SoundPeats GoFree2 Bluetooth Earbuds – Open Ear LDAC Resolution
SoundPeats GoFree2 is a $85 USD pair of Bluetooth earbuds with an open-ear design, LDAC Bluetooth, and with IPX5 Waterproofing promising to offer up to 9 hours of play time off a single charge, and 35 Hours of total battery time with the power in the case.
Introduction
While I’ve been trying to steer away from reviewing open ear designs, as they don’t provide quite the resolution and clarity, and especially bass of an IEM with a silicone eartip, this is the kind of review brought back by popular demand, and as many of you noted that you’d rather not have a silicone eartip and that you find better comfort with designs that do not come in contact with the ear canal. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. SoundPeats has provided the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
PROs – Intimate sound with a good resolution, Comfortable fit, No contact between the earbud and your ear canal, Reliable Build Quality, Reliable Bluetooth signal strength, Nice Design.
Cons – Bass Rolls Off below 70 Hz, and treble rolls off above 10 kHz, Strong Leakage, No passive noise isolation, Limited maximum volume.
Product Link
You can grab a pair here – https://amzn.to/3QlKcHY
Build Quality/Aesthetics/Fit/Comfort
GoFree2 should be spelled with at least some space between the words, but the space between the earbuds and your ears likely stole some, so the name had to be glued together. This is not a joke, the earbuds stick to your ears, but they do not come even close to being in contact with your ear canals, allowing them to be free, leaking almost everything you’re listening to, almost at the loudness you’re listening, and also allowing all noise from the outside to come in and mix with your music, including the sound my me typing on my keyboard.
I can confirm that LDAC actually works, and the Bluetooth signal is strong, reliable, while the maximum volume is just sufficient, at around 90 dB max, with my smartphone starting to distort at max volume, and best sonic loud signature being at one bar below the max volume. There is no aptX variant, just LDAC, SBC and AAC, and the battery life is actually quite great. The earbuds are covered in a skin-friendly rubber material, and they come with a type-c charging case and a cable, but no other extras, as there are no tips needed to fit them to your ears.
The control is touch based and it is fairly resistant to mis-touching, while the earbuds themselves fit nicely, I can totally run and exercise with them, from a control perspective. This being said, having no noise isolation and a lot of leakage is not fully ideal for a gym. I never felt this free, so I can confirm that they really GoFree.
Sound Quality
Overall Signature – With most open ear designs, there is some sacrifice when it comes to the tuning, and in this case the bass rolls off entirely below 70 Hz, so you will get a mid centric sound without a lot of boom and impact. Voices sound sweet, guitars sound distinctively fun, but the top end also rolls off early, around 10 kHz, which means that the most you will hear is actually the midrange. GoFree2 is one of the very few Earbuds I tested to date, where I can attest that if you used it, you likely wouldn’t hear the difference between FLAC and Mp3, or between a good or a bad master, the tuning is very forgiving and sounds always the same, with all music. The midrange is warm in tonality, so it sounds rather pleasing and musical, forgiving and has a good volume to drums, although most other instruments are fairly flat in dimensionality.
Dynamics / PRaT / Textures – The impulse response is natural towards fast, which creates a good texture revealing ability, although because there is no contact with the ear, most of the micro detail, and micro information is lost in the ear between the ear and the driver, air which filters the texture, so by the time the signal reaches your ear, the sound has a natural speed and decay. You can experiment with what the driver is actually capable of, by forcing the earbuds to sit close to your ears with your fingers.
Soundstage – We have a very intimate soundstage, which presents all music close to the listener, creates a sense of closeness, and this actually is a saving grace for the Soundpeats GoFree2, as it gives them a fairly good resolution and clarity, bringing everything, foreground and background information really close to the listener.
Value and Conclusion
With a fairly low price, GoFree2 is a good earbud with a clean design, good build quality, and a reliable charging / transport case, so while it is not an audiophile aficionado’s dream in the tuning and sound, it still scores a good value, being a fairly good product overall, as long as you’re okay with the limitations that inherently come with the technology.
At the end of the day, if you’re looking for an intimate, warm, and musical midrange, a forgiving sound and an open-ear design that won’t ever feel uncomfortable, and if you don’t listen louder than 90 dB, Soundpeats GoFree2 is a good choice for you.
Product Link
You can grab a pair here – https://amzn.to/3QlKcHY
Technical Specifications
Bluetooth – V5.3
Profiles – A2DP1.3/ AVRCP1.6/ HFP 1.7/ SPP 1.2/ GATT
Chipset – WQ7034MX
Supported Bluetooth Codec – LDAC,SBC,AAC
Single Earbud Weight – 9g
Charging Case with Earbuds – 71g
Control Type – Touch
Waterproof Rating – IPX5
Battery Capacity – (Earbuds: 60mAh*2 ; Charging Case: 450mAh）
Charging Time – (Earbuds: 1.5 ; Charging Case: 2H )
Charging Port – Type-C
Total Playtime – 35 hours
--- Please remember to stay safe, and always have fun while listening to music!---
- If you have a dime to spare, please donate, and help us! It would make the day brighter for me and my wife-
Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
--- Contact Us ---
