Nuheara IQBuds2 Max
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No service – Was after new rubber tips, after over $40 including postage the wrong size arrived. (Marked medium on the package but much smaller than the original.) Some weeks ago I received a reply from CUSTOMER SERVICE! Stating they would contact me within 48 hours. After numerous emails I’ve heard nothing.
Excellent product – I got mine from Ebay means second hands but even like this I have already for 4 YEARS and still going strong PLUS sometimes I have forgotten in my pants pockets and when to the laundry machine so after that still works great only need to wait for a few days until get completely dry. I have been trying the change for a new one and believe me,… Read more
nothing better! Special cause I ride my bike in a very windy city (here Perth WA Australia) and the Noise cancels really works better than Sony, Bose and Airpod. Conclusion I m waiting for the new generation of IQbuds and hoped would be much better.
Great product with very short life – For the 1st 7 months this was an excellent product after which is started to fail in Bluetooth strength. I used it mainly for business calls until it started dropping out from the call. As a result I stopped using it because I blamed it on My phone. I purchased a new phone and used it again when my buds were about 11 months old. I used it for… Read more
another couple of months and it started to drop out again during calls. It then started dropping out while I walked to work streaming music. If I held it close to my head it work work better until it stopped the blue tooth connection completely. Now at 14 months old I contacted Nuheara who pronounced my bud were dead and offered me $100.00 Australian discount on a new pair.
Great sonic quality, design could be improved – My new IQBuds@ Max were easy to set up and connect to my devices. The sound quality blows Apple airpods away without any trouble. The hearing aid function is pretty poor. When playing music or on a phone call, trying to hear the "world" outside is difficult even trying to mix in balance of outside sound with earpod sound. When used as a hearing… Read more · 1
aid by itself the sound is tinny and more ambient sound is evident over vocals. Perhaps this could be better improved with setting tweaks. EQ is lacking as you cannot dial in your own personal preferences for sound. Bass response is excellent (as a bass player, I am appreciative of this!). Noise cancelling quality is adequate.
Design wise, I find them heavy to wear (to be expected because of the bass driver tech in there they need to be larger than most other designs) and when running using "workout mode" anything more than a careful jog is enough to drop them out of your ears. The worst design fault for me is I find them difficult to get out of the charging case. Going in they're fine, charging is fast and the battery (although still very new) lasts plenty long enough but getting the units out of that case could be improved. And the case itself feels a bit low-quality.
The different modes is a novel idea but in practice I'm not sure there's really enough difference in the base settings to make a huge difference.
Overall I am happy with them for listening to music and taking phone calls and tap controls work well.
Hearing aid function not good, painful to wear – I would NEVER recommend Nuheara as a replacement for hearing aids. ** If you're looking for something with hearing aid functionality, buy hearing aids. You can get everything and more from hearing aids. OK, so maybe I have unusual ears, but these were, hands-down, THE most uncomfortable ear accessories I have EVER worn. More important, however… Read more
... the table that compares hearing aid features to the Nuhearas is disingenuous and misleading. Contrary to what the website shows, there are existing aids and a growing number of reasonably priced Bluetooth hearing aids that provide a better hearing result, some with tap controls, and if you buy real hearing aids (or better wireless headphones), you won't have big black plastic blobs sitting on your ears.
I wanted these devices because I wanted to lessen the effects of my tinnitus, wear my BTE aids while I sleep. The ad was served up to me due to online searches for tinnitus. I would wear the Nuhearas at home for a few hours while I charged my bluetooth hearing aids ready for overnight wear. The hearing aid function is nowhere as good as hearing aids. How could they be for $400+? They have no way of adjusting for your own voice (an important feature of hearing aids). Maybe the Nuhearas are good for people who are primarily missing high frequency sounds AND just need aids in limited select situations, only occasionally.
I returned these after 6 painful hours' use, having watched all the videos to make sure I was following all the right instructions, trialled every size bud to make sure I selected the right ones, (to pass the heartbeat test which demonstrates you have selected the right ones). Not for me. The microphone pickup to speak handsfree on the phone was actually better than that of my hearing aids (due to the physical design of the aids and location of the mic). I might recommend them for people who just want bluetooth buds, but then again, the Apple Airpod Pros I tried were extremely comfortable.
