21 Apr - Bang & Olufsen released their smallest speaker to date with the BeoPlay A1 (SGD 399) that can fit in your palm and with a sound delivery that amazes for its size. We swiftly got our paws on a unit and give you our first impressions off the bat.

Credit - B&O

Pros (+): Excellent sound quality to weight ratio; A compact and sturdy build; 24 hour playback.
Cons (-): Carrying string appears a little frail.

Credit - B&O

Availability
From 9 May 2016, the Natural and Moss Green colors will be available in Singapore at Airport Duty Free, Apple Premium Resellers, the Hyatt Bang & Olufsen store, Challenger and Newstead. 

Credit - B&O

Design
Unboxing:
The box design is pretty much aligned with the branding of its peers - a solid grey square shaped box. 

Ripping aside the shrink wrap, we opened the box and lo, the speaker imposingly laid smack in the center.



Taking off the top layer, we uncovered the following.

Packaging Content:
Spilling out the box contents unveils a minimalist 3 items -
- BeoPlay A1 speaker
- Charging cable (USB-C)
- User guide

The 600g BeoPlay A1 is designed by one of Bang & Olufsen's regular industrial designers, Cecilie Manz. On first glimpse, it appears like a fun and solidly built product, given the accompanying string to hang where you please and the aluminum grill.

It comes in 2 color variants - Natural and Moss Green.

Credit - B&O

The double-moulded polymer base has a rubberized texture that grips well. There are some markings on the bottom to indicate where to plug in the charging cable and the 3.5mm audio cable input (provided separately). 

Features
USB-C charging:
This is one of the first (if not, the first) B&O products to incorporate USB-C charging, likely providing a glimpse of the direction of what will be their default jack of choice. All their products were previously using micro-USB. The benefit of USB-C is that it's reversible.

Bluetooth:
Connecting was a relative breeze. Upon the power on, you need to hold the Bluetooth button for 2 seconds after which the LED, next to the power button, flashes blue. Find 'BeoPlay A1' on your source device and boom, you're good to go. Just hit the Connect button, indicated by a circle icon, to play from the last connected source device. 

Update (10 May 2016)
Microphone / Calls:
Once calls come in, all 3 LED indicators flanking the left, right and bottom will start flashing green. You can pick the call either with your phone or pressing the microphone button. Another press will mute the call and is clearly reflected in the 3 LEDs turning red. At a 30 cm radius from BeoPlay A1, I had no problems conversing with folks on the other end and on my side, the caller's voice came through just fine. 

BeoPlay App:
There's even an accompanying BeoPlay App that can be used. While the Android version will only be released in Spring 2016 (ie. we couldn't test it as yet), the available version (iOS) has some nifty features such as wireless stereo pairing, to link with another compatible speaker, and ToneTouch which gives personalization of the staging settings and tonality.  

Credit - B&O

Performance
Sound:
We swiftly linked the Bluetooth to a MacBook Air and streamed Markus Schultz's First Time over Spotify. Boy was it good. For a very compact 600 gram unit of 13.3 (diameter) x 4.8 cm (height), the sound is incredibly punchy and surprisingly was able to fill the room with its strong basslines with considerable vocal clarity.

24 hour playback:
Charging gives your 24 hours of playback on a full charge of 3 hours, a sufficiently agreeable duration to last day trips to the beach. The battery indicator flashes orange during the charging process.

Update (10 May 2016)
Overall
The Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A1 is one great speaker to take with you to the great outdoors. Its punchy sound delivery is impactful given its size. Combined with a very agreeable 24 hour playback and desirable aesthetic, this makes for a good sound companion at outdoor parties with friends.

Where To Buy
You can purchase the BeoPlay A1 in various retail outlets in Singapore at SGD 399. Alternatively, if you like what you have read, do support me by buying either the Natural Silver or Moss Green versions from Amazon at USD 249. 

Credit - B&O

Credit to B&O PLAY for a review unit.

The Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless was initially launched in June 2014, just weeks after Apple announced the Beats acquisition. Since then, these SGD 310 wireless earphones still headline Beats' sports in-ears and have recently spruced up the product with the Active Collection three color lineup. 

As Part 1 of the Wireless Sports Audio series of articles, we give a full breakdown of what the Powerbeats2 Wireless offers.

