Beyerdynamic has been producing good audio peripherals for some time now, and has gained fairly a status within the trade. Nonetheless, previous to introducing the Free BYRD earbuds, the corporate hadn’t tapped into True Wi-fi. Launched in round mid-2022, the Free BYRD buds characteristic highly effective ANC, heavy bass, and a snug match. Admittedly, they do have just a few misses, and for the hefty price ticket, the misses could also be a bit of exhausting to justify; however they’re nonetheless fairly spectacular contemplating they’re Beyerdynamic’s debut True Wi-fi buds.
Fairly Respectable Aesthetics and Loads of Match Choices
For a primary try, the Free Byrd buds are hanging. Beyerdynamic launched the buds in two colour variants: all-black and grey with black accents. We received the latter and fell in love with how they appear. They sport a pretty big physique, however should not massive sufficient to be categorized as clunky. A skinny strip of LED lighting enhances the buds’ aesthetic and informs you about their battery or connection standing.
The charging case is fairly respectable, as effectively. The sockets host fairly sturdy magnets and the buds simply slide in with a click on that resonates. Because of some room given on the perimeters of the sockets, it is usually straightforward to pluck the buds out of the case. The case is sufficiently light-weight and effortlessly stowable. I have to say, although, I might’ve appreciated a steel physique to match the value, and possibly additionally a sturdier lid.
There are extremely few chances of you not finding the Free BYRD headphones comfortable. With ear tips offered in eight pairs of varying sizes, there has to be a size that would suit you. The smallest one fit my ears like a sock and provided a snug fit throughout.
The spare ear tips are offered in two materials: foam and silicone. I’d like to give Beyerdynamic a point here for providing material options, since both foam and silicone have their fair share of pros and cons. Foam isolates sound far better than silicone does, but it isn’t as comfortable, easily washable, or durable as silicone.
Sharp treble but excessively strong bass
If you like your bass so strong that it could end up dominating other elements in the mix, then it’s safe to go for the Free BYRDs. These buds pack ridiculously powerful low-end; a little too strong for my liking. When companies overdo bass, it runs the risk of sounding thick at times. That’s exactly the case with the Free BYRD buds. In most cases, it will sound pleasant but if you put on a bass-heavy track or turn the volume all the way up, you’ll realize that it’s probably too much for you. It isn’t compact and will sound as if it is leaking.
The treble is excellent, though. The highs are bright and spacious. They stand out from the rest of the mix too, just like the bass does, but not in an equally overdone way. I listened to Jungle by Fred Again on these and had a pretty good time. Overall, the Free BYRD has a metallic sound profile and a sufficiently wide soundstage. It isn’t so wide that you’d be able to discern every single element, but it’s not what you would call cluttered, either. I’d rate the soundstage a 7.5 out of 10.
Non-intuitive controls
I’m not the biggest fan of the controls on the Beyerdynamic Free BYRD. They feature a little delay and aren’t the most intuitively designed. A single tap plays or pauses music, while a double tap enables or disables ANC and Transparency mode. You can tap the bud thrice to skip or rewind songs, depending on which bud you’re tapping. All the rest of the functions require holding. Tapping and holding activates voice assistance, tapping once and holding on the second tap rejects or ends calls, and tapping twice and holding on the second tap tweaks volume.
I found myself tapping multiple times in order to get the touch interface to register my finger. In other cases, I’d have to firmly press my finger against the bud. The need to hold put me off, too. I’d prefer my buds to host volume sliders on touch interfaces. Counting my taps and making sure to hold for a precise duration on the last tap was a lot of effort. The Free BYRD turned ANC on for me when I was simply trying to increase the volume. And that is because, apparently, I didn’t hold for long enough. Beyerdynamic could have put more thought into planning the controls to reduce the number of missteps.
