Gravastar Sirius Pro True Wireless Review

The Gravastar Sirius Pro True Wireless earphones impress with impeccable design, build quality and sound quality to match. With dedicated listening modes up to 5.1 virtual surround sound, a very compact form factor and four unique colour options available they siriusly have a lot to offer.

Gravastar Sirius Pro in Battleworn Yellow.

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Sturdy and Well Built

The Gravastar Sirius Pro are small lightweight and extremely well built making them perfect for long gaming sessions without the fatigue that would normally come from a more standard in ear.

they immerse you in whatever content you are viewing …

They feature a zinc alloy case with a “siriusly” satisfying flip top making them ultra durable to throw into a pocket or a bag without fear of damage or scratching.

The earbuds themselves are lightweight but still have a great feeling in the hand weighing in at only 6g per earbud, pair this with the small, medium and large ear tips included you will find a fit that avoids fatigue in long gaming sessions.

“Siriusly” Good Features

The Sirius Pro have a plethora of features to give you the edge in games but also immerse you in whatever content you are viewing. They feature three different modes to tailor the listening to your content.

Gaming Mode – Allowing you to hear directional sound with extreme clarity using 5.1 virtual surround sound.

Movie Mode – Become fully immersed even on the move with HD surround sound allowing you to hear every explosion and whoosh.

Music Mode – With clean natural vocals and bass you can feel music mode makes you feel the music as much as hearing it.

These earbuds aren’t just good for consuming media they are great for communication too, they use environmental noise cancelation to cut out annoying background noise and give strong natural voices giving you great call quality no matter the environment.

The Nerd Stuff

Now the technical stuff, the earbuds use Knowles balance armatures and 7.2mm dynamic drivers. This allows them to perform great in the lower ranges with great bass as well as the mids and highs. Using cutting edge Bluetooth 5.2 Technology means the earbuds pair faster and last longer.

The earbuds have a 4h battery life and a solid 3 more charges with the 400mAh charging case. The case also features a USB Type-C charging case which is a must for all modern gadgets and a 3 hour charge time gets you back in the game as soon as possible.

The Sirius Pro‘s case also uses an incredibly pleasing looking LED bar to indicate the charge status of the case and earbuds which fits perfectly with the sci fi theme.

…even works as a bottle opener!

But wait there is more … no “Siriusly”!

The packaging really fits with the theme of the Sirius Pro with an almost hand painted look this is a box case you will want to display proudly, they also include a chain allowing you to wear your earphones for easy access.

The charging case even works as a bottle opener which is an interesting feature but it does really highlight the sturdy nature of the zinc alloy case.

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Like the style but don’t need all the features? The Gravastar Sirius is perfect for you!

Interested in all things Gravastar? Check out more News and Reviews here!

Check out our top picks for wireless Earbuds and Headphones here!

Lypertek PurePlay Z5 ANC TWS Review

The Lypertek PurePlay Z5 was released in the first half of 2022. This is their first ANC model and what an absolute treat they are. Feature packed & with impressive sound quality to boot. How do they do it for such a competitive price?

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Fit and Comfort 9/10

The Lypertek PurePlay Z5 have quite a different design to previous Lypertek models. They have a rounded body and a stem which greatly improves ANC effectiveness along with mic placement for calls. This design also works really well in terms of fit. Even for smaller ears they are easy to put in and get a solid, secure fit for everyday use.

These are really comfortable & super easy to wear for long listening sessions

Comfort wise, once you find the right eartips (and there are plenty included to choose from) they are easy to wear for long listening sessions. This is not only due to the smooth housings but the light weight of the earpieces as well. There are no issues wearing these for a few hours at a time. The Z5 is also an optionl for light sports use due to their comfy and secure fit.

ANC 9/10

The ANC is a huge new feature for Lypertek, and one that works very well. When using these in areas with a constant stream of noise (such as sitting on a train) they do a great job to drown it out. It is easy to toggle on and off with the touch controls or via the app. Lypertek have absolutely nailed it with the Z5.

Purecontrol ANC App 10/10

The app is fantastic and easy to use. It allows the user to also fine tune the earphones to their tastes. With EQ curves (including custom ones), ANC on/off and also an Ambient mode which allows outside noise to be heard. LDX (Lypertek Definition eXpander) mode is also supported on the Z5. It has a dedicated button within the app to turn it on and it works well to enhance the space, depth and clarity of the sound. An absolute must try!

