Nokia Lite Earbuds BH-205 Review: Great Audio Companion On A Budget

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Nokia Lite Earbuds BH-205 Review: India witnessed astonishing growth in the smart personal audio market in 2021. The market grew 62% in Q3 2021 despite a 1.2% dip in the global smart personal audio market. The growth in India can be attributed to the TWS (True Wireless Stereo) segment, which grew 92% to reach 7.3 million units. Local players, as well as Chinese smartphone manufacturers, helped India to solidify its position as the third-largest TWS market with a market share of 10%.

 

Rating:
4.0/5

Nokia Lite Earbuds BH-205 Review: Great Audio Companion On A Budget

Nokia also had a fair share in the growing smart personal audio market in India. Widely known for its affordable stock Android smartphones, Nokia is also gradually strengthening its range of audio accessories in India with affordable wireless audio products. The latest from the house of HMD Global is a pair of Nokia branded true wireless earbuds- Nokia Lite Earbuds BH-205.

Priced at just Rs. 2,799, the TWS buds are powered by 6mm speaker drivers and promises to offer 36-hours of playtime with one full charge. We tested the true wireless earbuds to gauge their performance. Here's what we found out.

Nokia Lite Earbuds Design & Build Quality

Nokia Lite Earbuds Design & Build Quality

Nokia Lite Earbuds ship inside an oblong-shaped case that's portable enough to fit inside any denim's pocket. The case has a Type-C charging port at the backside and houses four LED indicators at the front. The lid opens up straight and closes with a satisfying thud. Two earbuds sit inside neatly and are held together by a strong magnetic force. The buds won't fall even if the case is held upside down.

The new Nokia TWS earbuds boast the same durable design standards as Nokia handsets. The lightweight case and the buds are made out of good quality plastic and feel pretty durable. The buds can also withstand water damage, thanks to IPX7 rated design. You can tune in to music during a hot summer day while working out in the gym without worrying about any possible water damage.

Nokia Lite Earbuds Connectivity & Setup
 

Nokia Lite Earbuds Connectivity & Setup

Pairing the Lite Earbuds with a smartphone/tablet or a PC is quite simple. Simply plug the buds in your ears and long press on the touch surface until you hear the 'Power on' sound. Tap on the buds' name once they appear on the phone's Bluetooth connection page.

We tested the earbuds with multiple devices and operating systems and did not for once experience any connectivity issues. The TWS earbuds maintained a solid wireless connection (Bluetooth 5.0) with Android/iOS devices and Windows machines.

Nokia Lite Earbuds In-Ear Comfort & Touch Controls

Nokia Lite Earbuds In-Ear Comfort & Touch Controls

Nokia Lite Earbuds is one of the most comfortable budget TWS earbuds I have tested in a while. Unlike most sub-3K TWS buds offerings, these buds have rubberized earplugs that ensure a comfortable wearing experience even with prolonged music sessions.

The earplugs sit at an angle with the long stem and stay inside the ear-cavity comfortably. The buds also ensure a tight grip and do not fall off even if you are working out in the gym or going out for a morning run.

Nokia is also offering three pairs of earbuds- small, medium, and large in the box to help you find the appropriate fit as per your comfort. As far as the touch controls are concerned, you can change tracks, invoke the AI assistant, and can even increase/decrease volume, which is very rare to find in the budget price-point. The touch controls are very responsive and fairly easy to memorize.

  • A single tap on the right increases the volume
  • A single tap on the left reduces the volume.
  • Double-tap (both earbuds) plays/pauses the music.
  • Press and hold the right earbud to skip forward
  • Press and hold the left earbud to skip to the previous track.
  • Double-tap to answer/disconnect a call.
  • Invoke the Google Assistant/ Siri with a triple tap on either bud.

Sadly, the budget earbuds don't support in-ear detection. Removing the earbuds from the ears won't play/pause the music, which is a bummer.

Nokia Lite Earbuds Audio Performance

Nokia Lite Earbuds Audio Performance

Despite packing a fairly smaller 6mm driver set, Nokia Lite Earbuds impressed us with the overall sound delivery. The modest drivers produce very loud and engaging audio. The earbuds sound fuller and richer and can even function very well in a noisy environment, thanks to a tight in-ear fit creating workable passive noise isolation. It is always better to have good passive noise isolation than a poorly implemented active noise cancellation, something quite common on budget TWS earbuds.

We tuned into our favorite music on a couple of handsets including the latest Apple iPhone 13 and OnePlus flagships. The earbuds quickly recognized the high-quality audio codec- AAC on OnePlus handsets.

Sunflower by Post Malone sounded quite melodious on these earbuds. We also experienced engaging audio with bass-heavy numbers, be it the punchy beats on AP Dhillon's trending tunes or the drum beats in the Megalithic Symphony by Awolnation. The good tuning makes the listening experience very joyous.

Engaging Audio For The Price

Engaging Audio For The Price

And while the low-frequency sounds didn't overpower other frequencies, the bass could have been a bit tighter. Vocals sound clean but the treble delivery is a bit too bright for our liking. You can make the sound mellower by reducing some treble with a 3rd-party equalizer since there's no companion app for these budged TWS earbuds.

Lossless music on Apple's music made the most out of the budget hardware on these earbuds. However, it is worth mentioning that these earbuds also manage to match the same level of sound engagement and clarity on budget handsets. So you won't miss out much even if you pair these earbuds with sub-15K/20K smartphones, which is essentially going to be the targeted consumer base for these earbuds.

Overall, the audio performance delivered by Nokia Lite Earbuds more than justifies the pricing. It comes close to the expensive budget TWS earbuds carrying bigger 8mm/10mm drivers.

Nokia Lite Earbuds Calling Performance & Battery Life

Nokia Lite Earbuds Calling Performance & Battery Life

The voice call experience is equally good. Backed by Qualcomm cVc technology, these budget earbuds performed very well with both normal and WhatsApp calls and can also be used for virtual meetings. The caller never complained about any voice-related issues during our testing period. As far as the battery life is concerned, one full charge can offer five and a half hours of music playback with 70-80% volume.

The charging case has a 400 mAh battery that can add another 25-30 hours of playback time to the package. The case managed to refuel the buds' tiny 40mAh battery cells over five times taking the battery life to over 30-hours with one full charge (Case + Earbuds). This is pretty good for a pair of budget TWS earbuds. If you recharge these buds and the case once, you can tune in to your favorite music all day long.

Verdict

Verdict

For Rs. 2,799, Nokia Lite Earbuds BH-205 is a very good package. These budget earbuds sound excellent for the price, deliver a day's music playback and ensure solid wireless connectivity. The touch controls are implemented very well and as expected from Nokia, you can always count on the brand for a sturdy design irrespective of the product's type and the price-point.

The only thing missing here is the companion smartphone app. A well-designed feature-rich smartphone app can further enhance the music listening experience for users. Nokia should work towards introducing the next pair of TWS earbuds with a companion app.

Nokia Lite Earbuds BH-205 can be purchased via the official Nokia website, e-commerce websites, and retail stores in a single charcoal color option.

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