

Features -

The H1 have some impressive features such as Apt X Adaptive, I0 hours of play time in between charges and a total of 40 hours from the case. The H1 also have dual hybrid drivers, a Knowles Balanced Armature Driver and a 8.6mm Dynamic Driver. The SoundPeats also feature Bluetooth 5.2, Smart A.I. assistance, IPX5 waterproofing, and a wireless usb C charging case.

Design -



I like the way the H1 look with their silver and black accents. They seem to be made of tough plastic and do not show fingerprints which is nice. Some people might find them a little large and they do take a bit getting used to. The H1 really fit well in your inner-ear, thereby using passive noise cancellation to block out sound. They block out sound as well as some ANC enable earbuds, but I would have liked the ability to block out even more with ANC. Utilizing the included Comply tips, depending on the person, can actually even help them fit even better, thereby blocking even more sound.


Here is an extra closeup of my ear, it looks gross, but you can see how well the fit.

The SoundPeats H1 have angled nozzles and have a nice see through plastic that makes them look pretty cool when you view them up close.





Controls -

The touch controls are quite responsive, although some might find it hard at first to figure out the controls, with the number of taps and so on. For example, touch one time for volume on the right bud, 2x to play\pause, one time on the left bud to lower volume etc. Here is a snippet of the manual so you can see what the controls are -



Using the controls becomes second nature after a couple times and you will find them very easy to use. I did not run into any problems with the controls, they always worked when I used them at the office, at the gym, or on the go.

Battery life and Connectivity -



Compared to the competition, the H1 offer 10 hours of play time and are about half the price of the Jabra 85T for example. The 60mAh battery in the H1 did not disappoint during my testing, lasting 10 hours on a single charge. With the case, you get 40 hours. The H1 utilize Bluetooth 5.2, and this greatly helps connectivity. I left my phone and walked over 40ft in both indoors and outside. I did not experience any drop outs. I also took my LG phone out of my Defender case and tried both front and back pockets, no dropouts were experienced. The signal was solid the whole time.

Sound and Game Mode -




One of the features I was looking forward to was Apt X Adaptive, although I could only test out Apt X HD as my LG G8 ThinQ did not support Adaptive. I think it really worked along with the dual hybrid drivers to provide my music with clearer audio.. I found that the H1 had a fairly wide soundstage, great instrumentation separation with decent bass, good mid-range, and sparkling highs. I listened to all kinds of music as I always have my phone set to random with my digital music files, (Wave,Flac, 320 mp3, but no streaming). I listened to latter day Gary Numan - Love Hurt Bleed, Soen, John Wesley, Def Leppard, Allfather, Filter, Jazz, Classical, and so on. The earbuds were able to handle all the music I through at it, nothing sounded harsh.

I am not a mobile gamer (Xbox Series X for me), but I did try them with some games my son had and they worked great. I also tried them with Netflix and did not notice any problems.

Call Quality -



I made many calls with these, some in adverse conditions where there was lots of wind. The person on the other end of the call sounded great, even my 80 year old mother had no complaints. I took and made many calls with these over the course of my review and they performed admirably. I cannot really complain about anything here, they just worked.

Final thoughts -

After using these for the review, they are now my go to earbud. At $79, the SoundPeats H1 are a very nice addition to my bluetooth earbud arsenal. I do think that the size of the earbud casing could be made smaller so they might fit some people better and some might be put off that they might look large when worn. Also I think adding active noise canceling and maybe providing an app to equalize the earbuds the way you want my be a nice addition in the future.

I recently received the SOUNDPEATS Truengine 3 SE earbuds and was looking forward to checking them out after having read that they utilized the QCC3020 Chipset and had AptX. I was looking forward to putting them through their paces to see how they would sound.


Acessories -

Included with the earbuds is a USB C cable, USB charging case, and six ear tips -


Included Comply tips


Variety of tips

Features -

The Truengine 3 SE have some nice features such as AptX for better Bluetooth audio and lower latency when watching videos. They are also IPX5 rated so they are splash-proof and sweat-proof, so they are ready for the gym, but not for hanging out in a torrential rain storm. The battery life allows for 6.5 hours of play time, but the included cases gives 30 total hours of play time. The earbuds also have two dynamic drivers for a better listening experience when playing music and two microphones to help filter out ambient sound when on calls.


Design -


I used an image from SOUNDPEATS site to show how they fit, their ear model was better than mine, I am not an ear model.

The case collects fingerprints, but the earbuds luckily do not

SOUNDPEATS Truengine 3 SE earbuds earbuds are nicely designed, fitting the contours of you ear, which is a nice departure from some of their competitors. The 3 SE definitely fit securely but you will really want to try all the tips to see which best fits your ears before taking them anywhere. I at first tried the largest size, but ultimately chose the medium tips for example, those tips fit my ears the best. The Truengine 3 SE are made of a durable black plastic, although luckily they have some grip to them so they are not easily dropped. On the back side is the gold SOUNDPEATS S logo. I liked the color scheme, it helps them stand out from the other earbuds. Incorporated into the logo is the touch controls. You can make calls, skip tracks and so on. The touch controls are very precise and it is nice not having to press hard or tap against them forcefully which I found kind of annoying in some of the models I have tested in the past. For example, touch one time for volume on the right bud, 2x to play\pause, one time on the left bud to lower volume etc.


Here is a snapshot from the manual of the touch controls



The USB C case is a nicely shaped clamshell design, it fit easily in my pocket and it felt durable.


