I have to admit, before being offered this product, I don’t recall ever hearing the brand name ‘Acefast’ and probably for good reason – Shenzhen Houshuxia Technology Co., Ltd was only established in 2020.
But they are advertising themselves as a global company integrating research and development, design and sales of intelligent electronic products, with the brand committed to building a global and well-known private brand – Acefast.
And that sets the scene – they’re a relatively new company. However a quick check of their company website shows 22 pages of products ranging from headphones to earbuds, to cables and wireless chargers. But, this is a market saturated with VERY good competitors – some of which I have even reviewed myself. So just how do the FA002 Acefit Air Earbuds stack up against the competition?
Short answer, they’re not bad. Long answer – there’s a few caveats. So lets dig down into those caveats:
First Impressions of the Acefast FA002 Acefit Air
In a previous review, I wrote that I have severe issues with earbuds and in-ear headphones. Aside from a notable handful, I find that irrespective of what size rubber cushions I use, or how hard I cram them into my ear, I continue to see every little bump or movement of my head plummeting to the ground like proverbial lemmings leaping from my ears.
So, my first test upon getting a new set to try out is to shake my head while doing a couple of star jumps. It makes me look insane (which is why I do it in the comfort of my home office) but it very quickly lets me know whether they’re a) comfortable to wear, and b) going to result in me continually having to reseat them. And unfortunately, I had to actually look up on the website to see how to fit the FA002 Acefit Air correctly (I’ll admit I got it wrong to begin with.) But even after correcting my error, they never really felt secure enough for my liking. However, I will state for the record that despite my rigorous testing, they did not actually fall off. So – off to a good start, despite my personal preference for a more secure, tighter fit. (Also Acefast, probably add an image with the correct way to wear them to the documentation included with the product for people like me.)
Now, I’ve said it repeatedly, but I’m a fan of clean, aesthetic boxes for technology products. And Acefast haven’t disappointed. The box is a crisp, stylish white with a photo of the Acefit Air earbuds on the back along with key information on the product, while the front has a transparent plastic cover that reveals the charging case nestled inside the box. It’s nice, but because the charging case sticks up a few millimetres from the box, it has to be shipped with a protective foam sleeve around it. This makes the box design a little unusual and odd, given it increases packaging, and leaves it more vulnerable to damage.
Opening the box (this is done by tearing a perforated slip around the outer box which makes it obvious it’s been opened) reveals another, thicker cardboard box which is plain white, and has an embossed Acefast logo and circular pattern. Again, while it looks good, I’m still not quite sure why they don’t simplify the packaging just a bit.
Fully opening the container, you get the earbuds themselves, safely stored within the plastic charging case, a USB-C to a 90 degree angled USB-C charging cable, and the quick start documentation.
The charging case is easily portable, measuring only 10mm in thickness. This means that even if you’re wearing jeans, you’re not likely to have an issue fitting them into your pocket.
One side note: because the charging port on the carrying case is located on the bottom, even with the 90 degree USB-C connector, you’ll still have the case raised off the desk a few millimetres when charging it. While I can’t think of a better place to locate this, given the shape and size of the carrying case, it does feel a little awkward (even though you’re not likely to have the container open while charging anyway).
The Acefast FA002 Acefit Air are open-ear earbuds. This means they don’t sit inside your ear, so there are no silicone tips. Instead, they hover over your ear, with a rigid support (containing the battery) that wraps around the back of your ear like a pair of glasses. I only wish that these were a bit flexible so you could adjust the fit and tightness.
The earbuds themselves are extremely light (only 7.5grams), which puts them on par with some of the higher priced earbuds I’ve reviewed previously, so definitely not something you’ll notice when wearing them for long periods.
The Acefit Air is also IP54 rated, which is ideal for working out, where they might be exposed to sweat or light rain.
In the quick start documentation is a QR code, providing a quick and easy method of downloading the Acefast app to your smart phone or tablet (more on this app later).
