Bose soundsport free left earbud not working

2.0 out of 5 stars My ears literally hurt
By Mahmoud on March 7, 2019

Update: 7-4-19
I've been wearing these headphones for a few months now, and I'm dropping the rating from 4 to 2 stars.

The gist is that these headphones are NOT comfortable. I've been suffering the pain if prolonged wearing during every day use. No matter what flap I use, it still really hurts my ears after a few hours. A fatal flaw on Bose's end.

Sounds still rocks, but never will I recommend this. When if you have millions to burn.

Note: a tl;dr is at the bottom.

I will preface this review by stating an obvious fact: These ear buds are ugly. There's no real way of watering it down. Compared to the Sonys, Jabras, and even the Samsungs out there...these buds are ugly. It looks like you have a black (or orange) mushroom growing out of your ear, or makes you look like one of those 50's Martian cartoons with antennas coming out of their ears.

The second real quick gripe I have is that these buds tend to hurt after a while. Now, it could be just me and my ears are shaped funny, but if I wear these for more than 2 or 3 hours, my ears start getting a bit sore. This is something that also happened to me with other completely wireless ear buds out there, so it is not just Bose. I've had the SkullCandy Method Wireless around-the-neck bluetooth set, and MY GOD was that thing comfortable. I could go all day wearing them and not...feel...a...thing.

With all that said, let's get to the real crux of the review: The sound quality, which can be summed in two words: Holy Cow!

I've tried and used other wireless devices. Initially I got the Sony WF-SP700N/B wireless buds, because I like Sony and I really wanted to try out the noise cancelling feature and extra bass. The noise cancelling feature was fine, but I found myself totally ignoring it and just keeping that feature off more often than not. The bass was...welll...bassy, but I didn't feel like it was all that special.

I decided then to get and try the Bose. It was my first time ever buying a Bose, and at 200 bucks...it was a huge investment. I've researched, looked at, read, and studied the features of tons of ear buds, and the consensus is that the Bose was always at the top 3 if not #1...and I concur. Aside from the comfort factor and the Shitake Mushroom growing out of my ear, the sound is just phenomenal! I found myself very satisfied with the crispiness of the audio quality, and the bass is very very good. It is not club-level boom-boom bass, but it is just the right amount to enjoy it without blowing out your ear drums or distorting the sound.

Podcasts, movies, music, videos...all of them have a very even feel and sound to them. The earbuds also do a sufficient enough job of isolating outside noise, but don't expect QC III-level of noise cancelling. The end result is you will enjoy listening to whatever is on your device quite nicely...which brings me to the pairing.

The nice feature of this--and, quite frankly, probably all wireless ear buds--is how fast the bud pairs with your phone the second you take it out of the case. it gives a quick battery percentage indication, and tells you the name of the device it is paired with (mine would actually tell me it is connected to my device, called "Megatron"). It MUST be noted, however, that Bose uses a Master-Slave system, where the set will only work if the right ear bud (the master) first connects to the device. Afterwards, the left ear bud (the slave) can or cannot be used at your discretion.

The case quite big. There are other designs out there that are smaller, but it is what it is. I can't put it in my pocket and not feel like someone is gonna say to me, "is that X in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?". Other than that, the case is great. it has light indicators on the outside to show you how much battery life the case still has when pressing the release button, and the release button wont really release the lock on the case unless you press all the way down. It's great for keeping your buds nice and secure, and it is good to keep you on top of how much battery you have left.

As for Calls: It only makes calls from the right (master) ear bud. It becomes a bit off-putting when you get a call and the left ear is totally silent. That is kind of a bummer. Also, you have to talk a bit in the loud range. Since this is an ear bud and doesn't have any advance jaw-bone sensors to transfer sounds to the caller, you have to take into consideration that it is far from your mouth and you will need to raise your voice a bit in high-noise areas.

Finally, the comfort. Like I said before, if it stays on too long, it will start to make your ears sore. With that said, I do go to the gym with them and I do cardio work out in them. Sean T makes me jump and burpee and squat and hop and look like a leaf-hopping Amazonian tree Frog , but these buds keep their place and they stay on! While they are not water proof, they are water and sweat resistant, so there is no issue with sweat. Some say that you do notice their weight in heavy exercise: I'm not so sure I do in the middle of the workout, but I can probably imagine others feeling this way.

Conclusion: These are Bose: They are expensive. I'm not an audiophile and I can't give you the MHz analysis or what a treble even really means. What I can say is that the sound in these 200 dollar ear buds is fantastic. There are not crazy bells and whistles with these guys (even the app is pretty straight forward and simple), so if James-bond level of gadgetry is your thing, this isn't it. I only advise people who are very comfortable in spending 200 dollars to get these guys, as 200 dollars is 200 dollars and that is a big number that 200 dollars. There are very good and decent quality options out there. If budget is an issue, get those. if you are totally comfortable dropping 200 dollars on ear buds and not mind a Japanese chef trying to cut them out of your ear with his knife, I highly recommend these guys.

tl;dr:
Cons:
- Big and Ugly: Looks like you got mushrooms coming out of your ears
- Hurt ears after long usage
- Big and Bulky charge case
- No advanced sound options or equalizer configuration
- Calls only on right ear bud

Pros:
- Amazing sound quality for all types of audio sources (music, video, podcast, etc...) ****** This is the most significant and most important part of all of this
- Pairing is super easy and super fast
- Full ear bud and case charge can keep you well set all day long
- Ear bud fins keep the set nice and secure in your ear, even in high intensity activities like cardio workouts
- Plenty of methods to check and confirm battery level from both buds and charge case
- Has a "sonar" option for your phone to ping detect where your headset is should you misplace them under your clothes
- Very good range, well over 10 meters (~30 feet)

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