Surface Earbuds actual machine thorough review. Excellent compatibility with Windows 10 PC (Kazuki Kasahara)

Surface Earbuds, Microsoft's second audio product, was also released in Japan.

The price is 23,980 yen (tax included), and it is sold at the Microsoft Store (online) and consumer electronics retailers nationwide.

When you actually use it, you will find that it has a compact case, supports aptX, a high-quality codec supported by Windows 10, and has a setting tool for Windows 10. As a feature, it is a convenient complete wireless earphone if used in combination with a Windows 10 PC.

Microsoft's second audio product is the Surface Earbuds, which are completely wireless earphones

▲Surface Earbuds outer box and open view

Surface Earbuds are Microsoft's second audio offering. It will be the next product after Surface Headphones released two years ago. It is a so-called completely wireless product, and it is an earphone that wirelessly transfers audio signals with Bluetooth.

There are two types of these earphones: the inner ear type that hooks on the protrusion of the ear, and the canal type that closes the ear hole with an earpiece like an earplug, but this product is the inner ear type in the sense that it hooks on the protrusion of the ear. However, it can be said that it is close to the canal type in terms of using earpieces, but it can be said that it can be classified as an inner ear type product because it does not completely block the ear holes.

▲ Contents, USB-A to USB-C cable and earpiece are included

▲Case and body

▲Earpiece (left) and main unit (right)

▲Three types of earpieces, L, M, and S, are included from the back.

Earpieces are available in three sizes (S, M, L) and are included as standard.

If you choose a smaller earpiece, it will be unstable, and on the contrary, if you choose too big, your ears will hurt. I want to try everything and choose an earpiece that is just the right size. The writer, who is a large Japanese person, felt that the L was a little tight, and the M was a little small. It fits just right when attached to the ear while rotating.

Compared to the in-ear type, which feels like you can easily insert it into your ear, you feel less pressure on your ears, but in the case of the in-canal type, you have a wide variety of earpiece options, and when you include third-party items, you can really feel the pressure on your ears. There are many options, and in the end it is possible to find something that suits you.

On the other hand, in the case of Surface Earbuds, you have to choose the one that suits you from the three attached, so if the standard three do not suit you, you have no choice but to give up.

In that sense, it doesn't matter if it's an option, so I wanted earpieces between S and M or between M and L.

The color variation is a whitish gray color called "light gray", which is close to the "platinum" color of the Surface series sold by Microsoft, and will not feel uncomfortable when used with it. Personally, I felt that it would be easier to match with other devices if there was a color such as black.

Advantages compared to Sony WF-1000XM3: smaller case, aptX support, Windows configuration tool

▲ WF-1000XM3 case on the left, Surface Earbuds case on the right

The hardware specs are as follows, and I compared the specs with Sony's WF-1000XM3, which can be said to be the most highly rated product among complete wireless earphones.

▲ [Table 1] Comparison between WF-1000XM3 and Surface Earbuds

There are three things I feel the Surface Earbuds do better. One is the compactness of the case, the second is the codec, and the third is the presence of a configuration utility for Windows.

As you can see from the photos, the case of the WF-1000XM3 is quite large. It's just too big to put in your pocket, and it's a little heavy at 74.9g. On the other hand, the Surface Earbuds are compact and weigh only 40g. It can be said that Surface Earbuds are superior in this regard.

▲ Button for BT pairing on the bottom

▲ Charging is done using USB Type-C

The second is that it supports aptX in addition to the standard SBC as a Bluetooth codec. In order to efficiently transmit a large amount of data that achieves high sound quality in a band that is not sufficient for Bluetooth audio (A2DP), a specific codec (compression procedure) is used to compress the data before it is sent on the receiving side. is being played while decrypting.

The standard uses a codec called SBC, but the delay is large and the compression efficiency is not sufficient. HD audio codecs such as aptX HD, which is the HD version of , are available, and these codecs can be used when the source (sending side) and sink (receiving side) are compatible.

The available codecs depend on the device's OS specifications. For example, iOS supports SBC and AAC, Android depends on the product, but most devices with Android 8.0 or later support aptX, AAC, LDAC, aptX HD, and almost all codecs. It supports SBC and aptX. For this reason, Surface Earbuds can be played using aptX when connected to Windows and Android devices.

