Today we’ll be looking at the RunFree Lite, an open ear headset from SoundPeats.
The Run Free Lite arrives in a small box, just big enough to store the molded plastic which protects the headset and the other contents of the box.
Source: SoundPeats
Features of the RunFree Lite
SoundPeats advertises the following features with the RunFree Lite
- Sweatproof and Secure Fit
- The neckband of the RunFree Lite sports earphones is made of skin-friendly liquid silicone, ensuring a secure fit for any sport. The headphones are also IPX4 waterproof, resisting light rain and sweat, making them suitable for activities like jogging, running, driving, cycling, and hiking.
- Advanced BT 5.3 and Multipoint Connection
- RunFree Lite Bluetooth 5.3 headphones provides a faster, more stable connection with lower power consumption. With Multi-Point Connection, you can pair with 2 Bluetooth devices simultaneously, and easily switch between two paired devices to answer coming calls while watching movies on PC with a simple click on the headphones.
- Bud-Free Comfort
- Unlike traditional wireless earphones, SOUNDPEATS RunFree Lite Open Ear Headphones utilize air conduction technology to provide a comfortable and painless listening experience. You won’t have to worry about hot ears, even during the hottest of runs. With a weight of only 28 g, these headphones are designed for all-day comfort.
- High-Quality Sound with Enhanced Bass
- Equipped with a 16.2mm driver and patented bass enhancement technology, RunFree Lite sports headphones deliver a powerful, immersive audio experience. With a 17-hour battery life, you can stay motivated and entertained throughout your workout.
- Safety and Privacy
- SOUNDPEATS RunFree Lite are air-conduction headphones that are specifically designed for sports. The open-ear design allows you to stay aware of your surroundings while still enjoying your music, providing ultimate safety compared to traditional in-ear or over-ear sports headphones. The headphones also feature special directional sound transmission technology to minimize sound leakage, ensuring your privacy is respected.
At first glance one might think that the RunFree Lite is similar to the previously tested TrueFree F1, but these headsets take very different approaches to sound production.
The TrueFree F1 excelled in extremely crisp audio reproduction with zero distortion or muffling, but suffered in total volume strength and in environments where the ambient noise levels were high. In some ways TrueFree F1 could be considered a hybrid of traditional open air and bone conductions headphones due to the way the sound is transmitted from the dual low power drivers of each earpiece.
SoundPeat’s RunFree Lite takes a different approach. Instead of hybrid approach with dual low power speakers in each earpiece the RunFree lite operates like a traditional open air headset which a single, more powerful driver in each earpiece.
This change helps the RunFree Lite excel in environments that the TrueFree F1 doesn’t do as well, but has two minor drawbacks. The single, more powerful driver results in stronger sound pressure and especially stronger levels of bass. This results in volume levels which can be significantly louder than the TrueFree F1, and makes it work well in loud environments.
During the testing of this unit, I used the RunFree Lite while jogging along a busy street with high ambient noise levels. In the same environment, the TrueFree F1’s total volume suffered and it was difficult to hear some aspects of music.
I mentioned that there are two minor drawbacks.
The first is that the RunFree Lite achieves it’s superior sound pressure and noise levels at the cost of some muffling. That’s not to say the audio quality isn’t good – it simply lacks the perfect clarity that the F1 offers. It’s a good tradeoff, because the stronger noise levels make it ideal for use during jogging or working out.
The second minor drawback can happen if you take phone calls in enclosed indoor environment that isn’t very large like an office or a small apartment’s room. In these environments I’d often have complaints of echoing by folks I was talking with – this echoing stopped if I stepped outdoors outside of the smaller, enclosed office or apartment spaces.
The battery life was acceptable – while I didn’t perform in-depth testing on it, it would last for approximately two days of use in office work.
Overall, SoundPeats provides a decent lightweight headset that excels in environments with a high abmient noise volume. It’s great for jogging, providing good noise levels and audio quality in a way that allows one to remain fully aware of the environment around them.
If this headset interests you, you can use code SPRFLOFF for 10% off on Amazon. SoundPeats’ RuneFree Lite typically retail for $49.99 USD, but are currently available for $29.99 during this promotional period. You can purchase them directly from Amazon or from SoundPeats’ website.