Battery life and Connectivity -



The Truengine 3 SE when fully charged averaged about 6.5 hours when I used them. With the case that gives you about 30 hours total of play time. When I charged the case it took almost 3 hours with the USB C cable connected to a 2 amp wall-wort. For connectivity, I found the SOUNDPEATS to have a very good connection, thanks in no small part to Bluetooth 5.0. They paired to my phone very quickly and effortlessly. I was unable to break connection by putting my LG G8 ThinQ in my back pocket. I left my phone on the windowsill of the gym and walked away to something like 40 feet and the connection was still good. There was no problem with connectivity when I went hiking, it was very solid.


Sound Quality -


With the dual dynamic drivers and AptX I was expecting some great sound and these did not disappoint. They have a nice wide soundstage. The instrumentation was clear and there was nice separation. The bass was not muddy at all, something that I hate because I am not a bass-head. If you are looking for punchy bass the SE 3 have it. There was decent mid-bass and the highs were crisp and not shrill. Vocals sounded good to me also. I listened to all kinds of genres, from Metal to Classical and the True Engine SE 3 were up to the task. If you are interested in using these for watching video I found no latency when watching video content on my phone or pc, These earbuds did a great job overall. I did find that they did not block out ambient noise as well as I would have liked. I would like to see if the next iteration incorporates some active noise cancelling, but still keep the price reasonable.

Call Quality -



I took several calls over the course of my using the Truengine SE 3. Utilizing 2 noise cancelling mics per side, they did really well when I was out and about. A good test was to call my parents, where someone's hearing would not be as good. They send that the call quality was good, that I did not sound distorted. I also used them on a Teams call and they also excelled there. I did find that they faltered when in 10-15mph winds, the person I called said there was lots of static, but that would be hard for lots of earbuds\headphones to contend with.

Conclusion -



The SOUNDPEATS Truengine 3 SE earbuds were great overall, I think at their current price point, $50, they are very compelling. With AptX, good battery life, and sound quality, they are hard to beat. I really enjoy listening to music with them and think most people will be happy with them. The only problem I had is using them in noisy environments, where their noise isolation is not the best. Other than that, these would be a great choice for someone looking for a gym earbud or to be used on the go. I don't think you will be disappointed.

I was excited to try out the EarFun Air Pro after I had read about them on some audio websites. I liked the styling and they seemed very compact and looked like they would work well for me at the gym, on the go, and at the office. I decided to take a chance and ordered them. They arrived the next day thanks to Amazon’s Prime's fast shipping.


USB C cable and case

Accessories -

When I got the earbuds they came nicely packaged in a petite box. Included in the box is a USB C cable and 3 sizes of ear tips, small, medium, and large. The Air Pro themselves came fully charged in the very small charging case, the charging connectors on the earbuds had a small protective film that needed to be removed before using them.




Features\Build Quality -

The earbuds use an accelerometer to allow for touch controls, for example two taps on the right earbud starts\pauses music, 3 taps on the right bud advance a track, 3 taps on the left ear bud cycle through hybrid active noise cancelling, transparent mode, normal mode etc. I found it easy to get used to the controls and found they performed well.


I like the angular\modern look of these

The earbuds have hybrid noise cancelling. The hybrid active noise cancelling worked quite well at the gym, quieting the roar of the fans or the pounding of someone’s feet on the treadmill. I found that it also worked well to quite the air conditioning and the constant drone of the servers at my work place.

10mm composite dynamic drivers are utilized and the EarFun Air Pro have an IPX5 sweat\water rating that comes in handy for those that use these at the gym or outside. They have a total 32 hour playtime, 9 hours on the earbuds and 23 hours with the charging case. I found that the earbuds sometimes exceeded their advertisement play time even.The Air Pro also have noise cancellation for calls and single earbud mode for when you only want to use one earbud.


No sexy ear models, just my own freckled ears....

The Air Pro are very light and are made of a durable black plastic. They are very light and I did not feel any fatigue from having them in my ears for hours. I like the angled nozzle because it fit my ears well and with the included tips also provided good passive noise cancellation. I want to mention that these are very glasses friendly and for those who wear masks to protect themselves during this pandemic.




I want to touch on how nice and compact the case is, it is to carry in your pocket and seems well made with a USB C charging port, with a charging indicator next to it. The case also has a charging indicator light within the case and is also used for pairing. the earbuds fit magnetically in the case and they felt very secure. Speaking of pairing, these were very easy to pair to both my LG G8 ThinQ and my wife’s Iphone 11. After being paired, the next time I took them out of my case, they were instantly paired and ready to play music. I also like the way they paused the music if I took one of the Air Pro out my ears. I also wanted to mention that I had no dropouts, I would leave my phone on the window sill at the gym and walked 40 ft or more and they stayed connected, I also had no problem when I took them on a hike with my dog, they never disconnected when used outside.


Sound -



The EarFun Air Pro have lots of bass, but it is controlled and not bloated. They seem to have a V shaped sound signature, with crisp mids, lively vocals, and they do not lack in treble. I really like how they sound. I listened to a variety of Flac and mp3s in a variety of genres from thrash metal, acoustic, jazz, and so on. The Air Pros performed admirably in all the genre’s I threw at them. I also liked how they had a wide soundstage, they did not sound congested, all of the instruments were easily heard in all the songs. I found myself looking forward to listening to music on my EarFun Air Pro, they were that good.

Calls -



I took several calls with these, both personal and for work. I called my 79 year old mother and she said I sounded great, and that was with a 15 mph wind when I was out on a walk. I used them on some zoom calls and nobody said I sounded robotic or anything. I also thought everything sounded great on my end. I used them both on my Imac and pc during Zoom and Microsoft Teams meetings\calls. I can see that the advertised noise cancellation was put to good use for taking calls.

The only thing I would like to see in the next iteration of these would be the use of AptX, the ability to change volume on the earbuds, and maybe an app to give me the ability to change sound signatures, and an equalizer.
Overall, I would highly recommend these. They are priced very reasonably and offer a lot for your money. They have great sound, hybrid active noise cancelling, and a great sound signature with sufficient bass for those those that want their songs to hit hard.

