Crazybaby set up an Indigogo campaign back in 2016, it was 5510% funded ($2,757,937) by more than 22,000 backers, and closed on the 30th December 2016. Since then, the company has been shipping out their product to fans and have since extended their range of audio products. That product that was so well funded, was the ‘Air’, a set of bluetooth earphones, that were set to be one of the ‘worlds first’.
“World’s first pure carbon nanotube speaker driver, Hi-Fi Sound, Bluetooth 4.2, Single Button Control, In-Ear Mic with Portable Charging Pod. Designed by Red Dot Award Winning Team.”
Fast forward to 2018 and units have been shipped to most of their customers, plus we got a sent pair to us to try out.
First off, it’s evident they have taken a leaf out of Apple’s book with the packaging. It looks, feels and opens very much like an iPhone. Open the box for the first time and you are greeted by this capsule, take that out, twist the top, pull it and the earphones shall appear. You also get a USB type-C cable and 3 sizes of ear buds & earphone silicone protectors, for the more sporty/sweaty folk. The earphones utilise the latest bluetooth 4.2 technology, have a carbon nanotube menbrane, IP66 water resistance and CVC 8TH Noise Isolation. The nanotube tech is within/forms part of the diaphragm within the ear bud speaker itself, to improve sound quality.
The earphones come in two glossy colours, either white or black. These are earphones, so they just pop straight into your ear and sit deep inside. The earphones sit inside the capsule and held in place via a small magnet. The capsule acts are a charging device (powerbank), so once you’ve charged it once, you can leave your earphones in the capsule and they will charge up. Once you’re done using them, back into the capsule they go and they will charge again (if required). You can do this several times before needing to charge the capsule again, via the very small USB type-C cable (plug adapter not included).
As stated before, the earphones come with 3 different sized ear buds, small, medium & large, along with 3 silicon protectors. Each earphone has a single button, which once touched or held in a certain way, performs a different task. These buttons also light up and help assist with identifying earphone status. Overall they are very small, lightweight, look and feel very premium.
Setting the earphones up was easy, just hold the buttons on the earphones down for a few seconds, they will turn on and begin to flash. Then go into your bluetooth device and pair. Each ear phone is synced as a pair, straight out the box. I connected these upto my iPhone, so I got a small battery indicator on my phone, which is handy. As stated before, by pressing each ear piece a number of times, you can trigger a command. These include play/pause, on/off, answer call & voice assistant. There is an app you can download which can be used along side the earphones, which is meant to give you the ability to change the EQ of the sound, but unfortunately I couldn’t find this feature. You can also play music through the app, as long as that music is stored on your device, there is no allowance for third party interaction. So I deleted the app straight away and went straight to Spotify.
The earphones fit incredibly well within the ear, they are very secure and very comfortable. They sit nicely too, by that I mean they do not sit too proud from the ear when in, adding to their discreteness. I was concerned that my voice wouldn’t be picked up very well as they were so far away from my mouth but it wasn’t an issue at all when taking phone calls. The only negative I can see with the design is pushing the buttons when in your ear. If you have to push three times to go back a song, that’s quite a strain on your ear.
Audio quality from these earphones is very good. Rich, punchy sounds, with plenty of bass but it’s not overpowering. I listened to a variety of music, including some movie trailers and all of which were very enjoyable. The sound isolation/noise cancellation is brilliant, to the point of it being dangerous, in a good way. I wore these for about 7 hours on & off, including on the train and walking around London. External noise was near on completely removed, I couldn’t even hear the roaring sounds of vans & motorbikes on a busy London street. Battery life on the earphones was good, I charged them up once. Realistically, if you are using these on your daily commute, I’d expect you to have to charge the capsule every two weeks.
I did some research while listening to these and I’m aware some people have been having issues with their earphones dropping out/not playing music. Over the several hours I used these earphones, the right earphone did drop out a few times, momentarily. It was so quick, by the time I realised, it kicked back in. Why? I don’t know, as the left ear continued to work, so I don’t think it was a battery or bluetooth connection issue. There was also one instance where the right earpiece dropped out altogether and turned off. Again, I’m not sure why but I had to turn it back on to get the sound back. In every sense, these are premium earphones and I’d expect better.
Overall, these are one of the most comfortable and secure sets of earphones I’ve tried to date. Coupled with their modern, sleek design & great sound quality, they are a winner for me. Their connection performance let’s them down somewhat.For further into and to purchase, check out the official Crazybaby website.
P.S Crazybaby also have a new version of the air for pre order, the ‘nano’, plus a smart wireless speaker & a levitating speaker.
