I must admit, for over 10 years, I have been using over-the-ear headphones, hence I was slightly curious when EDIFIER NeoDots Wireless Earbuds came up for review. From their product information page, “NeoDots provide active noise cancellation and Premium sounds with Hi-Res audio wireless certification.” Let’s dive in and have a look and see if the 10mm Armature driver can hold up to the test of my old ears.

Like all wireless buds, it comes with a case that serves as both a storage and charging point. It’s slightly larger than the normal cases in terms of height and length, and you can feel that the construction is sturdy, but what I love is that the charging cable port is at the back, allowing you to stand the case up when charging. You are also given two sets of replacement buds if you have a different-sized ear canal, a great touch from EDIFIER, and of course, a USB-C charging cable.

The buds themselves look and feel large, with a substantial profile outside your ear when inserted, but because they only weigh 0.06 kg, they are still very comfortable to wear due to their natural curved shape. The case and earbuds are a stylish matte black, perfect for on-the-go use with dirty hands, and I am sure it won’t be long before one of my daughters will steal them from my gym bag and give the toughness a run for its money.

I quickly downloaded the easy-to-use EDIFIER Connex App and synced the EDIFIER NeoDots Wireless Earbuds to my iPhone, which was extremely easy and user-friendly. It’s clean and simple, giving you six options for noise cancelling, three options for sound effects, and a fourth option to manually adjust the levels to your liking. You also have a game mode, which will give you 80ms low-latency audio through one push of a button on the app.

I decided to head into the gym to see how they perform with the noise-cancelling ability, listening to music and making phone calls with the background noise. EDIFIER claims a 48db reduction in noise in their lab, which would depend on what mode you were running. I left the noise reduction on high, which is also the designated airplane mode. I cannot fault the noise-cancelling either, especially at the price point of sub $200.

A full charge gives you a staggering total of 56 hours of use, and I was impressed by how quickly it was to charge them. The buds take about an hour to charge, while the case takes roughly 1.5 hours. There’s also a quick 15-minute charge, giving you a massive 5 hours of use as well, great when you are on the run, or if you’ve forgotten to charge electronics the night before. It also supports Qi wireless charging; you can just pop the case onto a charging pad instead of looking for a power outlet or USB socket.

Another impressive feature was the “Pause and Resume” function. Wearing detection means that when I removed one bud from my ear to speak to someone, the audio immediately paused. Placing the bud back in my ear resulted in the audio continuing without having to fumble around with buttons or other touch sensors.

I also tested hands-free phone calls while I was at the gym, with a customer advising me that my voice sounded a little washed out, providing the feedback with a bit of a laugh, but that said, it was still clear and legible, but let’s be honest, most wireless earbuds struggle with this function. The EDIFIER NeoDots Wireless Earbuds are also IP55 dust and splash-resistant, which is important if you have an active lifestyle, as you can be confident they can take some punishment.

Arriving home, I connected the EDIFIER NeoDots Wireless Earbuds to my laptop to test out the game mode, which gives them an 80ms latency, delivering a more immersive gaming experience. When my phone rang, the buds automatically switched over via EDIFIER’s Bluetooth v5.4 multi-connection point, which supports up to two devices.

The audio is driven by a 10mm Armature driver with a frequency range between 20Hz and 40KHz, which gives the EDIFIER NeoDots Wireless Earbuds Hi-Res Audio Certification. They also support LDAC high definition decoding for wireless audio, with its transfer rate at an impressive 990kbps, once again offering very upmarket features for a low price point.

Overall, as I have said, for the price point, it really is hard to fault the EDIFIER NeoDots Wireless Earbuds. I tested these with my iPhone, but they also come with Google Fast Pair for Android as well. The superior charging rates and battery life, coupled with the sound quality and premium features, including the customisable settings in the application, make these earbuds a must-buy if you are in the market for a quality pair. Could you find something better on the market? 100%, but you will be paying double or triple the price for them.

Written by: Mike Bridge