At its price point, the FA002 Acefit Air aren’t the cheapest options available, however, are still a reasonably budget friendly option, offering a number of good features, but not without a few tradeoffs.
Features and Performance
Acefast have constructed the speakers for the Acefit Air using a 3-magnet linear speaker system. This is advertised as allowing for a more dynamic driver experience, pushing greater amplitude with less power, and helping to reduce overall distortion, especially in the lower frequency range. While this sounds great on paper, it also performed surprisingly well in real life.
Full disclosure: I am by no means an audiophile, and lack the equipment and knowledge to enable me to reference frequency ranges or decibel limits, so don’t expect that in this review.
Considering the small size of the speaker units themselves, and lack of depth to the speakers, I assumed that they would struggle to produce decent sound. However, low frequencies came through clean and clear, with almost no distortion even at higher volumes. The mids and highs, likewise, were crisp and didn’t contain noticeable noise or distortion.
Music sounded well balanced, with the bass not being over – or underwhelming. The vocals were clean and clear. Now, don’t get me wrong, these aren’t on par with a $10,000 sound system, but for their intended use, they’re pretty good.
There is one small issue to note however. Because they are open-ear, not in-ear, there is some noticeable sound leakage (meaning that the audio can be heard by others nearby.) This isn’t disruptive – that is, you won’t be getting nasty stares on the train like you would if you were playing on a speaker – but it is something to note if you are somewhere that absolute quiet is a necessity (like at School or in a Library.)
The FA002 Acefit Air supports Bluetooth 5.4, which allows it to connect to two devices simultaneously. This means, for example, you could connect it to both a tablet and phone, allowing you to watch Netflix and then take a call on your phone simply by tapping the assigned earbud to answer.
The FA002 Acefit Air also has ENC call noise reduction support, which works well, despite the open-ear design. In call testing presented loud, clear vocals with minimal background noise transmitted to the person on the other end of my call. In this regard, Acefast have actually done a better job than several of their more expensive competitors.
Each earbud on the Acefit Air also has built in touch controls. These can be assigned to either earbud via the Acefast app, and support a number of different commands – from call answering to volume controls – with single, double, triple taps and long presses able to be assigned different functions. However, I frequently triggered unwanted actions while attempting to adjust them in my ear (which I did often, thanks to the slightly loose fit.)
Also of note, the buds don’t seem to know when they have been removed from your ear for automatic pausing, which can be a blessing and a curse, depending on what you’re listening to at the time.
The App
The Acefast mobile app is funtional, and offers basic features – such as the aforementioned programming of the touch controls, as well as EQ setting adjustments. There’s a handful of preset options available, along with a custom EQ section. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see any way to save multiple profiles, so there appears to be no quick and easy way to switch between presets for calls and movies (for example.)
Battery Life and Charging
The Acefit Air claims 6 hours of use on a single charge of the earbuds, with up to 25 hours of use via the carry case. While there are other products available able to squeeze further life from a similar size battery, the claimed 6 hours held true in my testing, with fairly consistent results around this mark. Charging the case from zero to 100% took just over two hours.
Final thoughts on the Acefast Acefit Air
The Acefast Acefit Air present a decent offering. While they wouldn’t be my first choice, that’s entirely down to personal preference of the fit and style, and not because the earbuds themselves are sub-standard. They offer reasonable sound, functional noise cancellation, and a decent battery life.
While they may not hold up against some of the most expensive earbuds available on the market, the Acefast Acefit Air aren’t lacking, offering many quality-of-life features for a reasonable price. They are available on Amazon for $67.99 at time of publishing, down from RRP $79.99.
If you’re willing to put up with a few minor tradeoffs and issues, you’ll find yourself with a good set of wireless earbuds. And, if the company advertising is correct, their focus is on customer satisfaction and user experience, so we may see further additions to the app to further improve the product.
I’d like to thank ACEFAST for providing me with the Acefit Air.
