It is a piece of gear that I have been waiting to see for a long time. At last after quite the gestation period, EPOS has finally launched their earbuds in the ADAPT line overnight in Copenhagen. I have had the EPOS ADAPT E1 in my hands (and ears) for about ten days.
Back in August 2023, I was having an in-depth chat with David Sorrell, EPOS ANZ Sales Director at Integrate 2023 as a guest of EPOS. One of my questions I had very cheekily asked at the time was when will EPOS bringing out a pair of business earbuds. David, naturally, was very cagey about it. Despite not getting a straight answer, I did walk away with the EPOS IMPACT 1000 on the day.
I have had a plethora of gear cross the review desk in the intervening twenty odd months, but the EPOS IMPACT 1000 remained my go-to for work. You can read my full thoughts on that here.
When the ADAPT E1 arrived, I was keen to see how much of the core technology they can fit into a much smaller form factor. In particular, on my wishlist was a pair of earbuds with EPOS BrainAdapt technology.
First Impressions
My review unit comes in Scandinavian Black, there is also a Nordic White colourway. Given that EPOS is headquartered in Copenhagen, the naming convention is rather on point.
The case is wider than your run of the mill earbuds, that’s partly due to the design of the earbuds themselves but also due to the inclusion of a USB-C dongle.
The earbuds are shaped like a comma, with a ridge that runs along the face of it.
The case is adorned with a single LED at the front, with a button below it to indicate charge level, as well as for putting the ADAPT E1 into pairing mode. Around the back is a USB-C port. The ADAPT E1 also sports a wireless charging coil at the base of the case. There is also a tiny LED hidden just inside the case to indicate pairing status.
To top it off with a thoughtful touch is a loop where you can attach a lanyard or strap.
It looks and feels premium, as one would expect coming from EPOS.
In Use
With a short turnaround time, I dived right into using ADAPT E1. As it happens I was on the road when I started using the ADAPT E1, so it was a bit of a trial and error until I got home and had access to the QR code that provides a link to the user manual.
A good few minutes of fumbling with the earbuds and I was not able to get the ADAPT E1 into Bluetooth pairing mode. So instead I just jammed the USB-C dongle into my phone and bob’s my uncle.
In a later conversation with EPOS, I was told this is a totally unkosher move. The USB-C dongle is designed for computer use rather than mobile. Regardless it does work with some odd random quirks, for starters the EPOS Connect app does not find the USB dongle or the ADAPT E1 in this configuration.
The proper way to connect to a mobile is to open the ADAPT E1 case, and press and hold the button on the case until the LED flashes red and blue to indicate that it is in pairing mode. After that you just add it as you normally would on the phone.
With the dongle it is simple, the ADAPT E1 are already paired to it. You only need to plug in the dongle and you will be ready to go in seconds.
But enough about that, how does the ADAPT E1 perform?
In short, really really good. Toggling between ANC, Ambient and Off, you can very clearly the differences when you switch modes. I am writing this review whilst manning a store at a Sunday market with my back to a busy highway with cars whizzing past every few seconds.
With ANC on, the constant noise of passing traffic is dulled down to a soft white noise in the background. I can barely make out my partner, who is sitting next to me, talking to me which doesn’t earn me any brownie points.
With ANC off, the passive noise cancelling is still quite impressive.
Talking on the phone with the ADAPT E1, it has been reported back that my voice is on the softer side. Unlike the IMPACT 1000 with it’s boom mic right at my lips and background noise is very effectively filtered out, the ADAPT E1 picks up more background noise.
In my testing you can clearly hear the cars whizzing behind me, although it does not drown out my normal speaking voice. It has also been feedback to me that my volume is on the softer side to the other end, but with clarity. Via the EPOS app you can control the amount of side tone you allow in.
As for being the receiving end, the sound quality is excellent although I find that the max volume to be softer than I am used to, which combined with age is not ideal. There is a Audio Limiter setting which limits volume exposure for compliance for EU/US and Australia. The good news is that I can turn it off completely and allow me to bump up the volume a lot more.
Taking the ADAPT E1 to a stress test, I wore them whilst I worked in the garden. The ANC function works really well to cut out machinery noise. I did find that it struggles a little with a whippersnipper (line trimmer), it just doesn’t quite catch it all and you’ll hear random clicks. I found a similar issue with the IMPACT 1000 where certain sounds – like the steam wand on my espresso machine, or the ignitor on my gas stove, it struggles to catch and cancel out.
