One of the defining features of Ultimate Ears' earbuds is that they're custom-fit to your ears, which not only makes them more comfortable, but also helps block out ambient noise. However, the company's least expensive model has been $500 — until now.
Available for pre-order starting today for $249, the new Ultimate Ears Fits are not only affordable but use a new ear-molding technology that the company says takes just 60 seconds. The fit should be a lot more personalized than the Ear Tips that come with the AirPods Pro.
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The UE Fits use the company's so-called Lightform technology, which molds the gel-filled tips to a person's ear in about a minute. With Ultimate Ears' other earbuds, you have to create an ear mold using an in-home kit or by going to an audiologist, then send the molds to Ultimate Ears so it can create your earbuds. So, there's a lot more instant gratification here.
The UE Fits come in three colors — Cloud (Grey), Dawn (Lilac) and Eclipse (Navy) — as well as a matching charging case, which holds up to 20 hours of additional battery life. The Fits themselves are good for about 8 hours of battery life.
The UE app will guide users through the fitting process, and after, will let you customize the touch controls on the buds themselves. You will be able to adjust things such as equalizer presets and settings, activate a voice assistant, skip tracks, and adjust volume.
Don't expect quite the same quality audio as you'd get from UE's other earbuds. The UE Fits have a single 10mm driver, while the company's other products have two or more—but we'd be surprised if the sound quality wasn't exceptional. They have a frequency response of 20Hz to 20 kHz and support SBC, AAC, and APT-X audio codecs.
Unlike the AirPods Pro, the UE Fits do not have active noise cancellation, but the custom fit should help block out a lot of surrounding noise. They're also IPX4-rated to withstand sweat, and have dual microphones to help cancel out wind noise when making phone calls.
The UE Fits weigh 0.28 ounces and measure 1.38 inches in length.
We're curious to see how the in-home fitting process works, as well as how the earbuds sound. At $249, they're the same price as the Apple AirPods Pro, and $50 more expensive than the Jabra Elite Active 75t; is the custom fit worth the extra money? We'll find out.
