We are now in the third generation of Bluetooth headphones with ANC from Creative, the Creative Outlier V3. In this review we will analyze them in detail to understand what they are made of!
The Creative Outlier V3s are certainly one of the most interesting products in the range: they offer great specs, a really nice design and ANC technology too. All at a very affordable price! Will Creative succeed in balancing all these elements, going beyond the limits we found in the previous version? Let’s find out now together!
Creative Outlier V3 review: technical specifications
- Weight: 2 x 5.2g earbuds, 69.8g charging case
- Frequency response: 20–20,000 Hz
- Driver size: driver in biocellulosa da 6mm
- Connections: USB Type C (charging), Wireless charging enabled and Qi compatible
- Charging duration: 10 hours earphones, 40 hours case
- Bluetooth: versione 5.2, HFP (Hands-Free Profile), A2DP (senza fili Bluetooth Stereo), AVRCP (Bluetooth Remote Control)
- Operating range: fino a 10m
- Codec audio: AAC, SBC
- Microphone: Omnidirectional x 2
- Waterproofing: IPX5 certification
Creative Outlier V3 review: design and ergonomics
Let’s start by saying that we are facing a really beautiful product. The case is made of plastic, but very well cared for. The color is dark gray, satin with the Creative crest barely visible, without being aggressive. Pushing the station part opens the drawer containing the two caps. Only this original opening mechanism, now in the Outlier tradition, deserves praise. On the one hand we have three LEDs that indicate the charge level of the two earphones and the case, together with the USB-C port for charging. The parallelepiped shape, despite its generous dimensions, facilitates portability because it can be easily stored in your pocket.
The earphones are adorned with an LED ring that acts as a status indicator by varying the color. They are quite larger than traditional bluetooth headphones. This can be a little scary, but thanks to the well thought-out design the headphones fit well into the earphone cable – also thanks to the interchangeable ear tips. Even when running or walking they do not take off and rarely move.
Creative Outlier V3 review: audio quality
The audio quality in general is good. The earphones manage to reproduce well the frequencies between 10 Hz and 20 KHz, extensively covering the human hearing spectrum. The highs and lows are well reproduced. The balance of the two speakers is also excellent and this allows for an excellent stereo effect with a good three-dimensional sound. There THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) si assesta all’1%, not an excellent value, but still acceptable.
The level of detail is very good and it is possible to clearly distinguish the various sounds at different frequencies, even very high ones. If you feel any imbalance in the sound, it is made available a great equalizer tool that works very well. In general we can say that out of box it is useful to raise the side and bass levels a little for a correct equalization. The volume is really high and usually reaching 50% can already be satisfied.
The passive isolation is really good and is enough to guarantee you a complete immersion already in the middle of the volume scale. However, we have two interesting functions. The first is obviously theActive Noise Cancellation. In this case, rather than “Cancellation”, it would be appropriate to speak of “Reduction”. The Creative Outlier V3s actually manage to reduce external noise, but not completely eliminate it. They work very well with background noises such as traffic or construction. People’s voices are also well managed. On the other hand, when there are high-pitched noises, the system goes into crisis a little and is unable to break them down. But this is also clearly stated on the manufacturer’s page. The second feature is “Ambient Fashion“. In this case the headphones amplify his coming from outside, allowing you to clearly understand if someone is talking. It works very well, even if sometimes the microphones (there are only 2) are not able to pick up well the source that is not amplified. It seems more a problem of directionality than of sensitivity since they are able to pick up sources even several meters away.
Creative Outlier V3 review: everyday use
Overall these headphones perform fairly well in all scenarios. Great for both music and watching movies and TV series. They offer good insulation and good sound quality. It won’t be a problem to fully immerse yourself in your business and enjoy the content. Even for gaming these Creative Outlier V3s are excellent: although not comparable to bulky high-end headphones, they can reproduce ambient sounds very well and also soundtracks. The noises of shots and explosions are well managed, especially by selecting the correct equalization.
Even with regard to video calls, we have nothing particular to report. The microphones work well and capture the voice. The ANC has no effect – neither positively nor negatively – on the quality of the recorded sound. If you are not in a particularly noisy environment you will get a pretty good voice quality. In short: no limits for the Creative Outlier V3!
Gesture e app
We finally found some headphones with one implementation of intelligent gestures. The trick is simple: you need to do at least 2 taps to send a command. This avoids all those annoying involuntary commands due to the fact that you touch the cap to put it better in the lobe, to fix your hair or glasses. Here, with the Creative Outlier V3 there is no problem. Each command is correctly interpreted when needed. And there are all the basic features, just do a little practice.
We also have a really well done accompanying application: simple and effective. It allows us to equalize the sound with predefined profiles or with our own custom configurations. We can also adjust the volume, check the precise charge level and update the firmware of the headphones. Everything is very intuitive and immediate: once the headphones are connected via Bluetooth, the headphones will be detected by the application and everything will be at your fingertips.
Autonomy
Battery life is great. Both that of the headphones and that of the case. We are in line with what was declared by the manufacturer, that is 10 hours of playback in headphones that can be recharged up to 4 times with the case. 10 hours are so many: they cover an entire working day and more in practice. For an average use, with a single charge of the case you can easily exceed two weeks of use!
Conclusions
Ultimately we can only recommend these Creative Outlier V3. They do not have any real defects, but only some features that could be improved, such as ANC. In the face of an excellent autonomy, an original and pleasant design and a good audio quality that easily adapts to different uses, these headphones are a very good investment. The List price of 69.99 euros is right, while the promotional price of 49.99 euros is an opportunity not to be missed! That’s all from the electronic section, keep following us!
Points in favor
- Well-finished design
- Good audio quality
- Great smart features
- super autonomy
- Price more than fair
Points against
- ANC that can be improved
- Some audible distortions