[pablohoney]

Anyone else notice that when there is no charge left in the charging case that the left earbud no longer works unless the case is charged/partially charged? It’s like it disconnects and can only be reconnected by placing in the charging case? This is absolutely ridiculous as the right earbud works fine when there is no power in the charging case.

Agree with the other negative comments above.

Whoever QA’d this before launch needs to be fired given the amount of problems.

A mark 2 needs to be launched and a huge discount or new replacement of a mark 2 version given to us

 

[nc8000]

Only problem I’ve ever had and still have are occaisional very short left side cut outs. I’ve had them since the day they launched in October. The mic could be better for phone calls but since I only have one or two a week that is no issue for me. I charge the case every Sunday and that lasts me for a weeks use

 

[kuebler]

Without wanting (or being able) to go into too much detail, I might add my own experience:

I personally like the signature of the IE800, but dislike the hazzle with the cables. So I was lured into some experiments, the most "impressing" one being the Apple Airpods... Wow, how was the comfort of the Airpods divine... But with the sound I simply couldn't live, and my guts took the decision by simply leaving the Airpods every day I left at home...

The I tried the E8:
1. excellent comfortable fit, and no cable hazzle,
2. a sound not really comparable to the IE800, but not so bad, that I would not be able to live with it,
3. lousy software, which needed 4 efforts just for getting the latest firmware installed,
4. very "moderate" microphone and useless transparency mode (which had been part of what lured me into the E8),
5. occasional dropouts on the left side.

4. and specifically 5. made the E8 for me a no-go, and I sent them back after 3 days.

 

[nc8000]

I find that the transparency mode does exactly what it says on the box, let me clearly hear the outside world without having to take a bud out of the ear, no more and no less. The left side drop outs have been getting fewer and fewer with each new fw but still happen. I can find absolutely no pattern to when or how or why they happen but the are mostly few and far in between and so short that they don't really bother me but naturally it would be nice if they didn't happen at all. So for my use they are good enough that I have not feld like spending time and money trying out other options. In a few years time I will probably try another pair and expect the technology to have advanced a lot by then

 

[kuebler]

I find that the transparency mode does exactly what it says on the box, let me clearly hear the outside world

Congrats to you, enjoy it...

I've reverted to the IE800 despite their builtin hazzle with the cables.

 

[nc8000]

Congrats to you, enjoy it...

I've reverted to the IE800 despite their builtin hazzle with the cables.

I expect that the IE800 are miles better for sq, my qJays V2 sound clearly better than the E8, but for out and about where outright sq is no so important due to various background noice the freedom of bluetooth outweighs the loss in sq for me.

Could you describe what it is that makes you say that the transparency mode is useless ?

 

[kuebler]

Could you describe what it is that makes you say that the transparency mode is useless ?

Most possibly the same reason that has (in my case) let me feel that the microphone quality is best-case "moderate": when activating transparency mode I got only a shallow imagination of what was happening around and being talked about. I'm not trying to exaggerate, but for me it was de facto unusable and therefore useless. Had to take the E8 out every time someone wanted to talk to me.

 

[nc8000]

Most possibly the same reason that has (in my case) let me feel that the microphone quality is best-case "moderate": when activating transparency mode I got only a shallow imagination of what was happening around and being talked about. I'm not trying to exaggerate, but for me it was de facto unusable and therefore useless. Had to take the E8 out every time someone wanted to talk to me.

Yes I do find the mic to be the weak point and external sounds do have a tinny sound to them but I can still manage to hear speaker announcements and do a short conversation without problems. My use case is probably atyppical as I just listen to music 99% of the time and only have a very few phone calls each week so for me I can live with it.

 

[hyperfuzz]

Interesting. I’ve never had audio delay with youtube or playing iTunes movies on any fw version

I find it depends on the app - iOS YouTube app is a bit off but other video apps are fine (like AFL for Australia). Latency is pretty much non-existent on my laptop. If I wanna switch between phone and Mac laptop I just turn bluetooth off on my phone to disconnect and connect on the Mac. Super quick.

As I said, this is just for portable music and I don’t care about much else - I just wanted a good sounding wireless solution that was compact and this 90% delivers. Whether the connectivity will bug you, that’s for you to decide...

 

[Kingston12]

I'm actually really enjoying these after an initially bad start.

I picked them up last week, charged them fully and they died within 10 minutes. I couldn't get them to turn on at all. When I got back to the office where I had left the charging case, they came straight back to life even though they were already fully charged.

Worse still, when I did get them working I hated the sound as I just found it too shrill with awful hollow mids. Messing about with the app improved it a little bit, but I was still ready to return them.

Then I tried the Comply tips instead of the default ones. I normally hate Comply tips as they just darken the sound too much on my other earphones, but on the E8 they work really well (for me) as they really firm up the sound without making it too dark - the bass comes back and the mids get much nicer. They are still a fair way behind my favourite Sony N3s, but I wasn't expecting them to sound that good anyway.

The build quality seems excellent, I have had no issues with drop outs and the look is good in that it is about as small and unobtrusive as fully wireless sets get at the moment.

 

[Kingston12]

Perhaps I tempted fate when I made the post above!

I walked around central London for an hour listening to these at lunchtime and they were great, until I walked into a branch of Sainsbury's supermarket. The anti-theft devices at the door sent the E8s mad, with both earpieces dropping out for ages until I was well clear of the store.

The problem was that after that, the left piece developed a loud distortion sound every time music was played through it. Even restting the blutetooth connection on my phone didn't help. That might have just been coincidence, but it only starred playing properly again after it has been in the charging case for 2 minutes.

Is that likely to be a symptom of the battery getting low or is it a hangover from the interference at the supermarket? I don't really want to have to take the case out with me when I am only using them for an hour or so.

 

[albau]

Perhaps I tempted fate when I made the post above!

Exactly the reason I returned E8 and kept Jabra 65t Elite, just replace London with Manhattan. In terms of connection interruption Jabras with their BT5 are miles and miles better. But in comparison I still miss E8's sound quality (all is very relative though compared to my wired Westone 4). Everything else, except for the charging case, is better with 65t - connectivity, interaction, the app.

 

[Kingston12]

Exactly the reason I returned E8 and kept Jabra 65t Elite, just replace London with Manhattan. In terms of connection interruption Jabras with their BT5 are miles and miles better. But in comparison I still miss E8's sound quality (all is very relative though compared to my wired Westone 4). Everything else, except for the charging case, is better with 65t - connectivity, interaction, the app.

I've had another couple of days with the E8s now, and no more interruptions including on the Tube, overground train etc. I won't really go into supermarkets that often when I use them. I can live with the interruption when I do, it was more the ongoing distortion that remained after the incident until I recharged them. If that happens again, I'll probably send them back otherwise I'll almost definitely keep them I think.

 

[pablohoney]

Yeah, it’s very strange. Sometimes I get no drop outs in places I would have got drop outs before. One thing I’ll say, like all earbuds the seal is extremely important and will affect soundstage and sound quality. Still a new firmware update is needed to make them more stable.

 

[nc8000]

Yes I can find absolutely no pattern to the left unit drop outs