Haylou Purfree Buds OW01 QCC3040 IP55 Open-Ear Sports Buds
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Model: Haylou OW01 Purfree Buds
Price: MSRP Approx £120
Website: Haylou
Review Reference: RC088
Manufacturer Specification:
1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User Manual: English, Chinese
YouTube Review
Introduction
Welcome to the @regancipher review of the latest Haylou sports earbud release, the OW01 aka Purfree Buds. The buds are the follow up to the BC01 Purfree Bone Conduction Headphones I reviewed a few months ago, and represent the latest chapter in Haylou's eye-catching transition from budget TWS vendor to mid-tier lifestyle brand, with niche, sports-centric headphones now taking a lofty perch alongside their budget smartwatch and earbud portfolios.
Their BC01 were my favourite bone conduction headphones of 2022 - a remarkable product that deserved the multitude of awards they won, including the VGP Red Dot Award for Design. With a thoughtful approach to ergonomics and Lieshing Electronics' sound engineering experience, it proved to be a match made in heaven for bone conduction headphones that easily challenged the Shokz Openrun at a fraction of the price, so I was looking forward to seeing what Haylou offered with the OW01 - wearables that look to challenge the Oladance, Bose Sport Open, Cleer Audio Arc and JLab Open Sport as the open-ear buds to beat.
Unboxing
Unboxing the BC01 was pretty impressive, but somehow Haylou have actually outdone themselves by taking the experience up another notch. The product enclosure looks more like a ready-made gift box, with a heavy duty cardboard exterior offering an incredibly premium feel. The front gives you an image of the buds, and the back details the key features in Chinese and English.
The back has an authenticity check sticker, and lists the headline parameters, including IP55 moisture and dust resistance and durable battery life.
Inside the box you get a product manual, again in Chinese and English, which uses diagrams and text instructions to good effect, and a USB-C charge cable, both housed in a mini cardboard enclosure which sits below the impressive looking charge case.
Haylou have again positioned the product as a potential gift - it's a shame Christmas has been and gone, but before long Valentine's Day will be upon us, and the OW01 certainly wouldn't look out of place being wrapped up and handed over without the risk of a slap to the face!
Case
The case, similar to other earbuds of this style, is by necessity akin to a minature eyeglasses case - very wide (just over 10cm), with the buds sitting back to back inside and facing you as you flip open the lid. However unlike most vendors, they've chosen to 'hybrid-ise' a single case rather than offering a separate carry case and charge cradle. Many of Haylou's competitors have separated out the carry case and charging function, with the user required to plug the earbuds in or seat them in a cradle. This isn't especially convenient and prevents the buds from charging in between uses, which is counter-intuitive if you're used to TWS, but with a reasonably portable charge case Haylou are able to combine both functions, and for me it is an effective compromise that works well.
It's a very premium-feeling matte black aluminum alloy case which shimmers in the light, with the HAYLOU logo and a small triangle indicating where to open the lid screen printed in a contrasting shiny finish. A USB-C socket is located at the rear, so you can pop them on the desk whilst charging and they will sit in their correct formation. There is a case LED at the front, directly below the triangle, but it's a bit of a missed opportunity here as it only seems to pulse when charging, and glow briefly when you open the case - there's no indication of how much charge is remaining, and without app support you're kinda in the dark over how much juice you have remaining. The case does have hall switch mode though - flip the lid and you'll notice they connect to your device straight away - a gift, and a curse, because when you pop them onto your ears, you'll likely find you activate the controls accidentally. Inside the cockpit you've got a reset and initiate pairing button - useful if you can't remember what you're connected to.
It is an extremely robust case that isn't short on heft, weighing in at over 120g - three times the weight of your average budget TWS - but despite that, it actually feels quite a bit lighter than you would expect. Granted, it isn't going to pop in your shorts when you're out for a run, but it's thin, long profile means it won't weigh you down in a Napoleon pocket when you're out for a hike, or even a normal inside jacket pocket when you're out and about.
