He's completely mad now! - Review B&O Play E8 Truly Wireless Earphones

I cannot live without music. It’s my greatest addiction, and the one I am the least ashamed about. In fact, I’m proud of it. I’m sure any somewhat perceptive reader of my blog has copped on to that simple fact by now, given the amount of headphone and speaker reviews. Well, today a new set of earphones joins the group, and they’re the smallest ones yet. A few years ago, a small start-up called Bragi launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new model of wireless headphones. The Bragi Dash was supposed to take the concept of wireless earphones to the next level by eliminating the physical link between the two earbuds, and replacing them with a wireless connection. Despite some initial hiccups, the new concept soon took root, with numerous companies jumping on the bandwagon, including Apple with their hideous AirPods.

I'm not sure what to think of Bang & Olufsen's new packaging style...

True premium manufacturers initially kept their distance, waiting to see how this new technology would play out. However, they have since come onboard as well. Sennheiser is due to launch their „true“ wireless headset later in 2018. Meanwhile, Danish sound wizards Bang & Olufsen have already forged ahead with their model, the Beoplay E8, which was launched around Christmas 2017, when my mind was truly elsewhere. I’ll admit that I was originally sceptical, however the sweltering summer of 2018 changed. While I love and cherish my Beoplay H8 on-ear headphones, the temperatures of the Costa del Cork made wearing them over longer periods uncomfortable. I didn’t necessarily want something wired again, what with the inevitability of cables getting tangled, separated, and whatnot. So, it was to be truly wireless. I originally looked at the Bose SoundSport Free earbuds, however a visit to the Bose store at Dundrum Shopping Centre quickly changed my mind. It was shocking for me that a supposed premium brand was able to crank out such cheap plasticky products, and I’m not just talking about the earbuds, this goes for their entire product portfolio. As for Apple AirPods, the less said about them the better, especially given their form factor. So, it was once again Bang & Olufsen, and the E8, and while I may be spoilering a bit here, I’ve been nothing but impressed.

The presentation is pretty damn good, as I would expect from B&O. They could have done away with the quick start guide at the bottom though.

But let’s take this step by step (and with my OneNote notes open on another screen). As I mentioned above, the Beoplay E8 are Bang & Olufsen’s first foray into the truly wireless field. As you might expect from a brand like B&O, high quality materials and design are a key factor in these earbuds, and unfortunately, they have a price tag to match that. I don’t think I’d be writing this review if I hadn’t managed to grab a hefty bonus at work a few weeks back. However, given the E8’s diminutive size, is it even possible to do much in the way of design with these things? Oh, you’d be surprised. And unfortunately, many companies completely screw this up. From boxy charging cases, to weird loops or the inexplicable “shark fins” of the Bose SoundSport Free, there’s pretty much nothing that you don’t see on offer. With the Beoplay E8, this is all condensed down to one small, high value package. The actual charging case is made of plastic, which was to be expected, but coated in a really smooth leather skin. As for the earbuds themselves, they are once again mostly plastic, or “polymer”, as Bang & Olufsen’s PR material tries to sell it as. However, the outside of the earbuds is encircled by an aluminium ring, which effectively circles the touch sensitive surface on each earbud. More on that later. The whole ensemble is surprisingly light, with the charging case weighing only 45 grams, and the ear buds only 6 grams for the left and 7 grams for the right earbuds.

That's all you getting the box: USB charging cable, quick start guide, four sets of ear tips, the charging case, and the actual ear buds. For once, I don't mind this minimalist approach.

The earbuds themselves last up to four hours on a single battery charge, while the charging case adds another two full charges for a total of twelve hours of playtime, though not non-stop. So far, I’ve not managed to drain either the earbuds or the charging case, and believe me, I’ve tried! Setup is pretty straightforward, although you may need to run a few software updates before you’re ready to go. Those software updates are only possible through the Beoplay App, so be sure to have that on your phone, not just for the update. I personally have not experienced any major connection issues, unlike some of the earlier reviewers of this product, neither between the earbuds themselves, nor between the master earbud and the phone. 

The LED at the bottom of the charging case indicates whether or not the earbuds are charging. Two more LEDs at the back of the case indicate the charge level of the case itself.

As for the sound itself, well that will take some trial and error for most. The E8 come with a selection of eartips, including two medium size memory foam tips. Make sure you spend some time finding the ones that fit your ears best, good fitting eartips have a major influence on the sound quality. I personally went for the “regular” large eartips. While the memory foam tips were more comfortable, the sound with the regular tips is just vastly better. Your own experience may vary though. This is where we come back to the Beoplay App though. As you might remember from my review of the Beoplay H8, this app contains “ToneTouch”, Bang & Olufsen’s own equaliser. I never really used it much on my H8 because the sound is already impressive, however this feature really comes into its own with the Beoplay E8. You see, while the sound isn’t really that bad on its own, it really lacks in the bass department, leaving most songs sounding, well, castrated. A bit of experimentation with Tonetouch quickly sorts that issue out, however, and it was certainly worth the effort of fiddling around with the controls for me.

With these settings in place, the bass is really thumping and crisp, while not in any way overpowering. The highs and mid-range tones easily hold their own against this, making the overall sound nice and balanced, with a slight emphasis on bass. Some complex arrangements can sometimes sound a bit “muddled”, but this happens rarely, and even when it does, it doesn’t really detract from the overall sound quality. Now, the Beoplay E8 don’t feature any active noise cancellation, relying instead on passive noise cancellation by sealing off the ear canal. This works pretty well, but it doesn’t reach the H8 in terms of quality. Still, when combined with the music, it should be more than enough to get the world to STFU! 

This isolation is achieved by a very snug, secure fit within the ear canal. This also means that the earbuds barely move at all when walking around, a problem that I’ve definitely had with other headphone models (looking at you, Beats!). This secure fit is also helped by the fact that you don’t have to do much fidgeting around with physical controls. In fact, there are no actual toggles or buttons on either the earbuds or the charging cable. All control is done via two touch-sensitive areas on the earbuds, one on the left earbud, the other on the right one. A series of tap commands is all you need to control playback, answer or decline calls, activate Siri, Cortana, Alexa, or any other computer lady of your choosing, or activate a feature known as “Transparency Mode”. This feature turns on the microphones in the earbuds to amplify the sound of your surroundings, and is especially aimed at people moving around in urban areas. I mean, you want to at least hear that bus that is about to turn you into a pancake. Sadly, this feature sounds better on paper than it is in real life, and while ambient sounds are amplified, I personally find myself taking the earbuds out even for small interactions, like getting a bus ticket. This is really unfortunate, because the principle behind this feature is more than solid, and even a necessity.

That is however only a small bit of criticism with regards to an otherwise well-rounded product. Granted, Bragi has managed to turn their Dash earphones into a fitness tracker, but when it comes to such a small device, less is more in my eyes. And on that front, Bang & Olufsen definitely delivers. All in all, the E8 are an extremely well rounded product. Their styling reflects the company’s minimalistic design philosophy, while at the same time exuding style. The quality is top notch, and the fit is absolutely excellent. There is of course the matter of price, and unfortunately, the E8 follow the classic Bang & Olufsen line in that regard as well. But, as I mentioned in my review of the Beoplay H8, you don’t just chose one of their products on a simple basis of price. For me, the brand is a bit of a family tradition, or family madness, something that I hold especially dear ever since those two terrible events last year. And on that note, the Beoplay E8 certainly work for me, especially given their sound quality. There really isn’t anything better in my eyes.