For many consumers, BUTTONS is a niche brand, but BUTTONS can be said to be very famous in the fashion circle.
BUTTONS is an audio brand created by the lead singer of Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, and it is an artist-created earphone brand that operates very well around the world. It is very popular in the North American music and fashion circles. Today we are reviewing new Launched BUTTONS Air X true wireless active noise reduction bluetooth earphones.
Let’s take a look at the outer packaging first. To be honest, I’ve seen a lot of TWS true wireless earphones packaging, but the trendy laser packaging of BUTTONS Air X still gives people a bright feeling, with elements of hip-hop and fashion trends. . Compared with the conventional earphone designs on the market, each BUTTONS earphone has its own personality in design, and it is often a earphone that will be remembered at a glance.
BUTTONS Air X earbuds unboxing
Pulling out the inner packing box of the earphones, mine is the BUTTONS Air X Nebula pink version. It looks more delicate and has a Morandi color. There is also a black and orange version of the same model.
The design of the packaging box is very beautiful and exquisite, the box feels delicate and frosted, let alone anything else, this packaging is also very suitable for giving away.
The four colors of BUTTONS Air X currently on sale I found personally feel that blue and pink are more suitable for girls, and orange is also very good. At first glance, it is the color that street fashionistas and hip-hop people like.
In addition to the charging box and earphones, the compartment also comes with a Type-C charging cable and 4 sets of silicone eartips of different sizes. You can choose the most suitable eartips according to your ears.
The shape of the charging box is a polygon with a six diamond cut design, and the two dots on the top of the hexagon are the BUTTONS brand LOGO. As a girl, I said that I like this charging box very much. It feels like a jewellery box, plus it is a nice light pink. Generally, girls can’t resist this design.
The bottom is a diamond-cut design with a hexagonal diamond shape, and the built-in battery capacity of the charging box is 500 mAh.
BUTTONS Air X can be used for 10 hours under normal full charge in standard mode, and can be used continuously for 30 hours with a charging box.
Most people listen to music for less than three hours a day, and can be charged without charging for more than a week. In addition, BUTTONS Air X supports fast charging, and it can listen to music for half an hour after charging for 5 minutes, so basically there is no need to worry about battery life.
The inside of the top cover of the charging box is designed with a silicone pad to prevent wear when the cover is closed. The internal earphones and the cover are printed with the brand LOGO, and the details are still in place.
The shape of the earphone is also a hexagonal diamond design. The surface is sandblasted and has a very fine matte texture. It is visually textured and does not look cheap. As a girl, the shape of this earphone feels a bit like earrings.
The BUTTONS Air X earphone has a larger cavity, which is mainly due to the use of a 10mm bio-fiber AU composite diaphragm unit. Generally speaking, a loudspeaker unit with a large diaphragm is easier to obtain excellent dynamic response, and the bass volume is relatively sufficient. .
The large diaphragm unit and the tuning were also designed by the founder of Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am. The actual audition performance of this earphones is also very good.
Wear/sound insulation and touch control
Although the BUTTONS Air X earphones cavity looks a bit large, you will find its benefits when you wear it. The cavity can just be stuck on the outer pinna of the ear, so it is relatively stable to wear, and there is no problem with wearing it during light exercise. And it supports IPX4 waterproof performance, so you don’t have to worry about damaging the earphones when sweating or raining.
Another feeling when wearing BUTTONS Air X is that the earphones is lighter than expected. A single earphones weighs only about 8g, and the charging box weighs about 49g. Wearing and carrying out will not bring obvious burden.
Another feeling when wearing the earphones is that the sound insulation effect of this earphones is better. Wearing the earphones can feel that the ambient noise is much smaller. On the one hand, it is because it fits the shape of the ear when wearing it. On the other hand, it may be because the earphone cavity plays To the effect of physical sound insulation.
When wearing it, you can use smart touch to control the earphones. The BUTTONS Air X gave me a better experience in that the touch sensing area is very large, the sensing operation is very simple, and there is no problem with sensitivity.
Long press the center button and hear “Ready for pairing” to enter the forced pairing mode.
