The Boat Airdopes 800 was launched in India on May 17 with Adaptive EQ and Dolby Audio-supported audio. The earphones are equipped with 10mm titanium drivers, ENC-supported microphone, and IPX5 rating for splash and sweat resistance. They are also compatible with the Bot Hearables application, available on both Android and iOS smartphones, which allows users to customize touch controls and equalizer settings. The true wireless (TWS) earphones are claimed to offer up to 40 hours of total battery life. I’ve spent over a week with the Boat Airdopes 800 and let’s talk about how “dope” the budget offering is or isn’t.
Boat Airdopes 800 review: Design and features
In-Ear True Wireless Boats Airdopes 800 come in the box with three silicone ear tip size options – small, medium, and large. It’s a little frustrating that none of the sizes were comfortable for me, but I found that the smaller size worked best. Of course, I say that very generously at best. The medium-sized tips should have theoretically worked better, but every time I smiled at the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cold open, the earphones fell out and the in-ear detection feature stopped the show. Well, we now know that in-ear recognition works well, but more on that later. Preferring to keep the earphones in my ears while working throughout the day, I chose to use the smaller tip size most of the time.
The Boat Airdopes 800 comes with an IPX5 rating for splash and sweat resistance
Regardless of which tip size I chose, the fit of the Boat Airdopes 800 isn’t the most comfortable. The longest I used it was about two hours, one hour and 56 minutes to be exact, when I watched Arrival (2016). More on this later, but as lifelike as the sound experience was, the slight pain on the outer shells of my ears was equally noticeable.
However, if we move beyond the fit, things are looking up for these TWS earphones. The stem has a slightly curved bulge-like design that helps in better grip while putting on or taking off the earphones. The touch control sensors were placed on the upper side and were largely smooth in function. The charging points of the earphones located inside the stem come in direct contact with the skin. Although I did not encounter any skin irritation or rashes, people with sensitive skin and/or metal allergies may have problems with it.
The charging case of the Boat Airdopes 800 is useless. The earphones along with the case weigh 45 grams, which isn’t unnaturally heavy for a TWS earphones case, but the boxy design makes it feel heavier than it is. It is possible to carry it in your jeans pocket as long as you are comfortable with the bulge. There is an indication light on the bottom of the case that shows the connectivity and battery/charging status of the earphones. The USB Type-C charging port is placed on the right edge of the case. The cover also features the boat logo as well as Dolby Audio branding.
Along with the earphones along with a charging case and two extra pairs of ear tips, the retail box of the Boat AirDopes 800 includes a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, an information/instruction leaflet, and some stickers.
Boat Airdopes 800 review: App and specifications
As mentioned earlier, the Boat Airdopes 800 is compatible with the Boat Hearables app. Once paired with your smartphone, the app syncs with the earphones and on the home page, you see the battery level of the earphones on the left and right. Additionally, you have the option to choose from a list of various pre-installed equalizer settings and the Adaptive EQ option. It is powered by Mimi, who can also be found in Nothing Year (Review) and Nothing Year 2.
Screenshot from the Adaptive EQ setting process on the Boat Hearables app
The Adaptive EQ is said to provide users with a personalized sound experience. To configure Adaptive EQ on the Boat Airdopes 800, you need to click on the “Set up Adaptive EQ” option. This will take you through a practice round and step-by-step test that is easy to follow with on-screen instructions. Once set-up is complete, you can choose to turn on Adaptive EQ mode to experience a specifically optimized sound.
The preset equalization includes five options – Balanced, Pop, Rock, Jazz and Club. You can also choose to toggle between Dolby Movie and Dolby Natural settings. We’ll talk about the sound experience of each of these modes in detail in the next section.
In another tab of the Bot Hearables app, you can choose one-tap and two-tap functions on the left and right earphones separately. Although you can use four completely different actions with these, I chose to use the same actions for both sides. But that’s just because I find it easier. You can choose from functions like play/pause, volume control (up/down), change between tracks (next/previous), as well as manage Beast Mode and Google Assistant.
A third “System” tab allows you to access the Bot Airdopes 800’s user manual and a section helps check the latest version of the Bot Hearables app. In this tab, you can also choose to turn on/off the in-ear detection feature and the multipoint connectivity option.
The Boat Airdopes 800 are equipped with a 35mAh battery in each earbud
The boats are equipped with Airdopes 800 10mm titanium drivers and four AI-enabled ENC-enabled microphones. Each earphones houses a 35mAh battery and the charging case houses a 400mAh battery. They support Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and 50ms low latency. The storage case has a USB Type-C charging port and the earphones come with an IPX5 rating for splash and sweat resistance.
