B&O Play Unveils Beoplay E8, the Danish Brand's First Truly Wireless Earbuds

[Picapau21]

Thank you for the clear update; I greatly appreciate this!

So now that's 3 wireless headphones that seem to have call quality issues when using outside in various climates: Jabra Elite Sport, Sport Pulse (completely useless outside for audio calls/voice use in iOS Applications like VoIP / DuoLingo), and the E8's.

What's frustrating is going through 50 odd reviews of these products and reading "audio is great/amazing" and it all relates to music playback ... not voice quality.

I'm beginning to think that the iPhones' built-in microphones are not cancelled for use when BT stereo headpones are used in calls.

It's appalling that use manufacturers don't even fully test their microphones outside in various decibel levels and noisey environments. That said I think I may still pick these up in a few short weeks.

Thanks again and sorry to hear these didn't work out for you. I know they cannot be nearly as bad as the Jabra Sport Pulse's I have. Not even Ericsson's first Bluetooth headset (the very first EVER to be on the market) sounded THIS bad!

Glad I could be of some help. I could not believe how bad these were for phone call audio quality. I actually rung the B&O dealership from them so they could hear for themselves.

Otherwise they really are pretty good for audio especially once I had tweeted it using the B&O app.

Will likely keep an eye out on the beoworld forum to see if any future firmware updates fix the problem. Until then like yourself the search for the perfect headphone/earphone continues!!
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I don't think the design has anything to do with the AirPods being great for calls. I do believe the W1 chip talkin to the iPhone in a priority sense (cancelling iPhone microphones as my hunch) and the Beamforming microphones DO have a benefit to voice quality.

PS: The MBP Retina announced in 2014 was the first Apple product to feature the Beamforming microphones (x2).

I meant they direct the beamforming microphones... I'd be slightly more interested in them if: -

1) They didn't look so silly.
2) They actually created a seal and therefore had passive noise cancellation and better sound.
3) They didn’t leak sound so much! Had enough of hearing kids on the underground filling the carriage with bloody cheesy EDM!

Whether its the W1 chip or the beam forming microphone the AirPods are hands down the best handsfree kit I have ever used. Never had a single issue with phone calls with extensive use over the 13 months or so that I have had them. Crystal clear in all environments with most people unable to tell that they were on a hands free.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Reviews:

B&O E8

Jabra Elite Sport

I tend to trust Jimmy's reviews due to such a wide range of headphones he's reviewed, along with his disclaimer if he's purchased or been donated headphones and no sponsors (that I've seen yet). likewise to others in this thread ... thank ou Picapau21 for your feedback as well.

* FYI Jabra has newer, less sport focused true wireless headphones.
Elite 65t Elite & Active 65t; both have 4 microphones (2 per ear), and they have IP55/IP56 ratings respectively (each with 2yr warranty), while the Elite Sports have IP67 rating with 3yr warranty
https://www.jabra.ca/bluetooth-headsets

Right now I'm on the fence (cost restricted until 4wks potentially) between Jabra Elite Sports or E8's. Even shopping on ebay.ca the E8's are higher priced and I think due to comfort for use and quality may be the key reason. I don't like the idea of pushing an in-ear headphone into my ears repeatedly for calls/Siri/volume/track skipping. Then again I do have an Apple Watch which I hope both work with.

 

[s1m]

I am sticking with my Dash Pro still - I have all three variants of Bragi's headphones and the Dash Pro are the best (and most expensive). I now use my other Dash and The Headphone for other connections to save switching which is less of a pain than it was.

 

[Picapau21]

Reviews:

B&O E8

Jabra Elite Sport

I tend to trust Jimmy's reviews due to such a wide range of headphones he's reviewed, along with his disclaimer if he's purchased or been donated headphones and no sponsors (that I've seen yet). likewise to others in this thread ... thank ou Picapau21 for your feedback as well.