Mic 9/10

The stem is perfect for better microphone placement than normal true wireless designs. Resulting with the call quality on the Z5 being truly excellent. At home or out and about, the other person will hear your voice with great tone and clarity. It goes without saying these are some of the best we have tried when it comes to call quality.

It goes without saying these are some of the best we have tried when it comes to call quality.

Auto Ambient Mode 10/10

Simply one of the best features from the App. This turns ambient mode on automatically when you pause music & is such a handy feature to have. It means you don’t have to take the Z5’s out of your ears to hear people or announcements.

Sound 10/10

The below assessment is with all sound enhancements turned off. You can easily tune the PurePlay Z5 to your tastes with EQ. Not forgetting that the LDX mode is a great one click boost for those wanting and more spacious and engaging sound.

Bass: The perfect amount for out and about listeners in my opinion. These are punchy and fun whilst retaining good body and control. The bass is well controlled and keeps up with complex mixes with ease

Midrange: Open, spacious and natural, the midrange is portrayed in excellent fashion on the Z5’s never sounding drowned out or pushed too far back in the mix. Vocals manage to cut through the mix with great clarity and presence without sounding peaky or harsh.

Treble: Well extended yet not overly hot or in your face. The transition from the upper midrange in to the lower treble is well controlled without any unwanted sibilance. Yet there is still good energy in the lower treble to stop them from sounding dull or dark.

Instrument separation is really impressive, especially for a true wireless model.

Soundstaging and Instrument Separation

There is a good amount of air around instruments and good layering overall. They might not throw out the widest of soundstages but they manage to sound quite airy and open. Instrument separation is really impressive, especially for a true wireless model. these sound very controlled and well separated even when listening to complex music tracks.

Other Notable Features:

  • IPX4 rating means they’ll be fine for most sports use, but they are not ideal for use in areas of high moisture or heavier rain.
  • The case has the usual USB-C charging port & also supports wireless charging.
  • Touch controls – you can modify the touch controls in the app to your liking. But of the box they are fool-proof (2 taps on the right to skip track forwards. 2 taps on the left to skip backwards. 3 on the right for volume up. 3 on the left for volume down. 2s press on either to turn ANC on/off. 1 tap then long press on either to activate voice assistant. 2 taps then long press to manually turn them off).
  • Safe mode! a touch control configuaration that helps you not to accidently do something you didn’t want to.
  • Bluetooth 5.2
  • All the main codecs (AAC, aptX Adaptive, SBC).
  • Battery life is 7hrs (+28 from the case) with ANC off, and 4hrs (+16 from the case)

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Cleer Audio Release Arc True Wireless Earbuds

Cleer Audio Release Arc True Wireless Earbuds – these allow you to enjoy spatial awareness whilst listening on-the-go.

Open ear wireless earbuds do not completely cover your ear, which means that you are still able to hear the world around you. This is often a more comfortable fit. Earbuds that are placed directly in your ear will offer a degree of noise-cancelling functionality, so when it comes to choosing between the two, it will most likely boil down to whether or not you want to hear the outside world. For safety reasons, being able to hear the world around you is a good thing, depending on where you’re wearing the buds of course.

Impressive battery life, water resistance and booming sound are all housed in flexible open-ear true wireless earbuds with a secure fit to ensure that you have the best possible sound experience.

Let’s take a look at some of the features:

• Open-ear true wireless earbuds design with flexible fit to ensure that the earbuds fit comfortable without blocking out environmental sounds.

• Uninterrupted sound by directing high-quality audio into your ear to ensure powerful sound without compromising on sacrificing spatial awareness. You can listen to your favourite music and podcasts while still being in tune and connected to the world around you.

• Durable water-resistant design with IPX4 certified sweatproof and water-resistant rating to help you power through intense workouts. You’ll also never need to worry about a little bit of rain getting in the way of listening to your favourite audio.

• Dynamic audio for powerful sound delivered with ARC’s 16.2mm neodymium drivers, designed to beam audio toward your ears without sacrificing volume and bass.

• Long-lasting battery life is able to last 7 hours on a single charge. The charging-pad integrated carrying case also makes charging your Cleer ARC earbuds a whole lot more convenient.

