The earbud market is packed with brands offering you what they feel will be perfect for your needs. In this review, we turn our attention to Dottir Audio Freedom On-Grid which are designed for those who want bass heavy buds for the times when your hitting interval workouts such as Crossfit.
The Dottir Freedom On-Grid are a 2021 Reddot award winner for product design and come in at £119 making them quite affordable. The Freedom On-Grid are available in two colours- Black or White.
First Impressions
Dottir is the Icelandic word for Daughter and the Dottir Freedom On-Grid headphones are designed by CrossFit champions Katrin Davidsdottir and Annie Thorisdottir
Considering who helped designed them you won’t be surprised that bass was at the top of the list as well as designing a pair of buds that keep you in the game when working out.
They have also considered that not all exercise is indoors so when using these outsides you have the benefit of transparency mode which is basically ambient mode as it allows some outside noise to mix with your audio. It’s useful when you want to be aware of traffic around you. If you really want your sense around you the buds also use the master & slave technology meaning you can just use a single bud in Mono mode if you wish.
Unboxing
The Dottir Freedom On-Grid look very similar to that of a pair of Powerbeats Pro due to their hook over design. Take them out of the box and you get 12 different sized silicone ear tips to offer the perfect fit for any user. I was lucky that the pair that came on the Freedom On-Grid fit just fine.
In addition to the eartips, you are provided with the charging case, USB-C cable and fabric string bag and a fitness towel to wipe away that sweat from a hard workout.
Design
The Dorrir In-ear Freedom On-Grid as mentioned have a very similar style to that of the Powerbeats Pro with the ear hook style. However, the fit is different but still offer a nice clamped fit around the top of the ear.
The housing of each bud is made of plastic and measure 51.8 x 38.3 x 25.4 mm and weighs 9.32g per bud. The Freedom On-Grid uses both touch and physical controls. The red button at the top of the housing offers volume and track controls with a mixture of pressing and holding the button.
On either bud, they have a touch controls area that allows you to do the following actions:
- Play/Pause – Single tap
- Accept/Reject a call – Single tap
- Your phone’s voice assistant- Tap three times
- Ambient Mode/ANC Mode– Single tap and hold
When bringing up the voice assistant you can give commands as you would do normally and they are picked up by the three built-in noise-cancelling microphones within each bud.
The buds also come with an IPX7 rating meaning they are water-resistant and can handle sweaty workouts and can even handle being caught in the rain on a jog. However, do not use it for swimming as the IP rating won’t protect you from that kind of exercise.
Moving to the charging case, the case is circular in shape with a knurled finish around the edge and comes with a USB-C port at the rear. The case is 8cm in diameter and 3.5cm deep and weighs 83.36g. It comes with a Z-hinge that allows the lid to rise before tilting back to secure magnetic closure.
The Fit
The earbuds do fit quite well and block out most unwanted noise when you switch ANC the background noise is further reduced. They come with ear hooks made of soft silicone and in testing, they are held firmly in place even when doing boot camp in the gym or when doing a spin class.
Connectivity
The Freedom On-Grid uses Bluetooth 5.2 and offers a 10-meter range. When you first use the buds they will automatically start to pair just make sure you take the plastic covers off the buds or they won’t charge in the case or start pairing.
Once done and removed from the case they will go into pairing mode and just connect them like you would any other Bluetooth product on your phone’s settings. Once paired any time you take the buds out from the case they will pair automatically. I found you got a good level of connection regardless of if you’re working out in the gym or even going for a run the connection stayed intact.
Battery life
The Freedom On-Grid comes with a 70mAh battery capacity in each bud and can offer 12 hours (ANC Off) or 8 hours (ANC On). In terms of a full charge, you can get from zero to 100% in just over an hour.
As mentioned the charging case comes with a 1200mAh battery that provides 5 full charges and also comes with a quick charge feature that offers an hour of playback from 10 minutes of charging. When it’s time to recharge the battery that takes 4 hours. The charging case is also Qi-compatible allowing for wireless charging.
Sound Quality
The Dottir Freedom On-Grid are designed by CrossFit champions Katrin Davidsdottir and Annie Thorisdottir with bass in mind and if you are a bass fan you won’t be disappointed. They offer a heavy bass sound profile which unfortunately feels a little on the muddy side.
The buds have 13mm dynamic drivers that provide that power. Unfortunately, if you want balanced and detailed mids & highs you need to look elsewhere. These are perfect for Bass-heavy music for those who want to smash it in the gym. Unfortunately, the overall sound just lacks polish and is not balanced as you will have hoped especially when listening at home or at work but when you want bass in the gym they smash it.
They are actually quite good for listening to podcasts or when you are taking an apple fitness class you get quite good clarity allowing you to immerse yourself in getting fit.
Transparency Mode
When using the transparency mode it works a lot better indoors than outdoors and the main reason for this is the wind. The wind really does impact your use.
When used indoors it works well in terms of letting in just the right amount of exterior sounds. The lack of an app means you cant adjust the amount of exterior sound which is a little disappointing but does not affect the sound when in this mode.
Automatic Playback
A feature you will find useful is automatic playback which if you are unfamiliar with this feature. When you place the headphones on the music kicks back in from when you last listened. When you remove the bud the music pauses automatically. If you remove both they will power down after a few minutes to conserve power.
Verdict
The Dottir Freedom On-Grind are headphones designed for the fitness fanatic who wants to get down with their own training and block the rest of the world out. The mixture of ANC, great fit and heavy bass is a killer combo.
They also provide a range of different ear tip sizes 12 pairs in fact which allow for the perfect seal and the ear hooks add for a firm fit without putting pressure on the ears.
The negatives are really if you wanted to use these for anything apart from fitness programs or heavy bass audio they will struggle. The sound lacks detail within the mids and the highs the fact you can’t adjust the EQ is also a negative.
Another slight negative for some users is the mix of both physical and touch controls you might find yourself hitting the touch by mistake while fitting the buds in your ears. When you get the fit right the touch area was very responsive maybe a little too responsive.
Overall, They are perfect for working out if your music matches your workout intensity. The sound focus is on the bass for sure and they also provide good battery life the ANC mode is also good unfortunately if you have an audiophile ear you soon get bored of the bass-heavy attitude.
Product Rating:
Design: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Connectivity: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Battery Life: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Sound Quality: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Value for Money: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Overall Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars – 4.2 Stars
The Dottir Freedom On-Grid is available for £119.99 via dottiraudio.com
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