* FYI Jabra has newer, less sport focused true wireless headphones.
Elite 65t Elite & Active 65t; both have 4 microphones (2 per ear), and they have IP55/IP56 ratings respectively (each with 2yr warranty), while the Elite Sports have IP67 rating with 3yr warranty
https://www.jabra.ca/bluetooth-headsets

Right now I'm on the fence (cost restricted until 4wks potentially) between Jabra Elite Sports or E8's. Even shopping on ebay.ca the E8's are higher priced and I think due to comfort for use and quality may be the key reason. I don't like the idea of pushing an in-ear headphone into my ears repeatedly for calls/Siri/volume/track skipping. Then again I do have an Apple Watch which I hope both work with.

I've now managed to go through a whole range of earbuds and have basically settled on the Jabra Elite 65T. For me they don't seem to have any fatal flaws with regards to the microphone, connection and noise isolation. They also happen to be the cheapest but because they are relatively new they wont be discounted for a while.

I've outlined my scores with some comments below. All tested with a MacBook 2016 and iPhone X.

AirPods

Connection 2 - Solid, but sometime take ages to connect and I need to go into the settings.
Audio 1 - Surprisingly good in a quiet environment when the fit into the ear is good
Isolation 0 - Rubbish, can hear everything
Video 3 - Perfect on all devices
Voice 3 - Best hands free kit money can buy. Only product to get a 3 in this category.
Controls 1 - Tap gestures are limited and don't always work
Fit 1 - Not perfect, with quite a loose fit. Very comfortable though because of it.

Total = 11

B&O E8
Connection 2 - I had no major issues, solid enough connection.
Audio 1-2 - Personally, these were not the best. Much better after using their equaliser.
Isolation 2 - As for any IEM
Video 2-3 - No real issues
Voice 0 - Awful microphone for phone calls and unusable outside. Picks up huge background noise.
Controls 1 - Touch controls did not always work
Fit 2 - Very slightly bulky but fit well with multiple supplied earbuds

Total = 11

Sony WF1000X

Connection 1 - Frequent jumps and skips, not very annoying; possibly related to noise cancellation
Audio 2 - One of the best for sound. Equal to the Bose.
Isolation 3 - Best noise isolation/cancellation of all
Video 0 - Out of sync with audio lag
Voice 1 - Acceptable microphone
Controls 1 - No way to control the volume from the headset
Fit 2 - Very light, easy to wear IEM's. Stick out quite a bit though and have silly flashing blue lights

Total = 10

Bose Soundsport Wireless Free

Connection 2 - Giving it a two but the left ear bud did occasionally cut out or switch off by it self
Audio 2 - Open sound due to the design, very good bass
Isolation 0 - Awful; Used these in noisy environments and could hear everything around me
Video 2-3 - Despite all the negative reviews, with the latest firmware I had no issues
Voice 2 - One of the best microphones I tested
Controls 1 - Hard to press the physical buttons but otherwise pretty good
Fit 2 - Very bulky, stick out a long way but actually stay in very well

Total = 11.5

Samsung ICONX 2018

Connection 1-2 - I think this is stable enough but right bud had connection issues (see "Fit" comment)
Audio 1-2 - Good balanced audio with decent bass
Isolation 2 - as for any IEM
Video 0 - Video lag on Mac and iPhone X on all apps - unusable
Voice 1 - Good in a quiet environment but very bad when noisy
Controls 2 - The most reliable touch controls I used
Fit 0 - Left was perfect; Right kept getting dislodged regardless of tips/wings; there is proximity sensor which kept activating/deactivating.

Total = 8

Jabra Elite 65T

Connection 2-3 - Bluetooth 5, Solid with no major issues. Can connect to 2 devices at the same time.
Audio 1-2 - Not the best out of the box but much better after using the equaliser to adjust the sound
Isolation 2 - As for any IEM
Video 1-2 - Largely no great audio lag - usable
Voice 2 - Best microphone but can be argued it is a bit too loud for the other person listening.
Controls 1 - A bit fiddly and earbuds get pressed into ear due to the physical buttons.
Fit 2 - Go deep and stay in my ear perfectly. Feel comfortable enough for long periods.