• Easy to use touch controls make adjusting the volume, playing, and pausing and skipping tracks a lot simpler. You can also use them to take calls and access your phone’s virtual assistant.

• Customizable with the Cleer+ App to personalize controls, update the device and adjust the EQ as well as music playback.

Cleer Release

Pre-Order Now

Cleer Goal true wireless sports earphones review

The Cleer Goal true wireless earphones are designed for active users, allowing you to hear your surroundings as you work towards your personal best.

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Fit and comfort

The Goal is completely unique when it comes to fit. They have a hybrid design, with Apple Airpod style earbuds held in place using replaceable rubber fins. This combination is intended to keep the earphones secure while in use, allowing you to hear what’s going on around you while you listen. With that in mind, don’t expect the Goal to create a seal around the ear – they are designed to sit in place with the help of the provided fins. There is a selection of different sized fins, and it is important that you try them all to find the best fit for you. I used the large size, and they worked a treat – saying that, they do take a bit of getting used to as it is such a different experience when compared to standard earphones. Once you have twisted them into place, they stay put and you’ll barely notice you’re wearing them.

Features

Being a true wireless earphone, the Goal uses touch sensitive controls to play/pause, skip tracks, take calls, adjust volume and activate voice assistant. The controls are very easy to use, as the touch area is easy to find thanks to it being scooped slightly into the housing – the perfect size for finger tips. The earphones are IPX4 rated, so they are sweat proof and water resistant which is ideal for working out. You also get a total of 20 hours of battery life from the Goal – with 6 hours from the earphones and them a further 14 hours from the supplied charging case. The case itself works very well, and the design isn’t the smallest – yet it is shaped in a way that is easy to slip into a pocket.

Sound

Due to the fit of the Goal, the sound is airy and spacious. As there is no seal created, you’d expect there to be no bass. Cleer have managed to avoid that though. By using a custom tuned 14mm dynamic driver, bass is punchy and very present – providing depth and body. The mids are very cleer, and they allow vocals and snare hits to really stand out and bring rhythm to the experience. The treble brings air and space to the mix, which overall is wide and well defined.

Conclusion

The Cleer Goal is obviously designed for active use, and perform very well in this setting. Once you have found the right fit, they will stay in place and the added benefit of hearing your surroundings makes them ideal for jogging or even going for a long walk while listening to your favourite podcast.

Cleer announce new headphone and speaker releases at CES 2021

Cleer have certainly been busy, and have announced a range of new products at this years CES – Including true wireless earphones, noise cancelling headphones and a smart speaker. Here’s what we know so far.

Cleer Ally Plus II – Noise Cancelling True Wireless Earphones

An update to the previous Ally Plus, the Cleer Ally Plus II has a planned release for March 2021, and they come with some impressive specs and features.

  • 10mm Graphene Drivers
  • 11+22 Hours Battery Life
  • Adaptive Noise Cancelling with Feed Forward & Feed Backward Technology
  • Custom EQ and ANC Control via Cleer+ App
  • Wireless Charging
  • IPX4 Water and Sweat Resistance
  • SRP: £129.99

Cleer Roam NC – Noise Cancelling True Wireless Earphones

This is a brand new model for 2021. The Cleer Roam NC will be Cleer’s entry level noise cancelling true wireless earphone model. With a planned release in April, and and SRP of only £59.99 – this is definitely a release to look out for.

  • 5.8mm Custom Dynamic Drivers
  • 5+10 Hours Battery Life
  • Noise Cancelling Technology – blocks up to 25db
  • Custom EQ and ANC Control via Cleer+ App
  • IPX4 Water and Sweat Resistance
  • SRP: £59.99

Cleer Enduro ANC – Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones

Packed with impressive features, the new Cleer Enduro ANC wireless noise cancelling headphones look to be a winning combination of price and performance. Release planned for February 2021.

  • 40mm Ironless Drivers
  • 60 Hours Battery Life
  • Active Noise Cancelling + Ambient Mode
  • Custom EQ and ANC Control via Cleer+ App
  • New Qualcomm QCC5126 Chip
  • SRP: £149.99

Cleer Crescent – Smart Audio Speaker

We are very excited about this one. The award winning Cleer Crescent smart speaker looks stunning, and with features including Google Assistant, unique room settings and a dynamic listening experience thanks to the 10 speaker drivers – the Crescent looks to revolutionise the smart speaker. Planned to be released January 2021.