Pros (+): Iconic design; Thumping bass; Snug fit around the ears.
Cons (-): Not for audio purists; Pricier than its peers.

Design
As usual, we start with a fav segment - the unboxing!

While the initial launch saw 3 colors (white / red / black), there's now a full suite of 10 colors to choose from, including the Active Collection (Shock Yellow / Siren Red / Flash Blue), added in late 2015. We were kindly provided the Flash Blue variant.


After peeling the strip at the bottom, flipping open the cover unveils the earphones beneath a layer of transparent plastic with clear details on how to charge 'em up. Flipping the tab, with the arrow, upward gives you access to unwind the cord. 

On taking out the cardboard backing and peeling out the eartips, you finally have the product at your disposition.

The packaging content comprises:
- Powerbeats2 Wireless
- 4 x Earbuds (S / M / L / M double-flange)
- Charging cable
- Carrying pouch

Update (27 Jun 2016)
We had mentioned that there was an XS earbud size. This has been corrected to state 'double-flange'


The Powerbeats2 Wireless look great and I daresay, iconic in their design. To illustrate the point, I visited Phuket recently and it was the only headphone brand where imitations were peddled every 300 metres. Copying is indeed the best form of flattery. 


At 24g, the Powerbeats2 Wireless is not as featherweight as the Jaybird X2 Wireless (13g) though it's worth noting this is a clip-on type as opposed to the conventionally lighter under-the-ears models. For ideal placement, push the tip of the earhooks and slot them behind your ears.

For the record, the grey buds (sold separately) are Comply Foam Isolation tips. Will we review them? Damn right but only in the Wireless Sports Audio Verdict :)

The already attached but easily removable circular cable management clip is useful to tighten the cord around your neck to reduce microphonics.

The sturdy oval-shaped carrying pouch was a highlight for me. It was solid and protected the Beats earbuds within incredibly well. And oh, there's a band to hold the zip from dangling about. Nice touch.

Features
Its IPX4 rating means it's sweat resistant. We'll put that to the test shortly :)

Bluetooth pairing is a breeze. After holding the power button for 4 seconds, the blinking LED prompts you to initiate pairing with your device. Select 'Powerbeats Wireless' from your source and you're good to go. Only niggle is it only connects to a single device.

The in-line remote, aka RemoteTalk, lies on the left side and comes with the usual volume up / down buttons that flank a multi-function switch. Really liked the rubberized feel that made it easy to grip while on the move.

The voice commands, or lack thereof, were sorely missed. To give an example, I was using the Powerbeats2 Wireless casually and it just powered off...just like that! Sure there is an LED indicator that shines white / red (under 1 hour playback), but when you're using it, you ain't gonna be taking off the unit just to check how much juice the earbuds still have.


Performance
We tested these sports earbuds in three areas when jogging:
1. Fit - Did it fit into the ears snugly? Did the weight of the cord tug on ears causing it to fall out?

2. Noise Isolation - We checked out if the degree to which external noise is blocked. This is what you'd deem as 'passive noise cancelation'. 

3. Microphonics - This is basically the sound of the cable rustle when there's any kind of friction, be it wind friction or the cord swishing when running. 

And on to the test run!

Out of the 4 eartip sizes provided, 'M' suited best so this was a constant during the jog. 

I went for a 3km jog around the very scenic Bukit Chermin Boardwalk in Labrador Park facing Singapore's southern islands. 

Jogging along Berlayer Creek and Buket Chermin Boardwalk

For the fit, I'll declare myself as one who wears glasses. While stationery, the ear hooks kinda feel a bit tight at the back of your ears. I appreciated them helluva lot better during the jog on 2 counts - they didn't drop out and neither did my glasses! However, no matter how hard I inserted the earbuds, I could not get an optimal seal for an ideal noise isolation. Apparently, this is to get a balance between ambient sound and music. After adjusting the cable management clip close to my head before the jog, I didn't get the sense the cable rustle was very obvious. Apart from some minor wind swishes, I was pretty satisfied. After the jog, I can safely say they are sweat resistant but I didn't foolishly dunk them into water for the simple reason that they are not water resistant!

