Soundpeats GoFree2 Review
Intro
Hello folks, I am back with another review from the brand Soundpeats with their latest innovative venture into the world of “Air-Conduction” and “on-ear” headphones with the Soundpeats GoFree2 (GF2 for review purposes). The GF2 is constructed more similarly to a set of True Wireless rather than the neck band style of the Soundpeats RunFree which I reviewed recently (RunFree Review), or the less expensive model the Soundpeats RunFree Lite (RunFree Lite Review). I am very thankful to this storied brand for providing the GoFree2 in exchange for a feature at Mobileaudiophile.com. Folks, I find the GF2 to be another example of Soundpeats taking a consumer need and expounding upon it or building upon it and then crafting it into a form that is not only dope looking but also sounds very nice.
Soundpeats
What more can I say that I already haven’t said about this company? Folks, I deal with my fair share of brands, and I have good relationships with them all, (for the most part) but Soundpeats seems to take that up a notch with great people (Ellen) and a never-ending trust in their products to a degree that I haven’t seen. Truly this is a brand who lets their products speak for themselves. This is also a brand who stays right at the tip of the spear of innovation within the wireless space. Soundpeats will be there at the Genesis of every new technology with not only a good new device, but also a much less expensive device than other brands, for the most part. I have personally reviewed a number of Soundpeats devices, and I have been impressed at the sound value as well as the value in general. Here are some of those tws sets if you would like to check out some more from Soundpeats:
–Opera 05 (Mahir’s review)
Each of the sets listed above competes very well in their respective price points and each one serves the specific purpose of their creation… very well. I feel the GF2 is the culmination of different technologies being purposefully mish-mashed together to serve a very specific form and function. With that, I’d like to get moving on my review of the Soundpeats GoFree2. Thanks for reading.
Purchase Links
-US Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHS49D2H
GF2 Pros
-Build Quality
-Excellent form & function
-Best looking set of its kind (On-Ear headphones)
-Stays in place on the ear
-Extremely comfortable & lightweight
-Cool slim case
-Soundpeats app
-Battery life is fantastic 9/35
-Multi-point Connection works great
-Call Quality for conference calls is perfect
-LDAC
-Clean and clear sound across the mix
GF2 Cons
-Style not for everyone
-Bass quantity is on the lite side
-No other real “cons” considering what the GoFree2 is
Unboxing
You should know that a device such as the GoFree2 will not have a ton of accessories within the packaging. The actual box is a good size but not so large that it feels wasteful. Once you open the box, you’ll notice the nice-looking case with the GF2 nestled nicely inside. Under the case in a small compartment, you’ll see a very short USB type c charging cable as well as some very exciting reading material. That last one was a joke folks. However, some of that reading material does feature the controls and some other good info. That’s it, nothing much more to say other than it is still a nice presentation.
Build / Design / Internals / Fit
Build Quality
One of the first things that I took away from this set of On-Ear headphones is the great build quality. The build is solid from front to back which gives off a feeling of durability. I honestly don’t see anything cheap or chinsy at all as Soundpeats really did a great job of engineering the structural Integrity of this set. It’s just a nice feeling. The entire housing and earhook is covered in a soft feeling silicone which is nice on the ear. You’ll notice the GF2 simply curl right around the ear and sit perfectly. How Soundpeats managed this is amazing, but I do suppose we are all built more alike than different. There is an alloy end piece on a flexible earhook which hides behind your ears while the big block which holds the battery and tech inside is what seats “on” your ears. The actual touch surface is the logo on both the left and right headphones. It really is a genius build. I’m not always trying to push this set closer to my ear as I have with similar sets. Overall, the build is very nice.
Design
This is where I feel that the Soundpeats version of an On-Ear headphone first begins to really out-class the competition. Yes, the build is great, but we’ve seen good builds before for cheap. What impresses me is the design language of this set. It’s a spiffy and dope looking set of On-Ear headphones. You have a very small unit which tucks in very nicely, all black, glossy faceplate (touch surface) with the dope looking Soundpeats logo. I love the chrome faux alloy pieces which creates a stark contrast to the black which covers these earpieces. Truly a nicely imagined set of headphones that will look good on anyone’s ears.
