Review of the Audeze Filter: Excellent Speakerphone, but Do You Need It?

Review of the Audeze Filter: Excellent Speakerphone, but Do You Need It? Should you’re taking the occasional name, a Bluetooth headset works effectively, however, it may be uncomfortable in the event you spend a big portion of your day on calls or in videoconferencing chats. That is exactly the issue that the Audeze Filter Bluetooth convention speakerphone goals to unravel.

Should you’re accustomed to the Audeze model, this gadget could come as a shock because the firm is principally identified for its planar magnetic headphones. The Filter really makes use of a planar magnetic speaker, however, the focus right here isn’t on music in any respect. As a substitute, this gadget makes use of fastidiously chosen elements and AI-powered noise cancellation to make voices clear and simple to know on each end.

Is a business-grade speakerphone gadget from an organization liked by audiophiles a good suggestion? It’s definitely well-built, and it sounds nice, but it surely appears geared toward a decidedly slim market.

This is What We Like

• Modern, skilled aluminum building
• The leather-based case provides a premium really feel
• Voices sound nice
• AI noise suppression works properly
• Multi-angle beamforming microphone is helpful
• Works properly for podcasts and audiobooks

And What We Do not

• Geared toward a distinct segment market
• Concentrate on voice means it does not work for music
• No 3.5mm enter or output

How-To Geek’s skilled reviewers go hands-on with every product we evaluate. We put each piece of {hardware} via hours of testing in the actual world and run them via benchmarks in our lab. We by no means settle for fee to endorse or evaluate a product and by no means combine different folks’s critiques. Learn extra >>

Premium Look and Really feel

• Dimensions: 0.43 x 2.99 x 5.98in (11 x 76 x 152mm)
• Weight: 9.87oz (280g)

Audeze definitely didn’t skimp on the presentation of the Filter. The evaluate unit arrived nestled in a sleek-looking black field. Inside, the speakerphone unit was tucked right into a sturdy black leather-based case, which encompasses a magnetic flap to maintain the gadget well-covered.

The scale of the Filter was eerily near that of my iPhone 13 Professional Max, a lot in order that it felt prefer it was meant as a companion. With telephones trending towards the bigger dimension, it’s a pleasant contact to see the Filter sized so equally.

The construct of the unit felt stable, particularly the hinge that permits you to place the speaker towards you with the speakerphone sitting on a desk. The hinge feels utterly stable, and I’d be stunned if it began to really feel looser or weaker inside a number of years.

The built-in USB-C port is covered out of the box, which helps protect against water, but considering the speaker is partially exposed to the elements, this doesn’t offer much protection.

All of the Connectivity You Want

• Bluetooth model: Bluetooth 5.0
• Codecs: SBC, AAC, and aptX Traditional
• Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, BLE

The Audeze Filter is meant to be used either with a phone for calls or with a computer for audio and video calls. You can connect either wirelessly via Bluetooth or wired via USB-C.

Take a look at Wi-Fi first, the Audeze Filter options Bluetooth 5.0, and a stunning variety of codecs. Whereas even pricy Bluetooth headphones generally provide simply the usual SBC codec, the Filter additionally helps AAC and aptX Traditional.

Whereas most will doubtless follow Bluetooth, the USB-C performance is particularly helpful in the event you’re utilizing the Filter for Zoom, Microsoft Groups, or different related apps.

Controls: Surprisingly In-Depth

There is just one bodily button on the Audeze Filter: the ability button on the aspect of the gadget. The opposite six controls on the face are capacitive contact buttons. On earbuds and headphones, these will be annoyingly straightforward to the touch by chance, however, they work properly on a tool meant to take a seat on a desk.

With simply six buttons, you’ll be able to manage many of the features of the gadget. You get quantity up and down buttons and a useful mute button, in addition to a multifunction button marked with the Audeze brand to reply to and finish calls. The 2 different controls alter the noise cancellation and the pickup angle of the microphone.

For fine-tuning the choices, you’ll wish to use the Audeze Hub app. That is out there for iPhone and Android. It’s additionally out there for each Windows and Mac, which is useful in the event you’re utilizing the Filter extra for video chat.

The app helps you to select how robust the AI noise suppression is, in addition to how broad or slim the pickup angle is. You can too check the microphone to see how your voice sounds, increase the speakerphone quantity, and alter the number of voice prompts.

Voices Sound Nice, however Music? Not So A lot

• Driver: Extremely-thin planar magnetic with Uniforce voice coil
• Driver dimension: 2.75 x 4.13in (70 x 105mm)
• Speaker frequency response: 300Hz to 20kHz

Audeze makes it clear on the product web page for the Filter that it is a speakerphone gadget, not a Bluetooth speaker. That’s true, but since it connects to your device through Bluetooth exactly as a speaker would, it’s hard to resist the temptation to play music on it.

