When exercising in the gym or while at work, the last thing you need is a headphone cable getting damaged or getting caught on something! If you are ready to walk the path to wireless, the Optoma NuForce BE Free6 should, definitely, cross your path!
The NuForce BE Free6 earphones have a sleak, yet understated design with a smooth matte black finish on the body and a rather artistic tactile button control with a transparent, flattened pearl-like design that integrates two small NU shaped leds with dual purpose.
On one hand, the NU leds blink blue and orange during pairing mode and will blink orange while charging. The NU letters blink first and then, become solid orange to indicate full charge, which is neat.
The shell housing the 5.6mm dynamic graphene-coated drivers has a peculiar large wide construction with a narrow nozzle neck on the front, which help to keep the earbuds securely in the ears. The sound quality is superb with detailed highs and deeper bass than you expect, thanks to the larger than normal driver chamber.
SBC is the default audio codec for Android devices and there is no support for aptX. Thanks to bluetooth 5.0 , lag isn't an issue with Android devices when watching videos on YouTube. With iOS devices, lag can be an issue if earphones don't support the AAC codec. Since the BE Free6 support AAC, there is no lag issue when listening to iTunes files.
The BE Free6 buttons are tactile, have a subtle clicky feedback and are multifunctional so, you can play/pause, mute calls, take calls, prompt voice assistant and skip forward and skip backward tracks from either earbud.
The charging case is also black but has a very unique textured finish that is extremely grippy in the hands and feels like rubbing against a smooth rock surface. The finish of the case does not attract oily smudges or finger prints, which is nice.
The weight of the BE Free6 case is 57 grams. The BE Free6 earphones themselves look like they might be heavy but they only weigh 13 grams.
The USB-C port is on the back and the charging case has a standard clam-style opening that is easy to open via a narrow indentation on the front where you also find three small led indicators to show battery status.
The BE Free6 case can hold 18 hours worth of battery power, which is enough charge to recharge the NuForce BE Free6 earphones three times over. The internal battery inside the earbuds can hold 6 hours worth of charge from a single charge.
The NuForce BE Free6 earphones and companion USB-C charging case integrate Quick Charge technology, meaning faster charging. From a 15-minute charge, you can top up 60 minutes worth of battery power.
The NuForce BE Free6 earphones are IPX5 certified water resistant; hence you can use them while exercising without worrying about the sweat.
The integration of bluetooth version 5 offers a stronger, more stable connection when connected to a device that also integrates bluetooth 5.0. This is very much the case with all bluetooth 5.0 headphones although that doesn't mean you cannot connect the NuForce BE Free6 earphones to a device running bluetooth 4.2 or older version of bluetooth, which you can.
The 24-hour battery life rating of the NuForce BE Free6 earphones is also dependent on whether you connect them to a bluetooth 5.0 and listen to music at medium volume.
Speaking of volume, the volume sound is quieter than you expect at maximum volume and there is a reason for this because Optoma appears to have limited the volume of the NuForce BE Free6 earphones lower than normal by design. When listening to music at maximum volume, it feels like listening at 70%-75% volume, which is a decent ballpark for getting good volume sound and decent battery life anyways since listening at 100% does obviously drain battery faster. If you prefer earphones without limited volume, check out the BE2 and BE Sport4
The BE Free6 feature automatic power-on when the earphones are taken out of the charging case and automatic power-off when the earphones are put back in the charging case. The Be Free6 charging dock area is magnetized, which prevents the earphones from falling out of the charging case even if you tip over the charging case.
Since both earpieces integrate a microphone, the Optoma BE Free6 can be used in mono and stereo mode, meaning you can connect both earpieces to one device at the same time, or connect one single earpiece directly to two different devices.
The vast majority of true wireless earphones, including the NuForce BE Free6, integrate an omnidirectional microphone with pickup pattern, meaning sound is picked up from all directions; hence background noise is also picked up along with your voice, which isn't ideal. Luckily, the NuForce BE Free6 earphones integrate noise cancellation and "clear voice ", which reduces people chatter and other background noises, as well as the rumble of wind noise.
With handheld microphones, wind noise reduction is easily achieved with a microphone blimp and windscreen but with wireless earbuds like the NuForce BE Free6, wind noise reduction is achieved by reducing the bass frequency from the microphone signal.
Included with the BE Free6 are four pairs of different size silicone eartips, as well as a flat USB-A to USB-C charging cable and an illustration user guide. A pair of SpinFit eartips come fitted with the earphones.