Design & Ergonomics
The OW01 are predominantly sports buds with an open-air 'zero gravity fit' design that permits greater safety by allowing the wearer to hear their surroundings without the need for switching on ambient mode or removing the buds from their ears. By the same token, the comfort and convenience makes them suitable for other scenarios, such as wearing in an office where you need to hear conversations periodically, or even around the house where you don't want to seem overly ignorant to those around you.
Haylou's Purfree series have a common theme - optimal comfort, with the use of medical grade silicone for the parts that put pressure on the skin, and maleable but robust titanium alloy to give the product shape, stability and durability. Haylou claim to have designated over 600 hours to finding the ideal fit - not easy when everyones ear anatomy is different - but from my persepctive, they've done a sterling job balancing those essential components in a good open ear bud design.
The OW01 come in four colour schemes - orange, burgundy and black, white and pink, light and neon green and black. On the orange model, the burgundy, silicone ear hooks feel soft against your skin, but they don't have a great deal of give, and even feel a little loose on the ears at first. They pass the shake test, for sure, but initially I didn't feel like they would last a long run. I also wasn't initially convinced with the comfort, with a bit of ache at the back of my ear after using them for a few hours in the house.
I was wrong on both fronts. I took them out for a 5km and after treading carefully at first, within a hundred metres or so the buds had almost morphed with ears, learning where they needed to go, and not missing a beat for the entirity of the run. Not only that, this bedding in period also saw the comfort improve immeasurably too. Everyones ears are different, and there's every chance they will jive with your ears straight away, but it is also good to know they settle into the rhythm of your ear anatomy over time - in my case it was literally a few hours.
The front of the bud has a large touch control area and an LED to denote pairing status (blue and white alternating when pairing). The touch control area only controls play and pause (x1), call functions (x1 to answer, x2 to hang up) and alternating tracks backwards (Left x2) and forwards (Right x2). Holding for two seconds hails voice assistant. Like the Bose Sport, some functions are offloaded to tactile buttons on each side, conveniently placed for pinching on the bottom of the speaker area underneath the touch control. However, it's the reverse of the Bose as these instead control volume. Separating out the functions is definitely beneficial, because if you put your finger too close to the touch controls they are prone to accidental touches - with a physical button situated away from that area a little, I found I was able to control volume more effectively as a result, but whether it's better to have volume on the touch controls instead is really personal preference - Bose give you the ability to switch touch controls off via the app, but without an app Haylou can't offer the same feature.
There are openings both on the back and the inside of the bud, with a total of 4 speaker outputs on each ear working in combination with the 16.2mm dynamic drivers to provide a capable audio delivery that doesn't come up short in the volume department. If I had one minor criticism of the BC01, they didn't quite hit the volume level needed if on a bike and in a busy, urban area with lots of ambient sound. The immersive nature of the sound thanks to these outputs prevents that from being an issue here.
The openings allow the buds to pipe sound from different direction into and around your ears, and whilst I'm not sure it is quite the three-dimensional sound that Haylou hope to offer, it is certainly a more engaging, immersive delivery than most air conduction buds, which, even with multiple speakers, tend to transmit sound rather uniformly. The design also helps to reduce leakage, and whilst it is likely people close to you will know you're listening to something, they certainly won't be able to tell what it is.
The orange sections which hold the drivers are made from plastic, and this differs from something like the Oladance which is silicone on the inside and has a more targeted nozzle, but don't let that put you off - the plastic on the OW01 is rarely if ever noticeable, and this provides an impressive level of comfort. They weigh around 12g each, but certainly don't feel heavy, and are significantly lighter than something like the Cleer Ally Arc, which come in at nearly 15g, even weighing in less than the previous lightest - the Oladance (at 12.7g).
In terms of the profile, they only jut out from the side ever-so-slightly, and I have to say look far better than traditional air or even bone conduction headphones. They also offer IP55 sweat and dust resistance - you can't shower in them, but they do offer enhanced protection over the competition, which are predominantly IPX4.
It's possible to wear them with glasses and even a mask, with the mask fitting over the top. The stability within the design means they don't wobble off your ears when you remove your mask. Unfortunately, I found them a little uncomfortable with a baseball cap as the cap presses down on the ear hooks, but this is usually the case with buds of this ilk.
