Review of Nokia Power Earbuds Lite (BH-405)
My personal opinion of the official accessories is that every smartphone brand needs it, especially a Nokia brand, which is under the governance of Nokia mobile. Audio accessories are pretty much important nowadays, and the trend is now leaning towards earbuds, which are an elegant solution in the times when the classic 3.5 mm audio jack is becoming history. Earbuds and small, compact gadget that can be fitted anywhere, from your jeans pocket to a purse, and most importantly, you look cooler than dudes with over-ear headphones. Also, earbuds can provide you with hours of audio playtime and serve as a hands-free device, or for calling a digital assistant. Nokia Mobile first launched Nokia Power Earbuds (BH-605), and later in 2020, they announced the Lite version, which differs from the standard model in the size of the battery fitted inside the charging case. Nokia Mobile has sent us a blue (Fjord) version of BH-405 for a test, so let’s see how they did.
Specs
- Name: Nokia Power Earbuds Lite Fjord
- Model: BH-405
- Buds dimensions25 x 23 x 23.8 mm
- Charging case dimension: 68 x 36 x 31 mm
- Mass: 48 g (case+buds), 5g (one bud)
- Battery: 60 mAh per bud, 350 mAh case
- Drivers: 6mm graphene
- Charging case: 600 mAh
- Connectivity: BT 5.0
- Price: €60
Plus
- Elegant case
- Easy to use
- Comfortable
- Waterproof IPX7
Minus
- Charging case lid wobbly
The box
Nokia Power Earbuds Lite is coming in a small box that follows the outer design of the smartphone boxes. Since this is an accessory, there is an additional holder to hang the box on shelves of retail stores. When you slide the top cover off, you get a look at an almost pill-shaped charging case that sows a Nokia logo print in gray. The charging case is encased in a smaller compartment that includes a short USBa/USBc charging cable, L and S ear tips (Ms are mounted), and a quick start guide. A quick start guide will serve you for a really quick introduction to the earphones since you’ll wonder how to turn them on and use the controls, but you can just keep on reading this review.
Built quality and the ergonomy
The BH-405 earbuds are nicely built. The charging case and the buds share the polycarbonate material that feels soft to touch thanks to the nice matte finish. The case is nicely rounded, has an almost pill-like design, and is rather elegant and compact. The lid of the case does feel a bit flimsy, and it wobbles a bit to the harder touch but it produces a nice click when you close it and will protect the earbuds inside. The buds are not that small, they measure approximately 2×2 cm but does fit your ear nicely. You should try all the tips provided since there are three sizes, and one will fit your ear canal. I am using the medium size tips, which are fixed in my ear comfortably and not moving while running or walking. Also, you don’t need to be scared that the sweat will ruin the buds since they have an IPX7 certificate, which means they are waterproof even up to 30 minutes in 1m of water.
The part that holds the driver and goes into your ear is built of the same hard polycarbonate while the top of the bud, where the touch controls and the Nokia logo are, is made out of polished polycarbonate plastic that feels thinner and probably is so the touches can be sensed and notification light seen.
When you open the lid, you see the buds, and the position of those reminds me of Wall-E robot eyes. At the top, there is a single LED that sows wheather the buds are charging (red light) or connected to the device (blue light). When checking the buds aside, you can notice a microphone hole, one per each bud. Buds are kept tightly in the charging case by magnets so they won’t fall from the case and will keep the buds tightly connected to the charging pins below them. By looking at the case, the right bud is on the right side, and it only can be fitted to the right position. On the ledge of the case, you’ll see 4 LED lights that will indicate the level of the charging case battery.
The bud fits your earlobe ergonomically, and it is not sticking out that much. It is like you are wearing earplugs to keep the water out of your ear. The wider part of the but goes upwards in the ear, so don’t try to wear them as AirPods.
From time to time, it would be good to clean the inside of the case and also the buds with a damp cloth, just to make the buds and case clean ad germ-free.
Usability and sound quality
The buds are quite a simple gadget that can help you not only relax with some nice music or a podcast but are also there to motivate you during your workout. They are lite, comfortable to wear, but the first day will feel a bit strange if this is your first time using the buds.