Internals
Internally, Soundpeats went all out in cramming an enormous 16.2 mm Dynamic Driver inside the housing. I don’t know the exact Diaphragm material and will update this when I find out. However, the size of the DD really does matter as you want as much airflow as possible shooting at your ear holes. A 16.2 mm driver can do that. Plus, it simply makes for a more robust sound. I should also note that they added in a patented “Bass enhancement technology” to make up for the loss in low end rumble due to the type of headphone this is. Also, Soundpeats decided to use a similar chipset that they have used before, the WQ7034MX SOC chip which enables the GF2 to include Bluetooth 5.3, Multi-point connectivity, game mode and it also enables a very fast connection that has never even once dropped on me. That’s saying something folks.
Fit
Okay, this is an area of some “possible” contention as the GF2 is not designed to go “in” the ear which creates a “seal”. The GF2 also don’t seal “over” the ear either which also can create a seal. I stead this set hovers over the ear and shoots the sound directly to your ears using “Air-Conduction” technologies. However, this also means that the GF2 only hovers over the ear while being held in place by an earhook attached to the unit itself. Please understand that I think the fit is truly amazing. Friends, there was never a time I thought these would fit me even close to good. Despite my doubts, the GF2 fit beyond good. They fit perfectly. Also, the fit sits so secure it didn’t matter if I was running or playing basketball with my son or doing chores… you name it, the GF2 never budged. It almost looks as though they defy physics a bit. However, Soundpeats gets an A++ for the fit and the design behind this great fit. Now, how it will fit you I have no idea, but still, I’m assuming 98% of hobbyists will have zero issues.
Utimate Comfort for Everyday
Soundpeats Promotional
With optimized ergonomic fit design, GoFree2 Open-ear Earbud is compact and lightweight as 0.3oz (per side). The ergonomic and flexible ear hook perfectly suit different curves of ears, providing comfort and stability. The skin-friendly liquid silicones offer a perfect soft that makes you forget you’re even wearing them. With GoFree2, enjoy your whole day of engaged conversation and musical feasts in ultimate comfort!
Charging Case
The charging case is one of the cooler looking and feeling cases I’ve tested in quite some time. Just by guesstimating I feel the case is about 3 inches long by 2 to 2.5 inches wide and about an inch tall. Roughly. The great thing about this case is that it isn’t super tall and is actually quite narrow, so I am able to put it into the pocket of my jeans quite easily. The case itself has this soft feeling silicone material that is very nice in the hand. It’s made very well, folks. The Charging case opens, and you’ll see where the GF2 are seated inside. By the way, those magnets are beasts! The GF2 just get SUCKED into place and stays there no matter what. I feel like I could throw them (GF2) across the room and the case would magnetize them right to their spot! Okay that may be taking things a bit too far. But you get the sentiment. The case has indicator lights to help you know how much juice is left on the case itself and will also help when you are charging. The best thing is that the case itself provides 35 additional hours of usage to the GoFree2.
Features
The GF2 doesn’t have a million features but they do have some which makes total sense. However, you won’t see “Passive Mode” or “Pass-through” mode due to the fact that these already are on-ear headphones. So, they have the “best” Passive mode of any set. It’s called natural open ear openness which enables everyone to hear their outside world. Obviously, you won’t see any ANC as that would completely defeat the purpose of this device and you won’t see stuff like wireless charging. So those are some of the things that by nature of the device you would never have on board. I’ll try my best in the following sections to explain some of the features and selling points of the GF2…
SOC Chipset
I’ve already briefly covered the onboard chipset or SOC (System on Chip). Again, the chip that Soundpeats chose was the WQ7034MX chip. This powerful yet low-cost chip enables a whole host of features that I wouldn’t expect on an On-Ear set of headphones. We have come so far folks. First off, the greatest asset of this chip is that it enables the listener with high quality and hi-res audio codecs. The GF2 provides LDAC! This is huge! Beyond that, IOS users also have AAC code for their apple devices and of course the GF2 also offers SBC codec. This SOC also adds in A2DP1.3/ AVRCP1.6/ HFP 1.7/ SPP Bluetooth profiles as well. On top of those, this chip also has an onboard gaming mode as well as multi-point connectivity.
