Few months back, I got a chance to preview the prototype of Alpha & Delta Jaap, created by Lend Me UR Ears retail brand founder Teo Shi Jie. The kickstarter project early backers pay only S$70. This month, the Jaap is finally available in Singapore for retail sale at S$130, with launch offer of S$109.
I am very excited to receive the retail unit, which means I can finally share my opinions and shout out to people who are keen to find out how this value-priced true-wireless earbuds sound.
Design and Looks
As you can see, the Jaap is not exactly small. Neither is the design a looker, but it wins high on functionality.
The around-ear design has its advantages. First, larger battery: the Jaap can last over 5 hours in a single charge. The included cable power bank is enough to charge both earbuds once. I can also plug the cable and use the earbuds while charging. This will extend the life over 10 hours.
Second, the Jaap stays secure in ears without any risk of falling, unless you have small ears to hold them. I also appreciate the fact that I could ease the earbuds from the ear canals while leaving the set around my ears, so I do not need to remove the earbuds completely if I needed a quick conversation.
The Jaap comes with generous accessories: a hard case, 3 sets of normal silicone tips, 1 foam tips, 3 sets of SpinFit tips. The charging cable doubles as a power bank, and a separate microUSB cable can plug to the power bank to charge all the batteries at the same time.
Controlling the music is done by a single button on each earbuds. Tap once to play-pause, double tap to skip next track, just like most earphones.
Audio Quality
On the prototype, I felt that the treble is lacking while the bass is a tad too heavy, giving the headset a dark sound signature. I do find similar sound style on the other earphone created by Teo, the Alpha & Delta D2M wired earphones, so I think this is the intended tuning.
On this production unit, I thought the treble is slightly brighter. Though not as transparent as I would have liked, it offers listening comfort and balance to treble-heavy modern genres. Bass remains fat and boomy when listening to bass-pumping genres, slow decay and not precise, but it has the fullness for bass lovers. Classical music would not sound as crisp, sadly, but software EQ can fix them if you needed alteration. Keen-eared listeners might detect noise floor when listening in absolute silent environment, but they are inaudible at outdoor use.
Wireless connection is also improved, but there are occasional interference causing audio streaming to be skipped from the slave earbud. This issue is highly dependent on the environment you are in, whether there are radio interferences. It happens to most true-wireless earbuds anyway, but this production unit of Jaap occurs not as frequently as the prototype.
Verdict
A&D Jaap is designed for sports users in mind: long battery life, IPX5 rated, around-ear secure fit. It offers true wireless audio enjoyment without sacrifising the power constraints by allowing the earbuds to be used even while charging. Its bass- and midrange-focused tuning is enjoyable listening to pop, EDM, while Classical and Jazz could sound dark (muffled) but the recessed highs still retain details acceptable for my casual listen and for jogging.
The most attractive factor is the price: retailing at only S$130 (with limited launch offer S$109), this is a unique wireless earphones solution. I highly recommend for its good design, inspiring audio quality for workouts.
Get yours from Lend Me UR ears Website. Retail store address:
No. 1 Coleman St, The Adelphi, #04-16 Singapore 179803 Contact No: 6268 6104Opening Hours: Monday-Saturday: 12pm to 7.30pm. Closed on Public Holidays
