It’s perhaps a bit confusing if you don’t know how it works so… Snugs is a company that specialises on custom moulded earphone tips. These are then partnered with different headsets from different manufacturers. In the case of the Snugs Wireless you have a choice of three pairs including Beats X, while the True Wireless only come with Jabees BTwins.
Snugs True Wireless Price
The True Wireless package comes in at £299 if you’re not an existing Snugs customer – ie you need to have your ears scanned so the firm can create a detailed map of your ear and canal so your tips fit like gloves. If you are a customer then the price drops to £269. Most of this cost is attributed to the custom moulded tips as the Jabees BTwins have an RRP of £99. Snugs has made it easier to get your digital impressions done thanks to a retail concession in the Tekzone of Selfridges. Here you can just rock up and get your free scan done in no time at all with no need to make an appointment.
Snugs True Wireless design and build
There are two elements to the design here as the headphones themselves are made by Jabees. The BTwins are tiny wireless earbuds that come with a selection of different tips – 9 pairs to be precise. However, the difference here is that you’ll leave those in the box and attach them to your made to measure Snugs tips. As mentioned these are moulded to the exact contours of your ears – individually – so it’s as if you’d put playdough in your ear but a lot more comfortable. You can choose from 16 different colours and even have different for left and right to make them easier to identify if you wish. Comfort is the optimum word here and Snugs are a live saver for anyone who typically finds in-ear headphones a painful or awkward experience. Where this reviewer tends to find them falling out or simply causing agony, Snugs feel incredible. You can wear the Snugs tips for hours on end and barely notice they’re there and also go running or other forms of exercise with almost no chance of them coming out. In fact, ours fit so well they can be hard to take out at times. This is partly down to how small and lightweight the BTwins are at just 4.5g each. The level of comfort will come down to your ear shape but Snugs technology means there’s a slim chance it won’t work. If you’re not happy with the shape of either tip, adjustments can be made. A small downside here is that the BTwins needs to be charged via a small battery case. That in itself is fine and normal for wireless earbuds, but you can’t fit the headphones into the case without removing the Snugs moulds. You do get a little hard case so you’ll have to carry both around with you if you want somewhere to put the tips while the earbuds are charging. The BTwins themselves look sleek with a nice aluminium design and on the end are two contacts for charging and multi-function button. You’ll use this for just about everything including powering them on, play/pause and answering calls. If you like, you can just use one earbud on its own like an old-school Bluetooth headset.
Snugs True Wireless sounds quality
As the name suggests, there are no wires in sight here (apart from when you charge the battery case). This means you’ll have to connect the BTwins to your smartphone or other devices over Bluetooth. Perfect if your phone doesn’t have a headphone jack as is the case with many these days. The problem here is that Bluetooth isn’t as reliable compared to a good old fashioned cable. When the BTwins work everything is great but we’ve had a few issues. Occasional drop outs of one or both earbuds is a frustrating thing but we’ve not been able to use them at all with the OnePlus 5. Some devices, namely iPhones, have been completely issue free. A note on the official Jabees site says: “Being compatible with all iPhones, iPads, iPods, iMacs, some Android Phones, but NOT for Samsung Galaxy S6 and S7.” That’s already two major devices off this list with no explanation as to why. We’re investigating the OnePlus 5 problem and suspect it might be down to Bluetooth 5.0. Those Galaxy devices are both on version of 4.0, though. It’s not always between the earbuds and the device either, with the two sometimes struggling to communicate with each other. The other issue here is battery life as the BTwins will only last for three hours of music playback. That’s fine if you just want to use them on your commute but for longer periods in the day or perhaps a reasonable length flight and you’ll be chucking them in the Power Pouch case to refuel. The battery case can charge them four times, so there is that, but you’ll have to wait two hours if they’re completely dead. When the BTwins are working ok, the sound quality is pretty decent, especially when you’re using the Snugs tips. Your custom moulds improve the sound by keeping the earbuds in place, directing the sound better and forming an infinitely better seal compared to a regular tip. You can pump the earbuds pretty loud without drastically losing the quality and the way the Snugs fit in your ears mean you won’t be leaking sound to those around you. We’ve found the soundscape to be very spacious which is great. There are no details of the driver size inside the earbuds but Snugs lists a frequency response of 20-20,000Hz which matches the theoretical range of human hearing. We like the tuning here which is nicely balanced and suits a wide range of music genres. For such small earphones, the bass is impressive here. It’s warm and present rather than rich and detailed but does the job if you’re into dance styles. The mid-range makes up a large part of the sound, as it should arguable, with authentic vocals. A typical dip between 1-2kHz, a range most people are sensitive to, avoids a tinny sound. Although the mid-range is strong, the high-end is by no means hidden and there’s enough in the mix to produce a well-rounded result. Overall, the sound quality is decent but not something we’re blown away by. It’s about what we’d expect considering the price of the BTwins minus the Snugs tips. They are suitable for a wide range of music and most users will find the tuning comfortable. Tech Advisor’s Reviews Editor, Chris has been reviewing all kinds of tech for over 10 years and specialises in audio. He also covers a range of topics including home entertainment, phones, laptops, tablets and more.
