Creative Aurvana Air

The basics

Earbud earphones with 20-20,000Hz frequency response. Ships with two foam ear-cushions, 1.2m cord and carry case. Weighs 16g.

The good

While certainly ‘inspired’ by the B&O A8 earbuds, these silvery upstarts narrowly skirt intellectual property infringements by using nickel-titanium memory-metal ear hooks that are ultra-light and ultra-flexible (if not quite ultra-comfortable). Build quality throughout is first class – including a well-shielded, oxygen-free cable that resists tangling very well. Audio is just as impressive, thanks to an ear-rattling mid-range and well-controlled treble.

The bad

The Aurvana Airs have all the build and sound quality of the Bang & Olufsen A8s - but cost over twice as much. Whether this means Creative is heading up-market at a stratospheric rate or B&O is making its earphones out of paper and chewing gum, it can’t be good news. We greatly dislike anything that upsets the natural hierarchy of brands. As you might expect, earbuds like these can’t rival the subterranean bass of noise-isolating ear canal models – although at least you don’t have to clean them of ear wax every ten minutes. The foam ear cushions are cheap and pretty much redundant.

The bottom line

Giant price-tags require giant leaps forward, and the Aurvana Airs are just too similar to the cheaper B&O A8s to rock our planet. Very light, mind.