Sound and Vision: The UE Fits moulded ear-tips are an inspired piece of tech

OPINION: It’s taken a while but UE (or Ultimate Ears as they’re also known as) have released the Fits true wireless in the UK and Europe, and it’s a pretty cool piece of technology.

Ultimate Ears are best known for its colourful wireless speakers, like the award-winning Wonderboom 3, and the Fits initially launched in the US in 2020. I can’t imagine what the wait was – perhaps the US market was a testbed before Ultimate Ears decided to progress with launches elsewhere.

If you’re not familiar with the Fits, they are a pair of headphones that can mould their ear-tips to the shape of your inner ear for a fit tailored to you. They use what Ultimate Ears refers to as their Lightform technology, made up of embedded LEDs that can heat up and harden the gel-filled tips to match the contours of ear within 60 seconds so they match your ears ‘perfectly’.

Put the earbuds in and you’re asked to download the app if you haven’t done so. Then you’re taken through a process where the gel heats up, causing a slightly weird sensation in your ears as you hold them in. There’s not a whole lot of headphones these days that offer something I’ve not come across before, but the UE Fits certainly belong in that category.

But what if you put them in your ears at slightly the wrong angle? Having used them a few times over a couple of days that was my first worry; they sounded a little crisper and brighter than I had expected but I eventually realised that I hadn’t quite inserted the earphones where I should have. And there is some solace with a 30-day money-back guarantee if you don’t buy into Ultimate Ears’ claims, which is sensible enough.

And despite claiming to offer that ‘perfect fit’, there is a degree of wiggle room in positioning the earphones but once in they feel secure and don’t give the impression that they’d fall out.

While this isn’t a review (more a first impression), I do think there could be an actual ear-tip fit test before you get into the ‘moulding’ process – the app is a little too keen to rush you into the wizardry of its tech with only the option to check how the bass before you jump in. I get why UE would want to check the bass levels, it’s the most obvious aspect of sound quality that’s affected by a poor fit, but I think the app could ease you in a little more gently.

Also slightly underwhelming is the ‘Check you Fit’ section, which is simply just a two-question survey about the seal and sound quality that you can answer ‘Ok’ in both instances and the app will return with the response of ‘Great fit’. I don’t think ‘Ok’ really translates to ‘Great’.

While I won’t go into detail about aspects such as comfort, sound quality and usability ahead of the review, I’ll say that things look promising for the UE Fits. The price is perhaps another area of concern, though. £199.99 and €229.99 is towards the premium end of the marketplace where noise cancelling options are abundantly available, but the UE Fits certainly puts down a marker to be one more unique and interesting options at that price. Check back for our review to see if they’re worth the asking price.