BOULT launched the BOULT Klarity 1, the company’s latest true wireless earbuds, earlier this month. The main highlight of the earbuds are liquid metal body, and long battery of up to 80 hours with the case. Is it worth the price? Let us find out.
Box Contents
- BOULT Klarity 1 in Midnight Black colour
- Ear tips in Small and Large sizes (Medium pre-installed)
- USB Type-A to Type-C cable
- User manual
Design and Build quality
The earbuds come in a unique case that has an hourglass-inspired design with a liquid metal procranium body. Even though the case is attractive, the glossy part is prone to scratches if you store in a bag with sharp objects such as keys. There is a LED light on the case that glows in white colour when the earbuds are charging, and turns off when it’s fully charged.
The buds are securely placed in the case with magnets, so these don’t fall off easily.
Other parts of the body have a matte finish so they don’t attract fingerprints. The USB Type-C port is on the bottom.
Similar to the case, the headset also has a plastic build with a matte finish on the inside, and a glossy finish on the outside, so it attracts fingerprints easily. You can see mics on the bottom. On the inside there are charging contact points. These feature an in-ear design, and it doesn’t fall out of your ears when running, cycling or during strenuous workouts.
It doesn’t have sensors for in-ear detection, so you will have to use the touch controls for play/pause. The earphones also have IPX5 ratings for splash resistance so that it can withstand splashes or light rain, but you can’t immerse in the water.
There are touch controls on the back of both the earbuds that lets you control play or pause or skip music, launch voice assistant, control volume, accept or reject calls. The touch area is on the top, and lets you access it easily.
Connectivity, Pairing, and Controls
It has Bluetooth 5.4 with SBC and AAC audio codecs. The pairing process is very easy, just remove the buds from the case, and the lights blink to show it is in pairing mode. Enable the Bluetooth function on your device, and select the ‘Boult Audio Airbass’ and connect. It doesn’t have Google Fast pair support. I didn’t face any connectivity issues during my use with the realme 13+ and the Galaxy M35.
This also has dual device connectivity, so you can connect the earbuds to two devices at a time and switch between them. For this, you will have to pair the earbuds with each device separately first, and turn on the Bluetooth later.
The earbuds turn on when you remove them from the case. You just need to place the buds in the case to turn them off. This lets you skip tracks, play/ pause and adjust volume – all with a tap.
| Function | Left earbud (L) | Right earbud (R) |
| Play / pause, Answer a call | Single Tap | |
| Next track | – | Double Tap |
| Previous track | Double Tap | – |
| Volume Up | – | Triple Tap |
| Volume Down | Triple Tap | – |
| End or Reject call | Double tap | |
| Game / Music mode switch | Quadruple tap | |
Since it doesn’t have app support, there is no customization for the functions.
Audio Quality and Call Performance
The BOULT Klarity 1 packs 13mm BoomX drivers, which are tuned for bass. This is mainly tuned for bass, so the low frequency audio or bass is high by default, but it can also handle high, and middle frequencies, but these are a bit low. It doesn’t have dedicated EQ modes. Since these are loud, it is good even in 50% volume. It doesn’t have much audio leaking.
Coming to the call noise cancellation, this is decent for calls with dual microphones on each headset and the company says that Prime voice PLC, which works well to cut out the noise.
Battery Life
The company doesn’t mention the standalone battery life for the earbuds. During my use with AAC and noise cancellation enabled occasionally, I got slightly over 7 in about 50% volume. For calls, it lasts only for around 5 hours.
With the charging case, it promises up to 80 hours of total battery life, which is impressive. Charging the case fully with the earbuds takes about 2 hours, and charging the earbuds fully takes about 40 minutes. It also has fast charge, so that you get 3 hours of playback with 10 minutes of charging.
Conclusion
Overall, the BOULT Klarity 1 are decent budget Bluetooth true wireless earbuds in the sub-Rs. 1500 price range. It has a unique case and earbuds design, offers a good battery life and does a decent job in call noise cancellation. Lack of in-ear detection is acceptable for the price, but app support for customization, such as EQ, could have been added.
Pricing and availability
The BOULT Klarity 1 earbuds are available for purchase on the company’s website, Amazon.in, and Flipkart.com for Rs. 1,299 (Rs. 999 introductory price).
Pros
- Good audio quality tuned for bass
- Dual device connectivity
- Unique design for the earbuds
- Long battery life with fast charging
Cons
- No app support for customization
- Glossy case is prone to scratches