You'll either love or hate the sound quality. It's all about the bass - an overpowering resonance that ain't the punchy sort. Locust's Aerospace was sublime once the bass kicked in but the mid-range and high frequencies are somewhat flattened out. It's excellent for music types like dub-step and house. Classical? Nahh...you shouldn't even be listening to this during your workouts, yeah?

Charging is a piece of cake - simply pull back a flap under left ear piece and plug the cable to the micro-USB slot. The single LED shines bright red when charging and white when full. For a quick charge of 15 minutes, you get 1 hour of playback and a full charge of 90 minutes gets a moderate 6 hours of juice.


Overall
The Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless is to me, a enjoyable music device for jogging. If you're an audio purist, this is not for you but if you jog / work out a lot, the heavy bass does a great job in pumping you up to go the extra mile. Even if you simply use this on the streets, it's an iconic looking pair of buds that's a head turner. 

Where To Buy
You can purchase the Powerbeats2 Wireless in various retail outlets in Singapore at SGD 310. Alternatively, if you like what you have read, you can support me by buying from Amazon from USD 150 via our affiliate link. This is a much better deal (it's SGD 202!).

Audio Sources
Aerospace (Probspot Remix) - Locust (Spotify 320kbps MP3) on Samsung Galaxy S4

Credit to Apple and Beats for an evaluation unit.

Wireless Sports Audio Series 
Part 1 - Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless 
Part 2 - Sony NW-WS413 
Part 3 - UA Headphones Wireless - By JBL 
Part 4 - Bose SoundSport Wireless
Part 5 - Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5
Part 6 - The Verdict (TBA)

Sports wireless earphones are in such massive demand now. To put things in perspective, Jaybird specializes in this niche and its success in this category allows it to rank among the top five brands in the premium headphone segment by revenue in 2014, according to The NPD Group. How about that?

We had the opportunity to test some 5 really astounding sports earphones these past few months. 

In a 4-part series, we will review 3 models we recently laid our paws on. We'd already checked out 2 of 'em, namely the LG TONE Active and the Jaybird X2 Wireless. To make it sweet, we'll round them all up in a verdict.

Update (14 Jul 2016)
Initially, the Wireless Sports Audio Series was supposed to be a 4-part series of articles. We had the opportunity to try even more buds. After all, why limit it? We'll not even call it 5- or 6-part. We'll make it modular to accomodate more articles :)
Bose SoundSport Wireless - added 14 Jul 2016
Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 - added 13 Sep 2016

1. Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless
After 2 years in the market, this is still the defacto wireless sports earbuds that Beats provides in a multitude of colors. Beats / Apple's getting all the big names like LeBron James and Taylor Swift in to promote the SGD 310 clip-on model.
Price: SGD 310
Type: Clip-on
Battery life: 6h
Full review 

2. Jaybird X2 Wireless
Just acquired by Logitech, the lightweight 13g Jaybird X2 Wireless is their current flagship model for good reason. 
Price: SGD 259
Type: Over-the-ears / Under-ears
Battery life: 8h
Full review

3. LG TONE Active (HBS-850)
LG's surprise hit, the TONE series of space age neck-styled earphones have clearly captured the imagination of the masses, with a whopping 10 million units sold thus far (and counting). The HBS-850 is their first sports-inclined model to hit to shops.
Price: SGD 189
Type: Around neck 
Battery life: 9.5h
First look / Full review

4. Sony NW-WS413
We took a first look when Sony launched this SGD 149 unit a month back. The biggie about it is that it's waterproof and not just splashproof. You can actually go for a swim with it!
Price: SGD 149
Type: Over-the-ears / Inbuilt storage
Battery life: 12h
First look / Full review

5. UA Headphones Wireless - Engineered by JBL
First announced at CES 2016, UA and JBL's collaboration produced their first pair of Bluetooth earbuds sporting the distinct UA logo. Just released last month in Singapore, we'll check out how they fare.
Price: SGD 289
Type: Under-ears
Battery life: 8h
Full review

6. Bose SoundSport Wireless
First announced in June, we found it timely to include Bose into the wireless sports audio ecosystem. 
Price: SGD 239
Type: Under-ears
Battery life: 6h
Launch / First impressions

Stay tuned for the reviews!

