Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless Sport Headphones: A Complete Review

You quickly get used to the good. The relatively sharp rejection of “Jack” in some smartphones pushed the industry of wireless headphones quite well, which are taking more and more of the share of sales from ordinary wired ones. For sports, this is already becoming the standard, because getting rid of wires during physical activity is very cool, not to mention all the other everyday situations. Today we look at the Bose wireless headphones – SoundSport Free.

The lineup

Since the manufacturer specializes in sound, there are plenty to choose from, including models for use in aviation. There are 9 civilian wireless headphones. These are both full-size and intra-channel options.

The manufacturer has three sports models. SoundSport is wired like most similar headphones. SoundSport Pulse also looks, only cost a little more and is equipped with a heart rate sensor. Our guest today – SoundSport Free – is distinguished by the fact that these are completely wireless headphones, but without any additional functionality. They cost $ 200.

Options and First Impression

Fully wireless headphones are always accompanied by a case, which not only serves as a carrying case but also charges the headphones themselves. Along with this in the kit, there are two more options for interchangeable ear pads of different sizes and a charging cable. It would be nice to add additional clips to sports headphones, but in this case, they are not.

Headphones start-up as soon as they leave the case, and you can connect to them in the usual way – through the Bluetooth settings. But in addition, the manufacturer took care of a separate application that is available to users of iOS and Android. He has no serious semantic load, and if the owner does not want to clog the smartphone with another application, then without it the headphones can work without losing anything in the possibilities.

Design and usability

Over the appearance of the model worked. The design style is appropriate. There are no strict black or white colors.

There are three design options: Black received a slight gradient accent on the front side; Midnight Blue was decorated with blue dots on the outside of the case when the inside is light green and the ear pads are light; Bright Orange is mainly composed of a dark blue case, but the front side received an orange pattern resembling a cut of a tree. The last option came to our review – in my opinion, it looks great.

The bowls themselves are quite large and if, for example, Bragi The Dash, which are based on the same principle of operation, is hidden in the auricle of half of the body, then our Bose just hangs over your ear. They are not very small and I have often heard from people who saw me with them, something in the spirit of – Wow, what a great headphone. During sports (there is protection against sweat and rain IPX4 for this), they can be touched, you can’t put on a hat with them, as it will be inconvenient with a hood. This moment in design is not much thought out.

And if you touch them with something, then depending on the nature of the touch, the earphone will either fall out or put pressure on the ear. The mount itself, which grabs the inside of the auricle, works quite well, and if you do not pull it, the earphone sits well in its place. I could run like that. Although there is a slight sense of insecurity, in a couple of weeks I have never lost my headset, no matter how I twist my head. Trying them before buying is still worth it, like any other headphones.

The rest of the time, SoundSport Free will be spent in a large case that will charge them at the same time. Contact pads with magnets, but you can slightly miss. Therefore, you should make sure that the headphone is in place (a white diode signal like this in the picture), only then close the case. By the way, even if it doesn’t look very big, it was inconvenient for me personally to carry it in my pocket. But if you use headphones exclusively for training, then the user will definitely take a bag/backpack to the gym and this will not become a problem.

Connection and Management

You can pair your Bose Wireless headphones with any gadget that has Bluetooth. The connection setup process is no different from any other headphone. The application may be needed to update the firmware and change the name of the device, which is displayed in the BT manager. There is also an instruction for controlling the headphones inside, but experienced users will not need it at all.

The application has one useful feature – a headphone search. But for some reason, we did not succeed in trying it in practice, the application produced an unknown error.

For control, there is a universal button on the right earphone that starts playback, switches tracks and calls a voice assistant, and two more “hug” it, which controls the volume.

There is a button on the left earphone for quick switching between different devices (smartphone, laptop). This is more convenient than a circuit in which an active device can intercept a signal. The buttons are tight and require a little force to press, which eliminates accidental clicks.

In addition, there is a microphone on the right earphone that makes it possible to answer a call. The quality of speech transmission is very mediocre, the microphone picks up all the surrounding sounds, and the voice will not transmit in the best quality. But for a quick answer, in principle, it will do. The interlocutor will be heard only in the right earphone.

Sound

Despite not the best sound insulation, the playback quality is what I want to praise. Among the sports headphones, this is probably the best of those that I have had recently. They are comfortable and do not have to look for a comfortable position in the ear. For a good sound, this is very important. In addition, the signal reception is quite stable and there have been no problems with it all the time. But adherents of the aptX-only paradigm will have to be upset, Bose SoundSport Free does not support this codec.

But the sound is good without it. There is enough power reserve so as not to twist it to the maximum (but as an amateur I made it louder, I still listened at 80%). Bass will not overshadow the other frequencies with its presence, although it will slightly embellish the main picture. There are no native adjustments, if you need an equalizer, you will have to rely on the smartphone’s own forces. Although I would not say that this is necessary, subjectively, the sound is initially cool.

Headphones have no sensitivity to source quality and genre. Even streaming services will be enough for most situations. Spoiled by reinforcing wire options, of course, wireless sports headphones will not surprise, but they are still great for a walk or training. I did not have to sort through the music – I randomly listened to the entire media library and would not say that I was disappointed with any track or style of music. Among sports headphones, these so far are clearly my favorite in playback quality.

Autonomy

Bose claimed that the Bose wireless headphones can play 5 hours on a single charge. If you listen to music at maximum, then according to my measurements they will last for 4 hours, which is also not so bad. Of course, for those who spend all their time in headphones, this will not be very convenient. It takes up to two hours to charge. On ordinary days, such autonomy was enough for me.

If you listen to music for several hours a day, then you have to charge the cover two to three times a week. The case charge indicator is located outside, and inside there are two more diodes that blink when the headphones are charging, and light when the headphones are charged. At the time when I did not use them, I put them in a case, so that they are always charged, which is very convenient.

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