The Creative Outlier Air V2 are a comfortable pair of true wireless in-ear headphones with touch controls and significantly improved battery life compared to the original Outlier Air. You’ll enjoy solid sound quality and stereo audio calls with cVc 8.0 noise reduction. To round it off, the Creative Outlier Air V2 are sweatproof and Super X-Fi READY.
- Brand: Creative
- Battery Life: 34 hours
- Noise Cancellation: cVc 8.0
- Mono Listening: no, stereo
- Bluetooth : yes, 5.0
- Amazing battery life of 12 hours per charge, 34 hours total
- AAC, APTX, and SBC audio codecs
- Stereo audio calls with cVc 8.0 noise reduction
- Comfortable to wear with convenient touch controls
- Super X-Fi READY technology works with local files only
- Premium price for a premium product
Creative Outlier Air V2 other
Creative’s latest true wireless (TWS) earphones, the Outlier Air V2, feature touch controls, Super X-Fi READY technology, and improved battery life. They remain sweat-proof and Creative held on to their clever charging case design. But are they worth the $ 69.99 launch price? We thoroughly examined our pre-release review sample to figure this out for you.
What’s in the Box
The Creative Outlier Air V2 earphones come with a charging case, a short USB-C charging cable, and four pairs of silicone tips in different sizes.
In addition to the hardware, you’ll find a quick start guide, a booklet with safety and regulatory information, and a small leaflet explaining how to register and set up Creative’s Super X-Fi technology.
Before you go ahead and use your new drivers, you’ll need to charge them. Creative placed a few reminders inside the packaging, to make sure you won’t forget.
Outlier Air V2 Specifications
Creative treated the Outlier Air V2 to touch controls, up to two more hours of battery life per charge (four more hours total), and its own Super X-Fi holographic audio technology.
- Design: in-ear headphones
- Color: midnight metallic blue
- Drivers
- type: 5.6 mm graphene driver diaphragm
- frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz
- Audio Codecs: AAC, APTX, SBC
- Microphones: Qualcomm cVc 8.0 noise reduction
- Connectivity
- earbuds: Bluetooth 5.0
- charging case: USB-C
- Bluetooth Profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP
- Operating range: up to 33 ft (10 m)
- Microphone
- type: omnidirectional, one per earbud
- sensitivity: -42 dBV/Pa
- frequency response: 100 Hz – 10 kHz
- Weight
- earbuds: 0.2 oz (6 g) x 2
- charging case: 2.1 oz (60 g)
- Battery Life
- per charge: 12 hours
- with charging case: up to 34 hours
- Charging time
- earbuds: 2 hours in charging case
- charging case: 3 hours
- Water resistance: IPX5, sweatproof
- Price: $ 69.99
Operating the Outlier Air V2
The Outlier Air V2 reside in a sleek charging case. To open it, gently push its right side and the tray holding the earphones will slide out to the left.
We noticed that the Outlier Air V2 charging case is slightly longer than that of the Outlier Gold. Creative explained that they “redesigned the circuitry, and to accommodate this more efficient design, enlarged the case slightly.”
If you look closely, you’ll notice that the charging pins have moved, and the tiny magnets that hold the earphones in place have vanished into the interior of the case and earphones. Nevertheless, the magnetic attraction actually feels a bit stronger than before. Overall, we love these elegant details.
Now shift your gaze to the left side of the case. Here, three status lights indicate the charging status for the earphones (L and R), as well as the case itself (middle). Remember to fully charge the entire set before you use the earbuds for the first time.
Follow the step-by-step instructions on the box for the first-time pairing of your earbuds. Generally, the Bluetooth pairing process tends to be more fragile and unpredictable on Windows 10, so be extra diligent here.
Once paired, your earphones will give you full control over playback, pause, and calls. The Air V2 supports triple-tap, and the various taps have different functions, depending on the mode you’re in. For example, the triple-tap jumps to the previous or next track in playback mode but triggers Siri or Google Assistant in pause mode. You’ll find a full list of controls in the quick start guide.
Outlier Air V2 Sound & Call Quality
The Creative Outlier Air V2 carry mid-range 5.6 mm Graphene drivers, which produce a solid sound across the entire spectrum. While the sound lacks depth, and you won’t be able to hear the finer details that larger drivers can resonate, the bass is audible and the highs are clear.
In addition to the standard SBC audio codec, the Outlier Air V2 also support AAC and aptX. These higher end codecs facilitate improved audio quality and lower latency, though it’s tough to actually hear the difference. Overall, the Outlier Air V2 passed our standard earphone test and produced a satisfying sound for podcasts, audio calls, and music.
These earbuds don’t feature active noise cancellation, but the passive noise reduction is better than on other earphones we’ve tested recently. Just make sure you choose tips with a tight fit.
What the Outlier Air V2 do feature is cVc 8.0, a technology that reduces ambient noise pollution on audio calls. For example, if you have a fan running while on a call, the Outlier Air V2 will filter out the background noise, making your voice sound clearer on the receiving end. This feature worked like a charm in our tests.
Finally, you can pair and use each earphone independently. However, unlike many cheaper TWS headphones, the dual-voice call feature will let you enjoy stereo sound during audio calls.
What Does Super X-Fi READY Mean?
Super X-Fi READY is a new feature in the Outlier Air V2. Creative’s Super X-Fi technology turns regular audio tracks into an immersive 3D listening experience. Using AI-powered software, Super X-Fi creates an audio profile that’s custom-fit to your ears and hence simulates life-like spatial hearing. Check out our Creative SXFI AIR review for more details on how headphone holography works and how to set up Creative’s Super X-Fi.
We can’t part without highlighting a major drawback of the Super X-Fi READY technology: The audio processing happens in the SXFI App, meaning it only works with local audio files that played using the app. If you’d like to enjoy the experience with audio from third-party sources, like Spotify, YouTube, or Netflix, you’ll have to invest in headphones that come with the technology built-in, such as the Creative SXFI AIR mentioned above.
Outlier Air V2 Battery Life
When you invest in a nice pair of earphones to use on the go, battery life should be a primary concern. And that’s where the Outlier Air V2 shine.
In our tests, we landed at well over 11 hours on a single charge. With a mix of music, TV shows, webinars, podcasts, and audio calls, we really put these earphones through the paces. Under perfectly controlled conditions, you could get up to 12 hours per charge, which, including the charging case, would give you a total of 34 hours of battery life. Realistically, you’re looking at around 32 hours total, which is still top of its (price) class.
Our Outlier Air V2 Verdict
The Creative Outlier Air V2 are a great pair of TWS in-ear headphones.
We love the design, the touch controls are much better than the button in the previous iteration, and the battery life is excellent. While they don’t quite achieve the killer battery life of the Outlier Gold, the Outlier Air V2 come close and, at this price point, beat the competition hands-down.
Frankly, we found very little to criticize. If we had to highlight one thing, then it’s that the Super X-Fi READY technology shouldn’t influence your purchasing decision, simply because it won’t work with streaming audio. And of course, at this price and with this battery life, you won’t get active noise-cancellation; something’s gotta give.
But if you’re looking for a comfortable pair of TWS earphones with solid sound, quality design, and amazing battery life at a fair price, look no further than the Creative Outlier Air V2.