I recently received the Jlab Epic Air Sport ANC true wireless headphones. I had followed the press releases by JLab and was l looking forward to seeing how these were compared to their prior models. Most importantly, I wanted to see how much of a difference the ANC makes when I use them at the gym and other loud places.

Accessories -



In the box the Epic Air Sports come with 3 gel tips with the corresponding sizes of small, medium, and large. Two extra long tips with the medium and large sizes are also included as well 1 set of medium size cloud foam tips. The charging case again has the built in usb charging cable and now can also charge wirelessly.



Features -

The Epic Air Sport ANC have a run time of 15 hours with ANC off, 11 hours with ANC on. The earbuds when coupled with the charging case, get an extra 55 hours of charge, which is equal to a total 70 hours of play time! The Epic Air Sport ANC utilize 6 built in microphones to cancel out outside noise and aid in active noise cancellation and is part of their smart hybrid anc. They also incorporate JLab’s Be Aware Audio which allows the wearer to hear their surroundings while still enjoy their music. This feature allows the person to hear traffic or other dangers. These features can be controlled on the earbuds themselves, but you can also control the level and whether to turn them off using JLab’s new JLab Air ANC app that is out for both Android and Apple. This latest iteration of the Epic Sport series now has wear detect sensors built into each earbud. This now means that the infrared sensor in the earbud will pause the music when you take it out of your ear. A new interesting feature also added to these earbuds is the Movie Mode. This new mode makes for a more enjoyable time when watching movies with a low latency mode that avoids audio lag, now the voices sync perfectly with the screen. The Epic Air Sport ANC use Bluetooth 5.0, are IP66 Sweat & Water Resistant, and the case allows for wireless charging.

Build Quality\Fit -


I had my daughter model these, she has nicer ears than mine : )

When looking at the Epic Sport ANC, they are made of a durable black plastic with an angled nozzle for the tips. The now ubiquitous JLab ear hook design is used to keep the earbuds in place, they are pliable and fit around the ear easily. I find them comfortable and the earbuds can be worn for a 2 hour workout at the gym without them bothering you. I have found the medium tips fit me best and that I have to move the them forward when in my ear to get a proper seal. I want to mention that these work while wearing a mask, I have to wear a mask at my gym and I had no problem. I also found that I got 40ft or more from these before they started to lose connection. I did not have any drop outs tested having my phone in my front or back pocket etc.


The case can be charged via usb or wireless charging

The case feels substantial but takes up a small foot print. It has 4 status lights to show what the charging level is. There is a usb cable builtin to allow for charging. Something new is the ability to charge the case wirelessly, which I think is a really nice addition.

Controls -



The Epic Air Sport ANC utilize touch controls. When you take them out of the case for the first time, they are ready to pair to your phone or device you are going to use. After being paired, the next time you take the earbuds out of the case, they are already on and automatically connect to your phone. The controls become intuitive once you have used them for a bit. I am used to them because I have used other earbuds in JLab’s line of true wireless earbuds. For example, touching the left side lowers volume, and touching the right earbud raises the volume. I have broken down some of the controls below in a fairly easy to understand format:

Left earbud

• Single tap: Volume down
• Double Tap: Google Assistant\Siri
• Press 1+ sec and Hold: Be Aware/ANC ON/ANC OFF
• Triple Tap: EQ Change

Right Earbud

• Single tap: Volume up
• Double Tap: Play/Pause
• Press 1+ sec and Hold: Track forward
• Triple Tap: EQ Change
• Answer Call: single tap
• Hang Up: double tap
• Reject Incoming Call: Press and hold 2+ seconds

Sound -



First off, I wanted to touch on the active noise cancelling (ANC). The noise cancelling works well, I used it at my office and it substantially blocked out the hum\fan noise from my server room. At the gym, it lowered the sound from the runners on the treadmills and dulled the clanking of weights a bit. The ANC also quieted the fan and air-conditioning noise. I think the ANC was great, although I turned it off outside when there was a wind, it seemed to create digital wind noise. The Epic Air Sport ANC come with 3 set EQs to choose from JLab Signature, Balanced, and Bass Boost. You can also utilize the app and change how each EQ sounds to fit your taste. On top of that, there are 4 EQ presets you can fool with to customize the sound of the earbuds even further. I found myself sticking with Balanced. Balanced had the best EQ setting for me though as I do not like too much bass messing with the rest of the overall sound. I am not a fan of Bass Boost either because as I already mentioned, I do not like the overpowering bass, but some might prefer that. I tested the earbuds on both my LG G8 ThinQ and IPad Pro. I used both flac, mp3. For music, I have about 128 gigs of music on my phone alone, covering all sorts of genres, from Classical, Rock, Jazz, and Thrash. I found them to have a fairly wide soundstage with good instrument separation, everything sounded fairly clear and crisp. I could not discern a change in audio quality with the ANC on or off. I also tried watching some Netflix on my Ipad pro. I did not notice any lag, voices were in sync. With the ability to EQ the sound, it really is up to the user how they sound, which is a nice change from their prior headphones.

Calls -



I used these for several calls during the course of my review. I used the Epic Air Sport ANC during a Teams meeting for work and they performed very well, there were no complaints about how I sounded. I called my elderly parents and they could hear me clearly. In fact, I made several calls while out walking my dog, in windy conditions and they all sounded great, no complaints. I had no problem answering calls, I encountered no problems.

JLab Air ANC App -



I initially used the app on my Ipad Pro, but then tried it on my LG G8 THinQ. The app is separated into 5 sections. It allows the user to change the level of active noise cancelling, and Be Aware. You also can change the EQ in the Equalizer section, there are 4 separate EQ settings, and also have the ability to reset it all if you made changes you do not like. You can also customize the touch controls, for those that would like to set that up differently. Another great new feature is these now can have their firmware updated to improve and add new features. I noticed there was an update already waiting to be applied when I first used the app and updated my Epic Air Sport ANC. Another part of the app allows you to turn off or on the auto play/pause sensors.