Total = 12.5

0 - Fail/Deal breaker
1 - Acceptable
2 - Good
3 - Amazing

 

[KarimLeVallois]

I find the E8 sound quality and bass is VERY dependent on the fit, get that right and they sound great.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Jabra Elite 65T
Controls 1 - A bit fiddly and earbuds get pressed into ear due to the physical buttons.

Solid cursory review of top tier products. ... MUCH appreciated!

Regarding the Elite 65T, 'goddamn Jabra'! They use the phenomenal microphones (2/ear) from the Stealth yet they did NOT improve on the button controls to eliminate pressing into the ear canal. Grrrr.

I'm done with Jabra in terms with their stereo headsets! I've gone through 2-3weeks trying to get support from them, back and forth with emails. Them asking the same questions over and over again! They're asking for clarity yet on each of our replies the email history is in the thread, not to mention: They asked for original receipt (AFTER confirming the registration they can see no conflicts) , I told them I threw it out thinking everything was ok after a short while, they said warranty is NOT conditional on the receipt. Then renegade on that! It's that lie or reneging that annoyed me, and wasting 2-3wks with endless emails. I'll use the junk product (Sport Pulse) that has been reported with so many issues and look elsewhere when they die.

I find the E8 sound quality and bass is VERY dependent on the fit, get that right and they sound great.

We need to stop singularly associating "Sound Quality" with only what we hear through the headset. We must associate voice call sound quality as from the microphone and what the other party hears as well. So many reviews of ALL products state "great sound quality" and then after many have purchased end up returning with glaring hate for microphone phone call quality.

 

[Picapau21]

Solid cursory review of top tier products. ... MUCH appreciated!

Regarding the Elite 65T, 'goddamn Jabra'! They use the phenomenal microphones (2/ear) from the Stealth yet they did NOT improve on the button controls to eliminate pressing into the ear canal. Grrrr.

I'm done with Jabra in terms with their stereo headsets! I've gone through 2-3weeks trying to get support from them, back and forth with emails. Them asking the same questions over and over again! They're asking for clarity yet on each of our replies the email history is in the thread, not to mention: They asked for original receipt (AFTER confirming the registration they can see no conflicts) , I told them I threw it out thinking everything was ok after a short while, they said warranty is NOT conditional on the receipt. Then renegade on that! It's that lie or reneging that annoyed me, and wasting 2-3wks with endless emails. I'll use the junk product (Sport Pulse) that has been reported with so many issues and look elsewhere when they die.

I know!!!! So annoyed that every time I have to press the controls the earphones get pushed into my ear. I really wanted to keep the Samsung's because of how well they've implemented the touch interface but they had too many other issue for me.

I suspect the microphone has been universally so bad is that the earphones are quite a long way away from there mouth and thus are having to pick voice out from all the background sounds. A traditional headset wont have that issue as the microphone is right next to the mouth.

Overall, not a single headset was perfect. Ideally the best headset would have the following:

Connection - Jabra/Airpods
Audio - Bose
Isolation - Sont
Video Sync - AirPods
Voice - Airpods/Jabra
Controls - Samsung
Fit - Jabra
Looks - Samsung

Incidentally Samsung had the best Ambient noise feature out of all of the them and in a quiet environment the microphone was great. Outside around traffic etc.. the microphone was awful. To turn on Samsungs ambient feature though I had to sync it once with the a friends android phone, which was a bit of a pain.

 

[KarimLeVallois]

Solid cursory review of top tier products. ... MUCH appreciated!

Regarding the Elite 65T, 'goddamn Jabra'! They use the phenomenal microphones (2/ear) from the Stealth yet they did NOT improve on the button controls to eliminate pressing into the ear canal. Grrrr.

I'm done with Jabra in terms with their stereo headsets! I've gone through 2-3weeks trying to get support from them, back and forth with emails. Them asking the same questions over and over again! They're asking for clarity yet on each of our replies the email history is in the thread, not to mention: They asked for original receipt (AFTER confirming the registration they can see no conflicts) , I told them I threw it out thinking everything was ok after a short while, they said warranty is NOT conditional on the receipt. Then renegade on that! It's that lie or reneging that annoyed me, and wasting 2-3wks with endless emails. I'll use the junk product (Sport Pulse) that has been reported with so many issues and look elsewhere when they die.



