Swott Airlit 004 review | Crude, raw wireless earbuds in need of refinement

TWS earphones are an easy and effective way for new brands to introduce themselves and their portfolio to potential buyers. In the case of homegrown brands, which many Indian tech users are eager to support, a pair of wireless earphones can beautifully showcase the design and engineering expertise a company has to offer.

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In that context, Swott’s Airlit 004 is like a piece of furniture made of roughly cut wood and sold from a warehouse near the forest where said wood was sourced. We don’t mean this in the exquisite sense, but in the raw sense of the end-product.

We tested the company’s TWS earbuds, priced at ₹1,099 on its website, and ₹2,290 on the box. Here’s what we found out about the Swott Airlit 004: crude, raw, and lacking in basics.

In the box

We received two earphones in their charging pod, the USB-D to USB-C adaptor, ear buds in alternate sizes, and the product documentation.

Design

The Swott Airlit 004 TWS earphones are neat and minimalistic in style. We received the Black model to review and were pleased with the clean, sophisticated matte finish of the charging case and flatbed slots for the earphones.

The earphones are made of matte black plastic as well, with small flashing red and blue lights. The charging case also uses pinhole lights to give a rough idea of the battery level.

Due to its large earphone body, the Airlit 004 has what feels like a loose semi in-ear design, so we did not experience any noise cancellation effects. While light on the ear canal, it did not feel tight enough for walking or jogging.

Swott Airlit 004 review | Crude, raw wireless earbuds in need of refinement
| Photo Credit:
Sahana Venugopal

Audio

As soon as you press the charged Airlit 004 buds into your ears, you hear it: a soft but continuous high-pitched whine that doesn’t stop when you are listening to music. This subtle yet distracting sound that feels like mild tinnitus becomes part of every soundtrack. It switches off after a few seconds when the earphones are not in active use, but then resumes as soon as you play another track. This is the most obvious sign that the Swott Airlit 004 is not yet ready for the market.

We raised this issue and promptly received another pair of earphones to check if the malfunction was universal. The replacement had the exact same problem as the original pair. Also, the Bluetooth connectivity of the second pair of earphones was extremely weak. The earphones took a long time to connect to a laptop.

Coming to the audio, the Swott Airlit 004 delivers a lo-fi sound, adding some white noise to whatever media you are trying to enjoy. The effect is especially noticeable when listening to quieter videos, such as guided meditation. This means even the cleanest track sounds harsh and cluttered.

When listening to music, these TWS earphones result in extremely pitchy and shallow instrumentals. Now add the lo-fi effect and the mosquito-like whine referenced earlier. The overall experience can be compared to listening to the ‘on hold’ music that plays down a phone line. The levels are too high, meaning you get shrill distortions as the pitch of the song goes up.

Though making and taking calls with the Swott Airlit 004 was comfortable due to the earphones’ light build, the audio was crunchy and the volume levels had to be raised to 80% or above in order to hear others.

The device promises it offers “Extraa bass” (with that spelling) but we did not find this to be the case, due to the sound loss. The bass was average with the first pair of earphones, despite the 10 mm dynamic drivers. However, the second pair of earphones delivered punchy bass.

Daily use vs specs

The Swott Airlit 004 earphones’ Bluetooth range is about eight metres. However, the device’s touch controls were patchy. They often led us to make choices we did not want, or summoned Siri and Google Assistant like unwanted genies.

The earphones also spontaneously disconnected from the laptop several times while we were testing it, leading to some awkward moments – such as when vibrant Kollywood music blasted through a quiet room in the middle of the night. The left earphone also experienced glitches while transmitting the music, and videos were also played without any sound from time to time. This makes us worry about the life of the device after months if not years of heavy usage.

The product’s box states that the earphones use Bluetooth version 5.0. We feel that using a more advanced version would have improved the user experience.

The Airlit 004 is rated IPX4 for water resistance, meaning it should work as a gym accessory without being damaged by sweat.

Battery life

The earphones’ battery life is incredible. However, there are differences between the battery specs mentioned on the product’s web page and the product’s user manual. This should be corrected in order to avoid confusing the buyer.

The manual states the product has a non-stop music playtime of six hours on a single charge while the total playtime is around 30 hours. These are impressive stats, but the device’s electrical whirring sound and the white noise effect made it uncomfortable to wear for long intervals. Instead, we used the Airlit 004 intermittently for more than 12 hours over the course of 10 days and found that the charging case was still going strong. The earphones were almost fully charged in 10 to 20 minutes. The case also got charged in a matter of minutes.

Still, we would have preferred a counter to keep track of the battery level, similar to the one seen on the Airlit 006, retailing at ₹999 at the time of writing. The Airlit 004’s smartphone-based battery level indicator was far from accurate.

Verdict

The Swott Airlit 004 is a heartfelt attempt at designing an entry-level TWS earphones product, but one that is not yet ready for mass use. Hardy travellers and voyagers will need more reliable Bluetooth connectivity for their earphones. Music lovers will be put off by the pitchy sounds and loss of audio detail. Working professionals will constantly be raising the volume while taking calls. Gym goers will struggle with the loose fit. Everyday users will be cringing at the electrical whine and grainy audio in their ears. Overall, the device’s long battery life does not cancel out a substandard listening experience.

The Swott Airlit 004 will be relegated to that pair of backup earphones you leave at the bottom of your bag just in case you forget your favourite set.