Cambridge Audio Melomania A100 review: the price is right?

Remember earbuds with stems? I sure do – and, to be fair, they've gone nowhere. Apple's AirPods 4 remain huge sellers, while Nothing's Ear (2) shows that the shape is still a stalwart in the tech industry.

Still, most of the best earbuds at the higher end of the market have abandoned such a design for more rounded shapes. That means when I see a stem like that on the Cambridge Audio Melomania A100, I don't really have to ask what price bracket it comes from.

True to that sense, the A100 are budget-friendly earbuds that aim to satisfy sonically without breaking the bank. I've used them for a week to see if they can live up to that billing – and I've been pretty impressed by what I've found, as I'll explain in this review.

Price & Availability

The Melomania A100 were announced in late June, and are on-sale now through Cambridge Audio and on Amazon. They come in at £119/$149, exactly the same price that you can find the slightly older M100 model for.

That places them in very direct competition with the likes of the AirPods 4 and Nothing Ear (2) – which is to say, there are a lot of earbuds at this price offering very similar sets of features.

Design & Features

As you may have picked up from my introduction, I can't help but feel that the Melomania A100 look like earbuds from at least a few years ago. They use a design similar to the first-generation AirPods, but with an in-ear tip for a better seal.

That means quite a long stem relative to the size of each A100 earbud, with the idea being that this places microphones for calls closer to your mouth for better sound. On the outside of each earbud top section there's a small recess with the Cambridge Audio logo. This looks like a button, but is in fact just at touch-sensitive surface for some controls.

If the downside to this design is that they look a little generic, the upside is clear when you slip them in your ears. These are really comfortable earbuds that don't put too much pressure on, while still getting a great seal. They aren't the smallest buds I've seen, though, and I do have very roomy ears, so those with smaller ears might want to try to get their hands on a pair before they commit to buying, to check that fit.

IPX5 water resistance means that dropping these earbuds in water won't be great, but they're more than capable of surviving use in most weather conditions, which is always good to know.

The case, meanwhile, is on the taller end of those I've seen recently, since it has to accommodate those stems. It has three indicator LEDs on its front side to give you a bit of info about its charging or connection status, and on the rear there's a USB-C port for charging. The very bottom of the case hides a small button to initiate pairing.

It's all nicely well-made and solid in the hand, without much flex and no creaking, so despite being entirely plastic, this does feel like a well-crafted device. You can also choose between white or black versions, which is always nice, and should make it easier to pair with outfits or your general style.

Away from the design side, Cambridge Audio packs in some good features for a fair price, too. There's active noise-cancelling (ANC), for one, although you'll need to turn it off for the full 12 hours of playback on a single charge that's promised. With a few more charges in the case, you can get up to 39 hours without needing to plug it in.

Fast-charging capabilities make for a 4-hour listening time from 5-minutes of charging, or 2-hours if you have ANC turned on. There's also two-device multipoint if you want to swap between devices quickly.

You get EQ controls in the companion app, which is welcome, and can customise the controls of your touch buttons, which is similarly a bonus. AptX and LDAC codecs are both supported for high-quality audio potential, in case you have access to either.

Finally, a word on repairability – Cambridge Audio says that the internal battery in each earbud is designed to be replaceable, which is great. That should make these earbuds more repairable than many competitors.

Sound & Performance

Earbuds and headphones are all ultimately products that depend on their performance – great or mediocre design can both be overcome by the actual sound they offer up. Cambridge Audio is one of my favourite boutique audio brands, but I can't necessarily say these are its best-sounding product ever.

That's completely fine, of course – since they're also one of its most affordable. Still, even taking into account the budget-friendly price on the A100, I felt these earbuds came in about where I expected, instead of blowing me away.

What that means is sound that is nice and neutral out of the box, with a decent spread of frequencies ensuring that you can listen to your tunes without losing their low-end or high-end details. Take something like The xx's debut album, for example, and some of its more distorted bass riffs still come across.

They're not the loudest earbuds, though, so I did find that I had to crank them a little higher than many other options I've tried to get the volume right for what I wanted. This never involved going right to their limit, though, so that's not really a negative note.

What I did find a little less impressive was the active noise-cancelling, though, which is nothing much more than decent. I travelled a little with the A100 in, and they did indeed dampen down the noise of a bus or train, although they never got near the cocoon that I get from the Technics AZ100 at a much higher price, for example.

One easy desktop test is to see how they cope with the sharper noise of a mechanical keyboard (albeit with softish brown switches), and on this front, I was disappointed. My keyboard was quieter than without earbuds in, obviously, but still disruptive to my listening at normal volumes.

Another way to tell these aren't high-end earbuds without knowing the price is those touch controls – there's about a 1-second of delay every time I tap between sound modes or to pause/play my music. That's no biggie once you're used to it, but at first you'll probably find it a little tiresome.

Cambridge Audio Melomania A100 review: Verdict

If you want to spend a modest amount on some earbuds, the market is refreshingly crowded and competitive – and Cambridge Audio is showing its willing to fight in the space, too. The A100 is another creditable low-price option, and if you prefer a design with stems then these earbuds will be right up your street.

They're really comfortable to wear, have a lovely clean sound signature, and good battery life. However, I can't claim to love their design personally – and I'm a little let down by their active noise-cancelling (ANC), too. But at this price, it's completely acceptable, making for another very decent audio package.

Also consider

I tested Cambridge Audio's M100 earbuds last year and do prefer them a little, mainly because of their design (although ironically, the A100 is more comfortable). It's a toss-up between the two, in many ways, but the older models also have better battery life.

If you want to get something similar from a different brand, I've mentioned the Nothing Ear (2) a couple of times, although stock is now occasionally a little hard to find. They're gorgeous-looking and have a little better ANC, in my view.