INTRODUCTION

    Whenever TWS earphones land in the lab one of the first things I check is whether or not they come with the hearthrough feature which basically allows you to listen to your surroundings even while listening to music. This has always been a crucial issue for me since I feel very uncomfortable when I lack awareness of my surroundings and that's especially true for when I'm on foot, either while jogging or going someplace. Since I'm by no means a professional runner I never had the chance to use/test bone conduction headphones but It's something I wanted to try and so my very first contact with this technology is thanks to Creative and their Outlier Free+ & Pro+ models.

    Founded in 1981, Creative has pioneered audio technology, revolutionizing how people experience sound by breaking the silence of PCs. With visionary founders and a talented team of sound engineers, developers, and business professionals, Creative has become a key player in the development of cutting-edge audio products. From groundbreaking sound cards to high-quality speakers and headphones, Creative meets every audio need. Whether diving into immersive soundscapes, enjoying portable Bluetooth speakers, or relying on noise-cancelling headphones for clear calls—Creative's commitment to superior audio experiences enriches the auditory world for all.

    Bone conduction technology has been around for roughly 600 years and well, even though it's advanced considerably over the years the main concept/principle has remained the same. Since Beethoven was among the very first people to actually use this technology it's a safe bet that at least initially it was developed for hearing-impaired individuals and has since also become quite popular among athletes who want situational awareness such as runners, cyclists and even swimmers. So, what such headphones do is use a  transducer to generate sound waves (vibrations) which are sent directly to the bones of your head (cheekbones in most cases) in order to reach your cochlea and let the magic happen. Both the Outlier Free+ and the Outlier Pro+ feature rugged housings (IPX5 sweatproof for the former and IPX8 waterproof for the latter), adjustable transducers (20Hz-20.000Hz frequency response, 2402-2480MHz operating frequency), omni-directional microphone (10Hz-10.000Hz), Bluetooth v5.3 connectivity (multipoint connection with up to 2 devices - AAC and SBC audio codecs supported) and a removable 180mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (up to 10 hours of playback). The Outlier Pro+ also features a built-in MP3/FLAC/WAV/APE player with 8GB of storage which clearly makes it a more convenient choice. So, let's see whether or not these two bone conduction headphones deliver as advertised.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Both models arrived in white boxes the front of which is taken by a product picture, company logo and a product description in 3 languages.

The product specifications are printed on the right side.

Turning the box around we find the main features, bundle contents and contact information for Creative.

 The headphones are placed inside formed pieces of thin cardboard which is sufficient for keeping them in place.

Both the Outlier Free+ and the Outlier Pro+ are shipped with a set of silicon earplugs, USB-C magnetic charging cable (charging/data for the Pro+), warranty and specifications paper and the user manual. However, the Outlier Pro+ also has three microphone plugs (prevents water from entering the microphone - obviously for swimmers).

THE OUTLIER FREE+ & PRO+

The Outlier Free+ and Outlier Pro+ bone conduction headphones are identical in size (137x106x44mm) and very similar in weight (30.5g for the former and 32g for the latter).

Creative has placed their logo on the exterior of the right part.

Here is where you'll find both the navigation buttons (on/off - play/pause - low latency on/off - call - bluetooth pairing, volume up/down and next/previous track) and the charging contacts (4 for the Pro+ and 2 for the Free+).

There's also an activity LED at the rear as seen above.

It may not be very easy to spot but the Outlier Pro+ has slightly larger transducers than the Outlier Free+.

The microphone is located at the front of the right transducer and in the case of the Outlier Pro+ this is where you need to insert the bundled plug.

Worth pointing out is that the lithium-ion battery pack is located on the left side of both headphones, and you just need to remove the silicon sleeve to gain access to that compartment as seen above.

CONCLUSION

    When i first heard of bone conduction technology using vibrations to transfer audio to people via their cheekbones (also effective for people suffering from hearing loss - at least as long as they have a functioning cochlea) I thought this would mean people around you wouldn't be able to hear what you're listening and well, that's not the case. Especially when it comes to the Outlier Pro+ model which packs more power people next to you can listen to the same thing you do and even though it's not what I'd call intrusive some people may not like this due to privacy concerns. Overall audio quality doesn't really stand out either (the AAC/SBC audio codecs and buzzing due to vibrations certainly don't help in that regard), definitely not compared to what I've encountered over the years with TWS models. Also worth pointing out is that for the best possible results (for me at least) you will need to use the bundled earplugs and well, that pretty much means you will not have awareness of your surroundings (situational). Still both models produce good overall audio with the Outlier Pro+ clearly surpassing the Outlier Free+ in clarity, bass and even fit (tighter compared to the Outlier Free+). The omni-directional microphones probably work better than expected since I never had an issue during the almost 50 days, I ended up using/testing both models. Yes, they may not the best I've encountered, and audio quality could be considerably better but at least all calls were clear without disconnections and static. As for battery life once again the 10 hours advertised by Creative are not a realistic number, especially since we're talking about bone conduction headphones which need to be used at well over 50% volume for you to be able to listen well to music or even calls. During my tests I was able to surpass 8 hours of playback time once while using the Outlier Free+ (couldn't hit 8 hours with the Pro+) and honestly 7-8 hours is still a very good amount. On top of that you can easily swap batteries something which doesn’t apply to TWS models so that’s certainly very convenient. The lack of an control app is also something that I didn't expect (the ones Creative does have are not compatible) but there are many TWS models out there without one either. All said and done I do realize that bone conduction headphones have a different target audience (especially when it comes to hearing-impaired individuals) so a direct comparison with TWS models may not be quite in order.

    At the time of my review the Creative Outlier Free+ retails for USD69.99/62.99Euros whereas the Outlier Pro+ retails for USD79.99/79.99Euros and at least for is clearly the better choice of the two. Overall, I can’t say that either Outlier model is for me, audio quality is far from what I’ve gotten used to by some TWS models and the vibration is not something I enjoy. At the same time however I am neither a professional athlete (swimmer especially) nor a hearing-impaired person and since especially the Outlier Pro+ does deliver all it should it does deserve the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (IPX5/IPX8 Housings)
- Bone Conduction Technology (Situational Awareness - Ideal For Athletes & Hearing-Impaired Individuals)
- Omni Directional Microphone
- Bluetooth v5.3
- Fit (Especially For The Outlier Pro+)
- Built In 8GB MP3/FLAC/WAV/APE Player (Outlier Pro+)
- Bundled Microphone Plugs (Outlier Pro+)
- Battery Life (Up To 10 Hours)
- Replaceable Batteries
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Audio Quality
- Vibrations (For Some)
- Audio Isolation
- Size (For Some)