The world of audio accessories just got a curveball no one saw coming — Noise teaming up with Bose! With the Noise Master Buds, the home-grown brand is stepping into premium true wireless territory, bringing a unique design, balanced acoustics, and solid noise cancellation. But does it truly deliver an immersive listening experience, or is it just another set of buds fighting for attention in the under-10k segment? I put them to the test to find out.
Design
One of the more premium offerings from Noise, the Master Buds sport a unique design. Inspired by vinyl records, the case features a record-like surface with a 2 ‘o clock-positioned light bar, reminiscent of a vinyl needle. The light bar indicates Bluetooth pairing as well as battery levels. The earbuds are available in three classy colours – Silver, Onyx, and Titanium. I’ve got the metallic grey-toned Onyx for review.
Pairing is quick and fuss-free with the Google Fast Pair feature. The buds themselves are super lightweight, weighing in at 4.2 grams each, some of the lightest ones on the market, across price ranges. There are interchangeable ear tips to find your perfect size – the default ones fit me really well. Even on hot and humid days, during my commute, the earbuds felt unintrusive and comfortable during extended periods of usage. The stem has one specific point at the top, where it curves to meet the buds, where it’s touch-sensitive. All touch/tap controls can be activated only at this particular point on the earbud, and not along the stem as is coming with this design.
Acoustics
The earbuds are equipped with 12.4 mm drivers and six microphones in all. I first cued up The National Anthem by Radiohead, replete with its heavy bass guitar riffs at the beginning which are soon joined by a fair bit of hi-hat treble. Both carried through really well on the earbuds, as did the super enjoyable trumpets further along in the song. I revisited the good ol’ Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey after ages and Steve Perry’s voice shone through. The songs felt immersive on the earbuds, with spatial sound off. The millennial clubbing-era nostalgia track Bottoms Up by Trey Songz (feat. Nicki Minaj) also sounded great on the earbuds. With spatial sound on with this track, it felt like the mode amps up pushes the trebles up quite a bit, and the overall effect can be a bit more tinny and grating on the ears.
The earbuds support dual-device connections so you can have these paired with your smartphone and a tablet or a laptop so you can seamlessly switch between work calls and your focus playlist. In-ear detection was very accurate with my track pausing a second or so after I take one earbud off.
Noise cancellation
The Noise Master Buds offer adaptive sound isolation up to 49 dB. At home, they easily drowned out the hum of the AC while I was in meetings or writing, at home. Once outside, it does a pretty decent job of drawing out ambient noise like the low whir of cars going by and minimises excited children chattering when school’s over. Most of the time while working I also couldn’t ever hear my keyboard clicking which I always hear otherwise.
App functionality
There is a dedicated Noise Audio Master Buds app for this accessory. It’s simple enough to download and pair the device with. While weirdly the name of the device shows up as Noise Buds 1 (instead of the official name in India), the interface is clean and easy to navigate. I could toggle through ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) levels or choose transparency mode to turn off noise cancellation entirely here. There are four equaliser presets and a fully customisable one that lets me tweak the bass, mid-notes, and treble. The default setting is quite well-rounded though and that’s what I stuck to during most of my time with the device.
Battery
The Noise Master Buds promise about 44 hours of playback time (including from the charging case) and easily live up to that promise at about 60 per cent volume level and without active noise cancellation. With ANC on, I still got about 30-odd hours of playback time, which is impressive. The buds also feature InstaCharge technology, which offers up to 6 hours of playtime with a quick 10-minute charge.
Verdict
There is a lot to like about the Noise Master Buds. They’re well-designed and sport a unique aesthetic. The acoustics is decently balanced for this segment and the noise cancellation is better than many offerings at this price tag. The battery life is great too, with the 10-minute quick charge feature making sure you never have to listen to cacophony on Indian roads, on the way back home.
Snapshot
Price: ₹7,999
Pros: Unique design, well-balanced acoustics, effective noise cancellation, ample customisation choices in-app, long battery life
Cons: Spatial Mode distorts the sound, the app can be more streamlined
