At first we would like to thank Creative for offering us a sample of their Outlier ONE Plus In-ear Headphones with Built-in MP3 Player 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.”

 

Go Solo with Built-in Music Player

 

Enjoy music while mid-air, go for a quick run, or pace yourself with music while you train for a marathon without distractions!

 

Easily drag and drop your music files using the included data cable from your PC/Mac to the headphones! The 4GB built-in music player supports high-quality FLAC and WAV, as well as MP3 and WAV formats.

 

Sound Blaster Connect app

 

The free and downloadable Sound Blaster Connect app makes it easy for you to view songs, navigate through music, and conveniently switch between Bluetooth and MP3 modes. Customize your playlists according to your preference — daily grind, cross training, and even high-intensity interval trainings!

 

Motivate Yourself with High-quality Sound

 

Engineered for crisp audio and powerful sound, Creative Outlier ONE Plus houses 6 mm Neodymium drivers optimized to deliver high-quality sound. The drivers are in-house tuned to produce well-balanced, bassy audio that is not overwhelming. Jump start the day with high-quality beats and stay motivated throughout.

 

High-definition Bluetooth 4.2

 

Expect clear, high-quality audio streaming at lower energy consumption rate and enjoy lag-free music streaming with Bluetooth 4.2 all the time.

 

HOW TO PAIR TO OUTLIER ONE PLUS

 

Press and hold the power button for 8 seconds until the LED indicator light blinks red and blue.

 

*If you are wearing the headphones, you should be able hear the voice prompt “Bluetooth mode” about 4 seconds in.

 

Continue holding on to the button until you hear a second prompt “Now in Pairing Mode” after another 4 seconds. This is when the headphones is ready for pairing with your devices for the first time.

 

Switch on Bluetooth on your device. Outlier ONE Plus should appear on your Bluetooth pairing list. Select it to complete the pairing process.

 

*While in pairing mode, some devices will display the Outlier ONE Plus BLE option. Do not pair with this option and wait for the option ‘Outlier ONE Plus', which should be appear shortly for pairing.

 

If that does not happen, please contact us for assistance.

 

Long-lasting Playtime

 

Made to keep up with you, Outlier ONE Plus has a long-lasting battery life of up to 10 hours in MP3 mode. In Bluetooth mode, you can easily enjoy up to 7 hours of playtime. Have music accompany you through mundane commutes, day-to-day errands, and even while you are traveling!

 

Sweat-proof for Fitness and Exercise

 

Crank up your music volume and get ready for an all-out, intensive circuit training. Outlier ONE Plus is extremely durable and sweat-proof for even your toughest workout. The IPX4 certification means that it is resistant against light rain, water splashes, and your hard-earned sweat.

 

KEEP YOUR OUTLIER ONE PLUS IN GOOD CONDITION

 

As you ready yourself for a sweat fest, remember to seal the control pod of the headphones securely! The cover of the USB charging port must be tightly secured in order to prevent sweat or condensation from damaging the port.

 

Secure and Comfortable Fit

 

Create the ideal set of headphones by switching up the interchangeable ear buds and secure tips to find your best fit! Outlier ONE Plus comes with 3 ear bud sizes and 2 types of secure tips to help you achieve that.

 

HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT FIT

 

Choose an ear bud size that fits snuggly and blocks noise from the surroundings.

 

Fit the included secure tips to the headphones and tuck it into your ears.

 

Start an activity (we suggest the shake test) and test the fit. Change the sizes if necessary. Repeat the steps.

 

Secure Tips

 

For intense workouts and extreme sports, we recommend equipping the included secure tips. These tips are designed to fit to the natural shape of your ears and stay secure throughout your exercise.

 

Ear Buds

 

We've included 3 ear bud sizes simply because no one's ears are the same — including your left and right ears! Finding the right size means better fit and sound quality.

 

Ergonomic, Tangle-free Design

 

Don't let wires get in your way. The tangle-free, behind-the-neck design frees up your movement as you get from places to places with ease. At 16 g (0.56 oz), you won't even feel it there.

 

Drown Out Distractions

 

With our proprietary AuraSeal™ ear buds, drown out the distraction from outside noise and focus on your tasks at hand. These noise-isolating ear buds block out ambient noise to give you clearer sound.

 

Hands-free Convenience

 

Go hands-free with the inline remote control with built-in microphone. Easily control your music playback, answer calls, and access the MP3 playback while on-the-move.