Wireless Sports Audio Series 
Part 1 - Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless (24 Apr 2016)
Part 2 - Sony NW-WS413 (3 May 2016)
Part 3 - UA Headphones Wireless - By JBL (29 May 2016)
Part 4 - Bose SoundSport Wireless (14 Jul 2016)
Part 5 - Jaybird Freedom Wireless F5 (13 Sep 2016)
Comply Foam - Sport, Isolation and Comfort Tips 
The Verdict (TBA)

2016 looks set to be the year where truly wireless earbuds make their mark. 

Popularized in the movie Definitely, Maybe (2008), you can see Ryan Reynolds' persona wearing a pair of wireless earbuds. This was nothing short of awesome to movie goers who wanted a simple and convenient audio device. This marked the beginning of a dream of how to make these earbuds mainstream. And FYI, those earphones were in fact the Sennheiser MX W1 which functioned with the help of a wireless transmitter (RF 2.4 GHz band to be precise) that was connected to the 3.5mm jack.

Fast forward 8 years to 2016.

Kickstarter saw the initiation of several projects leveraging on Bluetooth technology to push music to two separate earbuds. Over the coming months, we'll take a look at each of these products and the features that they promise.

Earin
The first mover advantage goes to Earin, the first to hit mass production in late 2015. It was quite an eye-opening experience to review this model. It currently retails at SGD 349 / USD 199 on Amazon, weighs a mind-boggling 3.5g per earbud and it sounds great. 

Bragi 
The Bragi Dash is now available on their website. Audio transparency, tap-to-play and heart rate tracking? Check to all. It now goes for USD 279 on Amazon.

Read - Bragi The Headphone review

Kanoa
The Kanoa looks set to provide a good balance of features vs price. It boasts audio transparency and aptX that promises CD-quality sound. Currently, the 2nd batch is set to ship in May 2016 for a relatively fair USD 179 (shipping cost is additional).


Doppler Labs - Here Active Listening
The Here Active Listening earbuds weight a decent 10g, comes with a smartphone app that gives preset filters and fits inside a sleek charging case. You can't get a unit as yet but you can join the waitlist. 

Update - 3 Aug 2016
Read - Here Active Listening review

Truebuds
Supposedly the 'smallest' Bluetooth earbuds, they weigh 8g, features a rather decent 6h battery life and comes with IP53-rated water and dust resistance. Upon pre-ordering the unit for about SGD 149.99, the estimated date to ship is sometime in Summer 2016.

Update (Mar 2017) 
Take heed! Truebuds is likely a scam. After crowdfunding a million bucks, no product was delivered.
Read - Truebuds: Beware of Kickstarter Scams!

Apple / Beats
The enigma of them all. The iPhone 7 looks set to go without the 3.5mm jack. With that, there are a few folks who surmise that Apple / Beats is going with the full wireless approach with their upcoming earbuds. This will be a very interesting proposition given that Beats have not developed any pair of earbuds since the Apple takeover in 2014. Will they go full swing with a totally new product? Stay tuned.

Update (9 Sep 2016)
As expected, Apple has launched its own truly wireless product, the AirPods.
Read - Beats' and Apple's 2016 Audio Lineup

Update (7 Jun 2016)
Samsung Gear IconX
Samsung have officially joined the party. With that, they take the truly wireless earbuds product category into the mainstream. Launching their wireless earbuds with fitness tracking and 4GB storage stashed within, these earbuds (12g combined) will start sales in Q3 2016. They now sell at Amazon from USD 189.

Read - Samsung Gear IconX - First Take / Review Part 1 / Review Part 2
Update (18 Oct 2016)
Erato Apollo 7 This is a Kickstarter funded product and its design has gotten accolades in the form of the 2015 Red Dot Honorable Mention Award. As there's no mobile app support, this is a hardware driven product but it doesn't stop it from holding up well against its peers. Selling from USD 299 on Amazon.

Read - Erato Apollo 7 review

Indianapolis-based Klipsch's emphasis has been toward wired earphones but Bluetooth offerings have been relatively scarce apart from units like the Image ONE. Enter the Klipsch R6 In-Ear Bluetooth (SGD 299), an around-the-ears model that marks its entrance to the wireless in-ears category. 