Screenshot of ANC and Be Aware in App


Screenshot of customizable EQ

I am really impressed by these, they have great ANC, battery life, nice app, customizable EQ, and reasonable price at $99. I think that JLab has a winner with the Epic Air Sport ANC. Also they have a 2 year limited warranty and 30 day money back guarantee. I can easily recommend these to someone who is looking for affordable and great sounding earbuds.

I was recently sent JLab Audio's EpicANC earbuds. I had read their press release prior to their being released and was interested in JLab's implementation of active anc(active noise cancelling). I am also interested in how these will work in a home office environment since I am currently at home because of the covid19 pandemic.





Accessories:



The EpicANC came with the tip sizes, xsmall, small, medium, and large tips. There is also a pair of cloud tips and two cush fins(that were already installed). Also included is a soft travel case, aux adaptor, and micro usb charging cable.




Features:



The headphones boast a total of 14 hours of Bluetooth 5 and ANC playtime, 25 hours of bluetooth playtime, and 50 hours of active noise cancelling playtime. They are rated at IP54 sweatproof, so they could be used at the gym. For active noise cancelling, they have a low setting and a high setting. Also, if you need to be more conscious of your surroundings, their Be Aware setting allows you to hear the outside world when needed. These also come with a handy aux to micro usb cable so these can be used on flights. The JLab symbol of each earbud is magnetic, so they can stick together magnetically when not being used or so they don't bounce around when walking.

Build\Fit:


I apologize my ears are not pretty, I am not an ear model.

The EpicANC are made of a durable\tough plastic, utilizing an angled nozzle for the tips. They have a cush fin on each earbud which helps the buds stay in place. I found that the large ear tips worked best for me, but everyone's ears are different. Once in your ear, moving them back and fourth helps the cush fins find their place. A proper fit helps for better bass response. I found that they stayed in my ears well enough but wish that they would allow for deeper insertion for better isolation. The collar that holds everything together is made of very pliable rubber. The earbuds are pretty comfortable, I was able to wear them for hours(listening at safe volume) and did not find them fatiguing. Because the EpicANC utilize bluetooth 5, I experienced no dropouts or connectivity problems.

Controls:


A picture of the main controls



Pairing is easy, as soon as the earbuds turn on they are ready to pair.

Built into the right side of the EpicANC's collar are the controls. They are raised\rubberized and after using them for a bit, fairly easy to tell by feel which button is which. The controls are well spaced and not pushed too close together. There are the volume up and down buttons, which also serve to skip and reverse if you press and hold them for 2 seconds. The center button does several things, it powers on/off the earbuds, plays/pauses/answers/hangs up calls, rejects incoming calls, activates siri/google, and deals with bluetooth pairing. The ANC button is on the side of the main controls, and can be turned on\off and you can also cycle through the three settings(marked by muted beeps) of low anc/high anc/Be Aware.


A shot of the charging port and ANC button


Sound:


Here is a shot of what they look like when worn.


I listened to several different genres of music when reviewing these headphones on my LG G8 ThinQ. I found that the instruments were well separated, the highs were fairly crisp, but the midrange was just ok. I think the midrange could be worked on in the next iteration. The EpicANC sound signature differs between the ANC (active noise cancelling) chosen, the low setting seems to have more bass while high anc seems to sound thinner to me with reduced midrange\bass. I actually thought that the low ANC setting sounded the best, although quite bass heavy.

ANC:

The ANC was better than I expected, I found that even at the low setting that they blocked out the hum of the air conditioning or my kids trying to talk to me. I actually liked the low setting the best, but of course everyone is different. I used these at my home office and while writing my review here and found these did a good job of blocking out constant noise and even people talking.

Calls:

I used these on some conference calls and the people I was talking to said I sounded great and that they could not tell I was on earbuds. They seemed to block out a lot of the background noise also.



Overall, I would recommend the EpicANC to someone looking for an affordable ANC solution that does not carry the price of its competitors. It works great in noisy environments and works well on conference calls and Zoom meetings. At $79, these are a great deal and I think most will be happy with them. My only real con is the use of the collar, which I have never really liked on earbud\headphones.

Some time ago I had read about an Indiegogo for a new headphone by a company called Mu6. Now often these things get funded and then the product never sees the light of day as some of you have found out. But, these headphones by Mu6 were funded and they ultimately did make it to release. Fast forward to this week, after having reached out to Mu6 about reviewing their new headphone, Space 2, they sent me one for review.

Specs -



The MU6 Space 2 are advertised to have 40db in Adaptive active noise cancelling, 3D Touch Control, Auto Pause and Play, Transparency mode, APTX\APTX LL, foldable\portable, 24hr battery life, USB C charging, Bluetooth 5.0, App Control, leather pads, and Voice Assistant

Accessories -


A view of the headphones in the case

They came in in a nice zippered case with MU6 logo, and the accessories included were a 3.5mm cable for wired listening and a USB C charging cable.



