Harman Kardon has launched a new headphone series since 2014, called Harman Kardon FLY. The FLY series consists of one ANC headphone and a TWS earbuds. We will be looking at the Harman Kardon FLY TWS earbuds. They retail for S$299.
Unboxing
In the box, you will receive the following items:
- Harman Kardon FLY TWS earbuds
- Charging case
- Silicon ear tips x 3 (S, M , L)
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- User manuals
Tech specs
| Driver | 5.6 mm Dynamic driver |
| Frequency Response | 10 – 20,000 Hz |
| Sensitivity | 97 dB/mW |
| Impedance | 17 ohms (unit impedance) |
| Battery Life | 6 hours per full charge 14 hours in charging case |
| Weight | Earbuds: 7.3 g each Charging case: ~59.2g |
| Bluetooth Version | 5.0 |
| Supported Codecs | AAC, SBC |
| Water Resistance | IPX5 |
Build quality and features
The Harman Kardon FLY TWS is a premium priced earbuds and it shows why it is priced as such. The charging case is generally made of plastic but its lid is covered with leather to give it a premium feel. The charging case is actually on the thick side, similar to the ATH-ANC300TW‘s case. There is a single LED indicator at the back to display the charging status.
The earbuds also has a sophisticated luxury look to it thanks to the leather on its touch surface. The rest is made of plastic which has a slightly grippy rubberised coating. the earbuds actually has IPX5 water-resistance rating so you should feel confident wearing them for your workouts. The FLY TWS earbuds utilises mainly touch controls.
Controls
Initially, I have reservations for the controls to be a little cumbersome as all touch-controlled earbuds then to be. However, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the implementation of the touch controls on the Harman Kardon FLY TWS earbuds.
By default, the increasing/decreasing of volumes is not on the touch controls but you can easily add it in via the app as swipes on the right earbud. Unlike some touch controlled earbuds, I do not get as many mis-touches when adjusting the earbuds into my ears. Tap and double taps are responsive and easy to do. Swiping on the touch surface does take a little bit of time to get used to, but it becomes quite easy when you get the hang of it.
App
There is an accompanying app for the Harman Kardon FLY TWS earbuds called My harman/kardon Headphones. And it’s brilliant. Its unlike the other accompanying app where you use it to update firmware or map some custom controls. There is custom equaliser setting which you can adjust to really make changes to the sound. Also, it allows to you to choose additional custom controls, update the firmware of your earbuds, and there is also a ‘Find My Buds feature’ too.
Let’s talk about the custom EQ mode. The custom EQ mode is on similar levels as the EQ on the Jaybird MySound app (which I reviewed on the Jaybird Vista). You can add distinct markers to tweak and adjust the sound profile to however you like. The change is obvious – bass can get very boomy, treble can sound sibilant if you want to.
Google Assistant / Alexa
One special feature of the Harman Kardon FLY TWS is that earbuds come with built-in Google Assistant or Alexa support. Simply add the FLY TWS as a device to your Google Assistant and you can now get help from Google Assistant. Simply tap and hold the left earbud to talk to the Assistant, or a single tap to get a read out of your notifications. This is pretty useful if you’re a iPhone user and use Google Assistant often. One thing to note that is you must leave the Assistant app running in the background for this to work.
Ambient Aware / Talk Thru
The Harman Kardon FLY TWS does not have ANC, but has two ambient sound modes. Ambient Aware allows sounds and noises from the external environment to come in so that you’re like listening on open-fit earbuds. Talk Thru basically reduces the volume of the media playing by a lot and turns on the microphone so that you are able to have a conversation without needing to remove your earbuds. Alternatively, you can also remove the earbuds and the music will automatically pause due to its auto play/pause feature.
The Ambient Sound effect is quite natural and the microphone pickups mainly voices more than other environmental sounds. It does not let in a lot of external sound in like on the Urbanista London, but is sufficient for casual use.
Battery life
The Harman Kardon FLY TWS comes packed with 6 hours of play time per full charge, which is somewhat average in 2020’s standards. The charging case provides another 14 hours. The FLY TWS earbuds have a quick charge feature, where a 10 minute charge will give you 1 hour play time. Charging is done via USB-C. Unfortunately, wireless charging is not supported which is a bit of a miss for a premium priced earbuds.
Fit
The fit of the FLY TWS is comfortable, which was expected from its contoured design. It nestles in well in my ears and have a pretty snug fit with a portion of the earbuds resting along the grooves of my ears.
Harman Kardon supplies 3 sizes of silicon ear tips from S to L. They are oval-tip shaped and generally does a good job in providing a secure fit. Unfortunately, there is no Comply foam tips provided. Comply Foam TrueGrip Pro DOES NOT fit the FLY TWS as the nozzle is too big.
Pairing, connectivity, and latency
The pairing of the FLY TWS to your phone is rather peculiar. You’ll find that the earbuds will connect to your phone if you simply open the charging case. That said, the Bluetooth 5.0 made the connection stable and I barely experienced any audio dropouts.
If you want to use just one earbud, it seems that you can only use the right side as the primary unit. Removing just the left earbud from the case does not seem to make a connection to my phone.
Unfortunately, there seems to be slight amount of lag from watching YouTube videos from the YouTube app on my iPhone 11.
Sound quality
The sound quality of the FLY TWS is pretty good on its flat EQ setting. It’s got a good amount of everything that combines to give off a really enjoyable sound. Bass is punchy and has just enough in the sub-bass department provide that occasional thump and reverb. It’s not as weighty as on the Creative Outlier Air.
As for midrange, it is forward sounding, detailed with good separation. Vocals and instruments will take the center stage. The treble is rather bright and clear. It is well controlled to not sound overly sibilant and airy. Track separation is also pretty good. The soundstage is pretty wide and spacious. Overall, the mids and highs combine well to deliver crisp clarity without sounding too sibilant. The general sound signature does lean more towards the upper mid frequencies, giving you a bright, punchy, detailed audio experience.
Harman Kardon FLY TWS vs ATH-ANC300TWS
Bass is definitely more boosted on the FLY TWS with a boomier sub-bass response that the ATH-ANC300TWS lacked. Mids are more forward on the FLY TWS but both share the same clarity and level of track separation. As for highs, the ATH-ANC300TWS is more forward and may be too sibilant for some while the FLY TWS comes off warmer in comparison but still considerably bright it its own regards.
Microphone quality
The microphone’s ability is pretty good My voice sounds a little airy, not what your voice would normally sound like if you’re speaking through a microphone, but it is clear. In a noisy environment, the Harman Kardon is actually able to snuff out a large amount of the background noise. Distant but clear is probably the best way to describe the microphone quality.
Conclusion
Harman Kardon’s return in making a true wirless earbuds with its FLY TWS is a success. The sound quality is brilliant and has a comfortable fit. The accompanying app is also well developed and helps to add to the overall experience. There are some feature omissions such as lack of wireless charging and only right-side single use earbud to note too. At S$299, it is expensive but you are also paying for the premium feel and design of the earbuds.
If you’re looking to buy, do make your purchase on Stereo shop on Qoo10 as you are able to stack shop and cart coupons to lower the purchase to below S$299.