Game Mode
Oddly enough and also pretty cool that Soundpeats also added in “Game Mode” or “Latency Mode” which definitely helps with lip syncing issues or while playing games on your device. I found that the game mode worked very well for everything except 1st person shooters… some of the time. Now, I do feel the gaming mode easily is better than the “RunFree” which I reviewed recently. In comparison I simply had better latency for stuff like 1st person shooters on my Android device. Also, I don’t hear & see any real lag at all when watching videos and I was quite surprised how nice these actually are in this regard. Of course, almost all Soundpeats devices offer “game mode” and they all are better than almost any other set in their respective price point. This is an area where once again, Soundpeats commitment to providing the best user experience shines through. Add in the fact that they’ve had so many sets to figure out how to best implement these features.
Multi-point Connection
The GF2 also has another great feature in “multi-point connection” where the GF2 can actually connect to two devices at one time. Again, this used to be unheard of except in very expensive models, but Soundpeats was able to put it in a set which costs less than $80. It works as advertised though setting it all up takes a minute of patience. However, once a connection to two devices is established then it is easy-peasy going back and forth between them. I actually used two phones just to see how well it works and sure enough, the multi-point actually functions very well. One thing to keep in mind is that LDAC cannot be used while in Multi-point Connection. That is one drawback but honestly, it really isn’t. AAC is plenty good for either Android or IOS.
Soundpeats App
The Soundpeats app (I use Android) has come a long way. Thankfully Soundpeats realizes how important a good app can be for us consumers. The Soundpeats App actually gives you many options. You can upgrade firmware through the app (don’t forget to do this right away). There is also a 10-band equalizer which is very effective at switching up the sound to your liking.
Personally, I don’t use eq for reviews, but I did play around and the RFL does very well in reaction to EQ. Soundpeats also offers 9 preset EQ settings as well as the custom user EQ. One huge plus is the fact that whatever setting you choose it will save on the buds themselves. You can also toggle between ANC, Transparency mode and Normal mode as well as toggle on or off game mode. Finally, you can check the battery status of each Earbud. It isn’t the most in-depth app, but it is exactly what we need. In fact, Soundpeats are one of the few brands which actually do offer an app and I promise that you don’t know how badly you need one until you don’t have one. Very well done as per usual Soundpeats.
Battery Life
Soundpeats knows what we need in our devices. Obviously having a good battery life is a huge selling point. Soundpeats advertises a total of 35 hours on the case as well as 9 total hours on the headphones themselves. Obviously using LDAC will shorten this amount a bit. However, I have yet to run out of battery in any listening session, and trust me, I’ve listened for multiple hours. In fact, I spend all day using this set in my office and over the course of over a month I have only charged the case three times. Sorry that I don’t have exact numbers for you but also, I have three kids and a full-time job, I’m not tallying battery life numbers too. Just know that the battery life is far better than similar sets. Couple into the features… you have a winner.
Long-Lasting Battery Life
Soundpeats Promotional
GoFree2 offers an impressive total battery life of 35 hours, ensuring that you can enjoy your music and calls without frequent recharging. Moreover, they feature a low 60ms latency gaming mode, providing a competitive edge for gamers. On a single charge, you can enjoy up to 9 hours of playback.
Call Quality
Another area of great surprise is call quality. Granted, I don’t know why I was surprised because the RunFree also has amazing call quality. I would actually venture to say that the GF2 is more natural sounding. Which is crazy because I felt the RunFree was the most natural sounding I’ve heard. I suppose everything’s meant to be dethroned at some point. I just didn’t know it’d be so quickly. Folks, I use all tws and wireless headsets for the purpose of conference calls and some which cost over $400. I am being completely honest when I tell you the GF2 are actually better than even the highly expensive tws. I hate saying stuff like that because it makes me sound loony but it’s the truth. Every partner at my day job knows I complete reviews for headphones and earphones, and they all know to tell me how I sound and have actually become pretty amazing at describing the quality. This is years of listening for me… LOL. Anyways, the crazy thing is, the RunFree gave me Hugh marks from these folks too. I suppose Soundpeats knows what they are doing.
Waterproofing
The GF2 have a waterproof rating of “IPX5” which is pretty substantial for this type of set. IPX5 means that they can resist Water jets sprayed for 3 minutes at 4.4 psi (30 kPa), with 12.5 liters per minute. That’s pretty intense folks. So, it’s safe to assume that getting caught out in the rain you’ll be okay. You still cannot submerge the GF2 in water for long periods though. I’ll be honest, I was only expecting to see IPX4 as with most devices of this style. So that’s pretty cool.
