Microsoft Surface Earbuds review: All-day comfort comes at a hard to justify price

Source: Matt Brown / Windows Central

Microsoft's $200 Surface Earbuds carve out a unique space in today's increasingly saturated "buds" market. Whether anybody needs them is non a question, as the answer is no. But later spending the last two weeks with Surface Earbuds, I am hard-pressed to want anything else either.

What unique features brand Surface Earbuds stand out, what practice I think can exist better, and should you get them? All of these shall be answered and more in my deep-dive review.

When your best is OK

Surface Earbuds

$200

Lesser line: Microsoft's Surface Earbuds are extraordinarily comfy, audio smashing, and get bully battery life. Simply weird omissions like wireless charging, or in-ear detection brand it hard to justify the $200 over stiff contest.

Pros:

• Super comfortable for long durations
• Peculiarly good, counterbalanced audio
• Excellent battery life
• Unique design with gestures

Cons:

• Expensive
• No wireless charging
• No killer feature

Bold, different, only functional

Surface Earbuds design, specs and features

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

Microsoft took a distinctive arroyo to the blueprint of Surface Earbuds, even so we saw hints of what they would wait like as early as 2022 in its "Productivity Future Vision" video. With a white, glass-like rounded exterior that sits outside the ear users can have a literal surface to swipe and tap gestures on without complications.

Zilch looks like Surface Earbuds, which is good and bad, depending on how y'all feel about them. Simply in a world that went from laughing at Apple's bold AirPods design to credence and even normality, I don't encounter Surface Earbuds every bit that unusual. I prefer the look over Surface Earbuds as I will never be convinced that AirPods look improve.

Microsoft'southward 2022 "Productivity Hereafter Vision" video imagined what Surface Earbuds could exist like. Source: Microsoft

Likewise the pragmatics of having a gesture-enabled surface that tin can be easily discerned without looking, the Earbuds as well accept a low profile. When someone is looking at you directly on, like in a conference call, you lot can barely observe them as they do not jut out from your caput — they are nearly invisible. Where Surface Earbuds go evident is when viewed as a profile/side shot. The semi-sleeky white orbs are then hard to miss, something that could be lessened if Microsoft always offers a darker grayness version.

Category	Surface Earbuds
Dimensions	Each earbud: 0.98" (25 mm) 10 0.78" (19.9 mm)
Charging example	two.96" (75 mm) x ane.31" (33.ii mm) x 0.98" (25 mm)
Weight Each earbud	vii.2g with ear tip
Charging instance	40g without earbuds
Exterior Color	Glacier
Frequency response	20 –20 kHz
Microphone	2 microphones per earbud
Speaker	13.6mm driver
Battery life	Upwards to 24 hours bombardment with included charging example Upward to viii hours of continuous listening per charge A x-minute charge provides upwards to one hour of battery life
String	USB-A to USB-C string (1 meter)
Wireless	Bluetooth 5.0 LE
Audio codecs	SBC and aptX
Waterproof rating	IPX4
Compatibility	Windows 10, Android 4.4, iPhone 5, iOS9, Bluetooth iv.i/4.2
Controls	touch, tap, swipe, voice
Warranty	1-year limited hardware warranty

At that place is a lot of item in Surface Earbuds. While the exterior looks and feels like glass, information technology is a polycarbonate (plastic). That's skilful as no 1 wants a shattered earbud were it to autumn on the sidewalk. Additionally, glass would weigh down the earbuds, which are already 7.ii grams each. That weight is slightly heavier than Samsung's Galaxy Buds (5.7g) and Google's Pixel Buds (5.iii g). Only Microsoft also didn't want the earbuds to "squeak" when dragging your finger across it for a gesture, so it used cloth to be completely silent.

Surface Earbuds have a particular audience, and I'1000 a part of that, which is why I like them and so much, simply ...

The 13.5mm bulldoze per bud is also slightly larger with Surface versus Pixel Buds (12mm). For codec back up, you go SBC and aptX, but there is no AAC.

In the box, you get the rather big Surface Earbuds example, Blazon-A to Type-C charging cable for the case, and two sets of fitted earbuds (small and big in improver to the mediums). It'southward a pleasant packaging feel, too, with a printed "Everyone'southward ear is equally unique equally their fingerprint" declarative on the inner box.

That carrying case is divisive. It is the largest out of all the popular earbud options on the market. Information technology does, even so, notwithstanding fit in the coin pocket of my stretch jeans, but I'm not sure it'd be great to carry them there. This is where Apple tree and Google's case design is much preferred. The lid of the case has a pocket-size leap to let it snap open up, but it is likewise a surprisingly sparse chapeau. It does stay closed with a satisfying snap when endmost, but information technology all feels a bit hollow.

On the lesser of the case is a Bluetooth pairing push, in the rear, a Type-C charging port. Within, there is a white LED that pulses when charging or stays on when paired.

Clearly missing from the Surface Earbuds rather large case is whatsoever wireless charging. That's a bizarre oversight considering its girth and price.

