Before true wireless earbuds became a thing, there was just wireless earbuds, you know, those with cables in between! Then, came the wave of true wireless earbuds, threatening to sweep and almost relegate wireless earphones to the pages of history, although wireless earphones haven't budge an inch from being relevant! Out of all true wireless, those with small ear pieces are the current trend, so much so, that the other type (with ear hooks) hardly get a mention!
The Ryme ProSport are true wireless earphones with earhooks, featuring the classic bulky design, which may not be everyone's cup of tea but, they are the best in the business for sports and fitness, staying in place no matter how strenuous your activity is! And, it isn't just running or cycling earphones with ear hooks are great for. If you have a job that requires handling machinery and want to listen to music safely without worrying about the earphones falling and jamming the machinery, earphones with ear hooks are the ones to go for.
The Ryme ProSport body measures 4cm long, 1.5cm high and 0.7cm thick and integrate large ear hooks that go around the top of the ear. The Ryme ProSport also come with a charging case, which doubles as a powerbank and storage case, all rolled into one.
The Ryme ProSport charging case features a large screen display on top to feedback battery status of the earbuds and the charging case itself. The earbud battery status is displayed via a 4-tier raindrop led design. The charging case battery is numerically displayed form 0 to 100%, which is easier to read.
Just like the earbuds, the Ryme ProSport charging case is bulky with a squarish style, measuring 4cm high, 6.5cm long and 6.5cm wide. Despite the size, the Ryme ProSport are relatively lightweight, weighing 59 grams (charging case) and 7.5 grams (per earbud). The ProSport charging case takes 40 minutes to charge via USB-C cable and can store an extra 22 hours of charging power. There is quick charge support for the ProSport earbuds, giving you 1 hour playtime from a 10 minute re-charge. Each ProSport earbud has a runtime of 3.5 hours at 50% volume.
The Bluetooth 5.0 chip does not support simultaneous (multipoint) connection, but it supports standard bluetooth and SBC codec; hence no aptX and AAC support, which help reduce lag when watching videos. That said, the lack of higher resolution codec support is not likely to be a deal breaker since the Ryme ProSport are designed for exercise (with an IPX5 water resistance rating).
The Ryme ProSport charging case opens and stays upright via a plastic hinge lid. The docking area is large and designed to keep the ProSport earbuds sitting upright inside the case. Taking the earbuds out of the case is super easy, although putting them back is a little fiddly at first until you get used to the right way around. When opening the ProSport charging case, you are greeted with a loud voice prompt, announcing the earbuds are in bluetooth pairing mode, which is always a useful feature that lets you pair the earbuds without having to take them out of the case. There is also a loud and clear prompt when maxing out the volume.
The ProSport earbuds are made entirely of hard plastic, including the ear hooks which have a thin rubbery coat. The buttons are also made of plastic and are very small giving the large size of the ProSport earbuds. That said, once you get used to the location, the physical buttons work well, producing a subtle click when actuating.
Functionality-wise, you can switch between mono and stereo by placing one earbud inside the charging case and closing the lid to power off the earbud. There is a 4-second re-connection delay, which is a long time, especially when picking up the earbuds from the charging case to answer an incoming call. Thanks to the power button on board, the ProSport earbuds can be paired independently with separate devices and used as a mono bluetooth headset.