Fitbit Flyer: Great sound, premium design

FITBIT FLYER is a pair of in-ear Bluetooth headphones launched early this year in the Philippines alongside Fitbit’s first true smartwatch, the Ionic. It sports a durable, ergonomic design with waterproof coating that repels rain, splash, and sweat. It also comes with interchangeable ear tips to ensure snug in-ear fit.
All these are pretty much expected from the leader of fitness wearables, but as Fitbit’s first wireless headphones, one would wonder if the Flyer can deliver quality audio, especially when it retails for P6,790, which is relatively above the average price of Bluetooth headphones on the market.
DESIGN AND FEATURES
The Flyer comes in two variants: a dark model, which Fitbit calls “Nightfall Blue” and a light one called “Lunar Grey.” The unit used for this review was Lunar Grey which, as the photos show, is basically white with metal accents. It looks more elegant than the darker model and is likely designed to capture female users.
The first thing you will notice about the Flyer is that it comes with two clunky ear pieces. Each ear piece is almost an inch thick and feels weighty when worn. The ear pieces, however, do a great job at sealing shut the ear canal, which helps muffle ambient noise even though the Flyer doesn’t have an active noise-cancelling mechanism. (It does have a passive noise-cancelling feature, which we’ll get to later).
Included in the package are three different sizes of ear tips, two pairs of “wings” and two pairs of “fins” — all designed to help keep the headphones in place during workout. Both the wings and fins are shaped to follow the fold of the ears to guarantee comfortable and secure fit. I found the fins the best ones to use during workout because they held the ear pieces in place much longer than the wings did and hurt less when worn on extended period.
The ear pieces are held by a flat, rubbery band long enough to wear around the neck. The band seems sturdy enough to withstand excessive wear and tear. There’s a three-button control box about two inches from the right ear piece, which lets you control the volume, pause and change tracks, as well as answer/end phone calls. Pressing the Up and Down buttons at the same time activates the Power Boost, which amplifies bass, equalization and stereo feel to the music you’re listening to.
The Flyer can connect to two Bluetooth devices at once, which means you can easily switch back and forth between listening to music from your Fitbit fitness tracker and taking a call on your mobile phone. With its built-in microphone, you can also answer calls or activate voice commands (Siri, Google Assistant, or Cortana) through the Flyer.
PERFORMANCE
Setting up the Flyer is fairly straightforward and it paired instantly with my Fitbit Ionic as well as my Android phone. It can store up to eight Bluetooth-enabled devices in its memory, but it can connect to only two devices at once. Take note that when more than two of the paired devices are within the Flyer’s range, connectivity may become a problem — at one point, the Flyer couldn’t be detected at all — so it’s best to deactivate Bluetooth in the other devices that won’t need connection.
There was also occasional connection loss during workout. There were times when music was cut off during my morning run and signal tends to break easily even when I walk just a few steps away from my phone. This issue is usually solved by restarting the Flyer’s connection to the device.
According to the Fitbit website, the Flyer has been engineered to offer “high quality, clear audio with dynamic range.” Fitbit boasts that the Flyer is the first to incorporate Waves MaxxAudio technology, which is used for audio production in hit records, major motion pictures and video games. Now I’m no audiophile but as far as sound quality goes, the Flyer does a great job packing a punch to workout tracks like “Boom boom pow” by the Black Eyed Peas and “Stronger” by Kanye West. Its passive noise isolation also blocks out ambient noise remarkably well. For instance, wearing the Flyer in the gym drowns out the sound of people pounding the treadmill. You can still hear people talking but it’s toned down.
The Flyer’s advertised battery life is up to six hours of playback on a single charge, but I got nowhere close to this whenever I took the Flyer out for a morning run. After 45-minutes to an hour of workout, the Flyer’s battery level, as indicated by a voice prompt, drops from “full” to “medium.” With the Flyer still on while I’m resting, then taking it off while I hit the shower and putting it back on when driving back home, I would say it lasts up to three hours of non-stop listening. On its website, Fitbit explains the battery life varies depending on one’s usage, which factors in the type of music played and the volume level. The good thing about the Flyer though is that is charges really fast. A 15-minute charge would give the Flyer an extra hour of playtime.
VERDICT
With a sweat-proof design and plenty of accessories to ensure comfortable fit, the Flyer is the perfect companion for your Fitbit fitness tracker. Despite its flaws, like short battery life and some connection hiccups — which are common among Bluetooth-enabled headphones, by the way — the Fitbit Flyer is still a good choice for those looking for an elegant pair of earbuds that can handle intense workouts and also deliver impressive audio performance. — Mira Catherine Gloria
 
Fitbit Flyer can be purchased online at Lazada for P6,790.