Pros (+): Solid bass delivery
Cons (-): Around-the-ear adjustment may take a while to get used to

Design
As we were provided a demo unit, we'll skip the unboxing process. We go straight in to check the breakdown of the packaging contents you are supposed to get:
- Klipsch R6 In-Ear Bluetooth
- 4 x Oval Silicon Tips (S / M / L / M double-flange) 
- Charging cable
- Carrying pouch
- User manual

The R6 In-Ear Bluetooth weighs a decent (read not the lightest nor the heaviest) 23.5g, promising a pair of earbuds that don't weigh you down uncomfortably. To put things in perspective, it's heavier than the Jaybird X2 Wireless (13g) and comparable with the Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless (24g). The material that makes the most contact with your ear is elastomer, a soft rubber-like material that is kinda soothing to the touch.

How do you wear 'em? You can either park the curved module behind your ear and slot the earbuds in or vice versa. Your choice.

The cloth pouch is quite rudimentary but does its job. Simply put the earphones in, tighten the string and that's it.

Features
The unit runs on Bluetooth 4.0, a standard that promises better power consumption. The R6 BT supports the aptX codec over A2DP that aims to deliver 'CD-quality' music.

Pair the earbuds to your music device is a cinch. Simply:
1. Hold the power button (located on the right ear hook) for 2 seconds.
2. The LED above will pulsate blue.
3. Select 'Klipsch R6 BT' from your device.
4. The LED blinks blue 3 times every few seconds to indicate pairing is good.

The in-line remote lies on the right side. Like most controls, there's a multi-function button flanked by two volume. A nicer touch is the holding of the volume buttons to skip tracks 'cos other manufacturers implement this with a double or triple press of the centre button. The other side of the remote is where the cVc microphone lies. Its purpose is to enhance voice clarity and reduce environmental sound. A few calls at a bus stop were taken and there were no complaints on the other end that I couldn't be heard.

Note the product name is not appended with a letter like Klipsch's prior units (eg. R6m / R6i) for the simple reason of being device independent. Yes, the R6 In-Ear Bluetooth's controls are usable on iOS, Android, etc. 


The cable loop is appended with a removable and adjustable wire-cinch that tightens or loosens accordingly to reduce the microphonics. 

Performance
We received 3 single-flange ear tips. One M-sized double-flange is supposed to be included but this wasn't in and so, was not tried. The L-size fit the best and was a constant for our tests.

Attempting to hook the buds on my ears was a surprising challenge. While the left hook managed to take hold sufficiently well, the right hook fell out every now and then. It took quite a few tries to achieve an optimal fit that allowed me to wear them properly. Initially, I thought it was the glasses but I tried the Klipsch both with and without to similar results. To try something different, I wore them again but placed the cord at my front. Interestingly, the fit around the ears was much better even when jumping around. Do test them out yourself 'cos this is after all my personal experience. 

Powered by dual-magnet moving coil drivers, the build up of John Murphy's incredibly tense The Tunnel gives a good hint of how thumpingly strong the bass delivery is. The contrast is while the clashing cymbals are audible, they come out somewhat toned down while the overall sound somehow attains a good balance with a clear inclination to the low frequencies. Vitalic's electronic club anthem La Rock 01 is a great track that reinforces this notion and lets you experience the beats in its full power.

When the battery is low, you'll hear 3 very subtle pings that repeatedly remind you every few minutes to initiate charging. Once you plug in the charging cable, the LED shines red. With less than an hour's charge of the 85mAh battery, you'll get 8 hours of power. This is comparable with the Jaybird X2 Wireless (8h) and Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless (6h).

Overall
Klipsch has a knack for producing great sounding earpieces and the R6 In-Ear Bluetooth is one of them that'll snag the bass heads. We had that niggling feeling that this is somewhat of an experimental product where Klipsch is attempting to understand how receptive people are to hook-type models while building their Bluetooth expertise to build kick-ass models to pair with the future iPhone 7. If we gauge on the basis that it's their first wireless in-ears, the lack of connection issues on Bluetooth make this product pretty decent and show that Klipsch are very much on the right path.

Where To Buy
If you like what you have read on the product, do feel free to support me by buying from Amazon via this affiliate link. Prices start from USD 77.

Audio Sources
The Tunnel - John Murphy (28 Days Later OST) (192 Kbps MP3) on Samsung Galaxy S4
La Rock 01 - Vitalic (Tidal 320 Kbps AAC) on iPad Air

Credit to Tat Chuan Acoustic for an evaluation unit.