Creative Outlier Air V3 earphones – fantastic low price for high performance (AV review)

13/03/2022
By Ray Shaw
In Featured Reviews

The Creative Outlier Air V3 is the new version of the already very good V2 – not only for performance but the price – a low, low $99.95 gets you BT 5.2, ANC, Qi charge and a massive ten hours (ANC off) battery life with 30 more in the case.

Creative Outlier Air V3

Website	Product page
Price	Price: Normally $99.95 but on promo at $72.95
From	From: Creative online
Warranty	12 months ACL
Country of Origin	China
Company	Singapore based Creative Labs (Est 1981) is famed for its PC soundcards and, more recently, speakers and headsets. Its Super X-Fi launched in 2018, is just beginning to take hold to produce spatial sound from stereo technology.

First impression

They look and feel like premium buds, have a superb Qi and USB-C charge slide-out carry case and Creative (you remember the Sound Blaster people) are giving them away at A$99.95 on special at $72.95. Buy now – a no brainer.

Comfort

Fit is essential for comfort and noise isolation. It comes with small, medium and large silicone tips. They sit well in the ear and just at the front of the ear canal. While they are IPX5 rated, they don’t have any wings to stabilise them, and during an hour’s strenuous walk, I had to reseat them a few times.

BT pairing – a little slow

While it pairs with the Samsung S21 Ultra and Surface Pro 8, it does not support multi-point. You have to disconnect to go to the other. The App won’t load until it is connected.

You can use both for stereo or either for mono.

Battery

Claim: 10 hours ANC off. We tested over four days, and at 75% volume, ANC on it was 7.5 hours. Recharge time is 2-3 hours on USB-C and about 20% more on Qi. Qi charging is unheard of at this price.

ANC – not quite what you think

It is software-based – not hardware as with most ANC. And let’s be fair, Creative calls it active Noise Reduction – not cancellation. The level is very similar to the Jabra 75t when it got a software upgrade to ANC.

It does a fair job – way above what you can expect from a $99 device.

Sound – more pre-sets than seagulls fighting over chips

It has 46 pre-sets, about half for music styles and the others for well-known games. But you can also customise it with the famous finger slide too. The EQ downloads the last profile to the buds.

Our initial problem was the lack of volume on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. We discovered that the touch volume controls on the buds work independently of the Samsung BT volume settings. A quick swap to Windows 11, and the volume was excellent.

The sound stage is slightly wider than your ears, and there is excellent left/right separation, and that is due to the vented design.

Music-wise, it is very good with lots of bass, solid mids, and a hint of treble harshness that you can reduce in the EQ.

It was excellent with Dolby Atmos test tracks. Creative has the SX-Fi app, and this incorporates something called ‘headphone holography’ where all the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is on the phone on music stored there.

Hands-free – not bad

It has two mics per bud – outside for voice and ANR. It does a passable job at hands-free conversation but won’t handle windy conditions.

CyberShack’s view – Creative Outlier Air V3 is amazing value for premium features

Qi Charge, ANR, customisable touch, huge range of EQ pre-sets and custom profiles, terrific native sound signature and all for $99. You could spend twice as much and not get this.

For the price, it’s a 10/10, but our objective rating is 9.1/10.

GENERAL
Website	Product page
Warranty	12-months
Price	Usually $99.95 on special $72.95 plus freight
From	Creative Online
Accessories included	S/M/L ear gels, short USB-A to USB-C charge cable

MISSING	In-ear detection
	aptX
PRO 1	Excellent sound signature
2	Qi and USB-C charge
3	Decent App and amazing EQ
4	IPX5
5	Fantastic low price
CON 1	Only SBC and AAC codecs
2	Large charging case
3	In-ear detection missing
RATING
Features	9
	Everything you need
Value	10
	Don’t know of any better buds at even twice this price
Performance	9
	Great music signature, wide sound stage and good volume
Ease of use	8.5
	Little slow to pair and lacks fast pair and multi-point
Design	9
	Love the slide-out metallic green case
Score /10	9.1

Creative Outlier Air V3 specs

Earphone comparison chart	Creative Outlier Air V3
STYLE
Buds	In-ear
Sports (with wing)	no
IP rating	X5
Ear tip type	Silicone
Colour	Metallic matte green – very attractive
Class	Value ANC
CONNECTION
Cabled	No
Bluetooth	5.2
Codecs	SBC, AAC
A2DP, AVRCP, HFP	Yes
True Wireless (Qualcomm)	TWS – not likely Qualcomm as no aptX Can use left or right as mono
Google Fast Pair	No
Windows Swift pair	No
Multipoint	No
SIZE
Weight each grams	5.2
CONTROLS
Type	Touch – customisable
Auto pause	No
NOISE
ANC	Software-based active noise reduction – basic effectiveness
Ambient passthrough	Yes
Conversation mode	No
Game mode	No
AUDIO
Speaker size mm	6
Frequency response	20Hz-20kHz
BATTERY
mAh in each bud	55
mAh in case	450
Case charge type (USB or Qi)	USB-C and Qi
Case size/weight	69.8
Charge voltage rating	5V/1A/5W
Battery time excluding case ANC off	10
Battery time excluding case ANC on	Tested 75% volume 7.5hours
Additional battery time in case hours	30
Charge time case	3 hours USB-C 4 Hours Qi
Mic
Number on each bud	Dual
Other	Hands-free is effective with a degree of background noise reduction.
VOICE ASSISTANT
Type	OK Google and Siri
APP
Features	EQ ANC
EQ	Amazing range of pre-sets for audio and games.
Find my buds	No
Spatial	SXFI app and works with Dolby Atmos
OS support	Android and iOS. BT connects to any BT host.