Rolling Square, known for its high quality and unique Apple-related accessories, has just announced its new HYPHEN Aria air-conduction headphones. These headphones claim to be “the biological way of listening with sound quality in mind.” I was a bit skeptical about what this meant when I first saw that tagline. I had tried bone conduction headphone tech in the past, and I was not a massive fan of those products. But this new take on air-conduction headphones left me pleasantly surprised.
The design and specs
Before we get into the actual review of the earbuds themselves, let’s talk about the design and what the specs are.
The specs:
- 14.8MM custom drivers
- Three different ear hook sizes to choose from
- IPX4 dust and water resistance
- Touch controls
- USB-C and 15W wireless charging
- Fast charge, 15 minutes of charge for up to 6 hours of playback time
- Up to 10 hours of listening on a single charger
- Up to 33 hours of total playback time with the case
Now the design is the interesting part. The case itself comes in two different colors, black or white. The top portion of the case, the door, is this translucent plastic material that is reminiscent of the old-school Gameboy design, and the bottom portion is solid plastic. The case closes via magnets and has a very satisfying close and open. You can see how the case compares next to the AirPods Pro. You can see the Aria case is much larger and thicker as well. But you do get much more battery life out of the case. As stated above, you do get 15W wireless charging included with the case, which is great.
The earbuds themselves also have a unique design. They have a pill-shaped design that sits angled in your ear. The face of it does have a soft touch plastic that is caved in a bit, so you can feel where the touch controls are. Similar to the top of the case, the earbuds do have some translucent pieces, so you can see the internals of the headphones – the nerd in me loves this. They are a bit bigger in volume than the AirPods Pro, but they are extremely light, and you honestly forget they are in your ear when you are using them for long listening sessions.
Hands-on review
For some context, I have been an AirPods Pro user on a daily basis since they released. So that is where most of my comparison will come from. The HYPHEN Aria earbuds were a refreshing change of pace. Firstly, once you open the case for the first time, it goes right into pairing mode, so it is extremely easy to connect. They come with three different wingtip sizes; when headphones do this, I usually always just stick to the medium ones. But for the Arias, I actually had a more comfortable fit with the larger wing tips (just as something to note).
Biological listening
Once I had them fit in my ear, the listening experience felt a little different. I am so used to inserting my earbuds into my ear canal and really sealing that ear canal. The HYPHEN Aria’s don’t actually sit in your ear canal. They sort of rest right on top of your ear canal. At first, I wasn’t sure if I would like that. But after using them for hours at a time, the comfort of these earbuds was next level. Normally, after two to three hours, my ears get sore from the earbuds. I went through an entire workday with these on (I am actually currently wearing these while typing this up), and I have had zero pain. You forget they are in your ear. You are more aware of your surroundings because your ears aren’t absolutely sealed. This is what Rolling Square means by “biological listening.” The idea here is to mimic listening to something with a speaker, allowing you to be aware of your surroundings while giving you a healthier listening experience.
When it comes to canceling out noise, it still does a relatively good job at this. I wore these in an NYC subway, and even though they don’t drown out all the noise, you can still get a clear listening experience and not be distracted by the sounds around you.
They also provide ENC tech that uses a dual mic algorithm. So during phone calls, it cancels up to 90% of environmental noise, reducing the ambient noise by up to 35dB and improving overall sound quality. I thought these headphones excelled at phone calls.
Controls
Controlling the headphones is also very intuitive. You have six different touch controls that can be used on either earbud.
- Single tap: play/pause/answer calls
- Double tap: next song/hang up call
- Triple tap: previous song
- Slide up: volume up
- Slide down: volume down
- Long press: voice assistant
Who are these for?
If you are looking for an earbud that fits tight in the ear canal and gives you true active noise cancellation, then these aren’t for you. I would steer you to the AirPods Pro. But if you are looking for a comfortable earbud that has your ear canal health in mind while also fits great, has great listening, has an amazing battery, stays in your ear while running, and lets you be aware of your surroundings, then these should be up there on your list. Again these shouldn’t be compared to traditional earbuds because they are not that. These still get plenty loud, give you great bass, and provide some unrivaled comfort for long listening sessions. I recommend giving these a look.
Final thoughts, pricing, and availability
The HYPHEN Aria’s are currently on a Kickstarter campaign and have already blown out their funding goal with 27 days left. They have two tiers of availability: the early bird at $100 and the kick-starter at $120; retail pricing will be $149. They are all scheduled to ship in November of this year, so this would be a great holiday gift for anyone looking to get their hands on a new pair of earbuds. Rolling Square has a 100% track record with projects on Kickstarter, dating back to 2014, with 14 successful Kickstarter projects and on-time pledge shipments as well.
As I mentioned, I think these are a great alternative to classic in-ear headphones. They fit well, produce great sound, and keep your listening health in mind. They have every feature an earbud should have in 2023, like wireless charging, touch controls, and custom ear tips, and they are reasonably priced at $100 (if you get in early).
Let me know what you think of these earbuds. Would you give these a try? What type of earbuds do you currently use? Let’s discuss in the comments below.
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