EPOS Adapt E1 reviewed: a dual-purpose pair

A pair of noise cancelling earbuds you can use for both Teams calls at work and music for your personal phone? The EPOS Adapt E1 could just be a WFH winner.

Work and play are rarely the same thing, and that could be why we typically have two sets of devices. A computer for work (often supplied by work) and a computer for home (often supplied by you). It might be the same with a phone — one for work and one for home — and so on and so on.

But some devices can also serve more than one master. A mouse that can switch computers with ease, supporting as many as three computers and jumping with a mere press of a button. A printer that can handle both of your computers, printing from each because it can.

And yes, even headphones can do that.

Bluetooth multipoint technology is one such example of how to make this work, but it’s not always perfect, and work computers don’t always play nicely with letting you add your own devices. Depending on how locked down the system is, you may struggle to add anything but what’s hard-wired.

However, EPOS has a new pair of earbuds designed to get around the work and play problem, and also work and play nicely with locked down systems.

A pair of noise cancelling earbuds with a USB-C dongle, the EPOS Adapt E1 could be one of the best additions to the WFH arsenal, particularly in this more commonly hybrid world.

Design and features

Like other earphones and earbuds, the design is a little borrowed, but still something new.

While the AirPods adopt a stem and other earbuds don’t, the Adapt E1 sits in the middle, with a shortened stem and a design supporting semi-open acoustics, plus an earbud shape designed to fit more ears.

Four tip sizes are included in the non-descript brown box, as is the rechargeable case holding the E1 earbuds and the USB-C key with a built-in receiver.

The USB-C dongle allows you to easily plug the Adapt E1 into any recent computer or gaming system with a Type C port, and have the earbuds instantly connect with it. That alone means you can plug the earbuds into a work computer with ease, but even when it’s not in use, you can also use a Bluetooth connection, such as what’s on your phone, tablet, or yes, your computer, as well.

Up to two Bluetooth devices can be used with the Adapt E1 at the same time — more of that multipoint thing — but up to ten devices can be paired.

There’s also an app for phones with a limited number of features, allowing you to easily jump between active noise cancelling and not, or even selecting the hear-through transparency mode, as well. Support for Google Fast Pair on Android is also here, as is a feature to let you trigger Microsoft Teams.

EPOS also made the Adapt E1 relatively hardy, supporting an IPX5 water resistance rating, making them sweat proof and fine for the occasional sprint in the rain, running back to shelter before the storm hits.

The case stores the USB-C dongle and the earbuds, complete with a battery to recharge the earbuds when not in use. The battery case supports wireless charging, while a magnetic design holds the earbuds in place and the lid firmly closed.

In-use

With that, it’s time to grab the earbuds and try them on, finding the right tip out of the four to choose from, and fitting them in the ear.

Pairing is easy over Bluetooth, and there’s also a handy button on the front of the case to help facilitate the process, but you can just as easily plug in the dongle if you’re not happy with your phone’s Bluetooth.

There’s an app for some control — noise cancellation modes and equaliser choices, plus side tone volume control so you can hear your voice during a call — but you can’t customise the controls on the earbuds themselves. That means you’re stuck with single button pushes on what feels like it should be touchpad, but isn’t.

Your controls consist of some standards: the right earbud is a firm one press for pause and play, double tap for the next tap, triple tap for going back one track, and hold the earbud button down for two seconds to scroll between noise cancellation on and off, as well as ambient mode.

The left earbud is a little different, only supporting the two seconds ANC toggle, with the remainder of the button presses referencing Microsoft Teams. If you’re not using Teams, the controls on the left earbud are a little useless — they do nothing — but if you’re in Teams, one button turns Teams on or checks notifications, while two button presses on the left raises and lowers your hand.

Frankly we’d love a little more control in the app for this. Customising controls isn’t a new thing, and if you’re not using Teams — like when you’re connected to your phone — the left earbud’s controls are utterly pointless and don’t work. If EPOS let you tweak this so that your controls did something on mobile on the left side, or even were customisable, it would improve the E1’s usability considerably.

