Haylou Purfree Lite BT5.2 AptX Bone Conduction Headphones

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Model: Haylou Purfree Lite
Price: £37.22 - Haylou store AliExpress
Offer Price: $36.99 Haylou Website (Voucher code REGANBC04)
Review Reference: RC107

Manufacturer Specification:

• Brand: Haylou
• Model: Purfree Lite
• Driver: Bone Conduction 2nd Generation Transducer & 16mm TPU dynamic driver
• Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3044
• Mic: 2 mics with cVc Noise Reduction for calls
• ANC: N/A
• Codecs: AptX, SBC
• App Support: Yes (Basic)
• Multipoint: Yes
• Customisable Controls: No
• Gaming Mode: No
• Weight: 26.29g
• Quick Charge: Yes - up to 2 hours from 15 min juice
• Wireless Charging: No
• Charge Time: 120 minutes
• Battery Capacity: 170mAh
• Charge Connector: USB-C
• Single Use Playtime: Up to 10 hours
• Standby Time: Up to 300 hours
• Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.2
• Bluetooth Protocols: BLE/ HFP 1.7/ A2DP 1.3/ AVRCP 1.5
• Water Resistance: IP55

Includes:

1 x Pair Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
1 x User Manual

YouTube Review:



Introduction

The Purfree Lite from Haylou are the latest addition to their burgeoning sports audio range, this time focusing on the budget conscious portion of the market, having reinvented themselves previously with their premium-feeling Purfree BC01 and Purfree Buds. Open-ear and Bone Conduction have become essential product-pivots for TWS and earbud manufacturers, and Haylou were one of the first to embrace this shift with those releases.

Those two prior models were notable by their impressive build quality, reflected in the Red Dot Award for Design that both models were proudly awarded as well as a bunch of other accolades from Forbes et al, but whilst they were priced competitively, they were still comfortably the highest-priced options in the Haylou audio portfolio. This time around, Haylou have pitched their tent at far more attractive price - just $36.99 direct from Haylou currently - which for a bone conduction headphone is a steal. But will the inevitable compromises be worth it? Read on for my thoughts...…

Unboxing



Unboxing the Purfree Lite leaves you under no illusions that this is their 'Lite' edition - that's not to say it's a painful experience or anything like that, but the luxury experience you had with their Purfree Buds definitely isn't replicated here. Instead, it's a brightly-coloured, cheap and cheerful enclosure with a USB-C charge cable rattling around in the bottom.



The manual is fairly straightforward with details on how to pair, how to wear, how to use Multipoint and the rather complex control scheme.

Design & Ergonomics



The PurFree Lite are a striking set of bone conduction headphones that have veered away from design of the original, which comprised of a titanium wire fully-wrapped with skin-friendly silicone. Instead, this time around it's a three-section titanium wire, with two ear hooks and a rear hang. The headset weighs just over 27g, which makes it slightly lighter than the BC01, and they've compromised slightly on the water resistance rating - this time it's IP55 as opposed to the IP67 rating of the original. That may be a deal-breaker for some - bear in mind it will limit the activities that you're able to do with this headset as a result.

The transducer areas are more 'cube' shaped than the original, possibly to give a tighter connection to the skin.



Looking at the lime green control units on each side, there are some notable differences between the models. The controls remain predominantly on the right side, although their usage is quite limited - there is a plus and minus button, which are there to control volume and switch the headset on and off, but you've also got a multi-function button on the top of the right side, and that's where most of the magic happens, with tracks progressed backwards and forwards by triple and double pressing respectively. I've seen something in Haylou's marketing material about the unit being capable of head-movement controls to answer calls and cycle through tracks, which is a great idea - but didn't work when I tried. The buttons are in a good, intuitive location and easier to use than the slightly odd position on something like the SoundPEATS RunFree Lite. The MFB is plastic and a little small - it could do with being a little bigger as I couldn't always feel it first time.

Under the controls you've got a power connector on both models. On the newer model, it's USB-C, and the socket is protected with a small silicone cover, which I suspect is responsible for the reduction in water resistance rating. There are pros and cons to this though - at least now with a universal connection, you don't have to worry about carrying a proprietary cable around in case the battery runs out.

The image above gives you the clearest representation of the compromise in quality of the materials. The soft silicone cover that made the original a pleasure to wear has been jettisoned for a tougher polymer covering, and whilst it is undoubtedly a step down, in reality you probably aren't going to notice it unless you're wearing them all the time and are a die-hard BC user. They do feel a little colder against your skin though, which is 100% down to the change in materials, but that's also one of the reasons you're paying around $40 instead of $80-100. Horses for courses.



I tried the Purfree Lite out in a number of different environments and throughout different activities. Like most BC headphones, their strength is in cycling and running. The band has good malleability, and the clamping force is about right for my slightly-larger-than-average-sized head. Whilst the ear hooks aren't as soft as the original Purfree, they don't feel uncomfortable, and sit OK even with slightly thicker glasses and a helmet.

I tried them out in the gym too, and this is where they perhaps fall a little short of the Oladance/OneOdio-style band-free open-ear designs that have been more popular over the last twelve months. With HIIT activities they generally work out fine - even with core exercises like mountain climbers and Russian twists, they stay in place without any issues. However, with some floor work and incline weight sets, the band can be a bit of an annoyance, moving them out of place if you need to rest the back of your head down for a prolonged period. That is the case with all headsets of this ilk - not just the Purfree Lite - but it is something worth bearing in mind.

