True wireless earphones have been getting popular, and a few phone companies have been helping on that front including Apple and its Airpods. House of Marley recently released the Redemption ANC, its newest true wireless earphones and sibling to Liberate Air.
There’s a lot to enjoy with the earphones, especially the design and sound, but I did have a few issues with its other features.
Design
House of Marley has been helping out the environment with its Project Marley give-back platform, and the Redemption ANC uses sustainably crafted materials including bamboo, Regrind silicone, and Regrind wood fiber composite.
When opening the box, the bamboo design pops with its black and brown contrast. Wearing the House of Marley Redemption ANC will definitely make you stand out from the crowd. It’s bold, and it features the stem design made popular by the Apple Airpods. It’s a bit on the larger side for a pair of true wireless earphones, but it still feels light and comfortable.
The package comes with silicone earbud tips and ear fins, covering their grounds on those with different ear shapes and sizes. With the different sizes, I had no issues with the way they fit, and I hardly had any trouble with them falling out, especially when working out. I even rocked my head up and down like a headbanger, and the pair didn’t pop out.
Charging and Power
The setup for the Redemption ANC earbuds is easy. Simply charge the charging case with the accompanied USB-C cable. If it reaches 4 bars, that means the case is fully charged. To charge the earbuds, place it inside the case, which should take a little bit to fully charge. Pairing to Bluetooth is located on the back, and to power on the earbuds on, simply remove them from the case and place them in your ears.
Controls
Here’s where it gets tricky. There are different ways of pausing the music from the Redemption ANC. One is to remove both earbuds from your ear. The second is to remove one earbud away. The third is to tap twice on the right earbud.
The touch controls aren’t really responsive, and I would have to tap them many times for them to register. My workaround is by tapping one more than needed. So if I need to tap twice, I tap three times, and so on. Sadly, it doesn’t always work, and it’s pretty much a game of chance at this point.
The touch controls are very sensitive. Sometimes I would accidentally touch it, causing the music to pause. Other times, Google Assistant would activate when I really wanted to turn on the ANC. It’s happened a few times, and it can get old really quick.
On that note, I wish there was a better guide out there other than the quick start guide. There is a link to the House of Marley full instructions page, but at the time of this review, the Redemption ANC guide wasn’t available.
Sound Quality
The Redemption ANC’s comfort, design and features are nice, but the most important thing is the sound quality, and it delivers for a pair of true wireless earphones.
The bass is no slouch, and if it’s a bass-heavy track, it can envelop the whole audio. This is great for those bass lovers, although I prefer the bass to feel both punchy and isolated. The highs and mids are clear, and overall the audio packs a punch inside a tiny device.
Active Noise Cancelation
The active noise cancelation for the Redemption ANC slightly improves the blocking of outside noise. Overall, there wasn’t a big improvement compared to turning it off, and it felt the same when I turned up the volume in both modes. There’s also the Ambient Mode, which amplifies outside noise, and it actually does a decent job at that.
Battery Life
The Redemption ANC is advertised as having 5 hours of battery life for the true wireless earphones, and with the charging case, that gives you a total of 20 hours. (Just think of each bar on the charging case as one charge for the earphones.) After testing these out, it’s a bit short from the 5-hour mark, and this was with ANC off.
There was one time when I tested it out, and it turned off at around 3.5 hours. It was acting up, so I decided to place it inside the charging case for about a minute to see if that fixed anything, and it worked.
Final Reaction
The Redemption ANC is the House of Marley’s latest crack at true wireless earphones, and it’s a bold package with sustainable materials for those who care about the earth. It’s a lovely pair with its comfort, sound, and design, just try not to touch the controls.
Score: 3.5/5 Atoms
The Redemption ANC is available on Amazon and the House of Marley site.
The earphones were provided by House of Marley for review purposes.
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