
For the past four years, my AirPod Pros have been an absolute staple. I’m still on my first generation pair and aside from the occasional mishap of them slipping out during a run, I’ve never felt the need to replace them with an alternative.
However, that changed a week ago when I penned an article about a set of earphones on Amazon, originally priced at £130 but discounted to £22. Some customers were touting these as superior to Apple’s high-end AirPods.
Naturally, I was intrigued and decided to try them out myself.
A swift Amazon purchase later, I had the Rolosar sports earbuds in my possession. After effortlessly connecting them to my phone via Bluetooth, I spent the following days rigorously testing the buds during my usual routine of casual listening and running.
Upon inspecting the earphones, the plastic casing of the buds themselves feels notably robust and exudes a quality you’d anticipate from a pricier product. This extends to the rubberised ear hooks that loop behind your ears, ensuring the buds remain secure during workouts, reports the Manchester Evening News.
During my trial period, I took these buds on several runs, including a tempo workout where I often find myself adjusting my AirPod Pros to ensure they stay put. It’s safe to say that this more affordable Rolosar pair remained firmly in place, with the ear hooks performing an outstanding job of keeping everything secure.
The earphones are remarkably comfortable, to the point where I barely registered their presence during workouts or while carrying out household tasks. Initially, I had concerns that the ear hooks might clash with my glasses and hat, which are my usual running accessories, but they posed no issue whatsoever.
Upon finishing with the earbuds, they nestled back into their charging case without a hitch. The case, however, does betray the more budget-friendly nature of these earphones, sporting a lightweight, plasticky feel and a hinge that seems as though it could buckle under excessive strain.
The case is also noticeably bulkier than those of other wireless earphones I’ve trialled, making them slightly less convenient to slip in and out of your shorts pockets when heading to the gym. That said, the inclusion of an LED screen displaying the precise battery life of both the buds and case is a definite upgrade from AirPods, which leave you in the dark unless you manually check your iPhone.
Naturally, sound quality is a key factor when purchasing earphones. While I believe the audio output from these earbuds is quite remarkable given their price point, your satisfaction will largely depend on your musical preferences.
The sound profile leans heavily towards bass, making it an ideal match for genres typically associated with gym sessions, such as EDM or Garage. However, if your playlist is dominated by pop or indie tracks, you may find the music profile somewhat wanting.
While playing tracks from Sam Fender and Arctic Monkeys, I observed a noticeable lack of vocal clarity as they were drowned out by the overpowering bass. However, these earbuds did justice to Charli XCX’s Brat album, particularly given their impressive volume capacity.
It’s worth noting that these earphones do not offer any noise cancelling or ambient noise pass-through features. That said, the buds form a sufficient seal to block out a fair amount of external noise, making them ideal for those accustomed to running alongside bustling roads.
One aspect that left much to be desired was the touch-sensitive buttons on each earbud. Theoretically, a certain number of taps should allow you to adjust volume, skip tracks or play and pause music without needing to interact with your phone.
In practice, however, I found the buttons to be highly unresponsive, often resulting in unintended actions. I quickly abandoned this feature, opting instead to control my music directly from my phone, which proved far less troublesome.
In conclusion, with their secure ear hooks and bass-centric sound profile, these earbuds are clearly designed with fitness enthusiasts in mind. While I wouldn’t recommend purchasing them at full price, if you can secure a pair for £22, I’m inclined to concur with customer reviews suggesting that these could provide an AirPod-like experience on a tight budget.
4/5.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/tried-better-airpods-earphones-just-30936526