Under normal circumstances, one click is to play/pause or answer/hang up the call, double click is to control the previous/next song, and three clicks are to wake up the phone’s voice assistant. Of course, there are also touch commands such as volume control. In general, touch The control operation method is the same as that of a conventional bluetooth earphones, and you will be familiar with it soon.
Another better feature is the built-in “proximity sensor” of BUTTONS Air X, which can automatically pause playback when the earphones is taken off. This makes it very convenient to talk to others and save power. When you wear the earphones again, it will automatically continue to play music.
Sound quality and noise reduction experience
Before talking about its sound quality and noise reduction, let’s talk about the Qualcomm QCC5124 chip used by BUTTONS Air X. This chip combines bluetooth transmission and front and back feedback hybrid active noise reduction algorithms. It is currently used in mid-to-high-end noise reduction true wireless bluetooth earphones. very common. It also saves electricity.
This chip supports bluetooth 5.0. Everyone knows the benefits of the bluetooth 5.0 transmission protocol. The delay is relatively low. BUTTONS Air X is not a traditional way of connecting a mobile phone to the main earphones and then transmitting to the secondary earphones. Instead, two earphones are connected to the mobile phone at the same time and can be used separately, and you will not have obvious delay problems when playing games with this earphone.
In addition, with the FPC antenna, BUTTONS Air X is also more stable than the ceramic antenna used in the previous true wireless bluetooth earphones, and the transmission distance is longer. Generally, there is no problem within 10 meters.
In addition, BUTTONS Air X supports aptX high bit rate audio signal transmission during bluetooth audio signal transmission. This transmission method has a larger amount of information than the audio signal transmitted by the SBC protocol, which can better guarantee the sound quality. If you use The Apple IOS system also supports the AAC high bit rate transmission protocol.
BUTTONS Air X earphones have noise reduction mode, ambient sound mode and standard mode that can be switched freely. The ANC active noise reduction technology used can reduce noise up to 35dB, which is enough to eliminate most low-frequency noise interference.
Indoor noise reduction test:
In the noise reduction test indoors, the air-conditioning noise in the office is first inaudible; another source of noise in the office is the voice of other people, which basically cannot be heard after wearing it. If you want to listen to colleagues talk, you can turn on Ambient Sound transparent mode.
The most common noise in the office is the sound of the keyboard. After using BUTTONS Air X, the noise is reduced a lot, including the sound of mechanical keyboard hitting in front of you will be attenuated by at least 60%. The keyboard hitting sound belongs to the middle and high frequency noise, the noise in this frequency band It is the frequency band that the active noise canceling headphones are not able to eliminate well.
Outdoor noise reduction test:
When the outdoor test is on the street, there will be mixed “roaring” noises on the road. After wearing it, I feel like I have entered another world, I feel quiet, and even my breathing is clearly audible. Only the wind noise and tire noise of some vehicles passing by can be heard.
On buses and subways, the environmental noise has also been reduced a lot, but the noise of the vehicle’s running engine and the sound of tire friction can still be heard, and the sound of the station announcement can basically be heard.
From the noise reduction experience, I think the noise reduction capability of BUTTONS Air X is still good, no less than the popular Air pods and Sony WF-1000XM3. I even think that because the BUTTONS Air X cavity is larger, it performs better in terms of physical sound insulation. The isolation effect of mid- and high-frequency noise seems to be better.
Another noise reduction is the digital Mic call noise reduction of CVC technology, which can eliminate echo and environmental noise. When a call is made in a noisy environment, the sound environment noise heard by the other party is relatively small.
Headphone listening performance:
BUTTONS Air X uses a 10mm dynamic driver. The first impression of wearing headphones is that the bass of the headphones is excellent, and the overall sound is also very three-dimensional, which makes people feel that the sound is very “sexy”.
Mid- and high-range part: The mid-range and high range of BUTTONS Air X is not a sharp style, but a soft feeling. The mid-range and high-frequency range has a relatively high sound density and a good sense of detail. The sense of brightness is general. The advantage of this is that the mid-to-high pitch will not irritate the ears too much, and will not feel tired after listening for a long time.
