Edifier NeoDots review – the best earbuds under $150
With decent audio quality, effective ANC, superb battery life and other high-end features, at just $120 the Edifier NeoDots are a steal!
NeoDots are the latest earbuds from Chinese audio manufacturer Edifier. With a stacked feature-list, good audio quality and an affordable price tag, Edifier continue their tradition of offering excellent value-for-money.
Click to jump to one of the following:
- Unboxing
- Pairing and connection
- The earbuds design
- Internals
- Noise cancelling
- Voice calls
- Pinch controls
- Battery life
- The app
- Price, where to buy and how to win
Unboxing
Opening the package, you are greated first and foremost with the NeoDots in their charging case. Under the charging case is a smaller box housing the short USB-A to USB-C cable, instruction manual, safety card, as well as small and large eartip sizes. The medium size eartips are already installed on the earbuds.
Pairing and connection
Flipping the case open for the first time automatically powers the earbuds on into pairing mode, as shown by the LED indicator on the front. On the right hand side of the case is a button for pairing or resetting the earbuds. The NeoDots use Bluetooth 5.4, which provides a stable connection. Google Fast Pair is supported for quick pairing to compatible Android devices. Multipoint is also available for connection and instant switching between two devices. Once the earbuds are paired, there’s no need to adjust the settings. The NeoDots automatically connect to the last used device.
There’s also a game mode on these earbuds, which reduces latency to 80ms for lag-free performance in games.
The earbuds design
Coming in two color options – Black or Sand White, the color applies to the case and earbuds themselves. Despite their name, the earbuds are a rounded rectangular shape, rather than a circular or stem-design as is typical in earbuds design. There’s a ridged edge along the side of each bud to indicate the touch surface. The earbuds are IP55 dust and splash resistant, meaning you’ll be safe taking these out in the rain or working up a sweat.
Internals
On the inside, each earbud features two drivers – a balanced armature driver for mid and high frequencies, along with a 10mm dynamic driver for bass. These drivers, as well as digital signal processing and active crossover provide decent sound quality. Medium volumes sound well-rounded, with plenty of low-end. They get loud without too much distortion. Compatible Android devices can also make use of the Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification. This can transfer audio wireless at up to 990kbps, which is three times the detail compared to standard Bluetooth codecs.
Noise cancelling
An effective seal, alongside active noise cancelling do a brilliant job of blocking unwanted noise. Edifier claims up to -48dB of noise reduction. Without any music playing, the “High” noise cancellation setting makes a notable difference, especially against continuous low pitch rumbles. The level of noise cancelling, as well as ambient sound and wind reduction mode can be adjusted in the app.
Voice calls
There are three beamforming microphones on each earbud. These mics plus an AI algorithm enhance your voice for clear, hands-free calls, while reducing background noise.
Pinch controls
The Edifier NeoDots have wearing detection, meaning they play and pause music automatically when they are placed in or removed from you ears. Rather than tapping or swiping the larger flat surface as on most other earbuds, the NeoDots require a pinch of the edge. This means no shoving the buds further into your ears. A single pinch plays/pauses the track or answers/ends a call, while double, triple, and pinch and hold gestures, along with pinch sensitivity can be customized in the app. By default, both the left and right earbud skip to the next track with a double pinch, go to the previous track with a triple pinch, or switch sound control mode (between high noise cancellation, ambient sound and noise cancellation off) with a pinch and hold. You can change any combination of pinches on either earbud to control next or previous track, volume up or down, sound control, game mode, or trigger the device’s voice assistant.
Battery life
Now we get to the real highlight. With ANC enabled, the Edifier NeoDots are good for a whopping 12 hours on a single charge. Include the charging case for a total of 40 hours. Switch ANC off and you’ll get 17 hours on a single charge and 56 total hours when paired with the case. For reference, the latest Apple AirPods 4 claim 4 hours on a single charge with ANC on, or 5 hours with ANC off.
The NeoDots support charging via USB-C or wireless charging. There’s a short USB-A to USB-C cable included in the box. A quick 15-minute charge will provide 5 hours of playback.
The app
The EDIFIER ConneX app can be used to control noise cancelling mode, switch EQ presets, customize the EQ, toggle game mode, customize controls, and adjust other settings, such as a useful find my product features, which emits a loud, high pitch noise when the buds are out of the case and within range. The app has all of the features you need without overloading or complicating the user.
Price, where to buy and how to win
The Edifier NeoDots launched earlier this year for $129.99. They are currently on sale on Amazon for $119.99. To be in with a chance of winning our black review pair, enter our giveaway.
This product was sent to us by Edifier. Edifier has not paid us for this review. The Amazon link is an affiliate link, therefore we may earn a commission for any purchases made.