** I wrote a review on the Nuheara website. To show how disingenuous they are at this company, my factual detailed review was removed. Then they had the nerve to send me an email to specifically ask me for feedback "how likely would you recommend someone to Nuheara?", and when I scored them zero out of 10 for that, they enquired as to why. I told them it was because they removed my review. I have not said anything nasty, and my feedback is constructive and helpful. In case you're wondering... I have a form recovery app and was able to visit the Nuheara website, faithfully recover the words they deleted, which I copied and pasted here. I added a couple of helpful points.
Excellent sound quality, best in class – The latest version of the Nuheara IQ buds, the IQ 2 Max are just terrific. Sound quality is excellent, with plenty of useful functionality to adjust the noise levels from the environment. Battery life is good and the bluetooth range is a massive improvement on similar models, critical when moving around the office. Absolutely 100% recommended to… Read more
anyone who like me needs a bit of help to hear in noisy places but also enjoys crystal clear streaming music. 5 stars.
Very disappointed, would not recommend – Very disappointed in these on many levels. Poor fit- I tried all of the different tips with little success, they feel like they are going to fall out of my ears all of the time and have done on multiple occasions. Very poor Bluetooth range- about 5 to 6 mtrs and they start to loose connection poor battery life- about 4 hrs if connected to phone.… Read more
They are massive - I am bald and they stick out of my head a long way so I feel very self conscious wearing them outside the house, in fact I have stopped using then altogether after only 2 months of owning them. I have mild hearing loss and mild tinnitus and all these do is make everything "echo' for use of a better word. I have tried all the different settings and they all sound the same , they just seem to echo everything. I have a pair of $20 true wireless buds from Woolworths that perform better in regards to fit, battery life and Bluetooth range. I think the Iqbuds 2 should be in the $70-$100 range.
Hopeless – Purchased because of the technology. A constant squealing high pitched noise when “world” is turned on.Support have made multiple suggestions none of which have offered a solution and when I have tried to get an address to send the unit back it seems to fall on deaf ears! Show details
Customisable Earbuds- a must have – I've used these earbuds for a while now, both while sitting and listening as well as at work; walking, listing ect. and have found no issues with use in either circumstance. The Bluetooth range is decent, but not extraordinary, and is better with no obstructions. My ears a little weird so I've found that the earbuds that come with the IQ Buds… Read more
don't always fit, bit they do have 3 sizes.
My favourite part of the IQ Buds is that you're able to customise the amount of background sounds, and which sounds come through. There's also an option to boost certain sounds such as voices, which I have found I use to listen to something and still hear people.
My one gripe is that the IQ Buds must be used together, when you take one of them out of your ear, it turns off the sound from both. I assume in an effort to stop feedback that can sometimes occur.
Overall a very good set of earbuds, that I would recommend to others.
Amazing Sound and love that I can "turn the world off" – I was blown away by the clarity of the sound for both music and podcasts. Customer Service was good and loved the personalised hearing test on set up which was easy to do. Turning "the world off" feature is very useful as I get distracted by other people's noises ie at the gym or in the office. Comfy to wear too. I recommend them. Show details
IQbuds2 MAX - Truly Wireless ANC earbuds with hearing aid-like superpowers – These are more than just great sounding truly wireless ANC earbuds. The Ear ID personalisation is comparable to the formula used for fitting hearing aids. The Speech In Noise Control (SINC) is only found on $5K plus hearing aids. The combination of these with the best Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) makes my IQbuds totally unique and awesome to use in conjunction with my tinnitus apps for relieving symptoms. Expensive but worth it! Show details
These people are profoundly incompetent – I ordered the buds and the audio streamer last month. The streamer turned up straight away but the buds did not arrive within the specified 'two weeks' wait for delivery. I emailed customer support and after some days was told there was a backup due to overseas mail (I'm in Perth?) but be patient. Then yesterday I got another email saying buds… Read more
wouldn't arrive till late January. I complained to them that I already had the $139 streamer and asked what my options were including refunds and how to return the streamer. Without warning they initiated a refund on the BUDS only, sending me an abrupt reply and leaving me sitting here with a worthless $139 audio streamer. What the heck is going on?
Update 14/12/20. received yet another email saying they were sending me an IQstreamer... which I have already received two weeks ago. Thank God these people don't build planes.
