The entry level market for ear buds is heating up with plenty of offerings. Hot on my desk in 2024 is the SoundPEATS GoFree 2 earbuds.
The GoFree 2 are air conduction earbuds which means they are a bit bulkier with the need for an ear hook, but they don’t need to jam into your ear so the fit there is not important. One of the key benefits is that ambient noise is not blocked out and the user can retain their situation awareness.
First Impressions
The GoFree 2 has a distinctive look, compared to other on-ear type buds. Rather than a rigid hook that swivels, the GoFree 2 has more of a “tadpole” look – The module for the speaker and dual microphone being the head, joined by a slender (ish) body and a bulb in the tail with a shiny metallic finish.
The colour scheme appeals to the die-hard BSG (the 2004 series) fan in me, all matte black and chrome accents.
Just like the Space that I have reviewed earlier, the SoundPeats logo is prominent but not obnoxious. It adorns the silver highlight on the GoFree 2, where the control buttons is.
Getting Started
The earbuds are already in pairing mode from the get go. Just remember to remove the little plastic film covering the charging contacts.
The SoundPeats app will keep your firmware up to date.
In Use
I got a bit of extra time doing the GoFree 2 review, thanks to some technical difficulties.
For the sake of completeness, I ran into some issues with the first pair of GoFree 2 that I received for review. When I use earbuds, I don’t always pop both buds on at the same time when I answer a call. This is in particular with on-ear types where it takes me a little more effort to get them onto my ear so I save time by getting going with one side. After a while I noticed that only one ear bud would ever connect to my phone and no amounts of reset and factory resets fixed it. Funny enough after each reset, the alternate side would work. After liaising with SoundPeats, we decided that I was lucky enough to receive a faulty unit.
Jumping into using the GoFree 2, at a very base level, the sound is clear and crisp even without any adjustment. I will go more into details later. The unit supports LDAC which allows for real high fidelity sound experience. That said though, there is no data on the supported bitrate.
Switching back into the app, I ran the Adaptive EQ feature to profile my hearing with these buds. Not surprisingly the results are different to the experience I had with the Space. But even after going back and testing quite a few times and readjusting the position of the buds, I realise it wasn’t going to get better.
The lowest range of frequency in the test metrics was below my threshold of hearing. This wasn’t the case with the Space and I ended up with quite a different Adaptive EQ profile with the GoFree 2. This was hardly a surprise given the difference in driver sizes. It is quite apparent just with the test tone that the overall volume of the GoFree 2 is lower than the Space.
I have been using the GoFree 2 across a variety of media consumption. Lately I have really gotten into a bunch of podcasts which let’s be honest, does not require top notch fidelity. Voice reproduction is quite expansive and clear. I have no issues discerning the information being projected and certainly the sound was faithful to other audio gear I have used.
Moving to music listening though, is something a little more fraught. I found the positioning of the GoFree 2 challenging. Perhaps my ears are bigger than their design sample size? I can’t quite get the speaker to direct the sound stream at my inner ear consistently. The best I can do is for it to sit just out and off beam. Forcing the optimal position by holding my fingers onto the earbuds, the GoFree 2 playback actually contains a surprising amount of details. All the little details and chords from Guns N’ Roses November Rain popped and was a delight to hear. But letting go and letting the earbuds go back to the natural position on my ear, the sound was much blander and there was a very noticeable drop in clarity.
Conversely getting my teenager to try these buds on with his smaller frame and ears, it seems much more suited to his build. Despite being a bit of a music snob, he was impressed with the sound stage of the GoFree 2.
Physics is a tough taskmaster but for what it’s worth, the bass isn’t too shabby. Treble seems to be a bit of weakness on and off depending on what you are listening to. I have done my best to try keep the buds in the best position for the best sound during my review.
Voice Calls
This is something that is all important to me, working from any place and any time.
In a quiet room these do pretty ok. There is some reported hollowness in the sound or perhaps I am just tapped out by my work schedule.
Conversation in a noisy environment was a different story and it was difficult for the other side to understand what I was saying. It was bad enough that I would have to abandon using the GoFree 2 when I am in a noisy environment.
Battery Life
SoundPeats rated the GoFree 2 for 9 hours of battery life on a single charge. Realistically with LDAC turned on, volume at mid-high to compensate for the position of the buds, I was pushing for about 5.5 to 6 hours per charge.
With the case you can extend that battery life to 35 hours.
Speaking of the case, they are a little bigger due to the type of buds these are. The case is covered in a matte black material and a USB-C port adorns the back. At this price point there is no wireless charging capability and none is expected.
Other Features
The earbuds are rated to IPX5, meaning they will be protected against low pressure water stream from any angle. That makes them weather proof and sweat proof if you are using them for exercise.
Sweating up a storm mowing my lawn and reclaiming my garden from neglect, the GoFree 2 didn’t miss a beat. I did have to wipe them down after for hygiene, and with the matte finish and faux metallic, they are a bit of a magnet for fingerprints and oils.
The buds support multipoint, however you have to enable them in the app. By enabling multipoint though, you will disable LDAC support.
Just like the Space, there is a game mode which can be enabled to reduce latency.
Gripes
There is something I really had an issue with during this review, and that is the touch buttons.
I have really taken a dislike to them because they have no feedback when I press them (personal preference). Secondly it is really hard to avoid touching them when trying to get the buds positioned better so I end up either changing the volume, or skipping tracks, or hanging up on people.
You can disable the buttons in app which is workaround. Then I found out even if the buttons are disabled, if you touch on the buttons to hold the buds in place, you put them into pairing mode ….
Conclusions
The SoundPeats GoFree 2 can provide decent sound, but my feel is that it is better suited for either a physically smaller adult or a teenager. The size of the ear hook just did not allow the GoFree 2 to sit at the position for the best sound for me.
The call quality varies depending on the background noise, and where it struggled in noisy environments starts to limit the versatility I need them to work. On the other hand, the on-ear position allows you to maintain much better situation awareness in general.
Overall the SoundPeats GoFree 2 are not a bad buy, especially at a RRP of AUD$84.99. At the time of publishing, Amazon has a 15% off these which does make it quite an attractive price for a school age body.
DRN would like to thanks SoundPeats for providing the review unit.
Specifications
Bluetooth: V5.3
Profiles: A2DP1.3/ AVRCP1.6/ HFP 1.7/ SPP 1.2/ GATT
Chipset: WQ7034MX
Supported Bluetooth Codec: LDAC,SBC,AAC
Battery Capacity: （Earbuds: 60mAh*2 ; Charging Case: 450mAh）
Charging Time: （Earbuds: 1.5 ; Charging Case: 2H )
Charging Port: Type-C
Total Playtime: 35 hours
