I will say right off the top that the Creative Outlier Air is probably the best pair of earbuds I have ever used.
The construction and materials seem to be of good quality, and they’re very light and comfortable lending themselves well to extended listening sessions. The primary thing keeping them in your ears are the rubber tips that press into your ear canal, very much like wearing a pair of earplugs, and they do a terrific job of blocking out external noise to the point that just about the only thing you hear is the music. I can be sitting next to my yelling kids, but it’s like I’m in my own, peaceful world, surrounded by the soothing sounds of my music. They also stay firmly put in your ears, so they're perfect for listening while active.
Contrary to what I’ve read in other reviews, the Outlier Air actually comes with two sizes of rubber tips: the standard size that comes pre-installed, and a slightly larger size. It’s easy to swap them out, and if they happen to fit your ears then you’re golden (the standard size are perfect for me); unfortunately, if you need slightly smaller then you’re out of luck unless you can find an alternate set that will work. Yes, more tips would have been nice, but I suppose being stingy was a way for Creative to keep the price down?
I’ve been using these with a FiiO M11 high resolution digital audio player using aptX which really does seem to deliver on its promise of CD quality sound over Bluetooth, so your mileage may vary here, but in my opinion, the sound quality is outstanding. You can actually feel the bass like you’re wearing full-size headphones. It’s really quite extraordinary. Mids are clean and clear but sound slightly “back” in the mix. Highs are crisp and detailed but not particularly loud. These definitely favor the low-end but not to the point that they drown out the other frequencies, so you still get good depth and separation. The end result is a sound that I find very smooth and pleasant, and my ears don’t feel wrung out even after listening through several complete albums in succession. Classical and jazz sound especially natural and lifelike.
I’ve found the Bluetooth connection to be very good. I get a solid connection whether the player is in my pocket, across the room, or in another room! My most extreme test was to leave the FiiO M11 on my desk and walk into my bedroom which put about 25-feet and several walls between the Outlier Air and the player, and even then, the connection was strong with only a couple of dropouts. I was suitably impressed.
Each earbud has a button that interfaces with your phone or digital audio player to control playback and volume. One click will start or stop your player, a double tap on the left earbud will go back one track, and the same action on the right earbud will go forward one track, and a press-and-hold will change the volume, left side to decrease and right side to increase. And while the buttons require a fairly firm press to actuate, the video reviews I’ve seen of people wincing in pain as they press them are exaggerated. They’re nowhere near that bad, although I wouldn’t mind a lighter press. Now one thing to be aware of is that the Outlier Air seems to have its own independent volume level. When I first used them, I was disappointed with how quiet they were even with the volume on my M11 at maximum until I realized that I could turn them up. I’m not sure if this is just a quirk with the FiiO audio players, but it’s something to keep in mind.
The battery life is excellent, and unless you’re a marathon listener, you’ll probably never actually deplete them before stowing them in the handy case that also serves as a portable charger. But if you do run them down, you’ll hear a sequence of beeps alerting you to this fact and giving you about 15-minutes of warning before they automatically power off.
There's really nothing negative to say about these. Creative knocked this one out of the park, and for a great price.
Carbon emissions from the lifecycle of this product were measured, reduced and offset.
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Certification Number
743M8T