Boat Airdopes 800 review: Performance and battery life
The Boat Airdopes 800 connects seamlessly with two devices, which in this case, was my Redmi Note 11 Pro smartphone and Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptop. Bluetooth connectivity and 50 ms low latency make the earphones a good choice for occasional gamers and full-time audio-visual content consumers like me. Low Latency Mode or Beast Mode can be turned on and off by pressing and holding the touch control area of the right earbud for three seconds.
However, I faced some connectivity issues. When switching between different preset EQ modes, the app sometimes hangs or sometimes fails to recognize the earphones, showing an alert to connect to a Bluetooth device to complete the action. Selecting to turn on Adaptive EQ mode will at times result in a disconnection of either or both sides of the earphones. An easy fix for these errors for me was to put the earphones back in the case for a few seconds before reconnecting them.
These connectivity errors when changing equalization modes were rampant the first few days I used the Bot Airdopes 800, but with each update to the Bot Hearables app, the frequency of these problems decreased. Apparently, the problems were caused by bugs that were fixed with the OTA update. With the current version (00.00.01.02) I have not faced any connectivity issues.
Boat Airdopes 800 supports Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity
The sound of the Boat Airdopes 800 is bass-heavy, as advertised and expected, but it doesn’t do any major harm to the mids and high tones, especially considering the price range. Even without any customizable modes, listening to music on these earphones is enjoyable. It is good enough for everyday use with good battery life.
Despite your battery draining, the Boat Airdopes 800’s Adaptive EQ mode provides a personalized sound experience that I preferred in some, but not all, cases. When listening to Baba O’Riley by The Who, I preferred the custom equalization offered by the Adaptive EQ mode over the regular sound. In particular, you can reconfigure the settings by retaking the test whenever you want.
Dolby Natural mode introduces elements of spatial sound, which tastes best with music accompanied by stereo tracks. The details of the arrangement come out particularly well in a track like David Bowie’s Space Oddity or Abbey Road, one of The Beatles’ Super Deluxe Mixes. If you are a Beatlehead like me then the song Oh! As Darling plays, you can even imagine the Fab Four in various situations inside the Abbey Road Studios recording room. This is beyond what I expected from a TWS earphone priced under Rs. 2,000.
As mentioned earlier, I watched the 2016 Denis Villeneuve feature film Arrival with the Boat AirDopes 800 earphones. In addition to Bradford Young’s serious cinematography, I would argue that Jóhann Jóhannsson’s music helps make this one of the best sci-fi films of the recent past. My expectations were low because my expectations were built on multiple re-watches over the years on different phones and PCs since seeing the show in theaters on the first day, second, all those years ago. I was pleasantly surprised by the experience that the Dolby Movie Audio mode offered on these earphones. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it offers a theater-like experience, but at this price it was close and awesome.
The sound experience with the preset modes is largely in line with expectations – the Rock and Club options are more bass-heavy than the rest, while the Balanced mode offers a really stable equation. The Jazz and Pop presets focus a little more on vocals and treble.
The Boat Airdopes 800 have charging points on the inside of the earphone stem
Making and answering calls with the Boat Airdopes 800 was satisfactory. In an indoor setting with a stable network connection, calls were clear, with no voice complaints from the other end, despite occasional environmental disturbances.
The Boat Airdopes 800 is claimed to offer a total battery life of up to 40 hours at 60 percent volume. For testing purposes, I maintained this volume the entire time. Without Adaptive EQ mode turned on, but with a few hours of Dolby Movie Audio mode, I got about 36 hours of total playback time on a single charge. The earphones offer up to more than four hours of playback.
With the Adaptive EQ mode turned on, the Boat Airdopes 800 earphones provide up to three and a half hours of playback on a single charge. Charging the earphones from zero to 100 requires about 30 minutes inside the case, while the charging case gets fully charged in an hour and 30 minutes.
Boat Airdopes 800 review: Verdict
As a general user, if you are looking for something that has the ability to provide an almost theater-like experience on a budget, you can consider the Boat Airdopes 800 TWS earphones. Adaptive EQ provides a tailored audio journey, while Dolby Audio support gives the overall sound performance the kick it needs to stand out among competitors.
If you are on a tight budget and want a good, personalized sound experience, the Boat Airdopes are priced at Rs 800. 1,799 is a perfect ‘fit’ for you. Although the physical fit of the earphones isn’t the most comfortable, it’s good enough to use for a few hours at a time with 10 or 20 minute breaks in between. You should also be prepared to gamble with the ease of switching between different sound and equalizer modes. All is well if it goes smoothly one at a time, otherwise, be prepared with the case on hand to quickly reconnect the devices.
You can also check out the OnePlus Nord Buds 2R (Review), which is currently available in India for Rs. Rs 100 more. Rs 1,899 for the larger 12.4mm driver, IP55 rating, and lightweight case. The CMF buds, which come at a slightly higher price of Rs. Rs 1,999 for a comfortable fit, plus, active noise cancellation (ANC) support up to 42dB can also be found.
