Creative’s Outlier Air: the first model of 2019 amazed everyone with its amazing sound quality and the second model, launched last year, confirmed the high expectations.
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Arriving at the third edition, Creative confirms that it knows how to do it: the Outlier Air V3 are certainly among the best budget earphones around, with surprising audio quality for the price range and several interesting innovations.
PROS | CONS |
Excellent audio quality | ANC not too effective |
Good companion app | Touch controls sometimes inaccurate |
Wireless charging | |
IPX5 certification |
Specification
Creative Outlier Air V3 | |
$ | CHECK PRICE |
Released | September 10, 2021 |
Brand | Creative Labs |
Model | EF0940 |
Weight | 2.88 ounces |
Dimension | 3 x 1.8 x 1.2 inches |
Type | In-ear, True Wireless |
Color | Green, Blue, Gold |
Features | Google Assistant, Siri |
Wireless | Yes |
Driver | 6 mm Bio-cellulose Driver |
ANC | Sort of |
Foldable Design | No |
Microphone | Frequency Response: 100–10,000 Hz Sensitivity: – 42 dBV / Pa Type: Omni-directional x 2 |
Music Controls | Touch controls (Volume and Playback controls) |
Speakers | Yes |
Impedance | – |
Frequency Response | 20–20,000 Hz |
Water Resistance | IPX5 |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.2 (2.4 GHz) |
Codecs | AAC, SBC |
Battery Type | Lithium Polymer Battery 450 mAh |
Battery Life | Upto 40 hours |
Compatibility | Windows, IOS, Android |
Design & Comfort
At first glance, they are very reminiscent of the previous Outlier Air models. Still, in reality, Creative has improved the fit a lot: the section that fits into the ear is thinner and tapered, therefore significantly more comfortable to wear.
In general, however, these are in-ear earphones, with the rubber pads well inserted in the ear canal: very comfortable, but still in-ear, which could tire those who do not appreciate this kind of earphones.
The touch controls, easily recognizable, occupy the external surface because they are surrounded by multicolored LEDs that light up to signal the pairing status or the battery level during charging. The earphones are water-resistant, with IPX5 certification.
The case also remains very similar to previous models. Unfortunately, the charging case is always very bulky, even slightly thicker (but shorter) than the Air V2.
The opening system of the case very curious (but comfortable), with the central section that slides outwards. On one side of the main section, we find the USB-C connector and three small multicolored LEDs, convenient to always have an eye on the charge status of the case and the two earphones.
The touch controls of these earphones are a roller coaster in the user experience: so many ups and downs, sometimes they are strangely inaccurate, other times they work without a problem.
It’s not that they don’t go at all, but they can be a bit difficult to use in everyday life, especially until you get used to it. This is because you need the right timing to impart double and triple taps, which are not detected if too slow or too fast.Â
It’s a bit of a shame because the controls, in addition to being customizable, are complete and include the volume control (which usually works without problems, being based on long taps). By default, the commands are:
- SX Headset :
- Double-tap : Noise control (noise reduction / off/ambient sound)
- Triple tap: Voice Assistant
- Long tap : lowers the volume
- DX Headset :
- Double-tap : Play / Pause
- Triple tap: Next track
- Prolonged tap: turn up the volume
Connectivity
Creative Outlier Air V3s have Bluetooth 5.2 and support AAC and SBC codecs. Creative abandons the aptX codecs present on the previous V2s, probably to keep costs down.
Almost superfluous to specify, thanks to Bluetooth 5.2, there are no delays between audio and video.
There is no multipoint (ie, the headphones can only connect to one device at a time), and both headphones can be used independently.
This third version of the Outlier Air, Creative finally introduces a companion app, much appreciated: from the Creative app (available for Android and iOS), it is possible to customize the equalizer, the noise control system, and the touch controls.
Audio Quality
The sound quality offered by the 6 mm biocellulose drivers is undoubtedly one of the strengths of these earphones: Creative once again manages to bring out excellent audio for the price range. I believe the Outlier Air V3s are the best buy for audiophiles who don’t have a lot of budgets.
The default profile is quite similar to the previous V2’s, almost flat, with only a slight emphasis on bass and treble. But the most exciting frequencies, for clarity and quantity of details, are probably the medium / medium-high frequencies, which guarantee an excellent rendering of the voices.
Mind you: all the spectrum frequencies sound pretty good, but on cheap earphones, it is infrequent to find so much clarity in the medium frequencies.
Overall the sound is airy, with an incredible detail between instruments and a decent soundstage, bearing in mind the price and nature of the earphones.Â
There is a surprising amount of detail, elevating it correctly in the foreground and detaching it from the background music and choirs. Any other pair of earphones in the price range (and beyond) “crush” Cohen’s voice with everything else, flattening the song: with the Outlier Air V3, it doesn’t happen.
While far from excellence, the microphones are more than decent for the selling price. With this year’s model, Creative has abandoned the Qualcomm cVc technology present in the V2, which had a single microphone instead of a system of dual microphones on each headset.
Battery
The autonomy is excellent: Creative declares 10 hours with a single recharge and up to 40 hours with the recharges provided by the case. The values ​​refer to the autonomy without active noise reduction: turning it on, the battery life drops by a few hours and stands at 8 hours with a recharge.
Charging the case completely can take some time (2-3 hours), but the fascinating gem is the support for wireless charging. In this price range, it is a real rarity.
Conclusion!
Creative’s true wireless earphone series is confirmed as a certainty: the Outlier Air V3 are probably the best headphones you can buy in this price range. They are not perfect: the touch controls lose a few bumps, and the case is bulky, but the overall experience is excellent, thanks to the superb sound quality, exaggerated autonomy, decent microphones, and a companion app that does its duty. For 60 to 80$, they are recommended.
The sale price of these Creative Outlier Air V3 is excellent: at the moment, they are on Amazon where they would cost $59.Â