Design\Features -




When I first held the Space 2, they felt substantial without feeling heavy. They are made from a strong form of ABS plastic while utilizing aluminum to augment their flexibility\rigidity. The thick leather ear cups are comfortable over your ears with ample room for different ear sizes to cover with ease. The material used is breathable so your ears will not get warm and will be comfortable. The inner material used is made of nylon. The adjustable headband is comprised of strong aluminum to make it strong while padded with leather to make it comfortable. There is just the right amount of clamping pressure. I was able to use them for hours while working from home. Of course, everyone is different regarding fit and so on, but they work for me. The headphones have nice strong aluminum hinges to allow them to swivel\pivot allowing for the Space 2 to collapse for portability or be put in their case. The Mu6 Space 2 can also fold flat if you want to transport them without the case if you run into space concerns. On the left earcup you have two buttons and the USB C connection and 3.5mm connection for wired use. One button is for power\pairing while the other controls the active noise cancelling. The right earcup is where this sets the Space 2 apart from many of it’s competitors by utilizing touch controls by swiping in different directions to pause\play, advance\reverse tracks, voice assistant, change volume and so on. Of course, this takes some practice to do, but after using the controls it becomes second nature. Finally, one nice feature is the built-in infrared sensor that pauses the music when you take off the headphones and automatically resuming the music when the headphones are back on your head. I found this quite handy throughout the day when I was interrupted by my kids or something else while using these.


Controls -


Close-up of the right cup

This is where the Mu6 Space 2 take a little getting used to. The right earcup uses swipe controls on the outside of the cup. To fast forward a song, you must swipe to the right and to go back to the previous track, you would swipe left. To increase volume you swipe up and swipe down to decrease it. Tapping the cup with your palm pauses\resumes whatever you are listening to. Alternatively, a covering the cup with your palm activates voice enhancement mode, which decreases the volume by 20% to hear your outside surroundings for safety and so on. It took me some time to get used to these controls, maybe I am slow, but after using them for a day it was pretty easy to do. You can also download the Mu6 app to change the strength of the active noise cancelling, setup auto-power off, enable\disable auto pause\play language, reset, and cloud-upgrade to update the firmware. Speaking of firmware, I upgraded these to version 2.0.

Battery\Connectivity -

The left ear cup with the buttons and USB C port

The battery life for these is 24 hours which was more than enough for me during the day. The estimated battery time loses about 4 hours when Active Noise Cancelling is on, but 20 hours should suffice for most people at work or on a long flight. It is very easy to charge these with the supplied USB C cable and they will be fully charged again in around 4 hours. I always use a 2 amp charger for all my usb devices instead of connecting to something low power like a usb C connection on a laptop.

Because these use Bluetooth 5.0, the connectivity was great. I often forgot them somewhere on the other side of my house(over 3000 ft), and the Space 2 were still connected without issue. Because of the whole Covid-19 thing I could not go to a lot of places with these, mostly around the neighborhood while walking my dog. I tested having my LG G8 ThinQ in either my from left or right pocket and also my back pockets, there were no dropouts. I also tried them with my phone in my Defender case while outside and there were no problems.


Sound -



The Space 2 incorporate AptX low latency so the headphones can accept high-bitrate audio like flac files and this allows for very low lag\latency for music and videos. I listened to a variety of different genres such Jazz by the likes of Dave Brubeck, or Prog metal by Dream Theater, thrash metal like Megadeth, rock music, and so on. From my various listening sessions with these headphones, I came to the conclusion that they had a fairly well-balanced sound signature. I found that the highs were there, and I could not discern any distortion. Vocals were separated and well defined. The bass and mid-bass were present, although as with many consumer headphones, they were more bass centric. Drums and bass were produced well with the Space 2. The sound-stage overall was very good, with clear separation. I switched between the strong and normal active noise cancellation and did not hear the music get muddy or muted like with some other headphones I have used in the past with ANC on. They are claimed to have up to 40db of noise cancellation, being able to adapt to outside sound. While I don’t have any instrumentation to test this, I did find the active noise cancellation(ANC) to be very good. It made my listening to music or while on a call easier to concentrate on, comparable to Bose. Overall, I did not find listening to them fatiguing at all and listened for several hours at a time.


Calls -

Throughout my time using the Mu6 Space 2, I had several chances to use them on conference calls and personal calls. I found them to be more than up to the task and had no trouble hearing the person on the other end of the call. On several occasions I asked the person on the call if I sounded strange or robotic and they said my voice sounded natural. I have not thought twice when using these in my work situation.


Conclusion -

Now having using these for some time, I have found them to be a great addition to my stable of headphones. While there is a learning curve to the swipe controls, I found them very easy to use. I also liked their durability and their comfortable fit and ergonomics. Taking the aforementioned characteristics and adding superb sound quality make them a great choice if you are looking for an alternative to much more expensive options from other companies.

I was recently sent JLab Audio’s Epic Air Sport True Wireless earbuds. These are JLab’s flagship fitness earbuds and I have been waiting for some time to check them out. I was interested in seeing how they would improve on JLab’s JBuds Air Sport True Wireless. I need my workout\travel earbuds to be able to stay in my ear without me having to worry about them falling out and be easy to use with decent sound. I liked that these had longer battery life compared to the Jbuds.

Accessories:




In the box, aside from the case and headphones, there are 7 different tips. For the tips, there are gel cushion tips(single, double, and triple flange) and cloud foam tips.

Here is a picture of the inside of the box, with instructions printed on the side.

Features:

Utilizing JLab’s ear hook design to keep the earbuds in place, they also double as the antenna for the class 1 Bluetooth 5 connection. This provides 30+ feet range. In the gym I was able to get at least 50 feet of connectivity when leaving my phone on the side of the gym. I usually have my phone in a Otterbox Defender case in the holster on my right side and never put my phone in my pocket. But, I did test them outside, putting my phone in the front or back(left and right) pockets of my jeans, there was no drop in connectivity.

These earbuds are rated at IP66 sweatproof rating. This allows for the headphones to continue to operate in rigorous workouts or if you get caught in inclement weather.



A shot of the case

The Epic Air Sports also boast of a 10 + hour play time, the charging case providing 60 extra hours. This allowed me to go the whole day without having to be charged. The case has a built in charging cable, but also has a standard USB port to allow for charging another device.

