Following up on the success of Redemption ANC, House of Marley releases Redemption ANC 2 - an upgraded second version, more compact and with more features too!

The Redemption ANC 2 earbuds and charging case, both take 2 hours to fully charge. The earbuds support quick charge, providing a 2 hour playback from a 15 minute charge. At 50% volume and with ANC turned on, the Redemption ANC 2 earbuds deliver a battery life of around 6 hours. With ANC turned off, battery life is 6.5 hours. 

In terms of comfort, the Redemption ANC 2 earbuds are comfy to wear and don't fit too deeply inside the ear canals, thanks to the short nozzle, which integrates a metal mesh guard. The earbuds stay in the ears and are IPX5 rated against sweat and moderate rain. That said, for a more snug and secure connection, it's best  going with the original Redemption ANC which integrate rubber wingtips. There is no mention on the specs of the driver size but, it appears to be 8.6mm - same as the original Redemption ANC earbuds. 

The Redemption ANC 2 charging case integrates an induction charging coil on the rear side of the case that allows you to recharge the case via 10W fast wireless charger (approx. 3 hours charging time). The case holds about 12 hrs so, you can recharge the earbuds one time. The case also integrates led indicators to feedback the battery life of the earbuds and the case. 

 

The Redemption ANC 2 case has House of Marley's classic "splatter paint finish" and bamboo wood with a dark chrome plastic logo of Marley glued on to the top of the lid. The charging case has a tall square shape with with deep grooves running across the side of the case, which provide excellent grip. The charging dock is narrow but, if your fingers aren't too thick, you can easily pinch the earbuds out of the case. The dimensions of the case are 5.5cm long, 4.5cm high and 2.5cm thick. 

 

The Redemption ANC 2 earbuds weigh 6 grams each, while the case weighs 45 grams. When activating the touch control area, you can hear a feedback tone (short jingle sound) to alert you that you have changed functions. Feedback tone cannot be disabled, which would have been nice. The USB-C charging port is located at the bottom of the case, which is a slightly curved. You can stand the case upright, as long as the case is on a smooth flat surface with the lid closed. Ifthe lid open, the charging case cannot stand upright and will topple over.

The Redemption ANC 2 charging case lid opens securely 90 degrees via a metal hinge, which is a little weak so, the lid wobbles a bit when moving the case around. That said, the magnetic closing of the lid keeps the lid securely closed and will not open accidentally even when vigorously shaking the case upside down. The Redemption ANC 2 earbuds have a similar construction to the case with smooth matte plastic and bamboo wood along the side of the 2.5cm long stem. 

 

On board the earbuds, there is a touch control panel, a microphone for calls and proximity sensors for the on-ear detection feature, which automatically pause and resume audio when removing the earbuds from the ears. The ANC microphones handle also the noise filtering during calls, which works as good as the original Redemption ANC suppressing noise in the background for clear calls. 

The Redemption ANC 2 earbuds integrate a status led, which flashes blue when listening to audio. Pairing the Redemption ANC 2 earbuds is easy. Opening the charging case triggers automatic pairing, which allows you to keep the earbuds connected whilst in the charging case. The bluetooth chip supports absolute bluetooth volume but no bluetooth multipoint support. 

 

The chip only supports SBC audio quality, which isn't low latency but has no noticeable latency when watching videos. You can switch between earbuds for mono listening and switch seamless without audio pausing or bluetooth cutting off. There is a 4 second re-connection delay when removing the earbuds from the case.

 

Mobile app support is another neat feature you get with the Redemption ANC 2 earbuds, which you didn't get with the original Redemption ANC earbuds at the time of their release. The House of Marley mobile app is a fairly new app so, it does not have any reviews/rating yet. The app has a very basic UI design (not fancy) but downloads extremely quickly and works flawlessly. 

 

Best feature about the app is the "privacy freedom" that it offers. You are not required to sign up for an account. You do not need to grant location permission and you can disagree the privacy policy, which is ground-breaking for a mobile app. Upon launching, the House of Marley app connects to the earbuds immediately. The app shows battery indication for each earbud and listening modes (off, anc and ambient). You can turn off noise cancellation and ambient sound and listen to audio without external sounds or boosted bass, which happens when ANC is turned on. The bass increase is nice though, and doesn't muddle the vocals or instruments.

 

The House of Marley app also features a 9-band equalizer (EQ), custom EQ creation and 8 preset modes. Button remapping is also supported so, you can pick whichever functions you want to have on-board the earbuds. You can choose up to 4 gesture control functions (single tap, double, tap, triple tap and long press) per earbud, as well as disable a specific gesture control. The on-ear detection (auto play/pause) cannot be remapped or disabled, which is strange. 

A premium short fabric cable is included, which is Marley branded and has soft rubbery plug connectors.Different size eartips are also included, which have a thick colorful inner bore and thin flange, making them comfortable to wear while providing a tight seal. The Redemption ANC 2 earbuds aren't the cheapest true wireless you can buy but, they are relatively more affordable against the likes of Apple AirPods. 

 

In a sea of all-plastic earbuds, the Redemption ANC 2 earbuds stand out beautifully with a lovely eco-friendly bamboo wood colorway and good sound to match. Compared to the original Redemption ANC, the newer Redemption ANC 2 case is more lightweight, not as bulky and has wireless charging, which is a plus. You can buy the House Of Marley Redemption ANC 2 earbuds from amazon. Check out the review of the Rebel earbuds.