No Delivery – Be careful when ordering, I paid for mine a month ago and they still haven't been shipped. They keep on giving me excuses, but no delivery timing. It would appear by their reaction that they have cash flow problems, or just not manufacturing them for some reason. I told them if I did not get delivery timing by the month end that I would apply to PayPal to cancel payment for non delivery. Shame, they promise everything and deliver nothing. Show details
I cannot find this review in the Nuheara profile, it appears to have been deleted. How come? PayPal… Read more
Find out how Nuheara IQBuds2 Max compares to other Wireless Headphones
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Expensive, poor performance – Poor customer service from Nuhear (rude), very late delivery. Difficult to use, hard to fit, squealy feedback. Noise suppression was average. 3 people in our family inherited them and all found the same poor performance. Replaced them with Apple Pro's - huge improvement. Not worth the money. Was hoping this home grown invention would have been better. Show details
Huge improvement over the first gen product. Audio quality is outstanding – I was an early adopter of the original IQBuds and those are still going strong but I bought the new IQBuds2 Max to see what a couple more years of product development have been able to achieve, as well as the fact that these have active noise cancellation, Bluetooth 5.0, and look a whole lot better than the old model. The most obvious… Read more
improvements are that the earbuds are seated in the charging case with magnets, so you never have to fiddle with them to get them properly seated on the charging pins as I had to do regularly with the original model. The other really noticeable improvement is how seamlessly the buds and the app connect to your phone - this was often finicky with the earlier model. Range and connectivity is very solid now with the addition of Bluetooth 5.0 - no drop outs at all now for me when walking around or when on the bike.
But for me, the biggest improvement is the audio quality - the original IQBuds sounded excellent, but the Max takes this to another level. I understand these buds have larger drivers than the old model, and that's clearly noticeable in terms of the bass response when listening to music - this is just about as hifi as you can get for a tiny speaker in your ear.
I've had a play with the active noise cancellation but will reserve full judgement on that feature until I've had a chance to use them on a plane once all this Covid stuff is done with.
Battery life is in the ballpark of what's advertised - I'm getting just over 4 hours of music listening per charge. Comfort level for those 4 hours is great, and they stay in without any concerns that they may fall out even if I'm working out at the gym or riding my road bike.
Overall, a far slicker and better quality product than the original IQBuds, and I'm happy to support an Australian company against the big global players.
- +10
Amazing Sound Quality for Wireless Earbuds! However – These are the newest iteration of the IQBuds - IQBuds2 Max. I pre-ordered these a while ago. After a few delays caused by COVID19, there were delays, but I received them yesterday. I'll bread this review down into categories: 1. Unboxing, 2. Setup, 3. Hardware, 4. Software (App), 5. Features. 6. Sound Quality, 7. Telephony, 8. Conclusion. Lets… Read more
go!
1. Unboxing: 5/5 Opening the box there is not a lot different to opening any other ear buds of similar type. You'll find; information slips in different languages showing what the LEDs mean on the battery case and warranty slip, multiple sized ear bud tips, a micro USB cable, the ear bud battery case with ear buds inside, and as a nice addition, a felt pouch for the ear bud case.
2. Setup: 5/5 Very straight forward. Simply download the IQBuds app from the Play Store or App Store, pop the ear buds in your ears, and follow the instructions. Before you know it, you're up and running and you'll find yourself messing around with the settings just to see what everything does.
3. Hardware: 5/5 The earphones themselves are very well designed and constructed. There's a little bit of weight to them, but not enough to hurt your ears when they're in, but a good amount to make them feel sturdy. The look big when you take them out of the case for the first time (this is due to the huge 9.2mm driver), however when you put them in your ears they are extremely comfortable and don't stick out too much. I could wear these all day without any discomfort or pain. My previous set of earbuds are the lesser known Bragi The Dash Pro buds. Before the IQBuds2 Max, The Dash Pro buds were amazing, but in terms of comfort, the IQBuds2 Max win hands down even though they are slightly bigger. The battery case is much the same. Spring loaded open and close which has a satisfying 'snap', when you close it, but not so loud that you get a fright. There are 3 dual coloured LEDs on the case which show the battery status of each of the ear buds (two on the front), and the case itself (one on the side). But the LEDs seem to only show if they are full (green) or low/charging (red). The LEDs turn on when you open or close the case and will turn off themselves after 10 seconds. The case has a soft touch material to it which is nice, but seems to attract fingerprints, however the felt pouch helps with this, plus who really cares if there are fingerprints on your ear phone case. I haven't had these for long enough to give the battery a true test, but it rated to 5 hours per change and the case can charge them 3 times. The specs say they they are sweat and rain resistant, but there is nothing stating an IP rating at all. I'd be very careful with these around water. Definitely not suitable for swimming.