Another surprise bonus is their suitability for sleeping. After misplacing my Bluetooth 'sleepy mask', I've used them the last couple of nights both on my side and on my back, and they are probably the most suitable sleeper buds I've ever tried. The touch controls are actually touch sensitive, so they won't trigger from contact with your pillow, and they don't trigger from gloves either for that matter.
The buds use the Qualcomm QCC3040 chipset, and use the AptX codec by default. If you're on iPhone, it will default to SBC. Connectivity is once again rock solid, using Bluetooth 5.2.
Overall, they are comfortable, stable and apply many of the outstanding design principles of the BC01 - a pleasure to wear in a variety of activities, and the open design and stability may appeal to those who like the idea of semi-in-ear buds, but can never get them to stay in their ears.
Audio Quality and Sound Signature
Audio quality is usually a bit of an afterthought when selecting open earbuds, given the priority is usually comfort and stability. None of the competition can realistically claim to offer deep basslines or analytical-levels of detail. The most important thing from an audio perspective is that the sound is delivered to your ears effectively without excess harshness - due to the nature of these and other such buds you will need to periodically ramp up the volume to hear them over your surroundings, so it is important to eradicate shrill and sibilance as far as possible, whilst remaining punchy and giving the user a moderate amount of detail. Consequently, the graphs shouldn't necessarily be interpreted in the same way IEM's are.
Subbass on buds like these is usually scaled back to avoid a bloated, overwhelming sound, and the OW01 are no exception. The midbass peaks around 80Hz and remains fairly flat until dipping in the upper mids. There's very little presence to the lower frequencies generally, as you would expect, but enough to hear basslines and prevent tracks from sounding excessively thin, and not too much that if you ramp the volume up you'll hear distortion. Instead focus is on delivering clarity and weight to the midrange, including vocals, which naturally stand out. 'Side to Side' by Ariana Grande has a reasonable weight to the drums, great presence to the vocals, which pan around almost atmospherically, and decent texture to the snares and claps. 'Mad World' by Tears for Fears has emphasis on the kick and again the vocals, with decent clarity to brass instruments.
Haylou have tried to temper sibilance on vocals, and they've done a pretty decent job, only sounding slightly raspy on very high volumes. The open design gives the impression of an open, airy soundstage. On opera tracks like 'Nessun Dorma' by Luciano Pavarotti, strings, brass and woodwinds all separate nicely without being overcome by the vocal.
Don't expect IEM or even TWS audio - that isn't the design brief here, the bar isn't just lower, it's a different bar altogether. When assessing the Purfree Buds in comparison to other air conduction buds, they perform well, avoiding the distortion present on the Cleer Ally Arc at higher volumes, and giving a similarly wide, open sound to the Oladance. Again, it would be nice for Haylou to offer app support in the future, allowing the user to tweak the EQ to their liking. If you're an Android owner you've always got Wavelet to help, and I was able to whack the subbass right up without obvious distortion.
Call Quality
The addition of second mic has benefited the OW01 hugely, with a very respectable level of environmental noise reduction coming through, particularly in outdoor scenarios.
In rooms with silence, your voice is conveyed loudly and clearly with good weight and tone. There's a little compression there, but it certainly isn't enough to thin your voice out - the OW01 compete comfortably with some of the better TWS on the market in this respect.
Add simulated background noise to mimic chatter, and the OW01 do a decent job of elevating your voice over the sounds around you. Ambient sound certainly isn't eradicated altogether, but it is reduced to an acceptable volume that allows you to be more than coherent and audible.
Outdoors, the OW01 do better, aggregating environmental sound and reducing it to a hum that sounds more akin to interference. I've recently reviewed a number of buds with 6 mics and AI noise reduction, and whilst they aren't going to compete with those, considering the distance the mics are away from your mouth, the performance on calls is impressive.