You can still get around without the controls on the left earpiece, but it’s just a bugbear that seems like EPOS needed to think about. Hopefully it does with a firmware update later on down the track.

Performance

The most important part is clearly how the Adapt E1 earphones sound, because otherwise, what’s the point of owning a pair of earbuds in the first place.

As we do with all our headphone reviews, we’re testing the EPOS Adapt E1 with the Pickr Sound Test, which you can listen to for yourself.

As usual, our test starts with electronic, where the likes of Tycho and Daft Punk deliver a fairly balanced and clean sound, though one that lacks the boldness of other earbuds. It’s a nice balance, even though the bass can feel a little underhanded.

For instance, in the vibrant pop of Carly Rae Jepsen, you don’t feel the impact of the bass drum in punchy sounds, while Ariana Grande lacks the same clear emphasis on the lows. Even the more evident lows from Charlie Puth’s “Done For Me”, a track that normally exudes bass beautifully seems lacklustre by comparison.

Outside of a decent bass attack, the EPOS Adapt E1 handles most tracks with clear balance. Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” didn’t have the punch we look for, while “Two Weeks” from FKA Twigs lacked the guttural sub-bass gives its sound a real earthy feel. Even the rounded bass from the likes of Ray Brown and Christian McBride — actual upright bassists — missed the feel from the lows that we look for.

If you don’t need your tracks to have a bass punch that you can feel, you’ll be right at home with the Adapt E1. The balance is mostly there, and little is lost. We just prefer a warmer sound, and these didn’t quite nail that.

However, many listeners won’t care, and there’s a nice overall sound on offer in the E1. You can also tweak the audio using the pre-supplied EQ settings in the app, with a Bass Boost available that can artificially amp it up just a smidge.

Noise cancellation

Also a feature of the Adapt E1 is active noise cancellation, a feature that brings sound isolation for aircraft and trips, as well as pretty much anywhere you need to sit in a bubble of solitude.

For the E1, EPOS is using a version of noise cancellation that is hybrid, using algorithms and a semi-open acoustic architecture, though one that leans on those algorithms to cancel out the outside world.

The result is a decent noise cancellation, though one that doesn’t rival the best active noise cancellation technology from the likes of Bose which still wins with the QC Ultra Earbuds.

For the EPOS, you’ll block the basics: repeatable aircraft noise should be no concern, and the hum of the train should also be cut back, too. But walking by the road or listening to people talking won’t see the algorithms working quite the same way. Sound will get in and your bubble of sound will likely be broken to some degree.

On the other side, the ambient hear-through mode is excellent. It’s a natural sounding transparency mode that will let you hear what’s going on and your music.

In short, the EPOS Adapt E1 are great for the plane and train, but less so while working by a road that’s main.

Battery

EPOS notes that up to 14 hours of listening time are available on the Adapt E1, but that note does come with a caveat: it’s rated with noise cancellation switched off.

It’s a little unrealistic to assume most people will use noise cancelling earbuds without active noise cancellation switched on, because that sweet bubble of isolation is so rewarding.

With ANC on, however, your battery life is closer to half, achieving 8 to 10 hours of battery for real-world use, switching between full noise cancellation and transparency mode.

The case is also rated for that semi-unrealistic sans-ANC approach to life, quoting 50 hours with the case. Again, though, our real world uses see this closer to the 28 to 35 hours mark once active noise cancellation is factored in.

With this in mind, the Adapt E1 delivers a battery life not unlike other high-end earbuds when noise cancellation is switched on, but an even greater amount of power when it’s switched off.

We find once you’re exposed to ANC, you rarely go back, but the option is there if you need more battery life.

Value

One area that may surprise is the price. In Australia, the EPOS Adapt E1 feels under where the company could seriously and legitimately place it, with GST getting it some of the rest of the way.

The Apple AirPods Pro are $399, and the Technics AZ100 at $499, both of which offer a high-end experience.