  • Unique 8 Linear Array Full-Range 40mm Drivers
  • plus 2 Back Firing 3.3″ Woofers
  • High-Res Audio Streaming
  • Unique Room DSPs – Stereo Widening, 3D and Room Fill
  • Google Assistant
  • SRP: £699.99

Video Review: The Difference Between Wireless and True Wireless

Wireless Vs True Wireless

Hey everyone, John here. We’re all moving into a wire free world. You can get a wireless version of most gadgets now, and to make things confusing, you can even choose whether you want wireless or true wireless. What’ll be next… really true wireless? Or the truest wireless? Anyway, we’re going to explain the differences between wireless and true wireless.

The term wireless, when it comes to headphones, has been around since the late 60’s. Back then, wireless headphones needed their own transmitter in order to get a wire free signal to them. These transmitters used radio frequencies and were mainly used to watch TV with. Earphones were also used in this way but were not very common. The early wireless earphones had a stethoscope design and were mainly used for those who were hard of hearing and needed some assistance, again mainly to watch TV with or listen to the radio.

Then something amazing happened. Bluetooth. This technology named after the 10th century king of Denmark (King Harald Bluetooth) changed the world of wireless listening, and opened it up to everyone to be used anywhere.

With the help of Bluetooth, wireless earphones have become extremely popular. Now the name would suggest that there are no wires, but this is not the case. Wireless earphones can connect to your device wirelessly, however there is always a wire that connects the two ear pieces together.

Wireless Earphones

There are three main design choices for wireless earphones. Possibly the most common type is where the wire is designed to fall behind the back of the head, with a cable tightener used to fit the wire as tight as you like. This design is very good for active users, as the tight fit means there is less chance of the wire moving around while in use, and helps provide a secure fit of the earphones.

Another style of wireless earphone is where the cable is designed to rest along the back of the neck, using a longer wire with a looser fit. This design is potentially more comfortable as you don’t have a wire tight behind your head, it does however move around more as there is nothing securing it in place.

Lastly and recently gaining popularity is the neckband design. Similar to the previous, but these earphones have a solid neck band which holds the wire in place, achieving the best of both worlds. Having the wire secure around the neck is also useful when not in use, as you can just let the earphones dangle without the risk of losing them.

Having a wire between the earphones not only allows them to connect to each other, it also provides space for a microphone, controls and batteries to be placed. This means that the ear pieces can be smaller, controls are easy to use, call quality is very good due to the microphone being placed close to your mouth and battery life is very impressive, with some models achieving up to 30 hours from a single charge.

Now, how do you get more wireless than wireless? You go true wireless.

True Wireless

With true wireless earphones, not only do they connect wirelessly to your device, the ear pieces themselves connect wirelessly to each other. So, no wires at all.

It’s obvious why true wireless earphones have become so popular, as there are many benefits. The main one being: no wires. You get complete freedom. This makes true wireless earphones ideal for active use, as much as general portable use; they can do it all. Having no wires makes them extremely comfortable, so much so that sometimes it’s easy to forget they’re in your ears. No wires also means that there is nothing to get tangled. Hurrah!

True wireless earphones are supplied with their own carry case, which also acts as a portable charger. So when you’re done using them, not only will the case keep them safe, it will also charge the batteries up for when you next need them.

True wireless earphones aren’t all perfect though, there are a few compromises to be made for all of the practical benefits.

As there are no wires, everything needs to be packed into the ear pieces. Speaker driver, amp, DAC, battery, controls, microphone and all the other techy bits needed for them to work. This means that the ear pieces are bigger than normal wireless earphones and there isn’t much space. Batteries are smaller giving less usage time, with around 10 hours being the maximum on a single charge. The microphone is further away from your mouth, which effects call speech quality. Sound quality is compromised, as the drivers need to share space with everything else and there is less power to work with. They are also a lot easier to lose, being so small means they can easily be dropped or misplaced without being careful.

True wireless earphones are still new, and the quality, performance and value for money is constantly improving. So even though it is easy for me to pick at the problems. I can see why the benefits of convenience, comfort, functionality and style outweigh the negatives. Me personally, I’m still a wired earphone kinda guy. But with the rate at which the true wireless technology is advancing, that could one day change.