Beyerdynamic is jumping headfirst into the world of premium wireless earbuds. The new Free Byrd buds cost a whopping $250 but feature a high-end design with customizable sound and ANC. They’re also massive—like, really big.
The Free Byrd earbuds pack 10mm drivers and support both aptX Adaptive and AAC. They place a strong emphasis on clarity and bass, and like other Beyerdynamic products, they offer MOSAYC sound personalization support through the MIY app. You can even track your listening habits through this app, which is quite interesting.
And since these are premium earbuds, they offer both ANC and Transparency support. Beyerdynamic says that its advanced software can cut all distracting ambient noise without reducing music sound quality, which is an impressive claim, to say the least. Oh, Free Byrd earbuds also support Alexa and Siri, and they should connect to Android phones quickly with Fast Pair.
The earbuds feature a very long battery life. You get an 11-hour playtime from the buds with an additional 19 hours from the charging case. Considering the huge batteries and emphasis on sound quality, I’m not surprised that these earbuds are so big. I don’t have an exact measurement, but we reviewed the Free Byrd, and they’re about the size of Sony’s WF-1000XM4s.
But these are Beyerdynamic’s first pair of wireless earbuds, so early adopters will experience some growing pains. The new MIY app for Beyerdynamic earbuds isn’t available on iOS at launch (it arrives later this month). And Beyerdynamic is still working to let customers alter the earbuds’ controls—you can’t disable the ear sensors just yet, for example.
I’m also confused about a few things. These earbuds only offer IPX4 splash resistance, which seems a bit underwhelming for the price. And while Beyerdynamic includes a ton of differently sized eartips with the Free Byrd buds (including both foam and silicone tips), there aren’t any wingtips, which many people prefer when using large earbuds.
We’re pretty satisfied with the Free Byrd earbuds—check out our detailed review to see everything Beyerdynamic did right (and everything it did wrong). If you want to order the Free Byrds, they’re available today for $250.