Bass part: I think the bass performance is the biggest feature of BUTTONS Air X. Compared with many true wireless headphones that I have heard before, BUTTONS Air X has a lot more low volume, and it has that fluffy, elastic, and thick feeling. . Many headphones I have heard before have low bass. I think the sound is very dry and the human voice has no emotion. But BUTTONS Air X will not be like this. It will make people feel that the sound is very layered.
The sound of BUTTONS Air X gives me the feeling that the sound field is relatively large, and the overall sound is very three-dimensional. You can feel that the accompaniment and the vocal layering are clearer, especially if you listen to songs with more heavy bass accompaniment, you will feel This voice is very emotional.
Of course, it does not mean that its sound is perfect. Compared with professional headphones, the sound resolution and clarity of BUTTONS Air X have a certain gap, and there is a certain distance between the bass extension and the more expensive professional headphones, but only one thousand yuan For real wireless headphones, I think the sound of BUTTONS Air X should be in the forefront. Its sound is obviously rendered sound, but this rendering is very nice.
BUTTONS Air X vs. AirPods Pro
Before I heard BUTTONS Air X, I used AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro should be said to be the benchmark in true wireless noise reduction headphones. Here is a brief comparison of these two headphones. The following comparison is not rigorous, just for your reference.
The first is price. Compared with AirPods Pro, the price difference between BUTTONS Air X and AirPods Pro is about 700 RMB. BUTTONS Air X will be more cost-effective, and it should be more cost-effective for people with a small budget. However, Apple’s brand influence is there, and it is understandable that there is a relatively high premium.
Appearance: each has its own characteristics, such as the simplicity and atmosphere of AirPods Pro. BUTTONS Air X is more fashionable and unique appearance.
One difference between the early AirPods and true wireless earphones of other brands is that AirPods has a special self-developed chip to enable two earphones to be connected to the phone at the same time, reducing the delay and the connection is relatively stable. But now Qualcomm’s chips also support features such as TWS+, and connection stability and latency are basically difficult to compare.
The AirPods series has another advantage. It is well compatible with all software and hardware on the IOS platform. This is the inherent advantage of AirPods, so people with Apple mobile phones prefer to choose the Airpods series.
In terms of battery life: BUTTONS Air X can be used in standard mode for 10 hours with a charging box for 30 hours, AirPods Pro for 5 hours, and with a charging box for 24 hours, BUTTONS has an advantage. In terms of wearing comfort, AirPods Pro seems to be more comfortable and more in line with your usual habits due to its shape. In addition, the directivity of the call microphone AirPods Pro is better.
In terms of noise reduction, the performance of the two is almost the same, which can greatly reduce the environmental noise, and the noise in the middle and high frequency bands can be reduced accordingly. From my feeling, the physical sound insulation of BUTTONS Air X may be better, and the isolation effect of mid-high frequency noise is better.
According to the test on the rtings website, the highest noise reduction of AirPods Pro is about -32db. If BUTTONS Air X can achieve the officially announced noise reduction of -35db, its noise reduction performance should be better.
The main difference between BUTTONS Air X and AirPods Pro is the sound performance. I personally feel that the BUTTONS Air X has a strong three-dimensional effect, a large sense of low frequency, and a good horizontal sound field. The human voice feels very emotional. Relatively speaking, the sound of AirPods Pro appears to be flat, and the bass is not so heavy. The BUTTONS Air X may be better in terms of music, and it is better to listen to songs.
The AirPods series has led the development of true wireless bluetooth earphones, which may be an impeccable “best match” earphones on the IOS platform, there is no doubt.
In the world outside of IOS, the performance of headphones like BUTTONS Air X is getting better and better. The functions, delay, noise reduction, etc. are all closer to AirPods, and the bass performance and overall sense of hearing are improved.
BUTTONS Air X should be a pair of true wireless headphones with comprehensive performance. Coupled with a trendy and fashionable appearance, it should be a style that some unique people will like. If you are budgeting around 1,000 CNY, you want one. The BUTTONS Air X, which has a good listening experience and a good noise reduction effect, is a good option. If you are a fan of black eyed peas, you should not miss it. Will.i.am may be a pop music artist, so he pays more attention to the sound of the earphones. The tuning has been targeted. It is very good to listen to dance music and rock with BUTTONS Air X.