4. Software (App): 4/5 - Needs some minor touch ups Easy enough to use. Clean and Simple. Intuitive to the point where everything makes sense and most of the features are explained simply. There are some slight connection issues in terms of the app not connecting to the headphones automatically when you re-open it after android has put the app to sleep (an issue that's hard to replicate but seems to happen randomly). Easily fixed by closing the app and re-opening it, but this shouldn't happen and should be an easy fix with an app update.
5. Features: 3/5 - Good amount of features, but some don't really work that well There is a raft of features here. These earbuds have what's known as Hybrid Noise Cancelling (HNC) which incorporates both passive (PNC) and active noise cancelling (ANC) , but to the point where you can turn the ANC off while still using PNC without the pass through, etc. It's hard to explain, but you'll know what I mean when you get them. When the Noise cancellation is off there there are pass through options which make you feel like you have super hearing! It's a very weird sensation when you first experience it, but it's kinds cool. I can hear noises from outside my apartment that I have never heard before. I can hear myself typing right now while listening to music at a fairly high volume (Yes, I'm using the ear buds as I write this). And you can change the volume of the world independently of the the media volume. You're able to filter background noise out and have the buds only pass through voice frequencies ('SINC' or 'Speech In Noise Control' feature). Handy if you're trying to speak with someone in a noise environment, and again, you can change the filter 'strength' to either let in some ambient noise or filter it out totally. The 'World EQ' feature allows you to filter bass or treble from the surrounding noise. This allows clearer hearing for various situations. And the Focus feature allows you to have the ear bud microphones focus on the sounds in front of you. Now, I'm not exactly confident that this feature works that well. When I turn it on and face the TV, then turn away, I can't tell that much of a difference. Maybe needs some tweaking. There are also presets which you can select depending on where you are. These presets are: Workout, Street, Home, Office, Restaurant, Driving, and Plane. They each have different settings for the ANC level, SINC, and World EQ in order to best suit that environment. Ear ID attempts to create a personalised hearing profile for you, but I feel it's not as advance as some others out there. The process simply plays tones at different frequencies and volumes and you tap the screen when you hear each tone. The IQ Buds2 Max just seemed a bit too basic for there to be a real difference. It only plays 5 tones for each frequency. Either my hearing is amazing or the tones which were played were just too easy to hear for an accurate profile to be created. The Bragi The Dash Pro buds would gradually lower the volume of each tone until you couldn't hear it which in my opinion will allow the creation of a much better profile. Also, there are other ear phones which create the profile automatically without you having to tap the screen at all by measuring the sound waves which bounce back from your eardrum (or something like that) - enter the Nuraphone. Granted the Nuraphone is also an over ear headphone which puts them in a different class to the IQBuds2 Max. After creating the profile, you can turn it on and off to see if there is a different... Truthfully - I cannot hear a difference at all. With the Bragi buds, there is a CLEAR difference. The buds have touch controls on each side which you can program to whatever you want from within the app. 3 functions can be set for each ear bud - single touch, double touch and long press. Now this is a standard feature for pretty much any wireless ear bud out there and it's great.... when it works properly. The single and long presses work great! BUT, but down press doesn't. It's very hard to get a double press to register without it thinking it is a single press, and that's when I'm sitting still. I can imaging how hard it would be to double tap when running or something like that.
6. Sound Quality: 5/5 I cannot fault the sound quality on these earbuds. The 9.2mm driver does amazing work with the bass and the high end is exceptional as well. I've even tried bass testing tracks and, just wow! Sure you can't feel the bass like you can when you're standing in front of a big sub-woofer, but it's not like you can expect that. I listen to trance and techno music mostly, and when listening with these buds I just want to get up and pump a fist. All you need to do is make sure you get the right size tip for your ear canal to create a good seal. Without the seal, there is no bass. I popped in the largest ones just cause even though the medium sized ones did the trick to begin with.
7. Telephony: 5/5 There's not a lot of detail I can go into here. When on the phone, the microphones are perfect and I have had no complaints from anyone on the other end saying "I can't hear you properly" or anything like that. In fact I'm sure that no one has even known I was using wireless earbuds. Haven't tried them in the wind yet, mainly cause it hasn't been that windy outside since I get these yesterday.