Perfected all-day wear

Surface Earbuds comfort and feel

Surface Earbuds have a very low profile and are barely noticeable when looking direct on. Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

Surface Earbuds are extraordinarily comfortable. Microsoft envisions users wearing these eight hours a mean solar day (to match that eight-hr battery life), but for that to be possible, you cannot experience "ear fatigue."

Microsoft did an incredible job on the design. The earbuds twist into your ear with ease and merely stay there with no agile pressure points. I was able to wear the earbuds for iv hours direct and non even come close to being bothered.

... while sound quality and battery life are excellent, information technology is the price versus features that make Surface Earbuds a tough sell.

Seeing equally there is no agile or passive noise cancellation, these earbuds do not bear on your ear culvert at all. I prefer that design every bit it allows you lot to hear someone talking to you, or a motorcar coming upwardly from behind. It as well means your ear culvert won't get sore from hours of having something jammed into information technology.

Likewise, these earbuds to not rattle, milkshake, or fifty-fifty fall out. They actually lock into your ears. You lot can run with them and do light do with no bug (they are IPX4 rated too). You lot can likewise lay downwards on a pillow with your head on the side while listening to a podcast or music or watching a motion picture with no discomfort.

Removing the earbuds from the case is besides tricky. Due to how they lay affluent, you must dig into prying them out. Same with placing them back in as the orientation needs to exist right.

Let'south talk software

Surface Earbuds paring and Surface Audio app

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

Surface Earbuds, because they work on iOS, Android, and Windows ten, relies on standard Bluetooth. While Swift Pair (Windows) and Fast Pair (Android) help the procedure with a popular-up notification that "seamlessly" assists in the pairing process, the Surface Earbuds are non immune to the fussiness of Bluetooth even in 2022.

This finicky Bluetooth behavior is also complicated by the new Surface Audio app, which is fantabulous. Simply in all headphones with an assistive app, pairing becomes this weird dance between striking the pairing notification, using Bluetooth settings on your telephone, and letting the app try to brand it all happen. Surface Earbuds are no dissimilar.

The Surface Audio apps, which are available on iOS, Android, and Windows 10, let you control the equalizer with presets, or customize and relieve your own. You can also meet volume level, battery life (per earbud), disable touch on controls, choose language support, watch tutorial videos, and download firmware updates.

For some reason, however, y'all can't see the bombardment life of the carrying example. By comparing, the case for my Bose SoundSport Frees has a simple v-point LED to assist in such matters.

On Android, there is also a persistent notification to help keep the connection alive to Surface Earbuds, which is annoying (I already have one for Spotify, my Tesla, and Microsoft'due south Your Telephone). There doesn't seem to be any downside, however, were to you turn it off.

Surface Earbuds can exist paired up to seven devices, merely there can only be one agile connectedness at a time. That functionality is in contrast to the Surface Headphones, which can handle eight pairings and ii active connections. But the excuse is reasonable: I of the pairings is actually between the left and right earbuds, which communicate wirelessly to operate. And because that counts as an active pairing, at that place an only be one more connection to your PC or phone allowed at a time.

This active pairing limitation is very frustrating as information technology prevents users from jumping between smartphone usage and PC video conferences effortlessly. Instead, users must force disconnect (turn off Bluetooth) on one device, connect to the other, and hope it all works. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. While annoying, this is just how Bluetooth operates, and I am not certain how Microsoft tin can solve information technology, but I wish it could.

Even when connected to the PC, there are however Bluetooth quirks. Under Skype, in that location are two Surface Earbud options under the audio settings page, one for Surface Earbuds with hands-gratis AG audio, and some other for Surface Earbuds stereo. Why? I don't know, but only one of them works with Skype (AG sound), and the other is what yous desire for music. And Windows itself is still not very friendly to streamlining audio selections, which tin can exist a labyrinth of options.

On the plus side, you lot tin use just ane earbud at a time with the other in the case. There is also no lag when using earbuds to sentinel movies or live Boob tube — lips and sound matches perfectly.

Surface Earbuds support whatsoever voice assistant is on your phone, simply no vocalisation assistant is congenital-in. On Android, this means yous can use Google Assistant, Bixby, or Alexa with a simple long press on either bud. For the iPhone, you tin only utilise Apple's Siri as there is no way to assign them to Google Assistant.

Swipe left

Surface Earbuds gestures and command

Source: Matt Brown / Windows Central

Gestures with Surface Earbuds is another chance. For the most part, the gestures work and piece of work quite well. Merely at that place is a breaking-in period in which you must get used to them to figure what works.

Some gestures work on both earbuds (double tap, touch on, and hold), while others are left-only (swipe frontward, back for sound tracks, PowerPoint), or correct-only (swipe up/downward for volume). It is groovy, but information technology is all a chip different if you are coming from Surface Headphones. It would seem a better pick to have all the gestures available on either earbud, but Microsoft likely omitted this to forbid mistakes in gesture actions. In that location is likewise no fashion to customize those gestures with the app.

Even how you perform the gestures takes some do since you are never looking at yourself while executing them.

