Belkin Soundform Immerse review

BTTR is independent, but we may earn money when you purchase through links on our site.

Belkin has a long history of working closely with Apple to deliver high-quality accessories. 

The Soundform Immerse earbuds continue that tradition, delivering a relatively comfortable and secure-fitting pair of true wireless earbuds that can be tracked using Apple’s Find My feature.

With active noise cancellation, support for Google Fast Pair and multipoint Bluetooth support, the Soundform Immerse ticks a lot of the boxes you’d want ticked when looking for the best wireless earbuds.

Design

The first thing you notice as you remove the Soundform Immerse from the box is just how large the case is.

Measuring in at 7cm long, 4cm deep and about 3.5cm high, the case is bulky.

Models like the Pixel Buds Pro or the AirPods Pro offer a narrower body that’s a little taller, which can easily slip into a pocket. The oblong shape of the Immerse means you’ll really want to keep this in a bag rather than a pocket.

The case itself does boast Qi wireless charging, as well as the low-energy Bluetooth transmitter that allows you to track the earbuds in the Find My app. 

The lid of the case feels a little fragile, wriggling minutely from side to side with minimal pressure. The rear of the case houses the USB-C charging port and Bluetooth sync button.

Earbuds design

The earbuds themselves are relatively bulky, sticking out from your ear. That said, the design is much more secure than the Pixel Buds Pro thanks to a small ear fin at the back.

Each earbud features touch controls on the side, as well as a small button on the top. 

I found this combo of controls a little confusing to remember. Belkin seems to have gone against the standard controls for certain actions – tapping the right touchpad turns up the volume instead of starting music playback, for example. 

The good news is that you can customise the touch controls using the Soundform app, though for some reason that doesn’t allow you to reprogram the physical controls.

The physical buttons are set to cycle through the noise-cancelling options of ANC, audio passthrough and off. It can be a little hard to know which one is active, though.

The earbuds are IPX5 rated, which means they can handle a bit of sweat or light rain.

Performance

With a name like Soundform Immerse, you expect the audio to wrap you up like a warm blanket and keep you feeling safe and happy in its audio quality.

That’s not quite what you get.

The audio quality is a bit less than what you might expect from a pair of earbuds that retail for $299. On the default settings, the bass is lacking, and the mid-range sounds washed out.

The good news is that Belkin’s Soundform app lets you tweak the audio settings with a customisable equaliser. 

It kind of helps. Bass Boost fixes the lacking bass, at the expense of the mid-range. The Rock preset tightens up the mid-range, though the bass tends to disappear.

There are 15 different EQ settings to choose from, and you can tweak any except the Belkin Signature Sound setting. 

The noise cancellation performance is there, but can’t compete with the likes of Apple or Bose when it comes to performance.

Sitting on a train with ANC on, you can still hear the announcements come through unless the volume is turned up a fair way. You can’t quite make out the details of what the announcer is saying, but you can hear them nonetheless.

The passthrough mode is worse, though. It appears that Belkin just strips out any bass from your music for the mode. You can’t hear your surroundings clearly. The earbuds still prioritise music playback, even with the Hear-Thru mode turned up to 100 in the app.

Battery performance

On the upside, battery life is impressive. All that bulk in the case gives you an extra 24 hours of playback, in addition to the 7 hours promised by the earbuds.

Testing these over the past couple of months, that seems like an accurate representation of battery life. 

You can comfortably get through a workday with the battery, especially when you drop the earbuds into the charging case during your lunch break.

And if you tend to drop the case on a Qi wireless charger while sitting at your desk, you’ll never really have to worry about battery life at all with these earbuds.

Find my Belkin Soundform

Belkin is one of the few brands that has connected in to the Apple Find My ecosystem. 

It’s probably not a huge decision factor when it comes to choosing a pair of wireless earbuds, but it is important to note that the integration is seamless.

You’re prompted to connect the earbuds with the Find My service when you first pair them with your iPhone. From there, you can simply navigate to the “Items” menu in the Find My app to see the location of the Soundform case.

Before you get too excited, you should be aware that the phone tracks the location of the Soundform’s case, rather than each individual earbud. 

To solve for each individual earbud, the Soundform app will let you ping each earbud, getting it to play a sound, so you can find its location quickly and easily.

Verdict

You probably shouldn’t pay $299.95 for these wireless earbuds. 

They aren’t bad, but there’s a fair distance between them and pro-level earbuds that you can pick up for a similar price.

Apple’s second generation of AirPods Pro only cost $399.95, though you can pick them up for under $360 on sale if you keep an eye out.

The Google Buds Pro, which are the same asking price, are objectively better earbuds, though lack connection to the Apple ecosystem.

If you can find these earbuds on sale for under $200, then they are a good buy. But otherwise, you will find better performance from other products.

Buy the Belkin Soundform Immerse online

Belkin Soundform Immerse

The Belkin Soundform Immerse is packed with potential, but despite its flagship features, can't compete with better offerings at its price.

Check Price @ Amazon