Bone conduction headphones are now a thing and after reviewing multiple pairs here we can see why this is the case as they apply technology in a different way and is more beneficial to the ears which is important for your own health. Creative have recently launched two new pairs of such and we are checking out the Outlier Free Pro today after some time with them, not featuring all the aspects traditional earbuds do this pair is for those who are into sports and you can even take a dip with these on which for me is something I would never do but here you can if you want to do so and be different.
The design is familiar here with these bone conducting headphones and it will be some time before we see new designs or companies being bold whilst this style takes off. These simply just wrap around your ears and rest on your neck and can be worn in more ways than one depending who you are i guess.
They are super light and covered with a nice rubberised material giving them their IPX8 rating which is the highest yet to be seen on such a product. They are comfortable to wear for long periods of time and you will forget they are there, you can angle these in two ways if you want to be different too but they are designed to be worn one way but they do work in two ways by changing the angle and where you place the bud part.
There is a simple option on board to control these two with the buttons just placed on one side which keeps it simple like any other of these bone conduction headphones I have tried out so far. The three buttons are raised and easy to navigate too. There is more than meets the eye with just three buttons present too and they basically do all the things you need to on a pair of earbuds.
You can store music on these or just connect to your smartphone there is 8GB of onboard storage and you can switch between either by pressing the multifunction button which also changes the latency option.
You can play and pause skip and reverse tracks and control your volume too and manage calls and furthermore have access to your voice assistant. We demo all this in the video review below.
The Outlier Free Pro stands out even more with its 8GB (stores 2,000 MP3 songs) built-in music player (also compatible with FLAC, WAV and APE file formats); it enables users to enjoy their favorite tunes without the need to carry their mobile phones. Thanks to its IPX8 rating (the highest waterproof rating for water immersion), swimmers can even swim underwater in the pool.
When it comes to sound they have a nice level of bass these type of headphones will not give the same effect as earbuds but it is not far off and overall they sound good and the best from what I have tried to date for music videos and more there is one thing though if you have them turned up to the max if you are on a bus etc the person beside you will heat what you are listening to. The Outlier Free Pro offers up to 10 hours of battery life per charge 10 minutes of quick-charging provides 2 hours of playtime at around 75% charge which is not bad but if using full volume like me you can expect around 9 and a half hours but with the quick charge you are good to go rather fast.
Overall a solid first attempt at a new line that gives good tunes and battery life along with protection for those who are into sports and more demanding on build quality and full of features you would expect to find on your traditional earbuds.
