All the magic of listening in a feather-light wireless headset. This and much more in the excellent ROCCAT Syn Buds Air!
It may seem unbelievable, but the story of the wireless earphones it is something dramatically recent. If today the market is at the limit of the saturation of brands and models, between market leaders and very aggressive second runners, it is enough for you to know that the first wireless devices appeared in the (not) far away. 2015. Seven years only, which nevertheless saw an impressive technological evolution for these little “traveling companions”: after all, iteration after iteration, investment after investment, it was foreseeable that the typical problems of the very first generation (quality anything but excellent, battery miserable and dancer connectivity when it was good) ended up becoming bad dreams. Or, to be really honest, they ended up being replaced by much more complicated problems, which gravitate around spatialization, comfort, soundstage and so on. In this ever-changing market there is also room for the most famous rib of Turtle Beachwhich with the ROCCAT Syn Buds Air enters one of the most ruthless arenas in the business, especially in this generation, with a straight leg. And it does so with a reasonably high-tier product, determined more than ever to apply as a new benchmark for listening on the go. But, as we will see shortly, not only …
A great first impression for ROCCAT Syn Buds Air
Extracted from the package, these ROCCAT Syn Buds Air they start with their foot on the accelerator. The wireless headset is housed in an elegant charging unit, with an eye-catching black design that bears the brand imprinted on the top and, as often happens with the finest tiers, three white LEDs to indicate the battery status. The cable is included in the package USB-C, not excessively long to be honest, but quality too. In addition to the inevitable manual, the package includes three pairs of high quality silicone rubber pads – to best adapt to the user’s lobes, ensuring high-level ergonomics.
These also provide a great seal when worn, where the device supports the usual touch controls to raise / lower the volume or, in the case of Spotify, skip to the next song or pause playback. Considering the reactivity of these commands and, what should not be underestimated, a battery life that settles around 20 hours of use, the business card of these ROCCAT Syn Buds Air is extremely invited: all for a card that stops one step away from 90€: not a negligible expense, but abundantly justified by the elegant and light design, the build quality and, last but not least, the sound quality.
Support for the standard Bluetooth 5.1 guarantees automatic synchronization with supported devices, with a much wider range of connectivity than in the past – as well as more optimized charge management. ROCCAT Syn Buds Air can be linked to PC And Nintendo Switch painlessly, guaranteeing almost instant connection times in the case of devices iOS And Android. In the latter case, owners of smartphones will be able to use the appropriate companion app of ROCCAT, ideal not only for regularly updating the device firmware, but also for remapping the touch controls or, for the more experienced, to create and adjust specific software equalizers with which to customize your sound experience. Which, you will have understood, can be ideally customized to optimize listening to music, movies or gaming by creating specific dedicated profiles. In short, there are no comparisons in terms of versatility.
The field test
As anticipated at the beginning, in the world of wireless earphones there are two main parameters with which to evaluate the overall performance of a device: ergonomics and sound quality. In both games these ROCCAT Syn Buds Air played an excellent match, demonstrating how it is possible to enjoy a convincing and complete sound not only immersed in the comfort of your sofa, but also in the middle of a gym session or a healthy jog in the park.
With regard to the first point, we stressed the seal of the headset in many ways: from a fast walk to an improvised gym session in the living room, thanks to the excellent grip of the selected silicone rubber pads, no headset has suffered more or less accidental falls. The clean design and the lightness of the construction materials clearly play a primary role in this equation, but in the light of our tests we can confirm that, if fitness is your passion and you are looking for a wireless solution to match, the one offered by ROCCAT is indisputably for you. It is also worth mentioning that ROCCAT Syn Buds Air adhere to the standard IPX4a factor that makes them resistant to splashes of water and usable in most normal situations: for the avoidance of doubt no, they are not waterproof wireless earphones, but they are “officially”Able to manage a few light drops of rain or a healthy sweat after sports without too many problems.
Another not negligible aspect is their wearability: even in the case of prolonged use (long journeys on a train or continuous and particularly intense play sections) the fatigue induced on the lobes has always remained well below the threshold of discomfort. It has not been uncommon in the past to find oneself with slightly numb ears (on rare occasions, almost painful) following “long-term” listening: this is not the case – net of a slight rise in temperature – of ROCCAT Syn Buds Airwhich confirm the excellent initial impressions even for the most sensitive users.
All this, and here comes the highlight, guaranteeing a sound experience of the highest level by wireless earphone standards. The home buds ROCCAT they mount two 6mm neodymium drivers, with a frequency range that goes from 20Hz up to 20KHz. All enhanced by a low-latency operating mode, quantifiable in approximately 60ms – ideal for guaranteeing a sound experience in the gaming context that is not only enjoyable and enveloping, but (and above all) free of annoying lag. The sound insulation of ROCCAT Syn Buds Air it is undoubtedly interesting, and allows you to fully enjoy the reproduced acoustics without the fear of annoying external interference. The sound appears clean and full-bodied overall, with a note of preference for low frequencies – supported by crisp, crystal clear highs.
The versatility of the product appears again in this analysis, which proves not only to be an excellent companion for listening to music but, at the same time, a valid alternative for anyone who avoids the encumbrance of headsets and, while giving up certain characteristic factors of the latter, however, do not want to say no to quality even when playing. The soundstage offered by ROCCAT Syn Buds Air it is necessarily decidedly less wide and airy than what has been experimented, purely by way of example, with the Corsair HS65 Surround – but yes, of course, comparing a headset to a wireless headset is more comical than risky: however, in its own small way, the buds of ROCCAT they are able to give substance to listening, with clear and well-defined tones which, contrary to the flattening or often confused sound that comes from many earphones, are able to enhance every note played.