8. Conclusion: 4/5 I own a few different true wireless earbuds: Cygnet Freeplay, xFyro Aria, Bragi The Dash Pro, and now the Nuheara IQBuds2 Max. The Bragi earbuds are exceptional in their own right with IPx7 rating (can wear them swimming) and a better hearing profile process, but they don't have ANC, and their sound quality is good, but not as good as these IQBuds. The Cygnet Freeplay and xFyro Aria are basic Bluetooth ear buds (no app, no ANC, etc) - good for their price (<AU$100). Overall the IQBuds2 Max are the best wireless earphones I've had. They are a touch pricey, but for what you get, they're worth it. Sound quality and ANC is the best on the market (note I haven't tried the Air Pods Pro, but I've heard good things other than they are only fully supported by Apple devices). The IQBuds2 Max are extremely comfortable in the ear and don't hurt even after wearing for long periods (I've been wearing them the whole time I've been writing this review). Google reviews has them at a perfect 5 stars, but I doubt they went into as much detail as this. With a few app and firmware updates to fix minor things, these ear buds would easy be the best in class. If you're reading this review to see if they're worth buying.... The answer is a resounding YES!
The IQbuds2 MAX are the earbuds I've been waiting for – I had a set of the original IQbuds and while they were decent there was a lot of room for improvement. I preordered the IQbuds2 MAX back in January hoping that they would have evolved into a mature product. In short - very impressed, while its been a five month wait it was well worthwhile. Once the EarIQ procedure is done they have for me the… Read more
sound quality I remember 40 years ago when I was 18, the crispness and balance is back. I listened to all kinds of music for about six hours the first day it was so enjoyable. I have many other high end headphones and in ear monitors, mostly more expensive than the IQbuds2 MAX but none provide as good a listening experience. The first generation of IQBuds were not wearable by me for more than half an hour with the supplied silicone tips and I bought Comply Isolation 160's foam tips which made a big difference to the physical fit and comfort. The better sealing improved the isolation and deep bass but the audio experience with that first generation while decent was fatiguing and the Bluetooth connection brittle. They have ended up sitting plugged into a charger because when they are nearly discharged they emit a feedback squeal so loud it wakes me up 3 rooms away. The different 'World' experiences worked but the ability to hear voice from someone in front of me in a restaurant was underwhelming. I could not wear them for long periods without getting a mild headache/earache and while they were useful in some circumstances as a product they were clearly the first iteration and not really cooked. The IQbuds2 MAX now have excellent active noise cancellation and the different 'World' modes are much more distinct and useful. I can wear them with the supplied ear tips for 4 hours or more without discomfort. With Comply Isolation 160's I can wear them all day without hearing or wearing fatigue. The improvement in audio 'focus' enabling listening to the person in front of you in a noisy room is quite outstanding. I have used these more in the past week than the older IQBuds in the past year. I am getting a lot of pleasure listening to music again but still getting phone calls and hearing the doorbell etc. I used them tonight while having dinner on my own in a very noisy restaurant. I set them for 'World Off' and 'ANC' enabling listening to a podcast as though I was in in a quiet room while one tap lets me talk to the Waitperson. They really are very practical to use and with long six hour plus battery life before they need to be recharged by the larger battery built into the case. Most of the time they stay charged the whole day with the breaks in use in the case topping them up. The new case which is a much better design seems to charge them about three times before it needs charging. It is also much easier to put them away and get a consistent contact with the charging system in the case. The case design is also more durable, the first iteration lost all four rubber feet in a few weeks in my pocket and was bulkier. I am finding myself using the IQbuds2 MAX a lot. Walking on the footpath on a very busy road the phone conversation is almost immune to heavy traffic noise that makes it impossible to use the phone on it's own. The person on the other end of the conversation says it sounds like I'm in a quiet room and can not hear the trucks and cars. The App is much improved and handles activities like adjusting 'World' levels and pairing with the IQstream device for TV listening. These really are now my favourite way of listening to music and hearing audio. Using the active noise control to deal with a noisy environment is also a big plus. The amount of improvement in 2 years shows Nuheara have been working hard to advance the hardware and firmware with impressive results. They seem quite secure in my ears and I have had no problems with them falling out while eating or moving around. The original IQbuds would consistently fall out if I wore them while eating at a restaurant. The IQbuds2 MAX are loud enough for any purpose I need. The Bluetooth connection is now rock solid with devices that were dropping out with other earbuds and headsets like one of my Notebooks that has very weak Bluetooth range. The range now is good enough to go to the bathroom while leaving the iPhone 2 rooms away and holding the connection. I would buy these again without hesitating.
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I thought to add another comment after reading other reviews. The ear buds are very large. They… Read more