Battery Life
The OW01 have a 55mAh battery capacity and offer a generous 8 hours of battery life, which compares well with the Bose Sport and trumps the 7 on the Cleer Ally Arc, buts falls short of the mammoth 16 hours on the Oladance. Unlike the Cleer Ally though, there is no quick charge feature, and this is a little bit of a shame, especially when you consider you don't have any real way of telling how much battery is remaining in the case. As far as I can tell, you've got a 90 minute case charging time in total, but the only way to tell is when the pulsing light on the case stops pulsing, so again this underlines how beneficial app support would be.
Real life tests showed the claims to be pretty accurate. With the aptX codec, a few calls and music at around 70% volume, I managed to get consistently over 7 hours use. The extra 2-3 charges from the case, which give you up to 32 hours, were also consistent, and this is a big benefit of the OW01, blowing away many of their competitors, which don't have the benefit of charging themselves in the charge case when you're not using them. The convenient charge case makes using the OW01 more familiar for TWS users used to not having to remove buds from the case in order to charge them, and this definitely stands in Haylou's favour.
Summary
Haylou have picked up a few Red Dot Awards for design now though, and it isn't hard to see why. They are carving quite a niche for themselves, following up the excellent BC01 with a second set of sports-centric audio wearables that focus on comfort and stability - the most important pre-requisites in designs for products in this arena.
The OW01 are a compelling option for those looking for open wearable buds which offer good sound and call quality with decent battery life, standing toe-to-toe with the likes of Bose and Oladance, at a much more affordable price. Even so, I do feel like the cost of all these sports buds, especially the Oladance, is a little too prohibitive to enable brands that don't have the Bose pull to make a serious dent on the market. It's not that they don't do enough to justify the lofty price tag, but sometimes you have to do some deals to pick up market share. Hopefully we'll see Haylou augment this release with some discount codes so they get the traction they deserve.
For Haylou to really take the product up a notch, users would benefit hugely from app support, and the ability to see how much battery is remaining, tweak EQ, update firmware and perhaps switch touch control on and off, but this is something which can at least be added later and doesn't detract from what is another excellent release from Haylou.
Comfort & Stability - 87%
Design - 85%
Durability - 85%
Audio - 78%
Calls - 82%
Features - 71%
Battery Life - 86%
Overall - 84%
Previous Haylou Reviews:
S35 ANC Headphones
Purfree Buds
Purfree BC01 Bone Conduction Headphones
W1
Moripods
About Haylou
The brand name Haylou is taken from the homonym of the English word "Hello". We believe that we can resonate with the sea through conch and listen to the voice of the ocean together, and we can also listen to the voice of users through Haylou and share the beauty of the voice together. Haylou is the messenger of sound and the medium through which we resonate with our users.
Haylou is a brand belonging to Dongguan Liesheng Electronic Technology. Dongguan Liesheng Electronic Technology, established in 2015, is a subsidiary of Dongguan Hele Electronics, having secured Series A funding from Xiaomi technology, becoming one of the earliest members of the Xiaomi Ecological Chain. Hele Electronics and Liesheng Electronic are the OEM for Xiaomi's Mi / Redmi Airdots, and their portfolio of products includes smart and sports wearables as well as a comprehensive range of audio products.
Haylou's product portfolio ranges from wireless audio, smart wearables, to IoT and other categories. And its business has covered more than 100 countries and regions, serving tens of millions of users around the world. We are committed to establishing a digital health ecology by integrating a "user-device-data" scenario via technological innovation. Embracing the values of "Empowering & Awakening", Haylou aims to inspire you to keep challenge, explore your potential and find a better self.
