As smartphone manufacturers continue to remove the headphone jack more headphone makers are making wire-free options. Alien is the latest Indiegogo crowdfunding effort that is promising some great sound in a wire-free package. Alien says they’re offering up true wireless earbuds with premium features at the lowest price on the market. We took the Alien wire-free earbuds for a ride, see how they fared in our full review straight ahead!
Specifications
The Alien wire-free earbuds have the following features and specifications:
Earbuds
- Dimensions: 20.5 – 19.7 – 26.3mm
- Playtime: 4.5 hours alone / 30 hours with charging pod
- Battery: Micro Lithium
- Earbud battery capacity: 60mAh
- Bluetooth Chip: Airoha 4.2
- Bluetooth Distance: 10-15m (Up to 49 feet)
- Earbud Weight: 7 g
- Bluetooth Frequency: 2.4GHz – 2.4835GHz
- Driver: Graphene audio driver
Charging Pod
- Battery: Micro Lithium
- Charging Pod Capacity: 400mAh
- Dimensions: 80 – 69.5 – 33mm
- Weight: 77 g
- Charging Port: MicroUSB
What’s In The Box
- Alien wire-free earbuds
- Charging Pod
- Extra ear tips
- Instruction manual
Design
I have to say that I was very surprised at how small the Alien wire-free earbuds actually were. I’ve used several pairs of wire-free earbuds and these are about the slimmest and smallest I’ve personally used. There’s not a whole lot to say about something so small. Both earbuds have magnetic pins that connect to the Charging Pod to charge. Both earbuds have one button to power them on. That same button serves as your play/pause, track forward, track reverse, Siri, and answer calls button.
- One click answers calls and plays or pauses music
- Two clicks skip’s forward a track
- Three click goes back a track
- One long press calls up Siri
Alien provides several ear tips so you can fit them properly. Once they’re set in they fit very comfortably and never once fell out of my ears nor did I feel they would fall out. The earbuds are also water-resistant so they’ll do well against sweat. The company does suggest you dry them off before putting them into the Charging Pod.
The Charging Pod is equally small and compact, it fits nicely into a purse or even front pocket. The Alien earbuds just slip in nicely and grab ahold of the magnetic tips and start charging the buds. There is a MicroUSB port on the back so you can charge the Pod when it’s drained. No cable was included with my review sample and I do wish they would include that.
Overall, the design is really nice, slim, and lightweight. The basics in functionality are there and they’re water resistant, perfect for those who work out.
Ease of Use
Super simple to use! Power on one of the earbuds and pair it to your iPhone or Android. Power on the second earbud and it auto pairs to the first earbud. Voice prompts will tell you when you are powered on and connected. To power off, you only need to press the power on one earbud and both will shut down. Couldn’t be easier.
Sound
Alright, here’s the make it or break it part of the review. I mean, what good is the rest of the review if these things sound horrible? Good news is, they sound pretty damn amazing. I was seriously surprised at what I heard from these little earbuds. The bass responsiveness is really spot on for earbuds of this size. If you’ve read any of my other audio reviews you know I like the bass a little punchier but not overbearing. Alien got it where I like it.
The mids and highs are well balanced and music of all genres sounds amazing here, from Frank Sinatra’s crooning to Skillet’s hard edge vocals. From David Gilmour’s ethereal guitars to the thumping bass loops of Skrillex.
These don’t have a completely balanced soundstage, the bass is most certainly breaking through the other frequencies, but I enjoy it. If you want a flat and balanced soundstage, this may not be for you. If you’re looking for extreme heavy bass, these are probably not for you. These will suit those of us who like a nearly balanced sound with just a slight bit more low end.
Overall I think the Alien wire-free earbuds sound really amazing for the size these things are. I guess the Graphene audio drivers the company is using are well worth it.
Reception/Call Quality
Reception used to be a big problem for wire-free earbuds. This new generation seems to have solved the problem of dropped signal between earbuds and Alien has for the most part. There were a few instances where the right bud would cut out for a split second. It wasn’t enough to be that bothersome. Call quality is good, although you only get sound through one earbud during phone calls, not a deal breaker but would have been nice to get sound through both buds for calls.
Battery Life
Alien claims 4.5 hours of battery life for the earbuds alone and I averaged just about 4.25 hours so pretty close. The Charging Pod adds another 30 hours since there is a built-in battery. It’s nice to have and you can actually go through the whole day if you take a break between listening to music and pop them in the pod. Battery life is good for the size of these buds.
Price/Value
$89.99USD is the super-early bird price for these buds and that’s really an amazing price for what you get here. After crowdfunding the Alien earbuds are expected to have an MSRP of $150USD. There’s a lot of value here and this early price is a huge bump in value.
Wrap Up
The Alien wire-free earbuds are a well designed, good looking, amazing sounding, and more than fairly priced pair of wire-free earbuds. The Indiegogo super-early bird price of $89.99USD is the way to go. While they may be worth the MSRP of $150USD, why pay that much if you can get them cheaper?