The Be Aware Audio is a great feature that allows you to hear your surroundings when needed. Say you are outside walking on the street, you can hear cars coming and so on. Or, when someone wants to talk to you, 3 taps on the right bud allow you to hear and have a normal conversation.



Here is a view of the builtin USB charging cable



USB port that allows other devices to be charged from

The buds also incorporate JLab’s Custom EQ3 sound. You can choose from Signature, Balanced, or Bass Boost. Depending on how you like your music, these 3 settings should have you covered.

JLab Audio is an official partner of Major League Soccer(MLS)

Build Quality\Fit:



A view of the earbuds in the case

The Epic Air Sports are made of a durable plastic with an angled nozzle for the tips. They each have an ear-hook design that allows for a proper fit once they are inserted in the ear and rotated towards the back of the ear. I found that they were pretty comfortable. Of course, this depends on the tips you choose and how they fit your ear, every person’s ear is different. Finding the proper fit allows for better bass and better passive noise cancelling. With the tips I chose, they blocked out a fair amount of the outside surroundings. I would have like for them to have a deeper insertion in the ear to allow for more passive noise canceling. The earbuds are very comfortable and I was able to wear them for several hours.



I apologize in advance for not being an ear model.....

Controls:

A closer view of the tip and button of the earbud

The Epic Air Sports utilize touch controls. When you first take them out of the case for the first time, you have to hold down both power buttons on each bud to power them on. The left bud stays a solid white while the right blinks between blue\white. They are then ready to pair. After being paired, Next time you take the earbuds of the case, they are already on and automatically connect to your phone. The controls become intuitive once you have used them for a bit. I am used to them because I have used other earbuds in JLab’s line of true wireless earbuds. For example touching the left side lowers volume, and touching the right earbud raises the volume. I have broken down some of the controls below in a fairly easy to understand format:



Paired and ready for action

Left earbud

Single tap: Volume down

Double Tap: Google Assistant\Siri

Press 1 sec and Hold: Track back

Triple Tap: EQ mode



Right Earbud

Single tap: Volume up

Double Tap: Play/Pause

Press 1 sec and Hold: Track forward

Triple Tap: Be Aware mode

Answer Call: single tap

Hang Up: double tap

Reject Incoming Call: Press and hold 2+ seconds





Sound:



I took the JLab Air Sports hiking

For this review I used my LG 8 Thinq and also my wife’s Iphone 11 with the Epic Air Sports. I used both Flac files and 320 kbps on my LG(no flac files on my wife’s Iphone, those were AAC). Of course, the Jlab Air Sports do not have high quality-codec support(AptX), maybe in the next iteration. I have the files stored on the phone on a 128gig external SD card. I figured that why would I degrade the sound even more by streaming from something like Spotify and then streaming to earbuds, thereby further reducing the sound quality. I listen to rock, thrash, and classical tracks(even the Hamilton! Musical). I found the earbuds to have pretty crisp highs and decent bass. The midrange was ok, but the bass was more pronounced. The treble sounded good also. I stuck to the EQ presets Signature and Balanced, though I found the Balanced preset anemic sounding, devoid of midrange and bass. I am not much of a bass-head, so I stayed away from the Bass Boost setting. In the end, I stuck with Signature setting. While these headphones are definitely not for critical listening, they are more than sufficient for workouts and other active activities. Like I mentioned earlier, I wish these allowed for better isolation from outside sound. I used these when doing pull-ups, bench press, running the oval, and so on and they stayed in and sounded good, with no dropouts\connectivity problems. I would like a future version to block out more sound from my gym, like hearing someone running on the treadmill, or sound from the rowing machines. Speaking of outside sound, the Be Aware Mode did allow for me to hear someone if they were talking to me, or if I were out and about and had to hear what was going on for safety reasons. It works, but I found myself just turning down the music instead or pulling one earbud out of my ear to hear. I also want to note that these were more than loud enough for me, I never had a problem with volume.


Call Quality:

Out on the trails(again I am no much of a model)

While out hiking with these, I received a couple of calls. I found that the call quality was acceptable, I was able to answer the call by a single tap on the right earbud. I asked the caller how I sounded, and they had no complaints. I also called my parents and it was a pleasant experience, my parents could hear me well enough.



Conclusion:

Indication led lights letting me know that the earbuds are charging

If you are active person, these headphones are a great option. With the IP66 water resistant rating, ear-hooks for a secure fit when running, biking, or hiking. On top of that they have 10+ hours battery life, even more with the case, and the case provides 2600mAH power in the dual purpose case. Of course you don’t have to be an athlete to use these, they are great option for all kinds of people looking for a great pair of Bluetooth earbuds at a decent price. To make them even more enticing, they have a 2 year limited warranty and a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. This shows that JLab Audio is pretty confident about the Epic Air Sports.

The Sennheiser MB 660’s are an interesting headphone. Sennheiser's new MB 660 UC wireless headset is a great combination of work and play.hey are made for the office but can also can be used away from work, to take on a trip or to enjoy your favorite music at home. Headsets.com was nice enough to let me try these out.



 
 
 
Features:
 

                                                               Fits nicely in the provided case




 





The provided USB dongle
 
The headset uses large ear cups and a well-built headband with a good clamping factor to help keep them on your head and also help block out ambient sound. These headphones use NoiseGard, Sennheiser’s version of hybrid adaptive Active Noise Cancelling, so they can adapt the noise cancelling to your environment. They also feature touchpad controls that allow you to swipe to skip tracks or pair your headphones to your phone. For voice communication the 660’s incorporate something called SpeakFocus technology that utilizes 3 microphones to help callers hear what you are saying. They also use tech to help people hear you when you are in a windy environment and the 660 can adjust to even take out your keyboard typing sound out of the equation. For music, Sennheiser utilizes aptX, to help bring cd quality streaming via bluetooth. The 660 UC have up to 30 hours of battery life and if you do happen to run out of battery, they come with an audio cable to connect them directly to your phone. Sennheiser also has an app called CapTune, which has some of the headset controls such as changing the adaptive noise cancelling level, changing the headphones language and so on. They also come with a selection of 3 separate sound effect modes for speech, music, and entertainment. Pairing is handled via Bluetooth or NFC, and there is a dongle for the PC. A nice rugged zippered case is also included to help protect your headphones when you travel to and from work or on a plane. For accessories, Sennheiser has included a micro usb charging cable, audio cable to connect to your phone\mp3 player, a plane adaptor, and a usb dongle to use with your pc.
 