We need to stop singularly associating "Sound Quality" with only what we hear through the headset. We must associate voice call sound quality as from the microphone and what the other party hears as well. So many reviews of ALL products state "great sound quality" and then after many have purchased end up returning with glaring hate for microphone phone call quality.

Yeah, but some people don't really use them for calls that much, so not really an issue for those people.

 

[taxi_driver]

are these still worth checking out as an Airpod alternative?

 

[DeepIn2U]

are these still worth checking out as an Airpod alternative?

I'm wondering these as well. Nobody that has owned them since they've debuted has reported any improvements or issues with the various updates (unsure how many myself) from B&O for these models in any thread here.

Since these devices and market is just so VERY personal and yet forgotten about pure and REAL quality I think Apple was keen and smart to enter here with a big jump learning from Beats and released the AirPods. Now, with a new version end of 2018 presumed/rumored and a higher end quality units (unsure if In-Ear/On-Ear/Over-The-Ear) it's an area where Apple can seriously improve upon!

 

[DeepIn2U]

B&O E8 owner here.

Just purchased these last night, paired and got a quick tutorial of the preset audio settings in the Beoplay app. Most impressed of the audio quality and sound range of music listening in these devices. I didn’t even know this much Bass was possible not to mention the mids!

Out of the box they sound very neutral or “tinny”. Once connected on Beoplay app these really open up.

I was presented with an update and a bit of trouble getting it to install as I’m not sure how the E8 or the app is dropping the Bluetooth connection. This update specifically isolates bug fixes and voice call quality.

 

[DeepIn2U]

By far the absolute WORST experience owning any pair of Bluetooth headset - headset strictly for phones or stereo headphones (from SonyEricaaon hail days to present day Beats)!

You pay a huge premium for top brand in ear true wireless stereo headphones with touch controls that work great the first week you own them. Thereafter fiddling with the ambient pass through sound you realize each time using his “feature” actually brings you closer to a failed earpiece that never works except for pairing and routine horroble static or fuzzy sound punching in your ear canal not unlike that wretched classic cathode-ray TV screen from Poltergeist (except imagine that visual experience as sound in your ear)!!

You spend update after update 2 since April 1st week after owning these for 1 week. Then 3 weeks thereafter you see many threads on B&O fan forums of users across the world having the same issues just 1 ear or the other; before you decide to send them in for repair.

Why send them in, a pair of $450CAN premium headphones in for repair? Because the boutique store which is an entire house on Bay and Davenport here in Toronto that carries the entire lineup of B&O products ....

A) does not handle ANY of the 2 yr warranty claims in any way no exchanges nor refunds!

B) the entire company, while issuing different colour models of the E8’s every season since fall 2017, and charges an insane premium for speakers to the tune of $10K+ just cannot afford sending you a replacement unit, while you ship in your unit for warranty.

You then begin to realize he reason for not including a wall plug with the E8’s is simply just how fracking cheap this damn company is!!

Preimium brand indeed ROFLMAO! I sold he Beats Studio3’s after 40 days for the exact same amount I paid for on kijiji for a local sale and never got a complaint ... I can assure you all I’ll not be able to do the same after 10daya of B&O receiving my units to them wait another 5 business days to shop back to me - a total 4wks of no headphones!!

I could’ve bought the AirPods, twice one for myself and my son and even another for my girlfriend in the same time frame I’ve “owned” yet hardly had in my possession without ever having an issue. And if I did I could walk into an Apple store local in my city and they’d resolve the issue in days if not right that same hour!

I’m more than livid!

B&O like Sonos has soured my experience so much I’ll never purchase the B&O M5 I was planning to and instead will buy the HomePod because of warranty and end user experience for the life of warranty of the products and the quality Apple puts into their lineup.

Apple makes mistakes too but never this horrible where they don’t own up to it!!