This Ultimate Ears UE Fits review is for anyone who wants a pair of true wireless earbuds that fit them perfectly because they’re some of the best true wireless earbuds you can buy for a personalised fit.
Usually, earphones come with three or four sizes of silicone eartips and while one is almost guaranteed to give you a rough fit, it still won’t be moulded for your ear which could have an impact on how secure they feel and how comfortable they are over long periods of use.
Ultimate Ears have come along with a new approach using light "to harden the gel-filled tips to the contours of each ear". It’s pretty clever technology and unlike anything I’ve seen before, but does it work? You’ve come to the right place to find out.
Ultimate Ears UE Fits review: price and availability
You can buy the Ultimate Ears UE Fits now starting from $199 in the US and £199.99 in the UK. They’re available to buy direct from the UE website or take a look at the widgets on this page to see where else you can pick them up.
Ultimate Ears UE Fits review: design and fit
Having taken a different approach to true wireless earbuds, the Ultimate Ears UE Fits veer away from the standard silicone ear tip design instead of opting for a larger silicone moulded tip. You won’t get the usual three sizes included in the box because these can be individually fitted to the unique shape of your ear.
To get them set up, you’ll need to download the UE Fits smartphone app available for both iOS and Android. Once connected you’ll be prompted to put the earbuds in your ears and hold them in place as instructed after tapping tap Let’s Do This in the app. They’ll then start working their magic, moulding themselves to your ears using so-called Lightform technology. It only takes about 60 seconds and you'll feel them warming up as it happens. Once the process is complete you'll be able to both feel and hear the difference.
I was hesitant about how well these larger tips would stay in my ears but in actual fact, they are really secure and comfortable, even when you use them for exercise be that running, walking or weight lifting. You’ll be fine to sweat in them too because they have some water resistance (IPX3) even if they’re not fully waterproof.
Not only do these fit a little differently from other wireless earphones but they look a little different too.
You can buy them in three distinct colourways: Dawn (purple), Cloud (white) and Eclipse (black). Each one is made from smooth matte plastic with a large transparent silicone tip, and the stem reaches above the bud as well as below it. Each stem has a UE logo which is backed by LED lights to let you know their status. Admittedly the style won't be for everyone and they're definitely not as discreet as some other earbuds but the point of these is more about how they feel rather than how they look.
Housed in a matching charging case, these will be easy to transport. The case is bigger than a lot of other options but it’s still small enough to pop in a coat pocket or in a handbag. The build quality of both the buds and the case could be improved in my opinion, they feel slightly flimsy although in saying that, I still can't imagine they would easily break.
Touch controls on the stems let you adjust the music with simple taps. Using the default settings a single tap on the left turns the volume down or a tap on the right turns it up, and a double tap on either side pauses or plays the music. If you’d rather the gesture were programmed a little differently, you can actually change them over in the UE Fits smartphone app.
From each charge, the earbuds will last about 8 hours of music, and the case will provide an extra 12 hours, so you'll get 20 hours of use in total. If you were to be caught short, a quick 10 minutes plugged into power can give you up to an hour of use.
Ultimate Ears UE Fits review: performance and features
Given the price, you’d expect the Ultimate Ears UE Fits to sound pretty good, and they certainly live up to that. That’ll partly be down to the fitted seal because it stops leakage and provides a decent level of sound isolation. It’s a shame there’s no dedicated ANC but the passive noise cancellation is good enough to justify that.
Whatever genre of music you listen to, the Ultimate Ears UE Fits will deliver it full of energy. The bass is particularly punchy (the seal will have something to do with that too) and because of that these are a really fun listen. I’d say they are most suited to upbeat tracks like some funky garage or electronic dance beats, and they’ll also make fantastic workout buds.
You might worry that the bass will overwhelm the other frequencies, which it does to some extent but I was pleasantly surprised by the detail across the treble and mids, which still manage to push through.
To add to the overall impressive sound quality, the app gives you loads of preset sound modes outside of the default UE Signature profile like Bass Boost, Bright, Hi / Lo Boost, Loudness and Spoken Word. Plus you can create your own personalised settings across a three-band equaliser which will be a handy feature for anyone who likes full control over their headphones' audio.
Sporting Bluetooth 5.0, the Ultimate Ears UE Fits' connectivity is good with support for SBC, AAC and aptX codecs. Despite not being the latest BT version, I didn’t have any issues with my phone disconnecting from the earbuds without my saying so. One feature I was disappointed not to get was multipoint connectivity so you can seamlessly switch between devices, but you can't have it all!
Also worth mentioning was the call quality. It was perfectly fine, I could clearly hear the person on the other end and vice versa, so no glaring problems to note there.
Ultimate Ears UE Fits review: verdict
The Ultimate Ears UE Fits’ unique mould makes them some of the most comfortable earbuds I’ve tried out, and the seal provides an impressive amount of passive noise cancellation with plenty of bass.
One thing that could be offputting is the design, they’re not as discreet as some smaller buds and the case’s build quality could definitely be improved. Given the price, it would be nice to get a few more features included as well, like multipoint connectivity, wireless charging for the case and ANC. But given how well these perform, none of those missing features are actually dealbreakers.
Despite those little niggles, overall these are a great pair of earbuds which will be well suited to everything from workouts to commuting and travelling. They are quite pricey but if you’ve had problems in the past with how in-ear headphones fit then it’ll be worth splashing out on them.
Ultimate Ears UE Fits review: also consider
For just a bit more money, you could buy our top true wireless pick, the Sony WF-1000XM4. While you won’t get such an individually moulded fit, you do get a pair of stylish earbuds with fantastic sound and a huge array of features including noise cancelling which you won’t get here. You’ll also get slightly more in the way of battery life, with 24 hours of playback in total.
If you’re concerned about battery life then the Philips Fidelio T1 give you 13 hours of playtime from the buds themselves and 35 hours on top of that from the case when you have ANC turned off. That’s about as good as it gets for true wireless earbuds.