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Model: Haylou OW01 Purfree Buds
Price: MSRP Approx £120
Website: Haylou
Review Reference: RC088
Manufacturer Specification:
- Brand: Haylou
- Model: OW01 Purfree Buds
- Driver: 16.2mm Dynamic Drivers
- Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3040
- Mic: 4 Mic with ENC
- ANC: No
- Codecs: AptX, SBC
- App Support: No
- Volume Control: Yes
- Gaming Mode: No
- Earbud Weight: 12.40g
- Earbud Dimensions: approx. 40mm high, 48mm width
- Gross Case & Buds Weight: 120.28g
- Case Dimensions: 100mm (width) x 27mm (height) x 55mm (depth)
- Case Charge Capacity: 600mAh / 2.22Wh
- Quick Charge: Yes
- Wireless Charging: No
- Single Use Playtime: Up to 8 hours
- Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 32 hours
- Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
- Bluetooth Protocols: HFP 1.7/ A2DP 1.3/ AVRCP 1.5
- Water Resistance: IP55
1 x Pair Wireless Earbuds
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User Manual: English, Chinese
YouTube Review
Introduction
Welcome to the @regancipher review of the latest Haylou sports earbud release, the OW01 aka Purfree Buds. The buds are the follow up to the BC01 Purfree Bone Conduction Headphones I reviewed a few months ago, and represent the latest chapter in Haylou's eye-catching transition from budget TWS vendor to mid-tier lifestyle brand, with niche, sports-centric headphones now taking a lofty perch alongside their budget smartwatch and earbud portfolios.
Their BC01 were my favourite bone conduction headphones of 2022 - a remarkable product that deserved the multitude of awards they won, including the VGP Red Dot Award for Design. With a thoughtful approach to ergonomics and Lieshing Electronics' sound engineering experience, it proved to be a match made in heaven for bone conduction headphones that easily challenged the Shokz Openrun at a fraction of the price, so I was looking forward to seeing what Haylou offered with the OW01 - wearables that look to challenge the Oladance, Bose Sport Open, Cleer Audio Arc and JLab Open Sport as the open-ear buds to beat.
Unboxing
Unboxing the BC01 was pretty impressive, but somehow Haylou have actually outdone themselves by taking the experience up another notch. The product enclosure looks more like a ready-made gift box, with a heavy duty cardboard exterior offering an incredibly premium feel. The front gives you an image of the buds, and the back details the key features in Chinese and English.
The back has an authenticity check sticker, and lists the headline parameters, including IP55 moisture and dust resistance and durable battery life.
Inside the box you get a product manual, again in Chinese and English, which uses diagrams and text instructions to good effect, and a USB-C charge cable, both housed in a mini cardboard enclosure which sits below the impressive looking charge case.
Haylou have again positioned the product as a potential gift - it's a shame Christmas has been and gone, but before long Valentine's Day will be upon us, and the OW01 certainly wouldn't look out of place being wrapped up and handed over without the risk of a slap to the face!
Case
The case, similar to other earbuds of this style, is by necessity akin to a minature eyeglasses case - very wide (just over 10cm), with the buds sitting back to back inside and facing you as you flip open the lid. However unlike most vendors, they've chosen to 'hybrid-ise' a single case rather than offering a separate carry case and charge cradle. Many of Haylou's competitors have separated out the carry case and charging function, with the user required to plug the earbuds in or seat them in a cradle. This isn't especially convenient and prevents the buds from charging in between uses, which is counter-intuitive if you're used to TWS, but with a reasonably portable charge case Haylou are able to combine both functions, and for me it is an effective compromise that works well.
It's a very premium-feeling matte black aluminum alloy case which shimmers in the light, with the HAYLOU logo and a small triangle indicating where to open the lid screen printed in a contrasting shiny finish. A USB-C socket is located at the rear, so you can pop them on the desk whilst charging and they will sit in their correct formation. There is a case LED at the front, directly below the triangle, but it's a bit of a missed opportunity here as it only seems to pulse when charging, and glow briefly when you open the case - there's no indication of how much charge is remaining, and without app support you're kinda in the dark over how much juice you have remaining. The case does have hall switch mode though - flip the lid and you'll notice they connect to your device straight away - a gift, and a curse, because when you pop them onto your ears, you'll likely find you activate the controls accidentally. Inside the cockpit you've got a reset and initiate pairing button - useful if you can't remember what you're connected to.
It is an extremely robust case that isn't short on heft, weighing in at over 120g - three times the weight of your average budget TWS - but despite that, it actually feels quite a bit lighter than you would expect. Granted, it isn't going to pop in your shorts when you're out for a run, but it's thin, long profile means it won't weigh you down in a Napoleon pocket when you're out for a hike, or even a normal inside jacket pocket when you're out and about.
