I’ve been ready for a good pair of wireless earbuds for a long time, and I was really impressed with Apple’s AirPods when they came out last year.
Since then, I’ve tried to keep up with other offerings, and I’ve found a pair from Rowkin called the Surge Charge wireless earbuds ($119.99, rowkin.com) that are cheaper and sturdier than the AirPods.
The Rowkin Surge was introduced last year to some decent reviews, but one of the recurring knocks was the lack of a case. The Surge was introduced without a case of any kind.
In fact, you can still buy just the Surge earbuds with a charging cable for $99.
Rowkin did a really cool thing and actually listened to the call for a case. For just $20 more, you can buy the Surge with a case that has a built-in battery to charge the earbuds on the go.
The Surge Charge are not nearly as elegant as the $159 Apple AirPods, but they are much more rugged and weather-resistant, and they sound surprisingly good.
Surge earbuds are designed with activity in mind. They are fairly large, and they’re designed to seal in your ear canal with a large ear loop to keep them firmly in place no matter how much you jostle them. I’d be willing to bet they’d stay in place during a roller coaster ride or even a ride-along with the Blue Angels.
Surge earbuds come with three sets of ear tips. I found the biggest size worked best for me.
Putting on the Rowkin Surge earbuds is a two-handed operation until you get used to how they sit in your ears. Once they’re in place, the earbuds aren’t going anywhere. And putting them on is fairly easy once you get the hang of it.
The nature of the Surge’s design — they are not tethered by a wire — means each has its own battery, and they have to be charged individually.
The Surge Charge case contains the charging battery and a dual-headed USB cable so you can charge each earbud while it’s inside the case. The case can power up the earbuds five times and they can run for five hours on a charge.
Each Surge earbud has a power button and playback control buttons for forward/reverse and volume.
To get them going, you put them on and power up the right earbud and then the left one. A voice will tell you when each is powered up, when they are paired to your phone and when they are “stereo connected.”
The Surge has a microphone to make and take phone calls. You answer and hang up calls by tapping the power button.
When you are connected to a call, you’ll only get audio from the right side. This is by design, which I found a bit annoying. One of the features I like most about my AirPods is hearing phone calls through both earbuds.
How do they sound?
The Surge’s sound is quite good. I’d say it is on par with my AirPods, which are my current favorite wireless earbuds.
The Surge’s call quality was above average. I was also surprised at how clear my voice sounded while I was talking on the Surge.
I like the Surge’s seal in my ears. They do a good job of quieting much of the sound of the outside world. The AirPods sound good, but they don’t seal in my ears, so if I’m using them in a coffee shop, I hear a lot of the room noise.
In use
I like the design of the Surge. They aren’t the prettiest earbuds, but functionally they do their job exceptionally well.
The AirPods have an elegant “drop in” battery case. With the Surge, you have to fiddle with connecting very short USB cables to charge the earbuds, but you can get used to it.
For use while you’re exercising or just kicking around the house, the Surge will not disappoint you, and I think you’ll like the sound.
