B&O Beoplay E8 Sport Wireless Earbuds Focus On Fitness
Bang & Olufsen has added a fresh pair of fully wireless earbuds to its range, with the Beoplay E8 Sport cutting the cord entirely as they take on AirPods and Pixel Buds. Focusing on fitness users, as the name implies, the Beoplay E8 Sport are IP57 certified against dust, sweat, and water.
While they're not designed for swimmers, the earbuds will still hold up to immersion in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes. If your hands are wet or sweaty, meanwhile, their casings have been designed with ridged grips to make it easier to adjust the fit.
They're made of rubber and textured silicone, as is the matching charging case. That also throws in corrosion-resistant anodized aluminum. Each earbud will last for up to 7 hours of music playback, with the case sufficiently for a further 3.5 full charges.
It makes for a total of 30 hours of music, with the case adding 90 minutes of playtime after 20 minutes of the earbuds being inside. The case itself charges either via a USB-C port on the back, or using Qi wireless on an optional charging pad.
Pairing is via Bluetooth 5.1, and there's AAC and Qualcomm aptX support for improved audio quality, assuming your phone or other device supports it. Control, meanwhile, is via touch on the outer surface: that way you can toggle play/pause, answer and end calls, skip through tracks, and turn the Transparency Mode on and off.
While you don't need the Bang & Olufsen app in order to use the Beoplay E8 Sport earbuds, installing it does offer control over the sound profiles. There are five presets for the EQ, or you can customize it yourself through the app.
What you don't get is active noise cancelation, B&O instead relying on passive isolation with a range of earths. In fact there are eight different options included in the box: four pairs of silicone tips, a set of Comply Foal tips, and three pairs of silicone earfins for even more support. There's no shortage of microphones, either, with four built-in. Transparency Mode uses them to allow through ambient sound, making sure you don't inadvertently get caught by surprise by a truck while you're crossing the road.
You do, unsurprisingly, pay a premium for the Bang & Olufsen name. The Beoplay E8 Sport go on sale from July 9, priced at $350, in Oxygen Blue and Black. A Beoplay Charging Pad is $125, though of course you can use any existing Qi-compliant pad you might already have.