Design & Ergonomics
The OW01 are predominantly sports buds with an open-air 'zero gravity fit' design that permits greater safety by allowing the wearer to hear their surroundings without the need for switching on ambient mode or removing the buds from their ears. By the same token, the comfort and convenience makes them suitable for other scenarios, such as wearing in an office where you need to hear conversations periodically, or even around the house where you don't want to seem overly ignorant to those around you.
Haylou's Purfree series have a common theme - optimal comfort, with the use of medical grade silicone for the parts that put pressure on the skin, and maleable but robust titanium alloy to give the product shape, stability and durability. Haylou claim to have designated over 600 hours to finding the ideal fit - not easy when everyones ear anatomy is different - but from my persepctive, they've done a sterling job balancing those essential components in a good open ear bud design.
The OW01 come in four colour schemes - orange, burgundy and black, white and pink, light and neon green and black. On the orange model, the burgundy, silicone ear hooks feel soft against your skin, but they don't have a great deal of give, and even feel a little loose on the ears at first. They pass the shake test, for sure, but initially I didn't feel like they would last a long run. I also wasn't initially convinced with the comfort, with a bit of ache at the back of my ear after using them for a few hours in the house.
I was wrong on both fronts. I took them out for a 5km and after treading carefully at first, within a hundred metres or so the buds had almost morphed with ears, learning where they needed to go, and not missing a beat for the entirity of the run. Not only that, this bedding in period also saw the comfort improve immeasurably too. Everyones ears are different, and there's every chance they will jive with your ears straight away, but it is also good to know they settle into the rhythm of your ear anatomy over time - in my case it was literally a few hours.
The front of the bud has a large touch control area and an LED to denote pairing status (blue and white alternating when pairing). The touch control area only controls play and pause (x1), call functions (x1 to answer, x2 to hang up) and alternating tracks backwards (Left x2) and forwards (Right x2). Holding for two seconds hails voice assistant. Like the Bose Sport, some functions are offloaded to tactile buttons on each side, conveniently placed for pinching on the bottom of the speaker area underneath the touch control. However, it's the reverse of the Bose as these instead control volume. Separating out the functions is definitely beneficial, because if you put your finger too close to the touch controls they are prone to accidental touches - with a physical button situated away from that area a little, I found I was able to control volume more effectively as a result, but whether it's better to have volume on the touch controls instead is really personal preference - Bose give you the ability to switch touch controls off via the app, but without an app Haylou can't offer the same feature.
There are openings both on the back and the inside of the bud, with a total of 4 speaker outputs on each ear working in combination with the 16.2mm dynamic drivers to provide a capable audio delivery that doesn't come up short in the volume department. If I had one minor criticism of the BC01, they didn't quite hit the volume level needed if on a bike and in a busy, urban area with lots of ambient sound. The immersive nature of the sound thanks to these outputs prevents that from being an issue here.
The openings allow the buds to pipe sound from different direction into and around your ears, and whilst I'm not sure it is quite the three-dimensional sound that Haylou hope to offer, it is certainly a more engaging, immersive delivery than most air conduction buds, which, even with multiple speakers, tend to transmit sound rather uniformly. The design also helps to reduce leakage, and whilst it is likely people close to you will know you're listening to something, they certainly won't be able to tell what it is.
The orange sections which hold the drivers are made from plastic, and this differs from something like the Oladance which is silicone on the inside and has a more targeted nozzle, but don't let that put you off - the plastic on the OW01 is rarely if ever noticeable, and this provides an impressive level of comfort. They weigh around 12g each, but certainly don't feel heavy, and are significantly lighter than something like the Cleer Ally Arc, which come in at nearly 15g, even weighing in less than the previous lightest - the Oladance (at 12.7g).
In terms of the profile, they only jut out from the side ever-so-slightly, and I have to say look far better than traditional air or even bone conduction headphones. They also offer IP55 sweat and dust resistance - you can't shower in them, but they do offer enhanced protection over the competition, which are predominantly IPX4.