We don’t think the Adapt E1 are necessarily as high an achiever as either of those two, respectively, but for $329 plus GST — or $362 at the time this story was written — that’s not a bad price for what you’re getting.

What needs work?

Will you miss out on some other features that may matter? Sure. That’s partly true.

For instance, you won’t see support for Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio like on the Technics AZ100, but you also don’t see the emulated variety Bose makes work regardless of whether you’re on Android or iPhone.

The controls are also in dire need of customisation. Ignoring the lack of an automatic pause when you take your earbuds off (which should be there, and for some reason still plays when the earbuds are in the case), having the left earbud’s controls do next to nothing and solely be reserved for Microsoft Teams feels like a total misread on what is an otherwise cleverly crafted pair of earbuds for work and play.

Both issues are the sort of thing you just know the EPOS team needs to release a patch for, but a few weeks into release hasn’t yet. It’ll come, we suspect, possibly after EPOS reads this review.

It won’t unfortunately patch the physical issue of a button that needs a good, solid firm push, but one thing at a time.

What we love

Despite these misses, the inclusion of a USB-C plug in the box makes the EPOS Adapt E1 a solid choice for anyone trying to straddle the line between work and play.

We have way too many earbuds on the Pickr reviews desk, and we’re not normal in terms of just how much we have to pick from (it’s in the name). But regular people don’t.

Normal people might have one pair of earphones or headphones they want to use with their work laptop, and then again for their phone. In that situation, a regular pair can be a bit of a pain, even if Bluetooth multipoint is supported. Multipoint is nice, but it’s not always ironclad, and it may not play nicely with the likes of your favourite work-from-home meeting software that has just recently replaced Skype.

The EPOS Adapt E1 solves this problem.

With one pair of earbuds, you have something that works with your phone and your work laptop without any real setup issues or qualms. It’s simple, and that’s the way we like things.

Epos Adapt E1 vs the competition

Technically the Adapt E1 competes with pretty much every pair of noise cancelling in-ear buds out there, which means it takes on the likes of the AirPods Pro (gen 2), the Bose QC Ultra, the Technics AZ100, Sony’s WF-1000XM5, and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4. Truth be told, it doesn’t quite have the noise cancelling chops to compete with most of these, and the sound quality is slightly better from this range.

But it also doesn’t compete with any of these at all, thanks to that disconnect between work and play.

Like other work-focused earbuds, the Adapt E1 comes with a dedicated USB receiver, allowing it to easily connect with a host device without needing to be paired. That’s handy if you’ve been issued a work computer or you have an other device you’d like to connect to without pairing.

For instance, if you have a work laptop, you can plug the Adapt E1 in without pairing the earbuds, and they just work. The same goes if you’ve have a video game system, such as the Valve Steam Deck: plug the USB-C adapter in and the earbuds just work.

That feature makes the E1 very different from other earbud competitors, and gives it fewer brands and models the pair really and properly competes with. By comparison, you’re now talking about Jabra’s Evolve buds, HP’s Poly buds, possibly and the EPOS Adapt E1.

Given the price of its competitors — between $348 and $424 for the Jabra Evolve2 and between $329 and $444 for the Poly Voyager Free 60+ UC — the EPOS Adapt E1 is actually decent value overall.

Final thoughts (TLDR)

Reviewing a pair of earbuds more focused for the WFH world, we didn’t expect to be as intrigued by the Adapt E1 as it turned out. These aren’t just another pair of noise cancelling earbuds. They’re more useful than that.

They’re a pair designed for people living in both worlds. They’re earbuds for work and play. That’s a big deal, because for many workers, you actually need both.

Not a pair for work and a pair for your own personal activities, but one pair of earbuds that can cover it all. One set of earbuds, two different purposes. A dual-purpose pair for sure.

There are things that need work — bass and controls mainly — but if you need a pair that can handle both sides of your life, the EPOS Adapt E1 are worthy of your consideration.