 

 

In this article we will concentrate our view upon the Bluetooth wireless sweat-proof in-ear headphones that also feature internal memory for the built-in MP3 player from Creative, which are named Outlier ONE Plus. The product is offered inside a small cardboard enclosure, with orange color accents that Outlier ONE Plus also features:

 

 

 

On the side of the box, we will learn of the supported standards, the product code name but also its serial numbers:

 

 

 

On the back, Creative lists the internal contents as drawings:

 

 

 

After unsealing the box, we will get to see the Quick Start Guide, a leaflet with Safety and Regulatory information, a carry bag with additional accessories, and, of course, the main product secured inside a black plastic mold:

 

 

 

The guide will inform the user on how to operate the main console, from where to download the mobile application, how to charge/perform data transfer but also how to actually wear the Outlier ONE Plus:

 

 

 

 

The carry bag does contain a Warranty information leaflet, an extra secure-tip, the data transfer/charge USB cable, two ear-tips (an extra one is pre-installed on the product so you have three in total) and also a cloth clip:

 

 

 

 

The supplied ear-buds do follow the black/orange color theme of the product:

 

 

 

 

The second set of ear-tips are provided for even more customization and comfort purposes:

 

 

 

The product was designed with a short non-tangle cable that goes behind your neck so it won’t interfere during your fitness activities:

 

 

 

Each headphone does have a rubberized coating on the plastic housing and includes one 6mm Neodymium driver, in-house tuned in order to get well-balanced audio:

 

 

 

 

The ear buds come with the AuraSeal name, representing their capability to isolate the noise around you (judging by the fact that you are wearing the correct dimension for your ears):

 

 

 

The multi-functional console allows the user to switch from Bluetooth to MP3 mode (via internal storage), toggle repeat/shuffle modes, answer calls, pause/playback/move to next track/previous track, but also allows you to control the volume. When you first power up the product by pressing about four seconds on the central circle, you will see that the activity LED will blink blue -> this is not pairing mode! In order to activate pairing mode, you must have the Outlier ONE Plus powered down, keep pressing the circle button for about eight seconds and the audio prompt will inform you that the headphones are now ready for pairing. Some people left at some stores negative reviews about this because they were connecting to the wrong device that is shown on their smartphone: you must connect to Outlier ONE Plus and not Outlier ONE Plus BLE!!! Outlier ONE Plus appears listed only when the product is in pairing mode:

 

 

 

In the back of the console, you have the Creative logo, but can also spot the USB port cover:

 

 

 

The microUSB port will be used for data transfer but also for charging the product; make sure that you have this cover closed while actually using the Outlier ONE Plus:

 

 

 

The blue/red LEDs will inform you of the state the product is currently in:

 

 

 

 

The Outlier ONE Plus is compatible with the Sound Blaster Connect application and does make the usage a real treat, especially if you are in MP3 mode and want to select a particular track instead of using the in-line console. The application allows the user to turn on Shuffle mode, but also choose one of the audio sources:

 

 

 

As soon as we go in MP3 mode, the currently playing track will also appear on the bottom:

 

 

 

The side menu allows more actions:

 

 

From here we can choose between Bluetooth and MP3 playback; while using MP3 playback, the device will be also connected via Bluetooth to your smartphone, in order to permit control:

 

 

As mentioned before, we are able to work through the directory structure and choose a particular track with ease:

 

 

The menu will also list the current connection status:

 

 

Finally, we can see the installed application version, along with the installed firmware on the Outlier ONE Plus:

 

 

Creative made sure to make this product customizable so accessories were offered in order to offer plenty of comfort during your activities; in terms of Bluetooth supported codecs, this one comes with SBC only that is a bit lossy, so it is possible you will notice a bit of audio stream degradation during some tracks. This small issue will not be however present when you load up your tracks on the 4GB internal storage and the Outlier ONE Plus does support MP3 and WMA files up to 320kbps, including FLAC up to 1.3Mbps bitrate.

 

The overall sound quality is good regarding highs and mids, but do not expect to be impressed in the lows department, due to the small drivers, which was to be expected. If you are a person that enjoys listening to tracks concentrated more on lower frequencies, you’d better go with larger headphones (on/over ear) that also feature bigger Neodymium magnets.

 

When the internal battery needs recharging, you will hear a quite annoying, repeatable beep noise that cannot be regulated with the use of the volume controls, so it would be best if this gets fixed with a newer firmware update.

 

After connecting the product to your computer, you will be presented with the total storage space and the partition type:

 

 

 

The transfer speeds are quite slow, so prepare to wait a bit if you are planning to fill all available storage:

 

 

 

The product is available online for about 32.99 Euros on the Creative Europe store.

Creative Outlier ONE Plus In-ear Headphones with Built-in MP3 Player is Recommended for:

 

 

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