“The NOVA earbuds are anything but cheap when it comes to the design”
Truly wireless earphones are no longer the future, they’ve become a thing of the present. A little over a year ago, Apple came out with the Airpods, which urged consumers to not only ditch the headphone jack, but also cut the cord and be truly wire-free. Unfortunately, the asking price for Apple’s Airpods is a tough pill to swallow and even then, the earphones don’t play well with non-iOS devices. With that said, the massive popularity for the Airpods has piqued consumers interest in truly-wireless earphones and you can now pick up a cable-free rival for significantly cheaper. Case in point, the NOVA True Wireless Earbuds which retail for just $80 (~ Rs 5,200) and come with some useful tricks up their sleeves. I had a pair to test out for a little over a month and here’s what I think of it.
Table of Contents
Design and Comfort
Don’t let the price tag fool you – the NOVA earbuds are anything but cheap when it comes to the design. Matter of fact, I was pleasantly surprised with how much attention to detail has gone into the design of the earphones, considering the asking price. The individual earpieces come packed inside a carrying case which oddly resembles a hockey puck and has a cavity on the front which can be twisted/rotated to uncover the earbuds. Twisting the case in a different direction exposes a micro-USB port for charging the case (and in turn, the earbuds) as well as a full-sized USB port which can be used to charge your smartphone. But that’s not all. The slots for the individual earpieces inside the case are magnetic and therefore, as soon as you bring the earbuds close enough, they will automatically snap into place. Colour me impressed, I am yet to come across a better-designed case which comes bundled with as many features for the same price.
Coming from the Jabra Elite Sports I reviewed recently, the NOVA earbuds are a change of pace in terms of both, the design as well as the fit. The Elite Sports shipped with angular eartips and therefore, nestled at the conch of my ear. The NOVA earbuds, on the other hand, are shaped like bullets and will require you to insert them further in your ears. The earbuds are noticeably smaller too and therefore, you’ll have to be more cautious or you might end up losing them. Furthermore, the earphones don’t protrude outwards as much as the Elite Sports did and therefore, you can comfortably lie on one side on the bed and listen to music without the earpiece biting in your ear.
Lastly, unlike most wireless earphones, the NOVA earbuds don’t ship with fins which help secure a better fit. With that said, I used the earphones extensively in the gym during my review and they didn’t pop out even once.
One of the biggest drawbacks of going chord-free is that you will have to compromise on the in-line remote controls. Now, the individual earpieces do come with a tactile button at the top which can be used to answer/reject calls but you’ll miss out on volume and track-navigation controls. Moreover, pressing the button while the earbud is in your ear isn’t a very pleasant experience and therefore, you’d probably be better off with answering phone calls through your phone.
Sound quality and performance
There’s an obvious dip in quality when you listen to music through Bluetooth earphones and the NOVA wireless earbuds are no exception. If you’re looking for a fuller and richer sound output then you should stick to a pair of wired earphones retailing for the same price. However, if you don’t want to deal with tangled cables on a day-to-day basis, then the NOVA earbuds are not a bad shout. The earphones pack a lot of punch in the low-end which makes them ideal for when you’re exercising. The bass isn’t as tight as I would’ve liked it to be and it does bleed when you max out the volume, but for the price, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better sounding pair of wireless earphones in the market. Performance in the mids is slightly better and to my ears, a lot of emphasis has been given to the vocals which stood out in every song I listened to through the NOVA earbuds. Unfortunately, much like most other budget Bluetooth earphones, performance in the high-end is average at best and at higher volumes, songs from metal/rock genre get really muddy. Unsurprisingly, you’ll get a narrow soundstage with the NOVA earbuds and the earphones aren’t the best at instrument separation either.
On the flip side, the NOVA earbuds offer rock-solid connectivity over Bluetooth and over the course of my review period, I didn’t come across any instances of track-skipping or dropped connections. Much to my surprise, the pairing process for the earbuds was straightforward too and since the NOVA are truly wireless, you also have the option of pairing just one earpiece to your phone and go out for a walk. This will let you listen to music while being aware of your surroundings at the same time.
As far as the battery life is concerned, you’ll be able to listen to music for approximately 2.5 hours on a stretch with the NOVA Earbuds, with the earphones taking around 50 minutes to reach full charge via the provided battery case.
Verdict
There’s little doubt that the NOVA True Wireless earbuds offer excellent value for money. Not only do you get a unique battery case which serves as a power bank for your smartphones, you also get good battery life as well as a solid Bluetooth connection. Now, the sound output is nothing to write home about, but that’s the case with most wireless earphones at this price. Therefore, in conclusion, if you plan on going truly wireless on a budget, then you should buy the NOVA earbuds in a heartbeat.
Editor’s Rating: 4 / 5
Pros
- Great design
- Good battery life
- Comfortable
Cons
- Average sound output
