Verdict
The Creative Outlier Free Pro offers practiced , but not better in year bone conductivity speech sound on domain and in the water for less money than the swimming - validation headphone competition .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Creative Outlier Free Pro are bone conduction earphone built to be your all - day headphones with a secure physical exertion angle , include when you go for a swim .
Along with that swim - proof design , Creative render you the option of Bluetooth and music player streaming with supernumerary like multipoint connectivity , a crushed rotational latency mood to improve watching television and the promise of up to 10 minute assault and battery life .
They ’re priced cheaper than other swim - proof bone conduction earphone including theShokz OpenSwim , so could you save some money by snap up these more affordable waterproofed earphone instead ?
Availability
The Creative Outlier Free Pro monetary value £ 159.99 / $ 129.99 , but can be found for £ 89.99 / $ 99.99 , making them a punk bargain than the Shokz OpenSwim ( £ 139.95 / $ 149.95 ) , and theNaenka Runner Diver(£135.56 / $ 169.99 ) , two of the best performing waterproof bone conductivity earpiece I ’ve tested .
Design
The Creative Outlier Free Pro dramatise a familiar behind - the - neck opening and capitulum draw intent associated with bone conduction headphones and has a mix of Ti and silicone in the design to make it comfortable to hold out , but experience like they ’re well - built as well .
At 31.5 g , the Outlier Free Pro is prissy and light making them ideal for wear down over longer periods . They come only in a blue look with the entire design worthy to be submerged in fresh water up to 1.5 metres for up to 40 minutes . The same level of protection is n’t on offer in saltwater , so it ’s not going to be suited for all open piss swimming spots .
Underneath the right arm are three physical button for cut skipping , for volume control , with a push that has a big ‘ M ’ on that lets you swop between Bluetooth and euphony role player modality .
For swims , Creative has include a set of silicone polymer earplugs to stop H2O from overrun your ears . They also let in three small rubber microphone protectors that you ’ll need to plug into the microphone porthole to further protect the headphones from moisture infest the onboard components .
The strong-arm buttons are a small too tightly positioned together for my liking , which make it prosperous at times to hit the wrong button , while getting the microphone defender plug in before a swimming is an extremely fiddly cognitive operation . There ’s a reason why three are provide because they ’re prosperous to misplace .
Features
Along with the phone you ’re getting a proprietary magnetic charging cablegram that also doubles as the cable television service needed to plug into a USB - A larboard on a laptop or computer to drag in and drop audio to make use of the built - in 8 GB euphony player .
This is fairly commonplace for how most bone conductivity headphone with euphony players operate and the Pro is compatible with MP3 , FLAC , WAV and APE Indian file formatting , although it does n’t support WMA files . It ’s a drag and drop glide path that can be a touch slow going at times syncing audio over .
In terms of battery life , Creative says you could enjoy up to 10 60 minutes of battery life from the onboard 180mAh capacity stamp battery , though those numbers are free-base on listening at moderate volumes .
In realness , if you ’re using this close to top volume , and likely most will , getting to the anticipate 10 hours is n’t always possible , whether that ’s using the Bluetooth streaming or from the music role player . In general I found barrage spirit closer to 6 - 7 60 minutes . A 40 - minute swim with the music player see electric battery drop by 10 % . So it ’s not a bad showing in general .
Attaching that bear down cable for a 5 - minute mission does get you two hours of playtime , making it well-heeled to keep them topped up and guess less about how much battery you have to spiel with .
originative offer some other extras here to make them more utile outside of physical exercise clip . There ’s a multipoint connectivity mode to plug in to two Bluetooth gimmick at the same fourth dimension , a relatively aboveboard , four - step process to set it up if you like the approximation of being capable to handle calls from one of two link devices .
There ’s also a Low Latency manner , which promise to provide sound and video playback with less lag . This is activated by pressing the multifunction clitoris four times , though I frankly ca n’t say if it improved or offer a good experience .
Sound Quality
Creative is n’t doing anything particularly out of the normal in terms of how it uses ivory conduction technology to deliver sound to your ear .
Whether it ’s over Bluetooth streaming or via the built - in player , the overall good profile is the same . It ’s fine , but when you ’ve prove other pearl conduction headphones like I have , it ’s not transgress new soil or even equal what the best off-white conductivity headphones can offer .
The bass is dirty , the midrange sounds boxy and the soprano are harsh sounding . When you go louder , those bone conduction vibration are a little more noticeable . These are n’t the bad bone conduction headphones I ’ve used and there are some hunky-dory traits here , but it does n’t agree the experience I ’ve add up to wait from Shokz , Naenka andHaylouin offering something more balanced .
When change to music player mode , I pack on a bunch of drum and bass podcasts as well as speak podcasts and for the former , the bassier sound is the most redeeming timbre though it come at the expense of clarity . Listening to podcasts was fine , but it just was n’t as clear as some other bone conduction headphones I ’ve tested .
In the piss , that want of clearness and loudness makes the experience a less memorable one . They do an okay job of turn in speech sound for swims , but there ’s certainly room for betterment . It ’s a similar tarradiddle using them for calls and if you ’re count for the best bone conductivity headphones for extremely clear yell , these are not the one either .
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Should you buy it?
The Outlier Free Pro can be picked up for less than like headphones from Shokz , Naenka and offers a good enough carrying into action in and out of the piddle .
While they might be cheaper and offer a good tantrum for swims for less than the contender , the sound does n’t match swimming - validation headphone you’re able to expend more on for better sound .
Final Thoughts
The Creative Outlier Free Pro get a lot of things right . They ’re well-fixed to wear out , declare oneself two audio teem options and battery spirit is there and thereabouts with other waterproof osseous tissue conduction earpiece .
Ultimately though , if you care about the unspoilt pearl conduction sound , there are better options . You ’ll have to make up more , but if you ’re sold on great - sound headphones you could employ for swims , it ’s deserving paying a bit more .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every bent of headphones we retrospect thoroughly over an extended menstruum of fourth dimension . We use industry received test to liken features properly . We ’ll always say you what we find . We never , ever , take money to review a production .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
If by dependable , you mean can they be used in busy environments , then yes . The design allow for awareness of what ’s around the wearer , which is especially of import if osseous tissue conduction phone are being used for bodily function such as outside usage .
