Great Design but Questionable Performance

The Oladance OWS1 are one of many newer additions to the “open-ear” earbuds panorama. Designed to be seated in entrance of your ear canals as a substitute of inside them, the OWS1 are cozy to put on, however the innovation begins to dwindle when you begin listening to music and making cellphone calls.

Design and Match: Hanging the Steadiness

The Oladance OWS1 can be found in 4 colours, with my take a look at pair being Interstellar Blue (the opposite three shades are Cloud White, Martian Orange, and House Silver). There are two important elements of every bud: the motive force portion and the contact pad that sits under your ear, with a silicone arm connecting each areas. The elements of each sections that make contact together with your pores and skin are coated in silicone, whereas the exterior-facing elements are encased in shiny exhausting plastic.

Much like many different earbuds, the OWS1’s contact controls are mapped to the outside of every driver (extra on this in a bit). You’ll additionally get a USB-C charging case that appears loads like an eyeglasses holder. Once you open it up, you’ll see the place every bud is meant to relaxation towards its charging pins. One bummer is that this case doesn’t even have a built-in battery, which implies you’ll must have it plugged right into a USB energy adapter every time it’s time to re-juice the OWS1.

The corporate does make its personal 2,550mAh charging case (which I used) that’s supposed to offer a further 78.4 hours of listening on a full battery. I have to say I wasn’t an enormous fan of the case itself although. It was cumbersome, it felt a bit low-cost, and it is priced at $50, which is an excessive amount of for those who ask me. (I’d be okay with $25.) There’s a USB-C port on the again of the case for charging it up, and I did truly just like the LED indicator on the entrance for protecting tabs on how a lot juice was left.

Admittedly, it took me a reasonably very long time to know find out how to get the OWS1 over my ears; and even as soon as I had the method pretty down pat, I nonetheless needed to double-check which earbud went to which ear. Sure, there’s an “L” on one bud and an “R” on the opposite, however the silicone arm is what threw me. Right here’s a professional tip: Once you’re holding the left or proper bud, strive visualizing the curvature of the arm sliding excessive of your ear.

I truly thought the OWS1 have been extraordinarily comfy to put on, to the purpose the place I’d nearly choose to make use of them on the fitness center or on a run, as a substitute of my AirPods Professional. The silicone pad that rests under your ear is an integral a part of the OWS1’s multi-point assist system, permitting for even weight distribution throughout the bud. Whereas the pad was at all times firmly seated towards the highest a part of my jaw (much like the texture of bone-conduction headphones), I by no means discovered the contact to be too overwhelming.

I like the concept of open-ear earbuds turning into a mainstay, as a result of something in-ear begins to fatigue my ears after some time, and conventional headphones could make my entire head really feel too heat. With the 16.5mm drivers hanging in entrance of your canal, the OWS1 can strike the steadiness between consolation and efficiency.

Contact Controls: I Dislike Them

So far as contact controls go, this was my least favourite a part of the Oladance OWS1 earbuds. I discovered the over-sensitivity of the contact factors (which may’t be adjusted) to be far too finicky; to the purpose the place I might by no means even attempt to elevate and decrease the amount of songs utilizing something however my iPhone. It’s additionally fairly annoying how reactive the buds are whenever you’re simply attempting to seat them over your ears. I can’t inform you what number of occasions I by chance rewound a whole podcast episode or aggressively raised the amount of a track.

Whilst you’ll be capable of customise what faucets and swipes truly do within the Oladance app, this doesn’t actually change how awkward it may be to try to do one thing so simple as skipping to the following observe of an album. Typically a command would work with no drawback, whereas different occasions it was just like the earbuds had a thoughts of their very own.

Sound High quality: Don’t Crank Your Earbuds

The Oladance OWS1 are really distinctive with regards to mids and highs. In actual fact, I heard extra particulars within the demo tracks I’ve run by way of 100 occasions with different headphones than I’ve ever heard earlier than.

British prog-rocker Steven Wilson’s sixth solo album “The Future Bites” is packed to the brim with powerfully layered synth scapes. Not solely did each new part sound clear and crisp, however every time vocals would enter the fray, the sound staging was at all times well-balanced and simply as detailed. I’ll admit that audio turned problematic at increased volumes for all genres.

