At first we would like to thank Creative for offering us a sample of their Outlier Black Bluetooth Headset for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About Creative:

 

“Creative is the worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Founded in Singapore in 1981, Creative started with the vision that multimedia would revolutionize the way people interact with their PCs.

 

Famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, high performance earphone products and portable media devices. The company's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services enable consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment - anytime, anywhere.

 

Since launching the phenomenally successful Sound Blaster sound cards and setting the de-facto standard for PC audio in 1989, Creative has been able to leverage on its leading-edge audio technology, a huge user base of 400 million, and strong brand name to expand into the exciting lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment (PDE) market.

 

Creative is now well recognized as a global leader for product innovation in the audio and PDE segments, offering consumers a complete, high quality digital entertainment experience through Creative's hardware, software applications and services. Finding the perfect balance between form and function, Creative strives for every product to be a sensory feast for the eyes and ears.

 

Today, Creative is spearheading new product categories with its groundbreaking Sound BlasterAxx audio enhancement devices and solutions, highly-acclaimed Creative D5xm Signature Series of modular Bluetooth wireless speakers, Aurvana premium headsets, Sound Blaster wireless gaming headsets, and cross-platform Sound Blaster Recon3D for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC or Mac.

 

These products and solutions are marketed to consumers and system integrators through a worldwide distribution network that includes traditional marketing channels, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the Internet.

 

Moving forward, Creative's mission is to expand its leadership role in the lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment market, using groundbreaking technology and leading-edge designs for not just the technically-savvy consumers, but for everyone who enjoys entertainment. With strong focus on user-friendly interface, multiple features and cool industrial designs, the Creative brand is synonymous with lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment.

 

Creative's global corporate headquarters is located in Singapore, in the heart of the Asia-Pacific region. It has regional business units in the US (Milpitas, California), Europe (Dublin, Ireland) and Asia (Singapore).

 

Creative is a public listed company on the main board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) since June 1994.”

 

Product Features:

 

Designed for Comfort

 

Clad in a minimalistic all-black design, Creative Outlier Black features an adjustable cushion-lined headband designed to fit securely along the contours of your head. The plush leatherette-padded ear cushions cradle your ears with a comfortable and tight seal for long-wearing comfort.

 

Basics never looked so good!

 

Extend Your Music Playtime

 

Continue using the headphones even when the battery runs low! The Creative Outlier Black comes with a 3.5mm AUX-in port and an included AUX-in cable for extended playtime in passive mode.

 

Keep your music on a loop!

 

Stay Free with Wireless

 

Enjoy unrestricted freedom with Creative Outlier Black. The Bluetooth 4.1 technology allows for smooth and reliable audio transmission for the best listening experience.

 

Move freely, keep the music going.

 

High-Performance

 

Bring your music to life! The custom-tuned, full-range driver housed in each headphone delivers powerful audio performance for an immersive listening experience. Great music on-the-go.

 

Hands-free Convenience

 

Make a call or send a message hands-free! Activate Siri or Google Now by double pressing on the play button while connected via Bluetooth. The one-touch button and built-in invisible microphone2 located on the earcup also allows you to access music playback and calls control without having to reach for your phone!

 

Go Places with Music

 

Designed for urban life, the Outlier Black is lightweight at 190g (6.7 oz) with a foldable headband design for hassle-free portability. Its lightness makes it perfect for all-day wear even during extended listening sessions, especially during commute.

 

Your Music Companion

 

Enjoy quality music with Outlier Black wherever you go with a long-lasting battery life of up to 13 hours on a single charge! You can easily charge the headphones via the micro USB cable provided. Never be out of music.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

One of the latest Creative headsets is the Outlier Black one and as the name suggests, it was designed with portability in mind; besides the Bluetooth 4.1 technology with the SBC codec, Outlier Black does also feature AUX-in analog connectivity and an advertised battery life of about 13 hours. The product does ship in a box with a similar design as we have seen with the Metallix Plus:

 

 

 

On one of the packaging sides, we will be able to see a description of the box contents:

 

 

 

Moving on, we will be able to spot the address of the manufacturer, but also the product name and serial number:

 

 

 

After unsealing the box, we will be able to spot on the top packaging area the connectivity cables:

 

 

 

Besides the supplied bundle, the headset is also accompanied by the needed documentation:

 

 

 

To be more exact, we are receiving the User Manual, a Safety and Regulatory information leaflet, but also a secondary leaflet with online resources:

 

 

 

The manual does display the functionality of the Outlier Black, how to pair the headset via wireless but also how to charge its internal battery:

 

 

 

The supplied USB cable will be used for charging purposes only, while the 3.5mm jack cable for connecting external audio sources:

 

 

 

We do really appreciate the inclusion of the soft carry pouch, which is quite handy during travel:

 

 

 

Outlier Black is quite light at about 190 grams and its chassis is mainly made of plastic; the cups can be folded inwards for easy transport:

 

 

 

The outside of the left cup does house a chromed Creative logo:

 

 

 

The right cup does have plenty of hidden buttons to push, in order to control the headset:

 

-circular middle button for: Bluetooth Pairing mode access, Answer/Reject call, Play/Pause, On/Off, access the Google Now/Siri assistants

-left button for Fast Rewind/Previous Track

-up button for Volume Up

-down button for Volume Down

-right button for Next Track/Fast Forward

 

 

 

The cushions are plush leatherette padded and the fact that they cover all the ear is excellent even for people wearing glasses in terms of comfort:

 

 

 

The headband is also covered by leatherette material and taking into account the low overall weight of the headset, you will barely notice it during longer listening sessions:

 

 

 

Of course, the headband is adjustable in order to fit heads of all shapes and sizes:

 

 

 

 

On the top area of the headband, we will spot a subtle Creative logo:

 

 

 

Coming back to the right cup, we will be able to notice that it holds most of the interfaces; for this particular headset, Creative has went with an integrated microphone and its hole can be easy spotted in the following photo:

 

 

 

Next, we do have the 3.5mm jack for connecting analog external sources:

 

 

 

Moving on, we do have the USB port used for charging the internal battery:

 

 

 

Lastly, there is the battery charge status/connection status LED indicator:

 

 

 

After wearing the Outlier Black for a while, we were impressed how light it does feel and comfortable, given its choice of materials (mostly plastic). The custom-tuned 40mm Neodymium magnet drivers do sound really nice while playing music of different kinds and did not distort even at medium to high volume levels. The headset does use a SBC audio codec in Bluetooth mode; when you do choose to playback audio content only, you won’t have any quality issues, but as soon as we did enable the headset to take phone calls, the quality has dropped. We would recommend using the Creative Outlier Black with the AUX-in cable for phone calls, because you won’t have any quality drops this way.

 

We did charge our sample for about two hours before the first use and it lasted for about 11 hours, which is quite close to the advertised value of 13 hours.

 

As added value, Creative has also included in the box a carry pouch, which is great during travel, in order to keep your investment in a pristine condition for a longer time.

 

The Outlier Black headset can be purchased online from the Creative store for about 48 Euros.

Creative Outlier Black Bluetooth Headset is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Creative for making this review possible!