To farther misfile things, on Android, yous can triple-tap to open Spotify, which then auto-starts playing algorithmically picked songs for you. Some other triple-tap during Spotify playback puts a kibosh on that song and goes to the next algorithmically picked one. Information technology's a slap-up feature, simply due to Apple tree's limits, a triple tap doesn't practice annihilation on iOS. Luckily, swiping between tracks in Spotify works for iOS, Android, and Windows.

Reversing things, on iOS, you lot tin can utilize the Play My Emails feature in Outlook to hear your emails and respond to them. But you can't do that on Android…yet (it's coming in the next few months).

Only once y'all get used to the gestures on Surface Earbuds, it is quite satisfying. Being able to change tracks, suspension, and command the volume of your music or a telephone call while never touching your phone is liberating.

One strange omission is the inability to motorcar-pause when the earbuds are removed from your ears. This feature is condign increasingly common, and while Surface Headphones can machine-intermission when placed around your cervix, no such office is found with Surface Earbuds.

Sounds good

Surface Earbuds audio quality and battery

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Cardinal

Microsoft has a knack for doing an impressive corporeality in sound with little hardware. You don't demand to expect farther than its long history in the Surface PC lineup to see it knows how to get a lot of audio out of a minor speaker.

This sound talent translates well to Surface Earbuds. Are they the best out there? I don't know; there'southward a lot of subjectivity in that claim. And seeing as these headphones don't get into the ear canal, book and bass will non be equally intense every bit some other options. What I tin can tell you is I think they sound dandy.

A few of the states at Windows Central now ain the Surface Earbuds, and the consensus is the audio quality is competitive confronting Apple tree, Samsung, and Google — they are up there with the all-time. Only due to the differing pattern, the sound contour here is singled-out.

Audio is well-baked and vibrant merely not overwhelming, falling in a very middle range. Users have admission to a five-band equalizer in the app, which lets yous fine-tune the sound profile to your liking. I recommend boosting the lows a fleck higher if you adopt a more bass-heavy experience.

Equally already mentioned, in that location is absolutely no noise-canceling ability hither. Microsoft would gladly betoken y'all to Surface Headphones 2 for that feature, only Surface Earbuds have a different goal. Microsoft sees these as beingness used all-day in the function, or at home where groundwork noise is not an issue. Could you use these on a plane or a subway? Sure, but information technology won't be any dissimilar than using Apple AirPods.

Where Surface Earbuds outperform is comfort, battery life, and audio quality.

The microphones are as well specially skilful. It's not clear Microsoft is excelling hither compared to the contest, but they are non lagging either. Fifty-fifty when I used them on our podcast, the audition'southward consensus was that their quality was excellent and ameliorate than expected.

For battery, Microsoft promises eight hours of usage per accuse, with ii more recharges in the case for 24 hours. For streaming music, and merely leaving them in, I would push that number closer to 7 hours, and maybe only five if using them for calls the entire fourth dimension. Only they are incredibly skillful for battery life.

Dropping them in the example for ten minutes gains yous an actress hour of usage.

On a peculiar note, the right headphone tends to have a lower battery percentage reading than the left. This behavior is probable due to the right being the "primary," which does more work for audio broadcasting.

The bottom line

Surface Earbuds amazingly comfortable, just tough contest

Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Cardinal

Similar Surface Headphones, Microsoft has proven information technology can create impressive and competitive headphones in an increasingly saturated market. While Surface Earbuds await different with a bold, only functional pattern, I can say they do distinguish themselves from the crowd.

Where Surface Earbuds accept the lead is comfort, bombardment life, and sound quality. Microsoft intends for these to be worn all day, and that goal is accomplished. I'm not certain other headphones tin can outmatch Surface Earbuds in this regard.

Gestures, while choosy, are also a unique selling point. Existence truly hands-free from your phone is fantastic. Simply that advantage is weakened if you have a smartwatch (notably the Apple tree Lookout), which is simply as functional (maybe even more). Being able to apply live translation or dictation in Microsoft Office is smashing, but very niche (plus whatever microphone tin exercise the same).

Only while audio quality and battery life are first-class, information technology is the toll versus features that brand Surface Earbuds a tough sell. With no wireless charging for the case, no power to see how much battery is left in that example, no in-ear detection, all while charging $20 to $threescore more than the rest, is hard to justify. (It is worth noting students can go a ten percent discount knocking the cost downwardly to $180).

Surface Earbuds take a particular target audience, and I'm a role of that, which is why I similar them so much. They are outstanding. But I am not convinced that the market is large enough for people to have an interest in Surface Earbuds over the more widely available and cheaper Milky way Buds, or AirPods.

While Surface Earbuds are fantabulous, they merely shine in a few areas, and I'm non sure many people intendance about those particular advantages to pay such a premium. If Surface Earbuds were priced at $150-$175, that would level the field. Just Microsoft is going to need something else to warrant that $200 request toll, and right now, that killer characteristic is not here.

Hear Smarter

Surface Earbuds

Microsoft's super smart earbuds

Surface Earbuds have an excellent, albeit unique, design that is comfy for all-day wearable. However, incredibly practiced audio and exceptional battery life may not exist enough to justify $200 compared to more than affordable options.

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