When listening to Paramore’s track “Working out of Time,” the groovy mix of vocals, guitars, and bass sounded nice till I pushed the decibels previous the two-thirds mark, which resulted in a good quantity of distortion and an entire lack of bass. I attempted a number of different songs at increased volumes too, and the identical factor occurred every time. This illness turns into particularly exhausting to disregard when having to take care of filtered-in environmental noise.

Even at regular volumes, the OWS1 struggled with bass fairly a bit. Once I went into the EQ and cranked the low-end frequencies up, it didn’t add a lot oomph; and selecting the “Surging Bass” preset resulted in basically the identical sound. Now I might undoubtedly hear the bass within the many tracks I demoed, however it by no means really stood by itself, usually sounding prefer it was simply lumped into the mids. I’m questioning how a lot of this might need to do with the design, contemplating the buds are solely hanging in entrance of the ear canals. I’m assuming not a lot although, as a result of the mids and highs have been completely unaffected.

Name High quality: Poor to Say the Least

Within the few take a look at calls I made with the Oladance OWS1, I by no means had a very nice expertise. For starters, the individual I used to be chatting to would at all times sound uneven and compressed. The general quantity degree appeared to ebb and move, too. Added to this, my take a look at caller reported that I sounded tinny and unclear, with numerous phasing out and in of common readability to barely worse articulation.

Then there’s the truth that there’s no noise-canceling to work with, which wouldn’t be such an enormous deal if the calls themselves have been simpler to listen to. However when you throw in louder environmental sounds, like visitors and HVAC techniques, utilizing the OWS1 for a cellphone name turns into simply too irritating.

Battery: A Saving Grace

Oladance claims that the OWS1 will ship as much as 16 hours of playtime on a single cost. Whereas precise listening hours will range based mostly on quantity and EQ changes, I acquired distinctive efficiency out of my earbuds; to the purpose the place I by no means even needed to give them a full recharge. On the event that both of the buds would dip under 60%, a half hour within the case would enhance them as much as round 90% or increased.

As talked about, the charging case does require a separate USB energy adapter, which may make charging the OWS1 on the go a bit annoying. However so long as you realize prematurely that, when touring, you’ll want a transportable charger on your charger, you’ll be able to keep away from some dead-battery disappointments.

Utilizing the Oladance App: Intuitive, Save for One Hiccup

The Oladance app is obtainable for Apple and Android gadgets and affords just a few alternative ways to customise your OWS1. After you’ve created your free Oladance account and entered the affirmation code, getting the earbuds paired to the app is as straightforward as opening the OWS1 case and putting it close to your cellphone or pill. As soon as the app detects the OWS1, you’ll be navigated to the system dashboard.

A easy however intuitive format, the primary display of the app exhibits the battery degree of each earbuds. A finger-tapping icon is what you’ll press to entry contact management customizations for each music and cellphone calls; permitting you to vary what single, double and triple faucets do for every bud, in addition to ahead and backward sliding. Sadly, you received’t be capable of assign completely different instructions based mostly on which bud you faucet; so for those who change your single faucet to voice assistant, tapping both bud as soon as will name up Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri.

Again on the primary display, the three vertical traces icon brings you into the OWS1 EQ, the place you’ll be capable of select from just a few completely different audio presets. By selecting the “Customise” choice, you’ll additionally be capable of create your individual customized sound utilizing an equalizer; however once I reviewed the earbuds, tapping Customise truly did not do something. To get into the handbook EQ, I had to return to the primary display to faucet the settings icon (a pentagon with a grey dot within the center). Then I needed to faucet “EQ” below the “Customization” class, adopted by tapping “Customise” as soon as extra on the ultimate web page of choices.

On the settings menu, you’ll additionally be capable of regulate sound steadiness between each earbuds, entry the person handbook and system information, in addition to take away the OWS1 from the app solely.

Ought to You Purchase the Oladance OWS Open Ear Headphones?

No. The Oladance OWS1 are really progressive so far as consolation and match goes, however with regards to precise music, in-call audio, and contact level sensitivity, these over-ear earbuds actually come up quick. One or two of the bothersome factors being corrected might have swayed my pondering in a special course, however for the cash, I feel there are too many issues that the OWS1 earbuds miss the mark on.