Audio

The Purfree Lite has a Qualcomm QCC3044 chipset, which defaults to the AptX codec on supported devices. On iPhone, it will default to SBC. They also use a second generation transducer and 16mm dynamic driver, which is designed to improve sound quality by, according to Haylou, up to 17%. I'm not sure how they came to this quantified deduction, but subjectively, there are some minor differences between this model and the original.

Firstly, the lower frequencies. The Purfree Lite have more bass, certainly across the midbass. With bone conduction headphones, in normal everyday listening you aren't going to feel a rumbling subbass - that's a limitation of science and the associated hardware - but there's a little more warmth to the sound, with more presence to drums and guitars. If you use ear protectors to block the sound out of your ears altogether and divert everything through your cheekbones, you can clearly hear the elevated bass in comparison to the original. However, and it may be due to the design changing too, but the transducers vibrate a little more and a little harder. I wouldn't say it's off-putting, and it's something I come to expect with this style of headphone, but it's certainly noticeable.

Vocals are still pretty clear, but not as clean as on the original. Female vocals are less sharp though, so if you're listening to a lot of pop and trance, for example, this can benefit the experience.

One of the complaints of the original was that in really busy environments, they could be a little quiet, especially if you're on the bike and close to a busy road, airport, etc. Haylou have got around this by giving you an 'Outdoor' preset in the app. Select this and you get a sound signature closer to the original, but the volume cranks up a few notches as well. Trebles are sharper and the perception of space is enhanced a little. I think it's good to have the option.

However, one oddity is that when there's no bass in the arrangement of the song you're listening to - an acapella section for example - the volume suddenly seems to sound louder - take God Is A Woman by Ariana Grande - when the beat stops and her vocal interludes start, it sounds noticeably quieter when the beat kicks back in. It's less obvious when you're out on the bike or out for a run, and less obvious with 'Outdoor' selected, but it's still there.

If you're a bone conduction user, you probably realise an audiophile-style experience isn't on the menu. The priority is giving you sufficient volume without fatigue, which the Purfree Lite definitely deliver.

Call Quality

I tested the Purfree Lite in both indoor and outdoor environments. Your voice comes across much quieter on this model than the original, but they are better at handling environmental noises - this is a common trade-off, and something to consider when selecting your preferred model, particularly if calls are important.

Outdoors, where you get the opportunity to raise your voice a little, the performance is fairly good. Wind noise will get through, but traffic and other similar sounds of your daily commute are softened.

Indoors, where perhaps you can't raise your voice as much, whilst the weight and tone of your voice are OK, you'll notice that not every word is quite as legible as on the original.

The ability to connect to multiple devices simultaneously make these and other such devices quite useful to wear in the home office. Where you don't have a great deal of background noise, your voice has good weight but is still a little soft, so do take this into consideration. However for the majority of users, it will be a case of taking a quick call whilst out for a run, and the PurFree Lite won't let you down in that respect.

Battery Life

Battery Life on the Purfree Lite has been extended over that of the original, now amassing a whopping 10 hours in the lab. In my own tests, with volume at around 90% and a smattering of calls taken throughout the duration, I achieved just over 9 hours before the set gave up on me. This is a two-hour improvement over the original, and definitely not to be sniffed at for a set of BC headphones, where the industry standard tends to be a little lower.

What's more, you're still getting an additional 2 hours juice from 15 minutes plugged in, and they're using USB-C rather than proprietary cable as we mentioned previously, so from a usability perspective it means you're rarely going to be struggling for battery regardless of the activity - do bear in mind that they now take around 2 hours, rather than the 90 minutes the originals took, for a full charge.

Other Features

Connectivity is Bluetooth 5.2, and I found no stability issues whatsoever. The Purfree Lite remained solid on the bike when cycling through built-up areas. They also support Multipoint connectivity, which is enabled or disabled either via the app or by holding the + and MFB for 3 seconds. Even better, is that within the Haylou app, you can see the names of the devices your Purfree Lite are connected to - this is for me a huge benefit and helps you identify very quickly something that may be draining your battery.

The app is a little limited in terms of what it does, but it is handy to have. The main screen shows you the headphones and their remaining battery. The 'Sound' section allows you to toggle 'Outdoor' mode, and 'Settings' allows you to set an automatic power-off time - again this is a useful feature to preserve battery. My device was running firmware V1.0.1.1 (the latest version) and the app also allows the potential for future updates.

Latency, like most Qualcomm devices, is fine for videos but isn't going to satisfy gamers. Even so, that's the case for almost all such devices whether TWS or Headphones.

Summary

Overall I'm pretty impressed with the Haylou Purfree Lite. One of the barriers to trying out bone conduction technology is the price - with Shokz typically charging upwards of £120, this prices the average consumer out of a purchase they may or may not jive with, and this was probably part of the problem with the original Purfree, that whilst they were and still are a fantastic product, at $80-100 it's still quite an expensive experiment if you decide you don't like them.

The Purfree Lite are pitched at a price tag that will hopefully attract more non-BC users to give the technology a go. Of course, there are compromises - they're only IP55, they aren't as comfortable as the original, don't feel as premium, and call quality probably isn't as optimised across all environments, but by the same token this release isn't just about compromises - there are now options to enhance the loudness, you've got app support that, whilst limited, has room for growth, and up to 20% longer battery life, as well as a more universal charger.

Sometimes I feel like Haylou perhaps aren't given the credit they deserve in sports tech because people associate them with their early, budget TWS releases. The brand has moved on and has a mature array of products, and the Purfree Lite definitely have a place in that line up - if you're new to BC and want to give it a try, swerve the no-name junk on Amazon and give Haylou a go, because at this price they are definitely a worthy introduction to the tech and a bit of a bargain!

Previous Haylou Reviews:

S35 ANC
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.