Build:
 

Metal is used in the headband and hinges




 





 Nice soft ear cups
 
The MB 660 seem to be built well, they have a nice weight to them while not feeling cheaply made. I liked the feel of the headphones, the clamping factor seemed perfect to me, it helped with the noise cancellation. The large ear cups easily covered my ears and the ear pads are soft yet seem breathable so my ears did not get warm after a long conference call or after listening to some music. I would also like to note that the ear cups easily fit over my glasses. The headband is also nicely padded to make wearing the headphones for an extended amount of time more comfortable. The 660’s are designed so that the ear cups swivel to fold flat so you can rest them on your neck and they automatically turn off. When you switch them back to the regular position they turned back on, quickly pairing back to my Galaxy 7. Metal is used in the headband, helping keep the making the headband feel well made and adding just the right amount of weight to the overall construction of the headphones.
 
Controls:
 





 Here you can see the ANC switch, soundfield button and micro-usb
 
The noise cancelling worked great when used in my different offices and even allowed me to listen to music when working in two different server rooms without having to raise the volume to dangerous levels. I want to mention that I did not utilize the sound effect modes of the headphones, accessible by pressing the button labeled with a musical note. Others might like utilizing the effect modes, but I prefer the sound to not be altered that way. The controls for the music are handled by swiping or holding a finger on the right cup, and it works fairly well. The touch pad is very responsive and it becomes second nature to swipe to the right to skip a track or hold and swipe up or down to raise or lower the volume. Bluetooth can also be turned off via a switch that is protected by the headband when the headphones on your head. The NoiseGard is easily switchable between two levels depending on how noisy your environment is. You can also turn off NoiseGard if you are so inclined.
 
Sound:
 
When using these headphones via Bluetooth, the headphones could reach 60ft or more feet  from my phone if I left it say at my desk. My Samsung Galaxy 7 works with AptX so that helped with the sound. I also tested them with an Apple 7 Plus and they still sounded good to me. I did not experience any dropouts, the Bluetooth signal was strong with both the Android and Apple phones. The bass is adequate without being bloated and they retain the Sennheiser house sound. The sound had depth and they did not sound thin, the instruments sounded crisp. I decided to see how these headphones sounded wired to my XDUOO X3 DAP. Once wired and listening to Graham Nash’s Five Down Below in FLAC, the music was no longer background music, but it made me take notice. The headphones reproduced the sound more naturally, and had a nice soundstage. With wired, the sound of course is going to sound fuller. On a FLAC version of Foo Fighters Wasting Light, the bass sounded nice and tight, the headphones sounded great. I also listened to Che Guevara T-Shirt's Monsters to listen to something more eclectic, and the headphones sounded great. Paired with the noise cancellation on the highest setting, I felt as if I was at a private concert, I could only hear the music, there was no other distractions to be heard.
 
Taking\Making Calls:
 





                                                                                                             Here is what they look like when worn
 
These headphones also worked well when taking calls, the touch controls on the right headset allowed me to redial, mute, un-mute, voice-dial all by a series of holding the finger to the cup and swiping to the left or the right. It takes a bit to get used to, but you get used to it after using it. The ANC helped me to concentrate on the conversation because it really blocked out all outside sound. Even my typing on the keyboard was very muted.
 
Conclusion:
 





 A picture of these near my Christmas tree
 
The only cons I found with these headphones was that they are bit expensive side of things at $449.95. Also, a couple of times when on a call, the person on the other end of the call claimed I sounded as if I was on a box. That only happened a couple of times, so it was not the norm. Overall, I thought the headphones were great, I was able to have them on for hours at a time, and I often forgot that I had them on. I think they would be great in an office environment and could also be used as a nice Bluetooth headset on the go at home or for travel.

 
I recently received the JLab Epic2 Bluetooth headphones for review. Some of the new features of the Epic2 are the upgrade from ipx4 to ipx5 to improve resistance to sweat and water. They have also improved the Bluetooth antenna to help with signal\cutout problems. The Epic 2 include AptX compatibility to improve Bluetooth audio. They also last for 12 hours of music which should last someone for the week if they were used in the gym.
 
Accessories:
 

 

 
The Epic2’s come with lots of accessories to help the new owner get the most of their headphones. The headphones come with 8 sets of tips with all different configurations of single, double, triple flange tips. Also included is a handy hard nylon zippered case that can hold the cable, extra tips and the Epic2 themselves. Another handy accessory is the included plastic cinches that will help the owner change the size of the cable to meet their needs.
 
 
 
Fit:
 

 
The Epic2 are fairly easy to figure out in regards on how to wear them, and because of the titanium over-ear hook and how it guides around your ear, it did not interfere with my sunglasses when using them outside. The memory wire in the wire helped keep the headphones over my ear and the included plastic cinches, I was able to lessen the amount of wire, helping to lessen microphonics. The outer housing of the phones are a little large, so the headphones cannot be inserted deep into the ear, making it so they isolate well and block out ambient sound, but it could be better. Still the Epic2 is worlds better than the isolation of the Powerbeats2, which is none at all.
 