Controls
The controls are very easy on this set and the touch surface is in a very intuitive place right on the logo at the ear. You can power on and off by holding your finger down on the logo. Both pause and play are initiated by double tapping. Volume up & down is a simple single tap on either side of the headphones. You can answer and hang up calls with a double tap. Reject calls with a 1.5 second hold on the logo. Switch between calls by also holding the touch surface for 1.5 seconds. Triple tapping the left logo will enable game mode and triple tapping the right logo will activate the onboard assistant. So thankfully Soundpeats saw to it to give all controls right at your fingertips. I cannot stress how nice this is.
Specifications
Core Specs
-Bluetooth: Version 5.3
-Profiles: A2DP1.3/AVRCP1.6/HFP1.7/SPP1.2/GATT
-Chipset: WQ7034MX
-Supported Bluetooth Codec: LDAC, SBC,AAC
Battery
-Battery Capacity: Case-450mAh Headphones- 60mAH
-Charging Time: 15 hours
-Total Playtime: 35 hours
Features
-Game Mode: Yes
-Waterproofing: IPX5 rating
-Multi-point Connection: Yes up to two devices
What’s in the box
-SOUNDPEATS GoFree2 On-Ear Wireless
-Type-C Charging Cable
-User Manual
Sound Impressions
As always, I should preface this entire section with a little reminder that the GoFree2 are not meant to be as good as quality in-ear earphones. By design it is more difficult for an On-Ear set of headphones to sound even remotely as good. However, the GF2 is truly surprising folks. Listen, this is a set of headphones meant for jogging safely in an environment in which you need to hear your surroundings. This is a set meant for working around the house, doing chores etc. This is not meant for sitting and casually listening to music. Still, the GF2 does an admirable job at giving you the best sound you can get from this style of headset. Friends, this set sounds absolutely crystal clear and very fun for what it is. The GF2 works entirely off of air-conduction technology which is a process of basically shooting the sound directly into a specific area of the ear. Basically, you’ll hear nothing until you hover the speaker directly over your ear hole which is quite awesome and very neat to hear for yourself.
Bass Region
The bass is not the type which will rattle your brain in deep and guttural rumble. No sir. The fact that the GF2 has “any” bass at all is surprising. You usually need a seal to have any air pressure build up to allow that low rumble. Despite not having a seal somehow that “bass enhancement tech” actually works. Folks, the GF2 actually has some bass. Granted, it is lite, it is not a heavy bass. This is a very quick bass that comes and goes very fast. This is a very detailed bass region which is pretty even across the mid and sub-bass.
The sub-bass is very swift and has a nice tight edge to it at the note outline. It isn’t pillowy or soft but well defined and clean. The mid-bass has some slight slam to it also which is another huge surprise. Just please don’t expect anything greater than a “lite bass” experience. Bass drops in your favorite jams will have a decent slam but you won’t feel that slam too much. It is there in spirit folks. However, I don’t find myself needing much more when actually doing something around the house and jamming out, listening to a podcast or working out. This is partly due to how crystal clear and clean the sound is.
Further thoughts about the bass
There really isn’t much else to say friends. Other than the GF2 has more impact than the RunFree or RunFree Lite for me. Again, don’t expect anything truly deep or noteworthy in the bass emphasis. Do expect a bass that can handle any track you throw at it. Complicated bass passages are no issue for this low-end. It is very speedy with a tight transient response which is certainly a benefit for many genres. I do want to remind you that you can always go into the Soundpeats app and add more low-end db’s to give you a bit of a boost in this area.
Midrange
The midrange on the Soundpeats GoFree2 comes across extremely clean with fantastic resolution. This is partly due to the fact that you don’t have the bass mudding up the sound and due to the fact that the tuning positions the midrange slightly more forward in the mix. The midrange has a lean sound and doesn’t have a very dense sound, but it is very agile. This is another area that has very tight and snappy transients without any lagging decay whatsoever. The midrange is crystal clear and has great separation of elements within the stage.
The lower midrange comes across forward, full sounding and renders male voices as very well highlighted in the mix. I found that even with a lean sounding portrayal of a masculine voice, somehow males still come across as masculine and full sounding. Females are very much similar except there are some sparkles to their sound. The treble is lifted enough to add some levity to the upper midrange which helps females to have a nice shimmer and fantastic note definition.