But one thing is is impressive is the fit of the Adapt E1. I have struggled with other earbuds where they do not quite fit in my ear and they tend to wiggle out of position if I move too much, or just simply walking around.
I did not have any of those issues with the Adapt E1. Even though I walked around, worked with power tools in the garden, I did not feel the need to adjust it every few seconds so it does not fall out.
Sound Quality
EPOS creates business oriented audio devices. As such, conversations are the core of what they have to be good at and the ADAPT E1 delivers on that.
It is worth noting that if you do not have a good fit with the tips, then whilst you are legible to the other party, I have had reports of scratchiness in the sound. Changing to one of the other included tips easily resolved that issue.
But you can’t be all work and no play, so how do the ADAPT E1 go with music?
I started off with a cover of a 30 years old song, Zombie by the Rock Orchestra featuring Erin Fox. Whatever misgivings one may have about the underlying message in the lyrics, it is still a powerful song that brings out the goosebumps. It also transported me back to my naive 20 year old self for a moment.
The choice of listening to the Rock Orchestra cover was to test the ability of the ADAPT E1 in bringing out all the classical instruments that is their hallmark. As a sidenote, I prefer this over the Bad Wolves cover that everyone seems to rave about.
My daughter has been into Cherish (My Love) by Illit.
Toxic to the End by Rosé is my guilty pleasure listening at the moment
Hallelujah by Erik Grönwall for his incredibly powerful voice. I prefer the Jeff Buckley version, but this is pretty decent.
How do I feel after going through this short playlist? The ADAPT E1 gives it a good go, but it does not rock my socks off. Keeping in mind that these are business earbuds, it’s hardly an indictment. The laws of physics cannot be defied regardless of how much money or trickery thrown at it, and there is only so much you can do in that form factor. It does not bring out the best of everything, but it also does not do it injustice. It will be just fine to work with in between work.
The App
The EPOS Connect app provides a small capability of adjustment to the ADAPT E1. For me the important things for this review is the audio limiter.
You can control ANC via the earbuds, but you can also do it via the EPOS Connect app.
Lastly there are sound presets and equaliser settings, which gives some modest tuning to the sound.
There is however no options to customise the controls, or full manual EQ control.
Battery Life
EPOS rates the battery life at 50 hours which is on the upper end for battery life in the earbud segment. This breaks down to up to 14 hours for the earbuds with ANC off (10 with ANC on), and up to 6 hours talk time.
Quick charge of 5 minutes will give you an hour of talk time.
Other Features
The ADAPT E1 can remember up to ten devices via Bluetooth. It has multipoint access which allows you to be paired to two devices concurrently.
You can use the earbuds in solo mode, meaning you can use them one at a time.
The earbuds are rated to IP5X, which means most (not complete) protection from dust, and also weather and splash proof. Don’t take them swimming though.
A feature that the IT department would love, is that like the rest of the EPOS line, you can remotely update the ADAPT E1 with the free EPOS asset management software. It also has Microsoft Teams and Made for iPhone certifications.
The ADAPT E1 also comes with different sized ear tips if you are in need of a better fit from default (medium).
Gripes
With my experience, I think there is little to complain about with the ADAPT E1. I am going to say that I am disappointed EPOS has not managed to shoehorn BrainAdapt into these as I really believe that technology has been particularly helpful to me.
The main let down is that there is no ability to customise the controls. As each earbud acts as a single button, there is a sequence to trigger functions which are coded to each earbud.
So whilst solo mode is available, you will find that some functions just can’t work when you are using the ADAPT E1 singularly.
Conclusions
The EPOS ADAPT E1 is a solid pair of earbuds with excellent battery life. They are not quite on par with their headset ranges with the adjustable boom mic when it came down to background noise, but they do an excellent job of prioritising your voice on a call. They are also no slouch for music.
The inclusion of a USB dongle ensures a solid connection when being used with a computer, and the multipoint Bluetooth feature provides you with up to three concurrent connections – something that I personally value.
The EPOS ADAPT E1 is freshly out of the gate, and they are now available with a RRP of A$362.
DRN would like to thank EPOS for providing the review unit.
