I learnt from a friend that there's a new model of earphones by Oraimo on the market, and then got to see and use it for myself days afterwards. And for the first time in a long while, I think I am a little impressed with what they have done this time.
Image credits: Oraimo
You see, when there is a new pair of Oraimo earphones, I normally would be curious about it and eager to know how it performs. This time around, I didn't feel that way. I had been feeling like Oraimo hasn't been really making much improvements to their earphones since the FreePods 3. And earphones after that seem to have one flaw that just puts me off.
The ones I have used so far are the Freepods 2, 3, 4, and the SpacePods. There are many other models out there, though, but there's only so much I can spend money on and try.
My first problem with the Oraimo earphones series is that they stopped trying to standout with their boxes after the Freepods 3. The boxes now feel meh and generic, and of way less quality, too. It doesn't contribute to the performance of the earphones, true, but it's an indication that they are caring a little more about money than innovating.
The Freepods 4 and SpacePods are different models, but if you spend enough using both of them, you will quickly realise that they are the same thing with just different looks and feel. They both have the same problems with call audio, and that still vexes me because they aren't even the cheap kinds of models. And they also sound just the same, although they sound good.
So as expected, the packaging of the newest model, the Oraimo SpaceBuds, isn't impressive. It looks exactly like the Freepods 4 and SpacePods. And I imagine that some of the other unpopular models share the same characteristics.
And, SpaceBuds? Pfff... Again, they are caring a little too much about making money than being creative and innovative. It'll sure cause a little bit of confusion with the SpacePods for some people, as they sound alike. That's now what matters most anyway.
What I really like about the Oraimo SpaceBuds are the new features and improvements it comes with.
One feature that I find very useful in these earphones is the transparency mode. With it, I am able to hear just fine with the earphones in my ears, as though they aren't even there. That means I don't have to remove them to listen when someone's speaking to me.
The same feature is on the SpaceBuds, as well as the noise cancellation feature, but the new thing is that the earphones switch to transparency from noise cancellation when the user speaks, just so that they can hear well. I think this will be very useful for when you just want to block out all the noise but also not have to remove the earphones or turn off the noise cancellation feature to listen to someone.
Call audio is one of the most important things for me. My experience with the FreePods 4 and SpacePods for calls has been bad. They hardly perform well for capturing my voice clearly. But, thankfully, the SpaceBuds seems to do a lot better in that regard.
I still wonder till this day where the very excellent call quality that was in the Freepods 3 went ever since. It's a bummer, but it's good to see it coming back somehow in this latest model.
There are some other features that I do not remember, but the last most useful one—and very surprising, too—is the ability to connect to two devices at the same time. That is, you could connect the earphones to your phone and also have them connected to your PC. This is very handy, because I don't have to listen to the audio on my PC from another source (or vice versa) simply because it'll take time to switch the connections up from my phone.
Overall, I now have a few reasons to upgrade and enjoy a better earphone experience. And I am only going to upgrade because of the features that I consider very useful in my lifestyle. The earphones don't come cheap, however, but they are worth it.
I don't have long first-hand experience with the Oraimo SpaceBuds, so these are only my insights about Oraimo and their earphones, rather than an actual review, yet useful to those looking into their earphones and aren't sure what choice to make.
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All images are mine, unless stated otherwise.