Video Review: Motorola's VerveOnes Earbuds are Truly Wireless but Come at a Cost

[Keane16]

This concept is wankers.

These things will fall out easily, especially during sport. You could easily lose one of them, and that'll be the end of it. Battery life and overall reception and sound quality being crap are the fatal bullets.

Companies, just add a wire connecting the buds... because they'll be easier to carry around. This isn't the future future.

- Why would they fall out "easily" compared to wired options?
- Why would you wear anything for sound during sport, what are you playing?
- Companies already have versions with a wire connecting the buds this is an alternative.

I own a pair JayBird BlueBuds X for running and the gym. Sometimes if I'm running on the street I'll only put 1 bud in (for safety - can hear my surroundings) - this is really awkward with the Bluebuds as the connecting cable is fairly short so the second bud just flops about. If I had something like this concept (no cable) I could just pop one bud in and put the other in my pocket.

Agree that this particular product isn't up to scratch, but let's not throw out the entire concept because it doesn't fit your use case.

 

[manu chao]

- Why would they fall out "easily" compared to wired options?

The point is not that they fall out more easily (compared to wired options), but that when one earbud falls out it is not secured by a wire connected to the other earbud. And once fallen to the ground, a single earbud is harder to find than two earbuds connected by a cable.

- Why would you wear anything for sound during sport, what are you playing?

I think what was meant was 'exercise', ie, something you do on your own and thus something during which you don't interact with other people.
[doublepost=1470235416][/doublepost]

I truly enjoy the jaybird blue buds X2 headphones. Yes they are connected to each other but can be set up so it's like a rather taught but unobtrusive band that goes behind your head they stay on great. They sound excellent and have a sweat proof guarantee that I've used once...perfect customer service. (my original blue buds X I don't think were waterproofed with liquipel as well and they sent me the upgraded X2 for free)

Are you getting the stated 8 hours of battery life? And how well does the microphone work for phone calls?

 

[macduke]

Are wifi headphones are possibility, using a peer to peer connection? Are wifi antennas small enough? How efficient can they be?

I found this link about 802.11ah, which is supposedly lower energy. Not sure how much though, but it mentions wearables in the release, and the spec was finalized before Apple would have certified the iPhone 6SE/7 and AW2, but IDK if it can fit into headphones: http://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/newsroom/wi-fi-alliance-introduces-low-power-long-range-wi-fi-halow

This Wikipedia page says it's a competitor to BT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ah

 

[Christoffee]

I found this link about 802.11ah, which is supposedly lower energy. Not sure how much though, but it mentions wearables in the release, and the spec was finalized before Apple would have certified the iPhone 6SE/7 and AW2, but IDK if it can fit into headphones: http://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/newsroom/wi-fi-alliance-introduces-low-power-long-range-wi-fi-halow

This Wikipedia page says it's a competitor to BT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ah

Fabulous research!!

 

[cruggles]

I have these: https://www.earin.com/

They seem fine so far, but haven't actually used them very often.

 

[scoobydoo99]

Yeah, there's no news at all about anything Apple and technology related here. Just nothing whatsoever.

where do you get "technology related"? that's the point. it's not "TechRumors" or even "TechReviews".

 

[C DM]

where do you get "technology related"? that's the point. it's not "TechRumors" or even "TechReviews".

Apple doesn't exist in a void and is a tech company where all kinds of tech news have impact in one way or another on Apple and/or Apple's consumers. Not exactly a strange or new concept there.

 

[Michael Goff]

meh. i don't think it really matters, does it? macrumors is pretty much exclusively click bait for ads now. long gone are the days of true mac rumors. of course, there isn't much of interest in that arena now anyway, so not much lost.

I suppose you want MacRumors to now create rumors as well as report on them?

 

[Sappharad]

I mostly agreed with your review of the Dash headphones. I don't agree with the price analysis, though. They do way too much for $100 headphones as labelling them simply as headphones is akin to labelling an iPhone as simply a phone. Heart rate monitor, storage space built in for music playback without your phone, control the Dash utilizing movements of your head, ear bone microphone for making calls, and waterproof for swimming with them. That's a far cry from being $100 headphones.
I also have some issues when outdoors on occasions, but this has improved a bit with each update. Plus, how cool is it to use Audio Transparency so you can hear cars around you while running or people talking while listening to your music?

I can't completely disagree with you on that; I forgot about the extra functionality. I just don't use most of of it. I wanted the best wireless earbuds, not a fitness tracker, even though I use them at the gym. The included storage space is definitely worth a premium, I've just never loaded any music onto the device since I stream directly from my phone. Audio transparency is nice too, but your example of "hearing cars around you" isn't great because of wind noise. It kind of sucks outside. Inside it's okay, but I rarely use it because of how much ambient noise it picks up. I wish it had ducking or something, so it could filter out background noise but still let you hear people talk. They can probably fix that in a firmware update.
I guess for what I wanted in them, and what I use, I'd want $100 wireless earbuds. But you're right, they are worth more than that. If they got rid of the fitness tracking, I think $175 would be a good price point. Although the actual cost wasn't a breaking point for me because even 6 months later the dash is still apparently the best option on the market.

The point is not that they fall out more easily (compared to wired options), but that when one earbud falls out it is not secured by a wire connected to the other earbud. And once fallen to the ground, a single earbud is harder to find than two earbuds connected by a cable.

If the wireless earbuds are well designed, they should fit snugly like earplugs. I've never had earplugs fall out of my ears before. I don't know specifically about the ones reviewed in this article, since I already admitted to buying a Bragi Dash instead, but in the case of the Dash they attempted to solve this by having different sized rubber sleeves that fit over the earbuds. You're supposed to use the sleeves that provide the best fit for your ears.
The only time I've found a problem with those is if I'm using them while exercising, sweating causes them to loosen up a bit. You can tell when they feel loose though and push them back in. I haven't had them fall out on their own before though. They're larger than something like a ring, so if they fall out it's not too difficult to find, but since they are small they could fall into a sewer or something if you're outside.

 

[Ghost31]

$200.00? Wow. I can think of other higher quality audio then These for half the price.

List them

 

[44267547]

List them

Can you say please?

 

[Ghost31]

Can you say please?

Pretty please with sugar on top and sprinkles

 

[44267547]

Pretty please with sugar on top and sprinkles

When I attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year. I had the opportunity to test the Motorola Verve Ones.

To my surprise, the fit and feel of the Motorola Verve's was really premium. The sound in my opinion, was subpar and the base and treble seemed to struggle somewhat. Also, when paired to my iPhone 6s, the Verve One's had somewhat of a static tone, which I have no idea if it was due to my behalf on my iPhone or the Bluetooth earbuds. Nonetheless, that should be noted if interested in purchasing these. For the price point of $225.00 at the time, I did not feel was worth it.

Then I had the opportunity to test the Bohm S10's. These range in price from approximately $85-$110.00, depending on where you purchased them from. Bohm are German engineered and I was told it is a subsidiary company of Bose.

The Sound of these Bluetooth earbuds was absolutely incredible, the base and treble were very on par. The sound quality was crisp and clear, with very little over play or static. The comfortable feeling and fit was not on the level of the Verve One's, but manageable to the point where I became accustomed to them.

Also, Bohm S10's also were tested for one of the highest rated battery life's for wireless earbuds. And the travel pack they provide was also really convenient compared to Motorola's. Actually have two sets, one for the car and one for the house.

I also tested Bragi Dash, these are also very high-quality with premium sound. But the price point was well over my head. Starting at $350.00.