If you think Apple's AirPods look goofy in your ears, you're not going to like Bose's SoundSport Free wireless earbuds. They're arguably a bigger fashion blunder.
But if you can get over their bulbous size and middling battery life, you'll find a pair of true wireless earbuds that sound very good — better than AirPods, in my opinion — whether you're at your desk, running, or working out.
At $200, Bose's wireless earbuds cost $40 more than the $160 AirPods. So, are they worth spending the extra dough?
Design and comfort
Look, I was the first to give Apple hell for making AirPods look so dorky. They still look ridiculous with their stems sticking out, but I've stopped caring about how they look. (Though I still chuckle whenever I see how terribly they fit in other people's ears.)
The same mentality applies for the SoundSport Frees. They're much larger than AirPods and look silly in your ears. It helps a little that they come in black (also in "midnight blue" with yellow accents and "bright orange" with blue accents) and don't draw as much attention as the blinding white AirPods, but they're still abnormally bulbous. Anyway, forget how they look.
Their larger size means they have one thing AirPods don't: physical buttons. On the left earbud is a power/pairing button; on the right are buttons for volume and a middle button for play/pause/skipping tracks, accessing Siri, and accepting or ending phone calls. By contrast, AirPods have just a touch-sensitive button on the right bud, but it only lets you tap to play/pause or double-tap to call up Siri, which I find very limiting.
These buttons all work, but they're a little stiff. I felt like I was going to accidentally yank the right earbud off when pressing them. This was especially noticeable during runs, as it's a little more challenging to press them while in motion.
Otherwise, the SoundSport Frees fit pretty well in my ears. They come with three different "StayHear+ Sport Tips" — an all-in-one ear tip design with the "fin" or "ear hook." Not gonna lie: I expected the big-sized earbuds to fall out, but they never did.
They're also water-repellent, so they'll survive a splash from the rain or a thorough sweating. Just don't wear them in the shower or in the pool.
Pairing and using the Bose Connect app
Pairing the earbuds to your phone is easy once you've downloaded the app. You can also pair them through your device's regular Bluetooth settings, but I had mixed reliability with it. For whatever reason, my iPhone X and Pixel 2 XL had trouble discovering the earbuds through the Settings apps.
Once the app detects the wireless earbuds, it simply asks you to slide down on the screen, and they'll connect.
Unlike other headphone apps that usually come with features for adjusting a volume equalizer, the Bose Connect app doesn't. It's comparatively spartan.
On both the iOS and Android versions, you can use the "Find My Buds" feature to locate them. Like the similar Find My AirPods feature, the app only shows an approximation of where they were last; it doesn't show you exactly where you left them. And you still need to play a sound or music to pinpoint them.
The iOS app also connects with Apple Music and shows your music, but I'm not sure why you'd ever do that, since the Apple Music app is right there. The Android app has no such integration with Apple Music.
Bose claims the SoundSport Frees have a 30-foot range from the paired audio source. I was able to get an even longer range than that, maintaining a solid connection between 40 and 50 feet away from my work desk. More than that and the connection would drop out. Mind you, the Bluetooth connection connects through the right earbud, so if you lose that one, you're screwed. Unlike AirPods, you can't buy a single one of Bose's earbuds separately. You'll need to get brand new pair.
I also would have liked to see more detailed battery info in the app. It only shows the battery percentage for both earbuds total, but not for each individual earbud the way an iOS device does for AirPods.
Sound quality
Wireless earbuds aren't usually known for sensational audio quality. As much as I love my AirPods, they're average at best, barely better-sounding than EarPods.
The SoundSport Frees are a small step better than AirPods. There's much clearer separation between the left and right earbuds. It's especially noticeable on acoustic songs like "Real Friends" by Camila Cabello. The plucking of the guitar strings sounded more distinct and less muddled, even with noisy subway rails grinding in the real world background.
The wireless earbuds also pack just a little more oomph when it comes to bass. Listening to LOGIC — in particular, a track like "Wrist" where the bass pulses — I could really hear the low-end bellow through, even as Pusha T's spitting his lyrics.
Daft Punk's Random Access Memory sounded warmer to my ears, with with clearer mids and highs compared to on AirPods. One of my favorite tracks on the album, "Instant Crush," sounded lighter, probably because of the wider sound stage.
Overall, I was quite pleased with the SoundSport Frees' sound. They're no substitute for a great pair of wired earbuds, but as far as true earbuds go, they're great if sound quality is a top priority. That said, the better sound can be lost if you're using them during a physical activity like running. It's hard to hear a difference when you're focused on pounding the pavement.
The only shortcoming I noticed with the SoundSport Free's was playback for video. The wireless audio just can't stay in sync with video at all. Many forum users have complained about this, but Bose's FAQ page lists it as an issue that customers should be aware of, which pretty much rules out any firmware update from fixing it.
I tried watching YouTube and Netflix on my iPhone, iPad, Pixel 2 XL, MacBook Pro, MateBook Pro X, pretty much every platform available. The audio was always a second or two behind the video.
That's annoying, and it sucks. If you're thinking of buying these wireless earbuds and using them to watch video, you should consider a different pair, like AirPods. I've never experienced any latency issues using AirPods for video.
Battery life
There's always a tradeoff when you decide to choose a pair of wireless headphones, and it's all the more important to pay attention to that when looking for true wireless earbuds.
Because they're more compact than over- or on-ear wireless headphones and don't have a cable to attach a battery to — you know the ones I'm talking about, like the BeatsX, or OnePlus Bullets Wireless, or the many "neck buds" designs — the batteries are usually smaller and therefore don't last as long.
Bose says the SoundSport Frees last up to 5 hours on a single charge, and that's more or less what I got. Five hours of listening time is the same as what you get from Samsung's Gear IconX 2018 true wireless earbuds, but it's nowhere near the AirPods' 8 hours of continuous battery life.
The charging case provides two additional charges, good for another 10 hours, so the wireless earbuds should be able to last up to a full work week if you're only using them for a 1-hour commute like I did. But that still pales in comparison to the four extra full charges the AirPods case affords.
One thing Bose could have improved is quick charging. With AirPods, a 15-minute drop in its charging case gives you 3 hours of battery life; a 15-minute charge gets the Gear IconX an hour of battery life; and a 10-minute charge on the OnePlus Bullets Wireless gets you 5 hours of power.
On the SoundSport Free, a 15-minute charge is only good for 45 minutes of listening time. That's way below its competition and kind of embarrassing when they're also more expensive.
Good wireless earbuds, but no AirPods
The Bose SoundSport Free wireless earbuds released last fall for $250. At the time, there was no way I would've recommended them over $160 AirPods or $200 Gear IconX 2018.
Since then, they've dropped down to $200, and you can find them even cheaper online. They're a better buy now than before, and a good value, considering the sound quality.
It's been a year and a half since AirPods launched. Hundreds of true wireless earbuds have followed with the goal of toppling them, with myriad designs and price points. Even so, AirPods remain the gold standard if you ask me. They cost less than the SoundSport Free's, are super compact, have a longer battery life, and work the best with iOS devices.
The reason to choose the SoundSport Free's over AirPods is if you really care for what is, in my opinion, audio that's only marginally better. Or if you prefer earbuds that aren't white, or really, really love Bose. None of these are compelling enough reasons for me, but your math may differ.
