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just a few Weeks ago, certain people in a particular corner of the Internet decided they had figured out why Kamala Harris did so much better than Donald Trump in the presidential debate. It’s not that she was better prepared or that she was a better debater. No, she has to She will be wearing a Bluetooth headset, carefully disguised as a pair of pearl earrings. Obviously.
It turns out that headphones like this really exist. The Nova H1 audio earrings proposed by conspiracy theorists look quite similar to the earrings Kamala was wearing that night. Of course, theirs were, in fact, from Tiffany & Co. and not from a Kickstarter campaign starting in 2021but the concept piqued our interest anyway.
Could this so-called audio jewelry be the perfect crossover product for anyone who wants to make calls or listen to music, without a pair of bulky headphones hanging from their ear? We put them in our ears for a week to find out.
Elegant… to a point
When I receive them, first impressions are promising. The Nova H1 arrives in what looks like a jewelry box, an elegant detail that we are sure is not an accident. Pull the inner packaging towards you, like a drawer, to slide out the outer cover, and the earbuds appear against a rather striking yellow background, the square pearlescent charging case adorned with Nova branding.
However, the case is tacky and the earrings sit on an equally tacky panel that lifts up to present them to you when you open the lid. It’s a nice touch, but it all looks cheap and doesn’t feel in keeping with the premium look the Nova H1 is trying to present.
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The earrings themselves aren’t exactly subtle either. The pearl, to my surprise, is actually a real freshwater pearl attached to your choice of clip or stud earrings, but it is not delicate. Still, when placed in the ear, they at least look like jewelry: more costume jewelry than fine jewelry (our British readers may appreciate a Pat Butcher reference here), but they don’t look out of place. I have the silver ones to try, but there is also a gold option that will cost you a little more (more on that shortly).
The clip-on version I’m testing offers exactly the right clamping force to be secure without causing any discomfort, which is really impressive. You could actually forget you were wearing them, meaning they can simply be worn as earrings, while being ready to jump into audio action whenever you need them.
This is helped by the fact that they will go into sleep mode when they don’t detect any playback and offer up to six hours of active use. That means you can practically use them for a full day, plus the case offers three full charges.
Can you hear me?
When you take them out of their case, they automatically go into pairing mode. My phone finds them without problems and in a matter of seconds they are paired.
I immediately go to a playlist on Tidal and start listening. It quickly becomes clear that audio quality is not a reason to buy these headphones, to the point that it is almost impossible to critically evaluate the sound.
The bass is weak and the music has a distant quality, almost as if someone had the radio on on the other side of the office. It’s a unique experience, it’s not unpleasant at all, but it’s not as engaging as the sound quality you’ll get from something like the Bose Ultra Open headphones.