Extremely powerful ANC
Due to the snug fit, the passive noise isolation on the Free BYRD is outstanding. Without even playing anything, they instantly canceled 50% of ambient noise as soon as I put them in. And I’m talking about silicone tips here. The foam ones, of course, went a step ahead and reduced around 70% of unwanted background sounds.
Turning ANC on resulted in around 95% of ambient sound being completely muted. According to my testing, the ANC on these buds worked equally well in canceling both low and high-frequency sounds. I tested the former with the hum of my dishwasher and the latter with the noise of my roommate doing her dishes in the kitchen. The transparency mode is pretty impressive as well, but features the hiss that is fairly common among ambient modes on earbuds.
Noise-isolating mic
Beyerdynamic undoubtedly aced the mic on the Free BYRD. According to my test, my voice sounded crystal clear. Some mics make you sound tinny, while others enhance the echo to give it a reverb effect. The recently reviewed Bose QC Earbuds II, for instance, leaned into that slight reverb impact. The Free BYRD steered away from each of those issues.
My cousin couldn’t hear the loud fan proper subsequent to me once I known as her utilizing these buds, and she or he particularly commented on how well-isolated my voice sounded. She additionally needed to affirm if I used to be speaking through True Wi-fi buds, as a result of it apparently appeared like I used to be talking proper into my telephone’s microphone. There have been additionally zero delays in my voice being picked up by the buds.
A very easy companion app
MIY, the companion app for the Beyerdynamic buds, is extremely easy. It doesn’t provide a lot when it comes to capabilities or options you can customise. The house web page of the app informs you of the battery standing of the buds, permits you to cycle between ANC and transparency modes, and lets you flip Low Latency mode on or off. It additionally offers earbud stats, which embrace complete uptime, playback time, and many others. Different options embrace manufacturing facility resetting the system and setting a language for voice prompts. Different pages on the app host the corporate’s contact data and tutorials on the buds’ contact controls.
A stutter-free connection
The Free BYRD buds have a novel means of connecting. As an alternative of plucking the buds out and ready for them to point out up in your system, you’re required to faucet and maintain them whereas they’re planted contained in the case. When you see their LED strips blinking, you may start trying to find them in your telephone’s checklist of obtainable Bluetooth gadgets. Beyerdynamic has taken a considerably totally different strategy when it comes to the connectivity course of, however it’s not a trouble in any respect. Actually, the buds present a fast, easy, and stutter-free connection to your system.
In terms of codecs, the Free BYRD options aptX Adaptive and AAC along with the usual SBC. aptX Adaptive means Beyerdynamic is promising you glorious streaming high quality together with exceptionally low latency. AAC means Apple customers can profit from good streaming high quality as effectively. The SBC codec is extra of an ordinary and last-resort choice. Whereas we’re speaking about connectivity, you will need to notice that the Free BYRDs don’t provide multipoint connection, which implies they’ll solely join to at least one system at a time.
Battery and Water Resistance:
The battery on the Free BYRD buds deserves particular point out. In idea, the buds are purported to final a complete of 11 hours. In response to my testing, they labored for precisely 9 hours earlier than they ran out of juice. Nonetheless, that’s nonetheless a powerful rating. Particularly contemplating that simply 10 minutes of recharging replenishes the buds with a further 70 minutes of listening time, I’d say that Free BYRD’s battery is
fairly usable. Together with the chargers within the case, the full runtime of the buds, as marketed, is 30 hours. Furthermore, not like the Bose QC Earbuds II, these buds sport the choice of wi-fi charging. Free BYRDs’ long-lasting battery life and IPX4 water resistance make them supreme as a gymnasium buddy.
Ought to I purchase the Beyerdynamic Free Byrd Earbuds?
All in all, I discovered the Free BYRD earbuds fairly spectacular for a True Wi-fi debut. I might’ve most popular the bass to be rather less overbearing and the controls to be extra user-friendly. Other than that, they characteristic a horny design, a variety of match choices, glorious noise-canceling, and a strong mic. Beyerdynamic has completed an excellent job coming into this market.
