This is the first time I purchased an Amazon Renewed product and trying out this service was at the back of my mind for quite some time. However, the primary reason was my lack of conviction in keeping the product and I didn’t wish to create another open-box product just for the sake of it. The hesitation was borne out of the fact that I wasn’t sure of the switch to True Wireless earbuds, with my RHA MA650 having served me well for over 2 years for my primary use case, which happens to be commute and office dreariness.
The item was priced at a 20% discount to the MRP of INR 14,999 which still seems a high price to pay considering the fact that you don’t really know the condition of the product. With some bank discounts, I spent about 10.3k on the product, which was more palatable, but ideally the price should be around this mark anyway prior to any bank discounts.
The box was in fairly good condition but the signs of it being already being unboxed were pretty visible with the top cover being ripped off and the bottom being sealed with a fresh line of tape. Inside, all the contents were present as expected, though I later heard from the person doing the return pick-up that a lot of people tend to nick off the Type C cable, which does reduce my faith in humanity a bit. While the alternate tips were still sealed, the applied tips didn’t look completely pristine and I took the precaution of cleaning them with rubbing alcohol. I am not sure about the reconditing checks touted on the Amazon website considering this and the fact that the buds were already on and displaying the low battery indicator on unboxing. The carry case had about 40% charge and in all it seems that the buds were at least used for a few days prior to return.
Coming to the product itself, the buds are quite light at about 5.5g each and didn’t weigh heavy on the ear. The fit was quite good and the passive noise isolation was excellent, especially with music playing in the background. However, what takes the cake is the Hearthrough mode which allows ambient sound to stream in without much lag and is a godsend when walking around busy streets. It goes well with music at medium volume and made me realise that this is a feature I cannot do without on any true wireless earbuds.
Coming to the audio quality, the immediate thing that hits you is the bass. These earbuds are bass heavy by default but there is a way around it as the companion Jabra Sound+ app allows you to set a 5-band equaliser and turning down the base was my personal preference. Apart from that, the mids and the highs do well though I wouldn’t say they were any better than the much cheaper MA650 wireless earphones I have been using on commute. That said, the quality is good for its size but then the sound stage is quite poor and is perhaps expected. The mics though are pretty good as borne by the passthrough and the call quality was more than passable. The battery life on the other hand wasn’t exceptional and it would not be possible to go through a day without putting it in the case for charging when not using it.
At the end of the day (literally), I returned the earbuds primarily because it didn’t seem to be worth its price in terms of audio quality. The convenience of it was undoubtedly remarkable but then that would apply to nearly all true wireless earbuds. I am not looking at ultimate sound quality because my use case for this is limited to commute, office and exercising. I prefer over-the-ear wired cans to this at my home when I really want to enjoy the music. My first experience of TWS earbuds has indicated that there is a specific use case for it, and I am certainly intent on picking up a pair soon, provided there is a better balance between the feature-set and the price.
