Noise launched the Shots XO, the company’s latest wireless earbuds recently. It features Bluetooth 5.0, aptX support, has touch controls and promises over 6 hours of playback. After using it for a few weeks, here is the review of Noise Shots XO.
Box Contents
- Noise Shots XO in Icy Metallic White color
- Different set of ear tips (Small, Medium and Large)
- Carry pouch in white color
- USB Type-C Cable
- User manual
Design and Build Quality
Starting with the design, the Noise Shots XO has a unique design that looks like a makeup box that will attract the female audience. Total weight of the case with the earbuds are about 65 grams, and the earbuds weigh about 4.5 grams. Even through the headset it is made of plastic, it looks like a metal body. The case has a matte finish so it doesn’t attract fingerprints or scratches easily. You have to slide the lid to open it, which is also made of plastic, but looks premium. Since the case is a bit large, you can’t carry it in your pocket easily. The earbuds have LED lights that glow in white and red colors.
There are touch controls on both the earbuds that lets you play or pause music, go to previous or next song, launch voice assistant and also accept or reject calls, but you can’t control the volume. These controls are a bit different from other Noise headsets. Check them out below.
| Function | Left earphone (L) | Right earphone (R) |
| Play/Pause | Single tap | |
| Previous Song | Double tap | |
| Next Song | Double tap | |
| Answer/end call | Single tap | |
| Reject call | Touch and hold for 2 seconds | |
| Voice Assistant | Triple tap | |
Since it has in-ear buds, these fit your ears firmly and doesn’t fall off easily during workouts or even when running. I have been using this for my runs, including long runs for over an hour without any issues. You have to select the correct set of buds to suit your ears so that they are comfortable. Since it comes with IPX7 ratings, it can withstand sweat and light rain.
Audio Quality
Coming to the audio quality, these earbuds offers fairly good audio quality with decent amount of bass. Volume was good as well and the bass was decent. Since it packs the Qualcomm QCCC3020 Bluetooth Audio SoC with aptX codec, you get high-quality audio the experience compared to normal headsets without it. Volume of the headset is also quite loud at about 80% unless you are in a crowded environment, thanks to environmental noise cancellation that isolates any ambient noise. The earbuds offer good amount of noise isolation as well. Overall the audio quality is better than expected in most conditions. We did not face any issues in connection or pairing.
The headset has a microphone which is decent in most crowded and noisy environment, but it could have been better.
Connectivity, Pairing and AI assistant
The Bluetooth headset supports Bluetooth 5.0, so you can connect it to Android, iOS devices along with MP3 players with Bluetooth support. It pairs to your phone quickly when you remove them from the case, and the LED lights in the headset blinks blue. It shows both the left and right earphones, and once you pair the right, the left one automatically connects to it. After the left earphone connects, on the right earphone you hear ‘pairing’ and the LED indication flashes. You just have to select the Shots XO from the Bluetooth menu on the phone to pair the headphones. You get voice feedback when it enters pairing mode and when it connects successfully.
The headset doesn’t have a companion app, but you can launch Siri on iOS and Google Assistant on Android devices when you tap the right or right earbuds thrice when no music is playing.
Battery Life
The company promises up to 6 hours of battery life on a single charge with its 40mAh battery, and we managed to get over 5 hours of battery life on a single charge when listening in about 80% volume, which is good. The headset automatically turns off when it’s not in use for about 5 minutes and doesn’t have a power off button, so you have to keep the headset in the case and close it.
The case has 720mAh battery that promises 5 more charges or additional 30 hours of battery life, so you get a total 36 hours of battery life, which is good. If you have Android phones running Android 8.1 or later, you can see battery life of the Bluetooth headset. It gives audio prompts to charge the headset when the headset has low battery. Charging the headset takes about two hours and charging the case from 0 to 100% takes about 2 hours using 5V-1A charger via USB Type-C port, which is covered by a flap. There is an LED indicator that shows the battery life in the case.
| LED indicator on the charging case | Battery Percentage |
| Flashes once in 2 seconds | 0 to 25% |
| Flashes twice in 2 seconds | 25% to 50% |
| Flashes thrice in 2 seconds | 50% to 75% |
| Flashes four times in 2 seconds | 75% to 100% |
Conclusion
Priced at Rs. 5499, the Noise Shots XO is a decent Bluetooth headset with an attractive design, good audio quality with Qualcomm aptX support, brilliant battery life and IPX7 ratings for water resistance. It is available on Flipkart, Amazon.in and gonoise.com in Space Grey, Rose Gold, and Metallic White colors.