 
Controls:
 
 

 
The controls are Intuitive with raised buttons, a left arrow, center button, and right arrow. They are at just the right height and raised in the way for you to be able to differentiate from them. It was very easy for me to change tracks, pause music, raise, and lower music. I found them to be easier to use then the ones included on the Beats Powerbeats2. The controls also seem very well made and probably could take a beating if I were someone who was not careful with my stuff.
 
Sound:
 
The sound of the Epic2 lean more to the bass side of music, but they are not overpowered by, as I could still discern mids and highs. I do not always listen to classical music, but these sounded fine when I listened to The Very Best of Mozart, they sounded pretty good. Listening to Chris Cornell’s Dead Wishes, the acoustic guitar and vocals were well defined, the headphones did not sound congested and I could make out the individual instruments. The headphones exhibited a decent sound stage.
 
 
Gym and Outdoors:
 
I used them at the gym doing chin-ups, bench press, abdominals, legs, and so on and these worked great, no problems. I also tried them on the elliptical and they stayed in and I did not have to re-position them. I sweat a bit, but I did not dunk these in water or anything like that, no torture test here to see if they met their IPX5 rating. These had a decent range of 30 to 40 feet, so when doing weights, I had my phone away from me when possible. Outside, the headphones had no dropouts and were great. I even took them to Europe with me and they performed flawlessly. I have found that some Bluetooth headphones ran into problems when outside, but these were great. I tested them with both my Samsung S7 and an Iphone 6 Plus. I wanted to mention that these also randomly tell me the battery life while listening to music, so you will always know where you are at in terms of how much time you have left.
 
Conclusion:
 
After having used these for several weeks, I think these are the very well rounded. They have very good sound, great battery life, good fit, are made for the gym and people on the go. These are now my go to bluetooth headphones.

I have been intrigued by the idea of Bluetooth headphones for the gym and office use for some time. I had seen users wearing Jaybird, Beats, and other brands at the gym. My problem with Beats is that they are overpriced and with exaggerated bass. I also was looking for headphones that had the aptX and AAC HD, which allows for supposed cd quality sound when I am listening to my flac or 320kbps encoded mp3 music.  Enter the Mee Audio X7 plus. My wife recently went to CES and went to the Mee audio booth and told me about the X7 Plus Bluetooth wireless headphones. I contacted Mee Audio and they sent me these X7 Plus for review.
 
Design
After charging the headphones, I went ahead and tried the different tips that were available. It seems that the best fit for me was the medium tip. The headphones fit a happy medium where some IEMS(in ear monitors) need to be inserted deeply into the ear canal to get a decent fit. The X7 Plus uses some of the body of the headphone to also fit inside the ear to help block out ambient noise. This might also be welcome to some who do not like the feeling of pressure with deeply inserted headphones. These headphones also utilize memory wire to keep the headphones securely in your ears. For controls the X7 Plus has a 3 button remote built in on the wire towards the right ear with 3 easy to manipulate rubberized buttons. The center button is used to turn on, pair, play and pause music. The other two buttons advance music, fast forward and rewind. Short presses of these buttons also lower and raise volume. I want to note that I do not listen to my music at loud volume, but these headphones could go loud enough, that is if you want hearing damage. There is a rubberized cinch to tighten the headphones for a tighter fit. For charging, there is a supplied micro usb cable that connects to the side of the controls to charge the X7 plus for 8 hours of playback. There is also a circular zippered case to protect the headphones when they are not in use.
Here is what they look like when worn:

Here are are the inline controls:

Here is the included case:                                                        

 
Another shot of the headphones:

 
Apple and Android
My main phone is a LG G3 which I have had for over a year. I have gone back and forth between Android and Iphone over the years, I am not a fan of Itunes. Anyway, I found that when starting and listening to the first track after connecting each time, that there is almost 10 second timeframe where the beginning of the first track stutters. On the my work Iphone 6 there is no hesitation\stuttering, the track plays clearly. I would also like to note that the lowest volume level when connected to the Iphone 6 was too loud for me, but my LG G3 did not have that problem.
 
At the gym
I next auditioned the X7 plus at my local gym where I go several times a week. I wanted to see if they could stay in while ding chin-ups, bench press, running and so on. The X7’s were used during all my workouts and they stayed in and required minimal reseating. I find nothing more irritating than having my headphones pop out during a set. I found that even while perspiring on the elliptical trainer or doing planks that the X7’s kept chugging along and I had only the occasional dropout, but that is to be expected when in an environment with so much interference from other devices. I often also forgot my phone and walked away, but the signal sometimes held past 40 feet away. I mostly had my phone on a shelf or near me while working out.
 
At Work
Upon first listening to them at my office, I noticed that they had a decent soundstage, the instruments had good separation, with crisp highs. For a change of pace, I listened to a best of Mozart compilation and the headphones accurately played back the tracks and they did not sound congested but rather very pleasant. I changed pace and moved to Megadeth’s Dystopia and the album sounded great, there was no harshness to the highs. I am not a bass head by any means but the bass and mid bass were very good without being overwhelming. Overall the sound was not fatiguing and I could listen to them for some time. My experience with the X7 plus at work was great. Despite right next to my server room I experience no dropouts and enjoyed not being held to one spot as I worked on building computers and so on.
Call Quality
I normally do not use headphones to take calls, but these did a decent job. The caller’s voice sounded clear and their voice sounded natural to me without my having to strain to hear what they were saying. You can also use the multipoint functionality so you can manage call and media from two different devices at the same time.
Conclusion
For $99, the Mee Audio X7 Plus are a great alternative to the other wireless headphones on the market. They sound great, have decent ambient sound blocking capabilities without being uncomfortable, and have good range without lots of signal dropouts. Mee Audio also has great customer service and is very receptive to any problems you might have.