B&O Play Beoplay E8 Review - Review 2022

Nosotros're finally starting to see some wire-free earphones that are worth the hype. The Beoplay E8 from B&O Play joins the Bose SoundSport Free and JLab Epic Air in advancing the nascent category beyond its early pitfalls. At $299, however, the Beoplay E8 is one of the most expensive pairs we've seen. Audio quality is quite good, and the app allows you to sculpt it to your personal tastes. But the toll still feels high compared with other leading models in the category.

Design

Available in black or gray models, the E8's earpieces await quite like to many of the true wireless pairs nosotros've tested. Other than the B&O logo on the outside panel, there's little to differentiate them from several other options we've tested, though they are slightly smaller. The in-ear fit is exceptionally secure and lightweight—B&O Play includes four pairs of eartips in various sizes, and one pair of foam tips. When they need to be stored or charged, the earpieces snap in to the included charging example magnetically.

In terms of battery life, the E8 is pretty standard for a true wireless pair, which is to say, pretty mediocre. All wire-free pairs out now have limited battery life—B&O Play says the E8 concluding for four hours hours on a full charge. The charging example carries ii full additional charges, or an actress eight hours of battery life, when fully charged. That's solid, but we accept seen amend stats from Bose and JLab recently.

The E8'due south charging case is not only one of the classier designs we've seen thus far, it's also notably small. The black case has a leather patina and a congenital-in cloth lanyard loop. Two status LEDs on the back console tell you when y'all how many full charges the example is belongings—next to these LEDs, at that place's a port for the micro USB-to-USB charging cable, which is refreshingly longer than many of the short cables that transport with Bluetooth earphones. On the front of the case, where the shell pops open, there's an LED to prove that it'south charging.

Pairing the E8 with an iPhone 6s was exceptionally easy in testing. Y'all simply need to ability up (past touching the capacitive bear on panel on the right earpiece), go into pairing mode (concord a finger on both earpieces outer panels for a few seconds), and select the E8 from your device's bluetooth menu. Placing the earpieces in the case automatically kills the Bluetooth connection and begins the charging process. Later on the initial pairing, powering them upward will automatically pair them with your device, assuming it's in range.

Overall, the sensitivity of the impact panels on the earpieces is solid. The right earpiece is the master one in terms of bones controls. Play/Pause is controlled by tapping on the right earpiece, but later this, B&O Play goes a very different route than most of the competition. For instance, to skip forward a rail, you tap twice on the correct earpiece—to skip backward, you tap twice on the left. Volume up and down is also divided between the two earpieces—yous affect and agree for this control, which works in conjunction with your mobile device'due south master levels. We like this division for the virtually part.

3 taps on the right earpiece summons vocalisation controls, but 3 taps on the left earpiece does nothing. A single tap on the right controls playback, but on the left, information technology places the earphones in transparency mode—in which the mics lightly amplify your surroundings. If you go into transparency fashion, and so try to resume playback by tapping on the right earpiece, things can go a footling confusing. This is considering by default, transparency mode doesn't pause the music, but mutes it. Adjusting the book while in transparency way to a higher volume will ready this issue, simply until you practice (in the app), tapping the correct earpiece to resume play volition take the earphones out of transparency mode.

The Beoplay app makes it piece of cake to toggle these adjustments. You tin cull between the default Ambient fashion described above; or Social, which plays music at a low level; or Commuting, which plays music at a higher level but allows you to hear announcements, nearby conversation, and the like.

The app likewise allows you to adjust the EQ. Y'all elevate a dot around on a graph rather than adjusting several bands, but the results are similar—you lot quickly figure out how to boost both bass and treble, or only i. In that location are too presets for podcasts, workouts, and two marked Clear Commute. The app isn't required for the earphones to properly function, and y'all'll probably find little demand for information technology after initially setting the transparency mode levels and perhaps tweaking the EQ.

The built-in mic offers first-class intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we were able to understand every word recorded, and the recording was well-baked and clear with very few audio artifacts typically associated with wireless earphone mics.

Performance

For our tests, we left the EQ off, only it's possible to drastically alter the E8's sound signature, including creating more thump in the sub-bass realm. With the EQ off, the earphones tin withal deliver quite a bass punch, however. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, similar The Knife'south "Silent Shout," the lows are delivered with ability, and never misconstrue at meridian (unwise) listening levels. At moderate levels, the bass still feels strong.

Bill Callahan's "Drover," a runway with far less deep bass in the mix, gives u.s. a improve sense of the E8's full general sound signature. The drums on this track get some added bass heft, for certain—they don't audio unnatural, but they have a rounder, fuller quality than they often do. Callahan'south vocals get some added depression-mid richness and high-mid treble edge in equal measure. The event is a well-baked only full sound signature that can be described as bass forward, but also clear in the highs.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets plenty high-mid presence to retain the sharpness of its attack, though nosotros've heard it audio snappier and sharper, with more high-mids, on other pairs. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat here are delivered with power and gusto, while the vocals maintain solid clarity and never experience similar they're doing battle with the more boosted lows. This is, even with the EQ off, a very sculpted sound signature—additional sub-bass, prominent lows and low-mids, boosted high-mids and highs, with some dips and cuts here and there. We'd probably prefer slightly more definition in the high-mids, but and then once more, the EQ makes it possible to get just well-nigh any you're looking for.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, go some added bass depth, pushing the lower register instrumentation forrad in the mix, merely the spotlight still belongs to the college annals brass, strings, and vocals. This isn't a audio signature for purists, it's safe to say, but you lot tin can always dial back the bass and brighten the highs a tad.

Conclusions

Sonically, the Beoplay E8 is capable of many sound signatures, just its baseline will please enough of listeners. Functionally, the design fits securely and is easy to use. Generally speaking, this is a very good pair of earphones, only there is the issue of price to consider. Is this pair $50 amend than our Editors' Pick, the Bose SoundSport Free? It would exist hard to make that argument convincingly, as $50 is a lot to ask when the Bose model is already quite pricey. We're also fans of the aforementioned JLab Epic Air, and the Jaybird Run is another solid selection. B&O Play's Beoplay E8 is unlikely to disappoint, but the price is a bit too high.

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Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/migrated-58428-headphones/17967/bo-play-beoplay-e8-review

Posted by: maherhiscam.blogspot.com

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