It's possible to wear them with glasses and even a mask, with the mask fitting over the top. The stability within the design means they don't wobble off your ears when you remove your mask. Unfortunately, I found them a little uncomfortable with a baseball cap as the cap presses down on the ear hooks, but this is usually the case with buds of this ilk.
Another surprise bonus is their suitability for sleeping. After misplacing my Bluetooth 'sleepy mask', I've used them the last couple of nights both on my side and on my back, and they are probably the most suitable sleeper buds I've ever tried. The touch controls are actually touch sensitive, so they won't trigger from contact with your pillow, and they don't trigger from gloves either for that matter.
The buds use the Qualcomm QCC3040 chipset, and use the AptX codec by default. If you're on iPhone, it will default to SBC. Connectivity is once again rock solid, using Bluetooth 5.2.
Overall, they are comfortable, stable and apply many of the outstanding design principles of the BC01 - a pleasure to wear in a variety of activities, and the open design and stability may appeal to those who like the idea of semi-in-ear buds, but can never get them to stay in their ears.
Audio Quality and Sound Signature
Audio quality is usually a bit of an afterthought when selecting open earbuds, given the priority is usually comfort and stability. None of the competition can realistically claim to offer deep basslines or analytical-levels of detail. The most important thing from an audio perspective is that the sound is delivered to your ears effectively without excess harshness - due to the nature of these and other such buds you will need to periodically ramp up the volume to hear them over your surroundings, so it is important to eradicate shrill and sibilance as far as possible, whilst remaining punchy and giving the user a moderate amount of detail. Consequently, the graphs shouldn't necessarily be interpreted in the same way IEM's are.
Subbass on buds like these is usually scaled back to avoid a bloated, overwhelming sound, and the OW01 are no exception. The midbass peaks around 80Hz and remains fairly flat until dipping in the upper mids. There's very little presence to the lower frequencies generally, as you would expect, but enough to hear basslines and prevent tracks from sounding excessively thin, and not too much that if you ramp the volume up you'll hear distortion. Instead focus is on delivering clarity and weight to the midrange, including vocals, which naturally stand out. 'Side to Side' by Ariana Grande has a reasonable weight to the drums, great presence to the vocals, which pan around almost atmospherically, and decent texture to the snares and claps. 'Mad World' by Tears for Fears has emphasis on the kick and again the vocals, with decent clarity to brass instruments.
Haylou have tried to temper sibilance on vocals, and they've done a pretty decent job, only sounding slightly raspy on very high volumes. The open design gives the impression of an open, airy soundstage. On opera tracks like 'Nessun Dorma' by Luciano Pavarotti, strings, brass and woodwinds all separate nicely without being overcome by the vocal.
Don't expect IEM or even TWS audio - that isn't the design brief here, the bar isn't just lower, it's a different bar altogether. When assessing the Purfree Buds in comparison to other air conduction buds, they perform well, avoiding the distortion present on the Cleer Ally Arc at higher volumes, and giving a similarly wide, open sound to the Oladance. Again, it would be nice for Haylou to offer app support in the future, allowing the user to tweak the EQ to their liking. If you're an Android owner you've always got Wavelet to help, and I was able to whack the subbass right up without obvious distortion.
Call Quality
The addition of second mic has benefited the OW01 hugely, with a very respectable level of environmental noise reduction coming through, particularly in outdoor scenarios.
In rooms with silence, your voice is conveyed loudly and clearly with good weight and tone. There's a little compression there, but it certainly isn't enough to thin your voice out - the OW01 compete comfortably with some of the better TWS on the market in this respect.
Add simulated background noise to mimic chatter, and the OW01 do a decent job of elevating your voice over the sounds around you. Ambient sound certainly isn't eradicated altogether, but it is reduced to an acceptable volume that allows you to be more than coherent and audible.
Outdoors, the OW01 do better, aggregating environmental sound and reducing it to a hum that sounds more akin to interference. I've recently reviewed a number of buds with 6 mics and AI noise reduction, and whilst they aren't going to compete with those, considering the distance the mics are away from your mouth, the performance on calls is impressive.
