In our quest for the best true wireless earbuds, we came across Ultimate Ears (UE) which is an established company offering numerous audio products. Along with their excellent line-up of pieces, they developed the UE Fits which is their entry to the wireless earbud market. With many brands hopping on the bandwagon of Bluetooth earbuds, it’s not surprising but it’s definitely exciting as more brands show off what they’re capable of.
In saying this, we have great expectations from UE as they have a ton of research material not just on audio but also on ear shapes considering that they build custom in-ear monitors for musicians. This knowledge comes in handy as we talk about the UE Fits and its special custom shape that molds to your ears – its biggest selling point.
But before we talk more about it, we will present this section of our review which is the good things that we found out about this pair. Here are the Pros that we’ve seen.
Pros
Custom Fit. As we’ve mentioned, this pair has a special custom shape that molds to your ears made possible by a lightform system. This system uses LEDs to heat up the ear tips to be able to mold them to the shape of your ears. The UE Fits app will guide you through the process indicating when to gently press the buds to your ears for the molding to begin. It’s a quick process – maybe even taking less than a minute – with very minimal discomfort (you’ll feel a twinge of heat but nothing close to hot). This ensures that you get the best seal and best fit for maximum comfort.
Customizable EQ. With a dedicated app for many controls, you can choose between different EQ presets depending on your preferences. An example of an available EQ setting with this pair is Bass Boost which is probably to cater to those who like EDM or pop songs at the gym or for working out in general.
Available Indicators. You never have to wonder – or worry about the status of your earbuds since both the case and the buds themselves have indicator lights. You can also check the actual charge count or percentage of your earbuds in the UE Fits app which is proving to be very handy in controlling and customizing this pair.
Now with those good features though come some things we’ve found to be not-so-good. As we aim to be as transparent as possible, here are the Cons that we’ve found for this model.
Cons
Not Workout Friendly. Even though this pair boasts of having a snug fit made possible by its customizing technology, it unfortunately does not stay in place while working out. This can be due to its inadequate water/sweat proofing as it’s only IPX3-rated which is mediocre compared to the usual IPX7 or even IPX5 that other earbuds have. Because of this, sweat tends to build up causing some loss of sound and causing the earbuds to end up falling out.
Weird Design. Compared to other models in the market, the shape of this pair is strange – it doesn’t allude to the Airpods nor the Aipods Pro’s designs like some do but it also doesn’t follow the Bluetooth headset look of Sony and Bose. While it’s good that this pair is unique in that sense, the way it’s built with a pill-shaped panel can cause some discomfort when using controls.
Lacking Sound Quality. While sound quality isn’t awful with this pair, it’s pretty mediocre with an even tune across different elements like mids or treble. That being said though, it delivers pretty weak bass which is disappointing for those who like listening to hip hop or “louder” genres. It’s pretty inconsistent as well which is something to keep in mind before taking the plunge with this pair.
Very Expensive. With the features included (and not included), the price point of this pair is simply too high to be justified. Most of the cost seems to go towards the technology used to get a good fit on these which only benefits some users. Moreover, a lot of improvements still need to be made on the fit itself because even if it’s snug – as mentioned above – it does not stay put in the ears.
All things considered, the UE Fits is a very promising pair that puts a premium on comfort. Because of this, we can see it becoming a great pair for travelling or commuting with its different EQ settings. It’s also great as you would not have to guess the status of the pair made possible by the indicator lights both on the case and the earbuds themselves.
Although that being said, a number of Cons stop it from being the perfect pair with its mediocre sound quality, strange design, and tendency to fall out. It’s simply too expensive for what it is and we think that you can definitely go for something with a better value for money.
Overall, we hope to have shed some light on this model and on your earbud hunting journey in general. We wish you luck; and happy looking for the perfect pair. Let us know what you think!
