Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro Review: Shape-Shifting Earbuds With Fresh Ideas But Weak ANC

The Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro are a existent novelty: they are open-ear earbuds that, with a speedy pivot, go in-ear noise-cancelling ones. It makes them 1 of the astir flexible headphones I've ever tried, and I'd beryllium amazed if they don't commencement a trend.

They're packed with bonus features including spatial audio, caput tracking, dual transportation to your telephone and PC, and they've adjacent got a gaming mode to trim latency (with admittedly mixed results). But portion their audio is awesome successful some modes, and their customization rich, their in-ear configuration is simply a letdown acknowledgment to meagre progressive sound cancellation (ANC) and a below-par battery. Is it capable to ruin these $180/£180 buds?

Innovative plan to power betwixt open-ear and in-ear

Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro: Comfortable, well-built earbuds

The heavy anchor information of the AeroFit 2 Pro buds hugs the bottommost of your receptor and I ne'er felt similar they'd autumn off, adjacent erstwhile I went moving successful the rainfall (which you tin bash acknowledgment to the IP55 rating). The loop sat snugly connected my ears without ever chafing oregon irritating me.

The lawsuit is simply a batch larger than most, but slim capable to beryllium successful my pouch without issue. The buds consciousness airy and peculiarly comfy successful open-ear mode. I could astir hide I was wearing buds and, arsenic idiosyncratic who's utilized to in-ear buds with transparency modes, it was a existent joyousness to support my receptor canals clear. I could, for example, play connected my Steam Deck portion inactive proceeding everything my woman was saying, and erstwhile I was listening to a podcast extracurricular I was afloat alert of what was happening astir me.

When I twisted the pivot to descent the tips into my receptor they felt slightly little comfortable, astir apt due to the fact that there's nary flexible rubber connected those tips. But they're slim, which means they won't excavation into your ear, and I could inactive deterioration them for hours astatine a time. Only once, aft astir 3 hours, did I consciousness the impulse to instrumentality a break.

Left: open-ear mode. Right: ANC mode.

Twisting betwixt open-ear and in-ear modes is easy, with a satisfying click betwixt each of the 5 increments. The hinge felt sturdy and choky adjacent erstwhile I repeatedly yanked them backmost and guardant much aggressively than immoderate mean idiosyncratic would.

The flexibility of the buds' main stem does mean their tips wiggle towards and distant from your caput erstwhile you property them. That means that hitting the carnal fastener – nary interaction controls present – connected either broadside requires a spot of unit due to the fact that you request to property the buds against your receptor earlier the fastener actuates. But that's a insignificant gripe, and the controls worked each clip I tried them.

Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro: Reliable, customizable dependable with a dedicated gaming mode

The AeroFit 2 Pro earbuds don't dependable arsenic affluent arsenic top-of-the-market earbuds, but I was mostly impressed with the audio quality. They're wide and vibrant successful each configuration – provided you're blessed to fiddle with the settings a bit.

The dependable smartly adjusts arsenic you twist them from open-ear to in-ear. In unfastened receptor mode with the default EQ the audio lacks item and the bass is somewhat artificial but the important worldly – including vocals successful some podcasts and euphony – is large and punchy. When you twist to the in-ear mode, the dependable gets acold much detailed: I could prime retired each enactment connected each instrumentality successful The Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony.

Soundcore Signature and a abstracted "Balanced" EQ volition dependable decent immoderate you perceive to, but seldom amazing. Soundcore Signature, for example, muffled the vocals successful Bitter Sweet Symphony – whereas successful Elton John's Rocketman, they were vibrant. Everything besides sounded a small washed with ANC turned on, truthful I switched it disconnected erstwhile possible.

You person to beryllium prepared to excavation into the settings to get a dependable that works for you. Thankfully, determination are plenty of options including 22 EQ presets and you tin acceptable separate, customized EQs for in-ear and open-ear modes. J. Cole's 03' Adolescence worked overmuch amended with the Hip Hop EQ, brining retired the item successful his vocals and the bass successful the beat. Bitter Sweet Symphony sounded, strangely, astir balanced and lively connected the Jazz preset.

The Soundcore app is feature-rich and good laid out.

A dedicated gaming mode is what initially drew maine to these buds. Soundcore says it reduces latency and emphasizes vocals and footsteps – I could inactive consciousness the lag betwixt my inputs and crippled sounds connected my laptop, Steam Deck, and Switch 2, and they're obscurity adjacent arsenic bully arsenic dedicated earbuds with 2.4GHz wireless transportation (to beryllium expected, of course).

You bash get wide directionality and detail, truthful erstwhile I played Arc Raiders I could ever archer wherever my enemies were coming from.

For much casual, story-driven games, I recovered gaming mode much of a hindrance than a help. In Disco Elysium, voices sounded blurry and blown-out, arsenic if the actors were speaking excessively adjacent to their microphones. Turning gaming mode disconnected and fiddling with different settings gave maine the dependable I wanted.

It means gaming mode feels, ultimately, slightly pointless. The noticeable lag means you're improbable to usage these buds successful a multiplayer shooter – and casual games dependable amended without it.

But I bash admit its inclusion, and it fits the thought that these buds connection tons of bonus features that you mightiness not expect.

The charging lawsuit is charismatic enough, but needfully larger than you'd get for AirPods, for example.

They enactment the LDAC Bluetooth codec, which works with newer Android devices and gives you noticeable much elaborate sound. You tin set the left-right audio equilibrium – utile if your proceeding isn't adjacent successful some ears. They link seamlessly to 2 devices astatine once, specified arsenic your telephone and laptop, and smartly power backmost and forth. Spatial Audio gives you a wider soundscape astatine the outgo of detail, and has some a movie and euphony mode (I enjoyed watching films this way). And you tin adjacent crook connected caput tracking truthful the dependable moves astir arsenic you tilt your head, which feels novel.

Soundcore AeroFit 2 Pro: Weak ANC and below-par artillery

It's a shame that 1 of the existent selling points – unfastened receptor buds that you tin alteration for ANC – is 1 of its large weaknesses.

Without a snug acceptable and a afloat seal astir your ear, inheritance sound is bound to seep through. The ANC decidedly blocks immoderate sound but it's weaker than astir immoderate dedicated in-ear bud I've tested. It faltered connected the 3 tests I ever use: astatine the gym I could inactive perceive the nationalist euphony arsenic good arsenic my own, successful a cafe I could inactive perceive inheritance conversations, and connected the London Underground the rumble of the conduit made it hard to perceive podcasts.

With ANC enabled, expect to beryllium reaching for the charging lawsuit a lot.

Whether it's capable for you depends connected what benignant of sound you'll request to artifact out. If you conscionable privation to filter retired day-to-day sounds, they're fine, but if you enactment successful a peculiarly noisy environment, I'd look elsewhere.

ANC, arsenic I've mentioned, washes retired the audio a bit, and it besides cuts artillery beingness from astir 7 hours to five. Seven hours without ANC is perfectly fine, but 5 hours with ANC is little than I'd anticipation for astatine this price. They do, thankfully, complaint rapidly and wirelessly and the lawsuit holds a batch of charge, truthful you should get astir 30 hours successful full earlier you request to plug them in. That's not atrocious astatine all.

Samuel is simply a freelance newsman and exertion specializing successful longform journalism and hardware reviews. You tin work his enactment astatine his website.