Battery Life
The OW01 have a 55mAh battery capacity and offer a generous 8 hours of battery life, which compares well with the Bose Sport and trumps the 7 on the Cleer Ally Arc, buts falls short of the mammoth 16 hours on the Oladance. Unlike the Cleer Ally though, there is no quick charge feature, and this is a little bit of a shame, especially when you consider you don't have any real way of telling how much battery is remaining in the case. As far as I can tell, you've got a 90 minute case charging time in total, but the only way to tell is when the pulsing light on the case stops pulsing, so again this underlines how beneficial app support would be.
Real life tests showed the claims to be pretty accurate. With the aptX codec, a few calls and music at around 70% volume, I managed to get consistently over 7 hours use. The extra 2-3 charges from the case, which give you up to 32 hours, were also consistent, and this is a big benefit of the OW01, blowing away many of their competitors, which don't have the benefit of charging themselves in the charge case when you're not using them. The convenient charge case makes using the OW01 more familiar for TWS users used to not having to remove buds from the case in order to charge them, and this definitely stands in Haylou's favour.
Summary
Haylou have picked up a few Red Dot Awards for design now though, and it isn't hard to see why. They are carving quite a niche for themselves, following up the excellent BC01 with a second set of sports-centric audio wearables that focus on comfort and stability - the most important pre-requisites in designs for products in this arena.
The OW01 are a compelling option for those looking for open wearable buds which offer good sound and call quality with decent battery life, standing toe-to-toe with the likes of Bose and Oladance, at a much more affordable price. Even so, I do feel like the cost of all these sports buds, especially the Oladance, is a little too prohibitive to enable brands that don't have the Bose pull to make a serious dent on the market. It's not that they don't do enough to justify the lofty price tag, but sometimes you have to do some deals to pick up market share. Hopefully we'll see Haylou augment this release with some discount codes so they get the traction they deserve.
For Haylou to really take the product up a notch, users would benefit hugely from app support, and the ability to see how much battery is remaining, tweak EQ, update firmware and perhaps switch touch control on and off, but this is something which can at least be added later and doesn't detract from what is another excellent release from Haylou.
Comfort & Stability - 87%
Design - 85%
Durability - 85%
Audio - 78%
Calls - 82%
Features - 71%
Battery Life - 86%
Overall - 84%
Previous Haylou Reviews:
S35 ANC Headphones
Purfree Buds
Purfree BC01 Bone Conduction Headphones
W1
Moripods
About Haylou
The brand name Haylou is taken from the homonym of the English word "Hello". We believe that we can resonate with the sea through conch and listen to the voice of the ocean together, and we can also listen to the voice of users through Haylou and share the beauty of the voice together. Haylou is the messenger of sound and the medium through which we resonate with our users.
Haylou is a brand belonging to Dongguan Liesheng Electronic Technology. Dongguan Liesheng Electronic Technology, established in 2015, is a subsidiary of Dongguan Hele Electronics, having secured Series A funding from Xiaomi technology, becoming one of the earliest members of the Xiaomi Ecological Chain. Hele Electronics and Liesheng Electronic are the OEM for Xiaomi's Mi / Redmi Airdots, and their portfolio of products includes smart and sports wearables as well as a comprehensive range of audio products.
Haylou's product portfolio ranges from wireless audio, smart wearables, to IoT and other categories. And its business has covered more than 100 countries and regions, serving tens of millions of users around the world. We are committed to establishing a digital health ecology by integrating a "user-device-data" scenario via technological innovation. Embracing the values of "Empowering & Awakening", Haylou aims to inspire you to keep challenge, explore your potential and find a better self.
Bas82
Don't know if you've actually tested it in outdoor activities, but while biking the buds are not able to manage wind noise at all, to the point that the other party just hears ambient noise unless you're yelling. Could you double test outdoors, particularly on a bicycle? I do not cycle too fast (25km/h) and the other party literally cannot hear me. I asked for a call recording and actually, it's only wind and ambient noise. Another thing: can you point which is the secondary mic? I was wondering what about taping it off or something because currently it's unusable for calls while cycling. Thanks!
