The TWS earbuds market is wild in India, and if you are out to get a solid pair of budget wearables, chances are that you’ll be ‘cast away’ in the sea of choice. Thanks to this job, I’m always on the hunt for new earbuds and testing them out. In that quest, I recently came across the boAt Nirvana Space, priced at Rs 2,499 ($29) in India. Turns out it’s a rather reliable pair of TWS earbuds for the price, and here’s why!
Somewhat Familiar but Cool (Cheap) Design
In a market where every other pair of earbuds looks the same, I was delighted to see the transparent space-themed design on these boAt ones. I have the Cosmic Black color variant with me, and I like the translucent case lid.
As soon as you open the case, the earbuds with transparent middle bodies greet you with some blinking lights. Transparency while looking pretty is hard to pull off, and the internals staring right at you can be an ugly sight.
But, boAt kept the transparency low-key by using a translucent coating in this section. The entire presentation instantly reminded me of a Space Shuttle design. However, the plastic used here feels cheap and of poor quality. Well, that’s the price you have to pay I guess.
However, it’s not all perfect, and the case creaks upon squeezing it, revealing the cheap materials used. The case is also pretty scratched up at this point, and I’ve only used the earbuds for two-odd weeks. Still, for the price, I don’t want to whine about it too much.
Overall, while the design may remind you of a little of Nothing’s transparent design scheme, I like boAt’s smart implementation of it. “Be inspired but don’t copy,” as they say.
Features That Are Not Just a Gimmick (Mostly)
The earbuds market has evolved at an unprecedented pace over the years. If you told me that TWS earbuds at or under Rs 2,500 would arrive with ANC, customizable EQ, and whatnot a couple of years ago, I’d probably laugh at you. But, the boAt Nirvana Space arrives with all these features and also throws Spatial Audio into the mix.
While the Spatial Audio is not anything incredible, like on other earbuds, it’s good to have it at this price. The touch controls are very responsive and switching between Ambient and ANC modes is easy.
The ANC, while rated at 32db on paper, works better than the competition earbuds that offer 42db or more. I compared the ANC to the recently launched CMF Buds and Realme Buds T310, and the boAt Nirvana Space stands out nicely. Good to see the ANC transcending beyond those gimmicky lines in this price segment.
However, what I liked the most was how seamlessly the Multipoint Connection feature works. The switch is almost instant most of the time and is the best I have seen in the segment.
When my colleague Anshuman tested out the CMF Buds (review), he had a headache from the over-the-top bass. It had the same effect on me. The more expensive Nothing Ear a (review) suffers from the same problem as well. Even the customizable EQ feature in the boAt app couldn’t reduce this to a bearable extent.
One of the best things about the Nirvana Space is that it offers a very balanced sound signature out of the box. Rather, customizing it doesn’t turn up good results, in my experience. The default output is very soothing, with impressive highs, good lows, and somewhat decent mids. However, as is the case with earbuds in this affordable price segment, don’t expect a solid sound stage.
Customizable EQ is fine but doesn’t bring about a whole lot of difference. If you have a good pair of ears that are not destroyed by loud music, you will be able to tell the subtle changes. However, the addition of Adaptive EQ is something this price segment has not seen so far. And, they work well enough for the price and do affect the sound signature, improving it by a bit.
Whole Lot of Juice to Back It Up
The battery life is another department where the boAt Nirvana Space really hits the spot. There’s a 600mAh battery powering the case, with each earbud sporting a 35mAh unit. In my experience, on a single charge, the earbuds can each last for easily around 4.5 to 5 hours.
With the case, it can go 4 or even 5 days without charging, which is incredible. My use case is playing CoD Mobile with friends for around 2 hours every night, taking calls and around 3-4 hours or so of listening to music. Very impressive if you ask me.
Besides, thanks to the overall fit of these earbuds, I could wear them for hours without having to itch my ears off or adjust them timely.
Reasonably and Bearably Flawed
Of course, these are not perfect, and the companion app is what I have the biggest problem with. While the app covers all the aesthetics, it fails in the user experience department. Now and then, I accidentally modify the Equalizer when scrolling through the Sound settings, which is a big pain.
The microphone quality is also not that good, although it features a four-mic setup tuned by AI-ENx. While it can get you by, the clarity is where it fails. During calls or when gaming, the other person would complain at least once about me not being audible enough. So, yes, you’ll be stretching those vocal muscles quite a bit with these.
When you consider the Rs 2,499 pricing, that’s when these problems don’t seem all too annoying anymore. Besides, the earbuds rarely ever sell for this price, and even on Amazon, the usual sale price is around Rs 2,200.
If you want a better app experience and slightly better audio, the CMF Buds are the way to go for sure. The Realme Buds T310, although decent, is backed by a more user-friendly companion app too. But, the boAt Nirvana Space is the more balanced all-rounder, making it worth every penny.
In case you’re on the hunt for cheap earbuds under Rs 2,500 in India, give these a try. If you don’t like them, you can always get your money back. If you already own them, share your thoughts in the comments below!
