Creative Outlier Air V2 True Wireless Headphones Review

A Closer Look & Performance

So first things first, the case! Not only is this aluminium case going to store and protect your headphones when you’re not using them, it’s also a charger. There’s a built in battery, so when you dock a headphone, it’ll start charging. Just remember to charge the dock up once in a while though.

It features a USB-C port to charge it up, and while there is a cable included, you can use your own too. There’s a small light on each side to show if a headphone is docked or charging. There’s also a central light to show if the dock its self is charged, low or charging.

SXFI Ready, easily the most important aspect of these headphones in my opinion, as I’m a huge fan of SXFI processing. I use it on my Outlier Gold headphones and my SXFI Theater headphones that I use on my desktop, and on my SXFI Amp that I use as a backup! Check out my original review of SXFI here.

The dock slides out, which is pretty cool actually, allowing you to drop the headphones in, then simply slide it shut.

Let’s get onto the headphones! They’re truly wireless, so you’re never going to get snagged up while you’re out for your lockdown-induced daily walking session or lockdown-induced couch surfing session.

Amazingly, I couldn’t get the damn things to stop flashing while taking my pictures, they were adamant they wanted pairing with something but I just let them shine, as it looks cool. As you can see, the rings can light up red or blue, but this is purely a pairing, battery level and feedback thing, they do not stay lit while you’re using them normally; it would be a total waste of their tiny batteries!

The shame is nearly identical to the older model, albeit it looks just ever so slightly tweaked for an improved fit. It looks a little softer and rounded, but not by much. That’s the new ones on the right and the older Outlier Gold on the left.

I quite like the finish too, it’s a very dark blue with a gorgeous matte finish to it. Creative call it “Metallic Blue”, but I don’t think it’s that shiny, and in person, the colour flops to a stealthy dark blue/black colour too. That’s why the pictures look a little blown out or blurry, it’s a bugger to get a clear photo of this colour.

The shape is interesting though, as they’re designed to keep the bulk of their (rather small) weight closer to your ear, so that they anchor into your ear. It works really well for me, as I said, I’ve used the Outlier Gold for a year or so now, and the design feels broadly the same. However, the new ones are slightly lighter.

On the back, there are some gold contacts, which allows them to charge when they’re placed in their dock. On the plus side, you won’t be charging too often as they each have a 80mAh battery and the dock has a 450 mAh battery.

The whole thing will charge to max in 1-2 hours over USB-C, so you could easily charge them quickly before you head out to work or when you get home. You’ll get up to 12 hours of general usage from the ear buds, which is amazing, and up to 34 hours total time recharging from the dock. I’ve used them ALL WEEK on a single charge. A 1-hour walk each day, an hour or two of YouTube when I’m at home, it barely made a dent.

The drivers are superb on these headphones, using the same 5.6mm Graphene-coated drivers found in the Outlier Air and the Outlier Gold. Honestly, they sound the same as my Gold, which is to say, flipping awesome. Big bass, detailed mids, and treble that sings clear and true. I would haven’t used them for a year had they not been some of the best I’ve ever reviewed, so a huge thumbs up from me that they haven’t tinkered with the acoustic profile here.

Throw in the addition of a powerful EQ system and the audio holography offered by SXFI, and you’ll struggle to find a better sounding set of in-ear headphones!