▲[Table 2] Device OS and codecs used for playback

On the other hand, the WF-1000XM3 supports standard SBC and AAC, and can be played with AAC for iOS and Android, but Windows 10 does not support AAC, so it can be played with standard SBC. As a result, the sound quality is slightly degraded.

The third is that there is a configuration tool that supports Windows. The WF-1000XM3 has a setting tool for Android and iOS that allows you to make settings and update the firmware. However, since there is no Windows configuration tool, it is necessary to connect to an Android or iOS device to update the firmware.

▲ Android setting tool "Surface Audio"

▲ Windows setting tool "Surface Audio"

On the other hand, Surface Earbuds can download an application distributed in the Windows Store called "Surface Audio" to change the device settings on Windows and update the firmware. It also supports SwiftPair (high-speed pairing function) implemented in Windows 10, and when you turn on the device and bring it near the device, Windows automatically recognizes the device and displays the tile. Pairing is done just by pressing.

Although this is common to both, Bluetooth pairing supports multi-devices, but does not support multi-point. For this reason, it is possible to simply pair with multiple devices and disconnect from other devices before switching to use, but it is not possible to connect to multiple devices at the same time and switch to use.

It takes some getting used to using the touch sensor, but once you get used to it, it's convenient, mainly recommended for Windows 10 users.

▲ WF-1000XM3 touch sensor that can be tapped and Surface Earbuds that can also be swiped

The feature of Surface Earbuds is the operation using a touch sensor like a dish prepared on the surface. The WF-1000XM3 also has a touch sensor, but it has a small area and can only be operated by tapping, not swiping.

Honestly, being able to swipe is nice, but it takes some getting used to before you can reliably swipe.

For example, you need to swipe the left touch sensor from back to front to forward (play the next song), and swipe the left touch sensor from front to back to go back (play the previous song). become.

Until you get used to it, 8-9 times out of 10, you'll end up with a digital assistant (Siri, Cortana, etc.) that can be summoned by long-pressing the touch sensor, which is frustratingly interrupting song playback. was hit by After a few tries, I found that by swiping on the top third of the touch sensor, I was able to skip forward and backward songs about 9 out of 10 times. In that sense, it takes some getting used to.

In addition, this touch gesture operation cannot be partially turned off. For example, it is not possible to turn off only the function that calls the digital assistant by long-pressing as mentioned above, and it is possible to set the entire touch gesture on and off from the setting tool.

▲ You can turn touch gestures on and off by using the setting tool

Also, as a unique function, it is possible to use the previous forward and backward as forward and backward in PowerPoint presentations. Specifically, swiping the left touch sensor from back to front will move to the next slide, and vice versa, swiping from front to back will move to the previous slide.

If you are using this product when you have a conference call in a telework environment like now, you can use this product to operate the forwarding of the slides.

As for sound quality, it depends on what codecs the source device supports. Using the WF-1000XM3 and Surface Earbuds on Windows favors Surface Earbuds with aptX enabled, and vice versa on iOS.

I compared it with Android, which supports both, but I felt that Sony was more to my liking. To be more fair, I've been using the WF-1000XM3 on a regular basis, and I think the factor of getting used to the sound is not small. However, if you consider that Surface Earbuds is not a product produced by an audio manufacturer like Sony, I think the sound is good enough.

The WF-1000XM3 supports the noise canceling function, and the effect is not small. Especially in an environment with a certain amount of noise, such as in a train, the volume can be suppressed, so it can be said that there is no need to worry about sound leakage. On that point, Surface Earbuds do not have a noise canceling function, so I would like to be a little careful about adjusting the volume.

As mentioned above, the Surface Earbuds are still correct as completely wireless earphones for Windows devices. Its advantage is that it supports aptX, the only high-quality codec supported by Windows 10, and that it has a setting tool for Windows 10, which is not found in other completely wireless earphones. I think that it is equipped with

Conversely, if you ask me if there is any merit to actively buying for users who mainly use Android and iOS, I honestly feel that there is no such thing. You can use aptX on Android, but it can be said that iOS does not support AAC, which is a pretty fatal weakness. In that sense, it can be said that it is worth considering if you are a user who mainly uses a PC with Windows 10 and occasionally wants to use it on an Android smartphone.