True wireless earphones have been the holy grail of wireless audio since the conception of the entire concept of wireless audio. Being able to pop two earbuds into each ear to get music without having to deal with a whole mess of cables has always been the dream, and while many have tried, few have actually succeeded. A new-ish player has thrown their name into the hat. Has KuaiFit cracked the formula with the combination of True Wireless and sports? We get to find out.
Design: 4/5
There’s not a lot to say about the K Sport True wireless earphones, and that’s a great thing. They come in a soft, matte black finish that provides a lot of grip even with sweat-dampened hands. The only other detail you’ll find is the splash of color from the blue of the logo on the single button upon each earbud. You’ll also find a microUSB port for charging, and status lights so you can see what mode the earbuds are in.
Hardware: 4.5/5
Coming in at about a cubic inch, and weighing an absurdly light 4.1 grams each, these are earbuds that you can wear and forget. Pertinent earphone specs include 8 mm drivers, 96 dB sensitivity, and about three hours of real-world use. They offer noise isolation, noise-cancelling for the microphone when making calls, and have the standard 10 meters of Bluetooth range. As sport earbuds they are also IPX5 certified for water resistance. The box comes with three sets of tips for different ear sizes, and a double microUSB cable for charging both buds at once.
User Experience: 4.5/5
I am happy to report that any fears I may have had were unfounded. Sound quality from the 8 mm drivers was fuller than I had anticipated, and the soundstage, which was painfully narrow in the other pair of true wireless earbud I have owned, was much broader with these. For such small earbuds, and with such limited power, they were surprisingly good. I had no serious complaints about clarity, and while they weren’t the bassiest earphones I have ever used, they let more than enough of the mids and highs through for me to forget about it. While they don’t have hundred-dollar IEM levels of clarity to them, they are still better than practically all of the small wireless earphones I have had the pleasure of trying out. That’s high praise for a device that’s made primarily for sport use.
I happily went through my testing playlist as well as some reference tracks, and found that overall clarity is in fact great, though overall dynamic range isn’t perfect. Mids, lows, and highs are all there, just not separated as much as I would have liked. They’re not going to be your first choice for the studio, but then I’d rather not go running with studio monitors.
As sport headphones, these might be the best ones I have tried so far, with a few caveats. First the great points. As I was pleased to mention earlier, sound quality is great, and was clearly near the top of their priorities in creating these. Connectivity, which is a serious problem with most true wireless earphones, doesn’t seem to be an issue here. Where many true wireless earphones need the source to be within a certain area to function well, the earphones didn’t seem to mind so much as to which pocket of my jeans I put my phone.
Lasting almost three hours on a charge is amazing. These things are small, light, and have decent audio quality. The fact that they can stay on for so long is downright impressive. A long workout, your daily commute, or just enjoying wireless listening at your desk is great when you don’t get interrupted so often.
What really sets these apart though is the companion app. The app gives you access to hundreds of guided workouts from real coaches. Whether you want to run your first 5k, or get ripped, the KuaiFit app is there to guide you through the process. While there is a membership required for this additional functionality, it’s still cheaper than a personal trainer. The value lies in the sheer number of activities available to you. The combination of a solid pair of earphones, and a coach right in your ear cannot be understated. These things know their purpose in life, and they do it well. You pick a workout, download the program, and get to it. Simple, effective, and fun.
For all they do well, these earphones aren’t perfect. Aside from a flatter sound than I would like, so much depends on the fit of the silicone tips. With just three tip sizes to choose from, it might not work for just everyone. The best fit for my own ear was the medium tip, but even then, moving around required me to poke them back in every now and again.There is also the unavoidable issue of latency, so while listening to music is just fine, watching videos with these on might be off-putting.
Value: 5/5
Competition in this space is rather stiff. With bigger brands offering their own versions for upwards of PHP 8,000, the K Sport True wireless earphones are an absolute steal even at its MSRP of USD 59 (about PHP 3200). I didn’t think this price was possible for this category, yet here we are. Price is always a feature when it comes to tech, and its SRP might be the best feature of them all.
Bottomline:
Great performance from true wireless earphones with a great price.
Also published in GADGETS MAGAZINE October 2018 Issue.
Reviewed by Ren Alcantara