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tinyman392
267
Dec 5, 2017
Received my pair today. Ergonomics are great, so is the fit, though there is quite a bit of driver flex for me. The sound is on the boomy side with an overall balanced signature. But let's step aside from that and go to the UI portion of the device.
You control the headphones using the two poorly placed buttons on the earbuds which can be quite difficult to press while using them, but the physical control is nice though quite limited. You have single and double clicks to control your music (play/pause and next track, respectively). However, going to the previous track isn't possible. You can hold the button to initiate Siri as well. Let's talk about the control on the right side for a second, you get a button that can turn it on and off, but that's it. You can't press it to do any control on the earbuds which is quite depressing.
When you remove the right one from your ear, it stops playing, your left cuts out momentarily and continues doing its thing. When you put it back in you get stereo sound once more. The right bud actually shuts off when you take it off. When you take out the left bud, the right goes silent. This probably is due to the way they are coupled. It's similar to the auto-pause that the AirPods come with, but not quite. It's a nice touch.
When you remove them from the case, they should turn on automatically. Well, if I'm lucky the left one turns on. However, the right just doesn't want to turn on. Kind of seems half baked.
Overall, the concept is good, the sound is good, it's just missing the mark on execution. Some things just seemed a little overlooked IMO.
Jyri
818
Nuforce
Dec 7, 2017
tinyman392Thank you for the detailed feedback. I will add some information, which hopefully will help/clarify...
Sound - please allow the Free8s to play around 100h. The boominess should go away. We are using extremely high quality driver with proprietary coating. The driver will need some burn in to loosen up. The package includes two types of SpinFit eartips. By default the Free8s are using shorter tips which provide more comfortable fit (to some) and reduce the impact that an eartip´s tube can do to sound. The other option is longer regular SpinFit type tip which provides better seal and could sound better to some as well.
Controls - challenges with technology, product size, price point etc. Some prefer that the button is placed on top so that you don't need to press your ear while you try to press the buttons. We use NFMI technology to connect the left and right earpiece together. Thus, only left one can control source device. NFMI is superior to Bluetooth but more expensive. On the market, BE Free8 is the lowest priced NFMI pair (together with Bragi The Headphone but we have longer battery, AAC+aptX, dynamic driver and so on...). Next closest NFMI pair would be $199.
Removing right earpiece - side effect of the NFMI technology. When you remove the right earpiece the left one will function normally but it stops transmitting the signal to the right earpiece. NFMI range is very short as the signal is unidirectional.
Removing from the case - unfortunately another limitation with the technology, price point, size etc. The product is designed so that the left earpiece will turn on automatically (as it will connect with your smartphone) and the right earpiece needs to be turned on manually.
All in all - I appreciate the feedback and despite the caveats I do hope you enjoy using the BE Free8s. I have personally tested majority of the true wireless earphones on the market and for audiophiles and audio enthusiasts, I cannot recommend any other pair than the Free8s. Having said that, I took notes of your comments and we will go back to the drawing board. :-)
tinyman392
267
Dec 7, 2017
JyriAt this point and time I can’t get the left one to turn on when I take it out of the case either. Not a big deal as I do have to turn them both on. I appreciate the response though, lots of stuff makes sense now.
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