Innovation is the driving force that pushes us beyond the limits of the status quo into a place where variety can exist. Like all things technology, including true wireless earbuds, more often than not we end up with the same thing repackaged differently.
With the Vissles earbuds though, you get a completely different concept, which is currently not seen on any of the popular true wireless earbuds and, that is the integration of a wireless loudspeaker inside the charging case.
Most true wireless earbuds have 3 small gold-plated metal contacts for charging the earbuds but, the Vissles earbuds have 3 extra metal contacts for transferring the sound from the Vissles earbuds to the speaker built-in to the charging case. Sound is transferred from the earbuds to the speaker via radio frequency (2.40GHz~2.48GHz) connection, using the Bluetooth connection between the earbuds and the device the earbuds is connected to.
The Vissles loudspeaker case cannot be connected to a device so, it cannot function as a standalone speaker. In order for the speaker to operate, you have to do two things. One, you have to insert the earbuds inside the charging case while the earbuds are playing audio. Second, you have to close the lid of the charging case for audio to pass-through from the earbuds to the speaker.
The Vissles loudspeaker charging case weighs 80 grams and measures 9cm long, 4.5cm wide and 3.5cm tall. The charging case is entirely made of hard plastic but has different finishes on it. The body of the charging case has a smooth and glossy matte finish, while the lid cover has a PU leather finish on one half and a fabric finish on the other half.
The Vissles charging case has a pill-like design with a flat, rubberized base which allows the charging case to stand upright without sliding off on a smooth surface. The fabric finish on the half of the lid cover conceals the perforated holes that match the metal grill of the speaker. When the lid cover is closed, sound passes from the loudspeaker through the perforated holes on the lid. Sound will not play via the loudspeaker if the lid cover is open.
The Vissles charging case is, effectively, a mini portable loudspeaker system that also contains the charging area for the earbuds and a rechargeable 3.7V battery with 500mAh capacity. The charging area for the earbuds is magnetized so, the earbuds won't fall out while inside the case. The earbuds are fairly bulky so they can be taken out fairly easy from the charging case. When putting the earbuds back inside the charging case though, it can be a bit fiddly at first until you get used to positioning the earbuds inside the case.
The Vissles earbuds integrate a bluetooth 5.0 chip that supports 10 meters wireless range and EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), which makes the bluetooth connection more stable and efficient, helping also with battery life.
The Vissles charging case can charge the battery inside the earbuds within 2 hours. The charging case battery can store 12 hours worth of battery power, while each Vissles earbud can hold 2 hours worth of power; hence the charging case can charge the earbuds 3 times over. The Vissles charging case itself takes 4 hours to recharge via 5V/1A micro USB connection port, which is located on the back of the charging case.
The Vissles earbuds have a total playtime rating of 4 hours when playing audio at 100% volume and via AAC codec, which is supported. You can get slightly better battery life (5 hours) when playing audio via the default Bluetooth codec. When playing audio via the charging case speaker, you can expect 3.5 hours battery life.
The Vissles earbuds weigh just 5 grams, despite the 60mAh Li-Polymer battery inside it. Each earbud measures 20mm tall by 21mm wide so, they have a large footprint, fitting snugly inside of the concha of the ear. The Vissles earbuds are made of hard plastic construction with an IPX5 water resistance. The smooth matte finish makes them comfortable to wear for 1-2 hours and they don't attract fingerprint smudges.
The front panel of the Vissles earbuds also has the same smooth matte finish and contains a status led and touch control, which can be operated with very thin gloves. The touch control is very responsive and only requires light taps to operate. After bluetooth connection, the status led blinks blue every few seconds when playing audio.
Both touch controls on the Vissles earbuds control various functions, including power on and power off. That said, the earbuds do support automatic power on when taken out of the charging case, as well as automatic power off when the earbuds aren't connected to a device during 5 minutes.
The Vissles earbuds also support volume up and volume down, as well as voice assistant, play/pause, previous/next tracks, phone calls (answer, hang-up, reject) and three-way call support.
The loudspeaker also supports phone calls but, in order to use this functionality you have to do two things. First, you have to accept the call via the earbuds and then, place the earbuds back inside the charging case and close the lid. The call quality from the microphone earbuds is pretty good, especially when using them in stereo since each Vissles earbud integrates its own mic.
The Vissles earbuds support stereo, as well as mono sound so, they can be used independently from each other while being connected to different devices. The Vissles earbuds 6mm drivers deliver good sound at 50% volume with good bass, mid-range and highs.
To make the bass more prominent though, you can increase the volume to 90% or use foam eartips, although foam ear tips are not included with the Vissles earbuds. A micro USB charging cable is included though.
The Vissles earbuds drivers aren't very sensitivity so, you cannot crank up the volume very high. The charging case speaker is very loud though. For such a small unit and small output (3 watt), the speaker delivers fantastic sound quality without distortion. There aren't volume controls on-board the charging case so, the speaker volume can only be adjusted from the source.