Used as a speaker, the Audeze Filter works fairly properly for audiobooks and podcasts. This isn’t a tool you wish to use for music, nonetheless, because the bass is rolled off from 300Hz down, that means you’ll be lacking a big quantity of bass content material.

With that mentioned, that very same low-end roll-off means lower-pitched voices don’t have the identical booming high quality they’ll on Bluetooth audio system. Voices from throughout the spectrum sound nice on the Audeze Filter, as they need to. Quantity goes fairly excessive as properly, due to the planar magnetic drivers and Uniforce voice coil.

Spectacular Microphone and Noise Cancellation

• Microphone: Twin microphone with beam-forming expertise
• Microphone vary: 10ft (3.05m)
• Noise discount: AI-Primarily based Clever Zero-Noise

Making incoming voices sound good is simply one-half of the equation with regard to speakerphones. You wish to make sure that folks on the opposite finish can hear you clearly and properly.

To that end, the Filter has a beamforming microphone with A.I.-powered noise-canceling to make sure that background noise on your end doesn’t make it through. I didn’t have a crowded office to test the Filter in, so a loud TV in the background had to suffice, but the noise cancellation seems quite effective.

After all, particularly with enterprise calls, you’re not all the time the one individual in your aspect of the decision. That is the place the adjustable angle comes from. As a substitute for selecting a regular pickup angle like cardioid or super cardioid, you’ll be able to select from varied angles. This ranges from slim 30 levels all the way to as many as broad 180 levels.

With the angle set low, the Filter will solely decide up voices from the instant entrance of it. That is useful in the event you’re making a name from a busy workplace or a crowded café. Alternatively, in the event you’re with two different folks, all on a speakerphone name, a wider angle, like 90 or 180 levels, ensures the opposite voices are picked up in addition to yours.

Loads of Battery Life

• Battery capability: 1050mAH Lithium-polymer
• Battery life: As much as 15 hours @ 80dB (at 50cm)

Audeze claims the Filter presents as much as 15 hours of battery life on a single cost. That’s greater than sufficient for even the longest day of calls. Battery life all the time is dependent upon the amount you’re listening at, plus different components reminiscent of whether or not you’re utilizing noise cancellation.

Curiously sufficient, Audeze supplies a quantity for its battery life determine 80 decibels at 50cm, or roughly 3ft. A standard conversation is typically around 60 decibels, so that’s a pretty good figure for realistic use.

I don’t personally have to make that many cellphone calls or spend that lot of time in video chat, so I wasn’t capable of checking battery life in this fashion. In testing by taking part in an audiobook and making the occasional calls, I obtained over 16 hours.

Logitech Logi Dock All-in-One Docking Station – Graphite

Poly Sync 20+ Private Moveable Bluetooth Good Speakerphone (Plantronics) – USB-A UC Bluetooth Adapter

AnkerWork SR500 Convention Speaker and Microphone with Deep Studying, 8 Mics, 48 kHz, Join 5 Speakerphones in Daisy Chain, AI Noise Cancellation, Premium Pickup in Convention Rooms As much as 45 PeopleAnkerWork SR500

Finest for Utilizing With a Laptop computer

StarTech.com USB-C Convention Speaker Mini Dock, Moveable Boardroom Speaker and Multiport Adapter, USB-C to VGA/4K HDMI, 2X USB-A Hub, Mic/Speaker, Groups/Zoom/Softphone Speakerphone (DKTBRSPMPD)

Ought to You Purchase the Audeze Filter Speakerphone?

The Audeze Filter speakerphone isn’t the type of product you’d expect from the company, but it has the design and careful attention to detail that makes Audeze’s headphones and earbuds so well-loved. I was so drawn in by the elegant design and functionality that I found myself wishing I had more of a reason to use it.

That’s the primary level in opposition to the Audeze Filter: it’s not a product that many people want. Even with distant work extra standard than ever, not everybody spends a big portion of their day making calls or in chats with members of their groups. It’s arduous to justify paying the asking worth in the event you solely make a number of calls every week.

On the other hand, if you spend all day talking to others, whether on phone calls or via Zoom, the Audeze Filter is an implausible various to a headset. Should you’d prefer to see extra distant work audio options for comparability, take a look at our picks for the best desktop conference speakers.

• 1 – Doesn’t work
• 2 – Barely purposeful
• 3 – Severely missing in most areas
• 4 – Features, however, has quite a few points
• 5 – Advantageous but leaves rather a lot to be desired
• 6 – Ok to purchase on sale
• 7 – Nice and price buying
• 8 – Implausible, approaching best-in-class
• 9 – Finest-in-class
• 10 – Borderline perfection

Worth: $249

Right here’s What We Like

• Modern, skilled aluminum building
• The leather-based case provides to a premium really feel
• Voices sound nice
• AI noise suppression works properly
• Multi-angle beamforming microphone is helpful
• Works properly for podcasts and audiobooks

And What We Do not

• Geared toward a distinct segment market
• Concentrate on voice means it does not work for music
• No 3.5mm enter or output