I really liked the NuraLoop when it came out, but my biggest problem with it is the neckband design. I’m not particularly fond of those, since it’s perpetually hot and humid here in Singapore, so having something chafe at your sweaty neck is particularly unappealing to me. But Nura has finally come out with their take on true wireless earbuds, the NuraTrue.

Before we go any further, I feel like a short explanation of Nura is warranted. Nura’s main selling point is that at the setup stage of each of their products, you actually undergo a… sort of hearing test, where the app will map out what frequencies you’re more sensitive to or less sensitive to. That data is then used to tune the sound of the product specifically for how you hear audio. I know it sounds gimmicky, trust me, I thought the same before I tried them. The fact is that they work, the software works and the NuraLoop and NuraPhone were really good.

So I’m coming into this with really high expectations.

Anyway, let’s talk design. It’s a pretty standard case, you get the debossed nura word on top and a USB-C charging port on the rear. Now, seeing as these are going for US$199.99 or S$289, I thought the case would come with wireless charging. Unfortunately not, which is a bit disappointing.

There’s an LED indicator on the front which shows charge status as well as battery levels, and yeah that’s about it for the outside. Inside, you get the earbuds. Now, they’re actually quite large, externally at least. While the part that goes into your ear is relatively normal shaped, the circular disk that sits outside is quite large, although it’s not thick per se.

Taking a look at the earbud, you’ll notice that it comes with some silicon stabilising wings installed which I think, makes a world of difference. The earbuds sit super securely in my ear and I’m quite sure it’s because of these. On the faceplate, I have mixed feelings about the shiny metal logo. It’s nice, sure, but it’s also a bit of a fingerprint magnet compared to the rest of the matte faceplate. It’s pretty small though, so I guess it’s not too bad.

You get touch controls here, tap and double-tap only though. By default, a single tap on the left earbud enables or disables social mode, which is essentially transparency mode. Double-tap pulls up the voice assistant. On the right, a single tap is play/pause and call answering while double-tap skips to the next track. It’s a bit odd and I’d recommend customising it in the app anyway.

Speaking of the app, set-up is really easy. You put the earbuds in and there’ll be a voice guiding you on what to do, pairing etc. The earbuds automatically set up a profile for you and yeah. Even though it’s still kinda hard for me to figure out how to read my profile exactly, it’s a pretty good sign that my two profiles look quite similar. I guess it looks like I’m most sensitive to bass, a bit less sensitive to mids and then a bit of a peak in the treble. Anyway, it sounds good after being tuned, so I can’t complain too much.

In the app, you can also find an option to enable social mode & ANC, although if you turn that on, ANC is on by default unless you activate social mode. There’s also in-ear detection and you can choose to turn it off or if it should activate when one or both earbuds are removed. There’s also a slider at the bottom for immersion mode, which is essentially a bass boost.

Moving on, you get Bluetooth 5.0, as well as SBC, AAC and aptX, so that’s nice.

As for battery life, Nura claims six hours in the earbuds with an additional three charges in the case for a total of 24 hours, which is not too bad. As for whether six hours is with ANC, yeah, I got around five hours and 40 minutes on a single charge, so pretty accurate.

IPX4 water resistance rating means you can bring these out for exercise, and I think they should sit securely enough in the ear if you’re not moving about too vigorously.

ANC, though, is pretty decent. It’s not great, but it definitely helps to cancel out some of the low whirring and rumble that you get on commutes and such. The social mode is also pretty decent.

Sound quality is pretty much unchanged from the previous Nura products, which is to say: It’s great. Bass is thumpy and if you turn up immersion mode, you can get a lot of rumble from these. I typically left them at the halfway point, and it was pretty enjoyable. All the way to the max would be too much I think, but if your sound profile already boosts the bass, you might want to turn this down.

Mids-wise, it’s definitely clear that the mids are boosted to make up for my loss of sensitivity in that region. Vocals get clearer and more forward, and the highs are great as well.

Honestly, it’s quite hard to give a review for this product. Audio is subjective right? And this product is even more subjective because it’s supposed to be tuned for your ears. But for me, I’ll just say that these really do sound great. The soundstage is wide, and you get pretty good imaging and clarity all around.

I’d say these are worth the cash, especially if you want something that’s able to be tuned to your ears. The truth is, you never really know if you’re going to like these because it’s an algorithm tuning it for you. It was a safer bet for me because I’ve tried the NuraPhone and NuraLoop before, so I had a general idea of Nura’s tuning for me. Personally, I’d say it would be best if there’s a shop nearby you that you could go to set up a temporary profile and try these out.

Content by Cheryl Tan

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