Also, you can use them as a handsfree in case your car doesn’t have a BT enabled radio, speakers, and a microphone. I did a few calls over the Buds, and the callers said that the sound is good, maybe a bit like I’m speaking from a barrel or an empty and large hall, but my voice is understandable. When I tried to call a person that had buds connected, I was rather surprised by the mic quality and how well the buds reduce the ambient noise, even cars, motorcycles, people chatting…
Earbuds Lite turns on automatically once you take them off the charging case. Also, they instantly pair with each other. If that doesn’t happen, just return the unpaired bud to the case and take it out again. The next thing you need to do is take your phone, head to BT settings, and pair there with Nokia Power Earbuds Lite. And, that’s it, you can start using your Nokia Earbuds Lite.
Nokia Power Earbuds Lite is controlled by touch. It will take some time to get used to where to touch, but the very center of the polished plastic is where you need to touch lightly. It took me a day to get used to it. The response time is not the quickest, but it is quite fast. If you tap the left or right bud once, you pause the music. If you tap it twice you control the volume. You raise the volume by tapping the right bud or lower it by tapping the left bud. If you tap the buds three times, you’ll be skipping the song (right one forward, left one backward). You answer or hang up the phone call with just one tap on either the left or right bud. By holding your finger longer on the left or right earbud, you will summon the Google assistant, and there is no way to turn that off.
The sound quality is just astonishing. I was surprised that €60 worth of Bluetooth earbuds could sound that well. The bass, the mids, and high tones are well covered, and you’ll enjoy house, rock, or classical music on these buds.
The BT connection depends on the quality of your phone, but the connection between te buds and Nokia 8.3, or Huawei P30Pro, is stable if you move 5 meters from your device inside the house.
The provided tips do a nice ambient sound dampening, or better say sound isolation, and you can enjoy your music even when walking down a busy road, next to a working machine, or in a crowd. Because of this, you should avoid riding a bicycle with them since you might not hear a car or a bus coming. Also, you should run only on marked trails and avoid running on roads for safety reasons. This is where ANC earbuds come in handy since those can offer some AI control and let you be aware of the surrounding noises.
I noticed just one bug, which could be a software bug that has something to do with how some apps are using BT sound transfer. Sometimes when I listen to music over Deezer, I would get pitch changes of the songs, by half a tone or more, with a 2-second frequency. A restart of your phones Bluetooth and the music app would solve that problem. That happened twice in two weeks, and probably because I was using buds with my PC and two smartphones, so there could be some connection driver issues created, but I wouldn’t pay attention to that since a simple restart solves everything.
The battery
The battery inside the buds has a 60 mAh capacity, which is enough for 4 to five hours of playback. I never managed to drain the power completely out of them, but the buds recharge rather quickly inside the charging case, and some 5 minutes of charge will give you enough time to watch a movie or MrNokia’s super long review of Noia 8.3 5G.
The charging case comes with a 600 mAh battery, which you can charge over USBc cable in a matter of an hour.
Final thoughts
The earbuds are a handy gadget that the Nokia phone ecosystem has been missing. The build quality of the buds is great, and so is the sound quality. For €60, you are getting buds with some elementary features which will do their job wonderfully, and even boost your productivity if you use them for doing calls.
I am surprised that Nokia Power Earbuds wasn’t selling so well since the buds are of a great build and sound quality for the price. Nokia Power Earbuds Lite are technically the same as Nokia Power Earbuds. The only difference between them is the battery capacity, the size of a charging case, and the price.
Don’t think that the Lite model lacks sound quality or some features. Actually, the smaller size of the case at the expense of a battery capacity is advantageous since they fit your pocket nicely.
The buds Lite we tested are coming in blue color (Fjord), but you should be able to pick them up in white (Snow) and black (Charcoal). In case you need a pair of basic earbuds that will provide you with a great sound while training, playing games, or relaxing, I definitely recommend checking the Nokia Power Earbuds Lite.
Big thanks to Nokia Mobile for sending a review unit.
