If you love jogging, swimming, trekking, etc, then a solid pair of headphone to accompany your exercise is essential. The new Creative Outlier Free Pro+ is a wireless waterproof bone conduction pair of headphones that has adjustable transducers for a better fit. The Creative Outlier Free Pro+ retails for S$219, but there is an ongoing promotion now at S$179.
Unboxing
Here’s what you’ll find in the box:
- Creative Outlier Free Pro+ headphones
- Magnetic Clip-on Charging and Data Transfer Cable x1
- Microphone plug x1
- Pair of Silicone Earplugs
- Quick Start Guide
Tech specs
| Frequency response | 20 to 20,000 Hz |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours per full charge |
| Weight | 32g |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Built-in storage | Yes, 8GB |
| Water resistance | IPX8 |
| Controls | Button |
| Charging | Proprietary magnetic connection |
Wait, another Outlier Free headphone?
Creative has quite a few models of their Outlier Free series of bone conduction headphones. The “Pro” models feature IPX8 water resistance and built-in 8GB of memory capacity. The only difference between the Outlier Free Pro+ and the Outlier Free Pro, or what the “+” offers is the ability to adjust the transducers. It is also 0.5 grams heavier but you’re not going to feel it.
Build quality and features
Creative Outlier Free Pro+ is made from soft silicone which has smooth texture and feel on my skin. You can choose from two colours of (1) Blue Black, or (2) Blue Orange. The unit I have is the latter, which stands out due to the bright orange colour. Being a bone conduction headphones, you cannot even see the speaker drivers. The overall design is largely the standard of any bone conduction headphones.
Build quality is pretty good as well. Creative Outlier Free Pro+ is rated at an incredible IPX8 water resistance rating, which means you can even it take for a swim. Creative says it is protected against submersion in freshwater up to a depth of 1.5m for up to 40 minutes, and salt water is not protected by its IPX8 rating. Before you jump into the pool with the Outlier Free Pro+, do ensure that the provided microphone plug is firmly plugged into the headphones’ microphone.
Creative even provided a pair of silicone earplugs which you can wear during your swim. The earplugs will help to block out underwater noise so that you can better hear the music and have a better audio playback experience.
Creative Outlier Free Pro+ uses physical button controls. The buttons are located on the right side of the headphones, and place in a way that is easy to reach with your thumb. The buttons however, are a little stiff and require some force to actuate it. The three buttons are able to handle play/pause, volume control, and skipping of tracks, as well as handle calls.
Fit and comfort
Creative Outlier Free Pro+ relies on the hook between the band and the transducers to sit on your ear. At the default lengthened state of the transducers, the Outlier Free Pro+ sits comfortably on my ears without feeling much of the weight. It is a light and free sitting kind of fit. Being able to adjust the transducers does change the way the Outlier Free Pro+ fits. As I can pull the transducers closer to my ears, the “grip” becomes more locked in and secure, which is a great feature especially for those looking for a more secure kind of fit. This also helps to cater to more head sizes as well.
Do note that the headband to two drivers will hang freely and there is no way to adjust the length of it. As such, you should probably not wear this if your exercise entails resting the back of your head on something such as a gym bench, as it will cause the headphones to dislodge from its fit. You can check out how the transducers can be adjusted in the video below.
Sound quality
As Creative Outlier Free Pro+ uses bone conduction technology, audio produced is transmitted via vibration to your inner ear bones. The audio output is reminiscent of wearing your earbuds very loosely such that it doesn’t create a seal. The audio reproduction and volume does vary depending on the how close the transducers are to my ears – you get more bass and forward vocals when the transducers are closer.
Generally though, the sound is going to be thinner that the typical in-ear earbuds or open-fit earbuds. Then again if you’re interested in the Creative Outlier Free Pro+, sound quality is probably not your highest priority to begin with. Bass is limited and has enough impact to get by, mostly sounding a touch muddy. Mids are better, sounding largely clear though it is a tad airy. Treble is slightly veiled but still offers good presence. Having said that, music sounds much better at louder volumes though you still get the airy feeling to it. Vibrations of the transducers were never an issue even at louder volumes.
Microphone quality
The microphone on the Creative Outlier Free Pro+ purely serves as a good to have, backup plan feature. Vocal clarity isn’t the clearest, but the receiving party should still understand what you are saying. Voice production is warm, slightly fuzzy but still decently clear enough. When there is noise, the microphone does a good job at keeping the background noise minimal while keeping my voice forward.
Battery life
Creative Outlier Free Pro+ is rated to last up to 10 hours of play time on a single charge, which should be good enough to last me for months or up to 20 running sessions. As the Creative Outlier Free Pro+ is designed to be submerged underwear for swimming, charging it requires the use of a proprietary charging port via magnets. If you need to juice up the Creative Outlier Free Pro+ in a hurry, a quick 10 minutes of charge can give you 2 hours of playback time.
Pairing, connectivity, and latency
Creative Outlier Free Pro+ is equipped with the latest Bluetooth 5.3 and pairs to my iPhone very quickly as one unit. During my time of testing, I did not encounter any connection issues or dropouts. There was also no audio-video lag experienced as well when watching YouTube on my iPhone 11. It was nice to see the Creative Outlier Free Pro+ have multipoint pairing functionality. It’s quite surprising to see multipoint on workout focused headphones, but it’s always good to have it.
Conclusion
The Creative Outlier Free Pro+ at its current price of S$179, is the pinnacle of Creative’s line of workout focused bone conduction headphones. It gives you IPX8 water resistance to use for swims and the ability to adjust the transducers for a better overall fit and audio experience. Creative Outlier Free Pro+ even has built-in 8GB of memory so you can enjoy music while exercising with just the headphones itself. If you’re looking for a pair of bone-conduction headphones that does it all, the Creative Outlier Free Pro+ might just be the one.