If you’ve ever wished you could safely stick some bees, strawberries or trees in your ears, UK headphone manufacturer VQ has just the thing for you. The new VQ Skylark true wireless earbuds come in a choice of three patterns from English fashion designer Cath Kidston. These are called ‘Bees’, the more floral ‘Story Tree’ and a lovely blue ‘Strawberry Garden’ – you can see all three designs in the carousel below.
There’s no doubt that these buds look very different from your average in-ear audio kit that you may have come to expect from the likes of the best wireless earbuds, but VQ promises that it’s not just a case of designer style over audio substance. While these earbuds are “a fashion statement”, they are also “a piece of art in your ears”. VQ claims they sound pretty good too.
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VQ Skylark true wireless earbuds with Cath Kidston designs: key features, price and availability
With a relatively low price tag of £59.99 (roughly $74 / AU$114) these earbuds have an impressive specification for the cash. There’s enhanced noise cancelling, Bluetooth 5.3 with a 10m connection range, and up to 10 hours of playback (although confusingly, it’s listed as up to six hours of music and four hours of talk time) that rises to a total 45 hours of use via the charging case. Standby time is a whopping 200 hours, which is the kind of standby figure I haven’t seen since my Nokia 3310 days.
According to VQ, these earbuds may well be the loudest true wireless earbuds on the market right now with “deep, rich bass, defined mid-range, and crystal-clear high end”. However, it’s worth considering their claimed sound quality in the context of the price tag here.
While I’ve not tested these particular buds myself, I’ve read multiple reviews of the firms’s similarly affordable Wren buds that say the firms’ budget buds sound ‘OK’ rather than ‘OMG’. As we point out in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds, you’re not going to get high-end audio performance at rock bottom prices – but today’s budget buds are surprisingly good for the money.
The Skylark true wireless earbuds are available now from VQ, from Amazon and from B&Q.