Further thoughts about the midrange
If I could add anything else, I would say that all instruments have a more lustrous sound than perfectly natural. Still, one thing I noticed is how fast the midrange is. Even in the most complicated and congested tracks the GF2 handles them all with ease. Every note is very well separated with fantastic detail retrieval for a wireless device. The midrange is certainly more analytical and drier sounding and sounds very upbeat, energetic and vibrant. Definitely this type of sound will fit many hobbyists.
Treble Region
The treble is only somewhat lifted in the stock settings and definitely not to the point of sharpness or fatigue. For me anyways. I find the treble region to be well detailed, like the rest of the mix. Still, the treble is almost somewhat held back and a bit too relaxed if you ask me. This is certainly an area where the tech seems to have some issues providing a haptic treble region where it does come across a hint tinnier and tizzy than natural. Of course, for a person running or doing chores you aren’t sitting there critically listening to the treble regions’ slight issues. Just casually listening I don’t even pay attention to it. That said, using the EQ helped a lot and I was able to add some life to the region.
The treble as a whole is also very fast, snappy, and is able to provide good detail retrieval, especially when I EQ’d a few more db’s in the presence region. To be honest folks, if you are picking up the GoFree2 for its amazing sound quality then you will be a bit let down. This goes for any pair of Air-Conduction headphones on the market. That said, you won’t find a better set like this anywhere. All others that I’ve tested greatly lose out in different areas and the treble is one of them. I say all that to now say this… the GF2 provides the best treble of the bunch. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Is it still very pleasing to the ear and good for its Intended purpose… Absolutely!
Technicalities
This is the one area that the GF2 excels at. First off, the soundstage is very wide and very tall. Being that this is an “On-Ear” set of headphones it kind of makes sense. There is simply an airy feeling to the music at all times. It’s big and open sounding. I do sense some lack in depth of the sound field, but you aren’t missing much. Separation is fantastic for a wireless device as well as awesome detail retrieval in every area of the spectrum. If listening for the tiniest of details is something you enjoy, then you will find it in the GF2. For the most part the GF2 is what I would consider a detail monster per the type of device that it is. Certainly, the best Air-Conduction set of headphones I’ve ever heard.
Is it worth the asking price?
The GoFree2 has an MSRP of roughly $80 which I feel is very low for the quality of this set. In fact, it kind of surprised me it was offered under $100. Especially for what you are getting folks! I am being as honest as I can be. The quality of the build and the overall aesthetic truly feels and looks premium. Now, I personally am not a huge fan of this type of device, but I can see how folks would love a set of “on-ear” headphones. I feel this is an easy recommendation from me and yes, I absolutely believe the GoFree2 is worth what Soundpeats is asking for it.
The Why…
Again, the build quality is simply durable feeling and constructed in a way that gives off a huge vote of confidence for me. The feel of the matte silicone is one of the cooler feeling devices I’ve been able to review. The look is actually pretty dope looking. Please trust me that I would never usually say this. I love in-ears and primarily only want in-ears, but I have lived using the GoFree2. Also, I’ve had more conversations about this set than any other review piece. People just seem intrigued by the GF2. They are easy, pair rapidly, they have LDAC, game mode, multi-point, and guess what… The sound quality is the best that I’ve heard in a On-Ear device. The call quality is phenomenal as well as the GF2 is perfect for an office setting for conference calls. You could spend well over $200 for a set which doesn’t sound as good or look as good. Of course, I haven’t tried every “On-Ear/Air-Conduction” set on the market, but I really don’t think other brands are topping this set. Folks, $80 is a good deal. Yes, it is worth every penny.
Conclusion
I first need to Tha k the awesome people of Soundpeats. Ellen you are a class act and truly one of the best representatives I’ve dealt with. You gave me all the time I needed to complete this review in a way I was comfortable with and for that I am truly pleased. Soundpeats has never even hinted to me to skew my words or speak favorably about their devices. They’ve never asked anything from me except to review and to be honest. That is awesome and so once more… Thank you Soundpeats.
Perspectives
Please check out other thoughts and ideas about the GoFree2 folks. I implore you all to take the time to read, watch, or listen to other thoughts and perspectives about the GoFree2. We all aren’t the same and it will be a great benefit to you to have many different perspectives. So, finish this and then go and check out some more from other reviewers. Take good care, stay as safe as possible, and always… God Bless!
